Broadband at HCS

Hollywood Center Studios Helps Producers Stay Connected with Dedicated Broadband and New Sohonet Services

Network connectivity is a critical element of film and television production today. The ability to exchange and manage data, connect to the internet and communicate with facilities in other states and countries has become as important to the efficient operation of a production as cameras and lighting.

Hollywood Center Studios helps its tenants and producers working on the lot stay connected by maintaining its own broadband internet service. The studios' internet service, available on every soundstage and production office, offers significant advantages over commercial internet service providers, including significantly faster and more consistent data rates. The service is more reliable than cable or DSL and can be customized to suit the specific needs of the user.

The biggest advantage comes in the form of service and support. New service can be established in a few days (if not a few hours) and if something goes wrong, a call to tech support is not routed to a call center halfway around the globe. Instead, it's likely to be answered by Dennis Taylor, Hollywood Center Studios' Network Operations Manager, who designed much of the infrastructure.

"People appreciate having someone here on hand when they need support," Taylor says. "If it's just a matter of adding speed or capacity, we can usually take care of it immediately. Most technical problems are resolved in minutes rather than hours or days."

Recently, Hollywood Center Studios has begun to offer a new form of high-speed network connectivity. The studios have become a connection site for the Sohonet, the world's largest private network. Designed specifically for the media and entertainment industry, Sohonet supports decentralized, tapeless workflows by facilitating the transfer of media files over a discreet network at speeds of up to 10Gbit/s.

The service was first used at Hollywood Center Studios by a Russian production company to transfer media and data files between its production offices at Hollywood Center Studios and its post production facilities in Russia. Sohonet is currently being used by HBO to connect its productions on the lot to external facilities.

"With production moving steadily into the digital domain and becoming increasingly globalized, Sohonet is a great way for companies to transport their media between their main production office and other facilities in other parts of the world," says Taylor. "With Sohonet on board, we have the ability to provide our clients with service over and above typical internet service. Sohonet also is involved in our effort to provide our clients with redundant, fault-tolerant internet access, so that our clients stay connected."