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Media Production Company Streamlining Cloud Collaboration and Storage
Company Situation
The company operates within the media production industry, focusing on post-production and advertising content creation. Their team is distributed globally with multiple offices, including a key regional hub aspiring to elevate its in-house production capabilities. Historically reliant on outsourcing, the company is now shifting toward building in-house post-production workflows, particularly for smaller projects and AI-related tasks. Their current infrastructure is minimal, with only a couple of desktop workstations and scattered storage devices, reflecting an early-stage internal setup.
Existing Workflow
Currently, the company primarily uses Google Drive for storage and collaboration, with a massive volume of data (~2 petabytes) housed there. They have virtually no dedicated in-house infrastructure, relying on cloud storage for deep archive needs. There is also mention of legacy use of AWS for storage, though that has been deprecated in favor of Google Drive. Additionally, across their global offices, some teams use a media asset management system (Base Media Cloud with Iconic), and there is a sibling company using LucidLink. Their workflow involves juggling multiple tools to manage storage, file sharing, collaboration, and archiving.
Issues with the Existing Workflow
Lack of centralized infrastructure and tools to onboard and manage remote editors efficiently
Fragmentation and tool fatigue caused by having to toggle between multiple platforms (Google Drive, LucidLink, Base Media/Iconic, Frame.io, etc.)
Limited ability to integrate Google Drive directly with other tools due to its non-S3-compatible nature
Difficulty orchestrating global collaboration with a scattered and minimal infrastructure setup
Risk of inefficiency and higher costs due to reliance on multiple vendors and legacy storage systems
Challenges in managing active project files separately from deep archive storage, complicating workflows and access
How Shade Would Change Their Workflow
Shade offers a unified platform designed to combine search, access, sharing, and archiving functionalities into one seamless experience. It integrates with any S3-compatible cloud storage, enabling the company to maintain Google Drive as their deep archive (cold storage) while managing active projects on a more performant platform. Shade’s system would replace multiple disparate tools such as LucidLink, Frame.io, and potentially Base Media/Iconic, reducing tool sprawl and simplifying workflows. This consolidation would allow the company to onboard remote editors quickly, centralize file storage and deliverables, and streamline global collaboration through a single pane of glass.
Benefits
- Unified platform combining media asset management, file sharing, collaboration, and archiving
- Compatibility with existing cloud storage (AWS or other S3-compatible providers) while supporting Google Drive for cold storage
- Simplified onboarding and remote editor management, enabling a global distributed workforce
- Reduction in tool fatigue by replacing multiple siloed vendors and platforms
- Improved file organization separating active projects from deep archives
- Cost savings by consolidating technologies and reducing reliance on multiple subscriptions
- Enhanced collaboration and workflow efficiency for in-house post-production teams
Technologies Used
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