Jim Helman and Raymond Drewry of MovieLabs Win Engineering Emmy Award for their work in creating the Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR)
San Francisco, August 15, 2023 Jim Helman, CTO of MovieLabs, and Raymond Drewry, Chief Scientist and VP of EMEA Operations, have been awarded an Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy for creation of the Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR). Helman and Drewry led the design and development of EIDR as part of a project sponsored by MovieLabs in 2009 and 2010. The recipients of this year’s awards were announced today by the Television Academy. The 75th Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy Award Ceremony will take place October 18, 2023 in LA.
The Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR) unifies the commercial film and television industry around one standardized content ID, one infrastructure for creating and sharing the ID, and one nested data model for describing the relationships between abstract titles, specific edits of them, and packages for distribution.
Rich Berger, CEO of MovieLabs, says, “I want to congratulate Jim and Raymond for being recognized with an Engineering Emmy for their work in building an industry standard for content identifiers. EIDR and the EIDR organization continue to provide mission-critical infrastructure to support the explosion of digital distribution of film and television content to an increasing set of consumer devices.”
As early as 2008, MovieLabs analyzed the technical requirements for meeting the evolving needs of the movie and television industry, especially for enabling the growth and automation of digital distribution. The requirements were presented to MovieLabs’ studio sponsors, who commissioned creation of the EIDR registry in 2009. MovieLabs created the data model and architecture, led the detailed technical design, and managed the software development process through testing and deployment in late 2010. The completed registry then was transferred to a newly formed EIDR organization that continues to run the EIDR registry today. MovieLabs has continued to provide technical and governance support for EIDR throughout its 13-year history.
The EIDR registry now holds more than 2.8 million records and is utilized in automation and digital supply chain workflows in more than 70 media and entertainment companies. EIDR is widely adopted by all of the major US studios and is growing in popularity in international markets.
Hollie Choi, Executive Director of EIDR, says, “I am delighted that Jim and Raymond are being recognized by the Television Academy for their work in establishing EIDR. MovieLabs’ vision of where the industry was headed thirteen years ago and the mission critical need for a unified way to identify assets has provided the industry with a standard identification for workflow automation, which is fundamental in the digital distribution of content.”
For more information, please visit: movielabs.com or eidr.org
About EIDR
EIDR is the Entertainment ID Registry, an innovative platform that revolutionizes content identification and management in the entertainment industry. Through its comprehensive and standardized identification system, EIDR enables precise tracking of digital media assets such as movies and TV shows, streamlining rights management and digital supply chains. EIDR empowers content creators, distributors, and service providers to collaborate efficiently within the global entertainment landscape.
About MovieLabs
Motion Picture Laboratories, Inc. (MovieLabs) is a non-profit technology research lab jointly run by Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures and Television, and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
MovieLabs enables member studios to work together to understand new technologies and enhance interoperability and efficiency. We help set the bar for future technology advancement and then define voluntary specifications, standards, and workflows that deliver the industry’s vision. Our goal is always to empower storytellers with new technologies that help deliver the best of future media for consumers.