Pilot Program with Major Studios; Collaboration with Ease Entertainment's Digital Start Paperwork Streamlines New Hire & Crew Onboarding Processes
Sony's new Digital Paper is taking a leading role in a pilot program with select Hollywood studios to streamline the new hire and crew on-boarding process for motion picture and television productions.
Starting in May, the pilot will be conducted in collaboration with Ease Entertainment, a leading payroll and accounting company serving the motion picture and television production industries. Ease Entertainment will bundle Digital Paper with its Digital Start Paperwork (DSP), resulting in significant time-savings and increased efficiencies for studios and production companies.
"Storytelling is a global business," said Glenn Gainor, President of Production for Screen Gems, a Sony Pictures Entertainment division. "I travel the globe scouting locations, visiting sets and overseeing production teams. Sets have traditionally been buried in paper, from scripts, call sheets, production notes and more. I've been testing Digital Paper for months and now I can't imagine myself being without it. I can now keep ideas, notes and other great ideas in one device."
Sony's Digital Paper launched in the U.S. market in March to the legal community. Now the technology is set to be embraced by the entertainment industry. Sony and Ease will demonstrate the new production solution at this week's Hollywood IT Summit (HITS) in Los Angeles.
Digital Paper enables crew members to quickly and easily read, fill out, and submit all required paperwork, complete with legal signatures. The documents are then stored in a secure digital format within Ease's Scenechronize platform and retained as long as required. The combination of Sony's Digital Paper and Ease's Digital Start Paperwork will enable the production arena to move to a virtually paperless environment.
According to Ease Entertainment, critical aspects of the entertainment industry such as production management and corporate oversight have significantly lagged in the adoption of new technologies that can offer considerable economic and operational benefits.
"We are committed to taking what is still a 'paper and file box' industry and moving it into the current generation of tools, a key part of which is Sony's Digital Paper," said Michael Rose, Chairman and CEO of Ease Entertainment. "The combination of our technologies will substantially streamline and improve the onboarding process, which will ultimately lead to reduced production costs. The uses in and around a shooting set, within production offices and at the corporate and legal level, are countless: enhanced regulatory compliance, fewer errors, reduced environmental impact and an increased level of efficiency."
Following its announcement at the American Bar Association Tech Show in March and now at the Hollywood IT Summit, Sony continues to investigate and develop new markets for Digital Paper in collaboration with technology companies that serve sectors still burdened with paper and are obvious beneficiaries of Digital Paper.
"The entertainment industry has always been at the forefront of technology when it comes to the visual presentation of its artistic product, from the highest-definition cameras to editing capabilities to visual effects," said Bob Nell, Director, Digital Paper Solutions for Sony Electronics. "Now Digital Paper, offered through Ease Entertainment, can become one more indispensable piece of technology available to studios, removing paper printing, copying, distributing, storing and retrieving from many production-related processes."
A New Way to Read, Write, Annotate and Share
Sony's Digital Paper has a 13.3 inch display that shows full-screen views of letter-sized forms and documents in the PDF format, eliminating the need to zoom or scroll when reading a page. The Digital Paper device retains the context of an entire page by displaying sharp, easy-to-read text and graphics that are nearly identical to printed documents or full-size notepads. The device's touch panel enables users to operate the menu or turn pages by simply touching the screen. Using the included stylus, individuals can write fluidly and directly on the panel, and also easily highlight and erase text, for a familiar and comfortable writing experience.
Key features and functions of Sony's Digital Paper include:
World's thinnest, lightest body among devices with comparable screen sizes (approximately 9/32" and 12.6 oz.); slightly thicker than 30 sheets of paper
13.3 inch (screen size measured diagonally) electronic paper display
High contrast display (1200 x 1600 dots), 16-level gray scale, incorporating "E Ink Mobius" technology from E Ink Corporation
No backlight enables text to be read clearly, even in bright sunlight
Built-in Wi-Fi functionality allows file sharing over a wireless network
Rechargeable thin lithium-ion battery – up to 3 weeks use on a single charge
AC adapter or USB rechargeable (computer-based charging)
Storage - approximately 2,800 PDF files; internal memory of 4 GB coupled with micro SD card slot for additional storage
Touch panel (IR touch) compatible with electromagnetic induction-type touch pen input
Dimensions - Approximately 9 1/4" width by 12 1/4" height by 9/32" depth (thickness)
Weight - Approximately 12.6 ounces
Digital Paper is planned to be available in May, with a suggested list price of $1,100.
