Mexico. The challenges Cinema Máquina regularly faces are scattered creative teams, massive amounts of content traveling great distances and very little time, and are common media obstacles. If we include a pandemic, lockdowns and a show that must go on, these obstacles are only exacerbated but despite everything, Cinema Máquina went ahead.
Based in Mexico City, Cinema Máquina is a post-production facility for films and television specializing in all kinds of tasks, from forming and alignment to post-production, program mastering and visual effects. While historically its main market has been Mexico and Latin America, the explosion of interest in international content has generated new opportunities.
One of them was "Selena," a Netflix series about the life and legacy of Mexican-American pop superstar Selena Quintanilla. An emblematic experience for Cinema Máquina, the team began working on "Selena" before the pandemic and continued during it thanks to their preparation, forecasting and Signiant Media Shuttle.
Signiant sat down with Ariel Gordon, founder and CEO, to discuss Signiant's use of Cinema Máquina de Media Shuttle, his experience working during the pandemic, and Mexico's impact on the global market.
Selena presented challenges in data transfer, even before the pandemic. How did they plan it?
We were hired for "Selena" and we took care of the post-production of the series in our facilities with their editing teams. They decided to have a post-production facility in Mexico City, despite being recording all over the country. This means that we are many kilometers from where it was being filmed. So, the first question was, "How do we get the material to our offices?"
At first we considered a more traditional approach: we would have a messenger who would bring us some hard drives every few days, but it didn't seem to be efficient. I was like, "We're in a modern world. We don't need to use that path."
Is that where they came to Media Shuttle?
Not right away. The first time we suggested implementing it we encountered some skepticism. Also, some people would ask, "Why does the footage have to come directly to you? Maybe the teams can upload them to Netflix and you can download them." But we were also doing the filming tests in Mexico City, which is a great set of time-bound workflows. There was a lot of pressure, so I said, "No, you have to understand that we need everything in the moment to keep us at gunpoint."
Once installed, what was your workflow like with Media Shuttle?
Signiant helped us understand how to set it up, tackle problems and empower our engineering team to manage it all. It was very simple and straightforward.
We set up the Shuttle portals and a charging station. Every time the cameras' memory cards were filled, they started charging them (usually two at a time). Throughout the day we received most of the material of the day directly. Although tons of material were shipped, it never took us more than a few hours to receive everything to get to work.
It was really a very simple thing. Even with just two Mac Mini computers, two charging stations, and a normal 200MB connection, we were able to do it all. We could have the shooting samples ready before noon. And, even better, since they were two hours away from us, they received everything at 10 in the morning.
Is that how they did the whole project?
Absolutely. We were able to manage all these workflows miles away thanks to Media Shuttle. We were able to do a whole series as if we were on set with the team!
Was "Selena" the first time you used Media Shuttle?
We had used it before with other companies that had it. I was always impressed by how fast it works.
Now, to be honest, one of the questions that came up before we adopted it was that some of the studios we worked with used Aspera. However, "Selena" made it clear that Media Shuttle was the path we want to follow. I knew it was faster than the competition, very safe, and if a charge stops, it can be restarted immediately. These are the things I really value.
Has your team noticed an increase in usage since implementation?
Definitely. Before, we accepted materials in many ways. Now, we only accept the material through Media Shuttle. We don't allow things like Dropbox because they're very slow, very insecure, they don't work.
We are currently making between 10 and 14 films a year and about 10 series. That means a lot of material and a lot of work.
We have Media Shuttle postcards for every project. This means that, at all times, we work with between 10 and 15 individual portals. But we also have portals for themes within a project, for example, visual effects has its own portal, color grading has its own portal. Regarding users, we have a total of 70-80 users; currently 50 active.
The pandemic had a huge impact on his team. What was it like?
We were lucky in many ways. For many organizations it was very hard because many people believed that it was not going to last that long. Everyone thought the shutdown was going to last four, eight, maybe 12 weeks at most, so in many cases there wasn't much preparation. Lucho, production stopped—in the middle of projects in the case of many businesses.
At first, we had several productions that had already finished filming, so we could continue working on the post-production of those projects without interruption. But more than that, I think we were more prepared.
Then, there was a small reopening and they resumed filming "Selena" and we were able to send all the material from the season we were working on to the publishers' houses through Signiant. And it was a lot. In the end, we worked with 35 visual effects artists and were able to send all the raw material from our studio to all the artists. It was amazing because it was fast and safe.
How did Signiant and Media Shuttle help with all that?
Signiant was incredibly understanding. They said, "they can use it with as many users as they want, no matter their current account." We were able to set up accounts for everyone outside the office to receive and return the material. It was essential to work remotely because the editors could send the material here without problem.
Honestly, when we talked about renewing our subscription I said "of course!" Without Media Shuttle, the pandemic would have torn us apart, but we were able to work throughout its duration. We were also lucky to have our storage centralized and maintain access. Trying Media Shuttle means not working without it again.
Do you think the use of Media Shuttle in remote workflows will continue after the pandemic?
Yes. A head of editing called me after we set up remote editing at everyone's house and I was very happy. At the end of our conversation, his comment was "I don't want to have to go back to the studio. I like the idea of editing remotely. When I have to hang out with a client, I can go, but I really like this." She was really happy and Media Shuttle played a pivotal role.
I'm not saying the office is going to disappear. I think it's very important for people to relate, get together, have coffee and make connections. But I think in the immediate future it's going to be important to combine internal and remote workflows; let people work from home when they feel better. These hybrid workflows feel like the future.
After experiencing the pandemic, where do you think the technology is going?
In principle, I think the industry in general has grown a lot. And I think Netflix, Amazon Studios, Disney, HBO Max, all the platforms are forming. There's a lot to watch and a lot of content in production around the world, and OTT production helps.
The cloud is becoming big. However, for Mexico the absorption has been somewhat slower due to connection limitations. But, as soon as networks get bigger, as soon as you can have everything in the cloud and you don't have to have local storage, then I think you're going to see a lot more adoption. Still, what I see for the next few years are hybrid models, some things in the cloud and some on-premises. Even when the bandwidth is perfect, I don't think we're going to fully migrate to the cloud anytime soon.
What does the global market for Cinema Machine look like?
In my opinion, Mexico is becoming a production hub for a lot of Latin American content and it's a great thing, but not just for us. Production is going to become more segmented. Globalization and streaming services mean that local productions can be consumed all over the world, so the need to do everything in one place or in one way is less.
There are 500 million Spanish speakers in the world and thanks to the new platforms, people all over the world are consuming foreign-language movies and TV. I don't want to sound cheesy, but I think it's a big change. I am really proud of the moment that Mexico is going through as a production center. I'm really proud of the present of Latino content.
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