’tis the Season

Last week we had our first BeBanjo Christmas party. The festivities mostly consisted of consuming obscene amounts of red meat and loads of red wine. We had T-Shirts made for everyone with something that helps us to stay focussed (WWCTBWWGT).

 However, there was also time for some serious talk. 

WWCTBWWGT - We Will Cross That Bridge When We Get There

Towards the end of the party, Jorge and I did a recap of what we accomplished this year, and gave an overview of what’s coming up for 2009.

It’s been a very stimulating time since we started the company. What I’m particularly proud of is that we managed to assemble a team of A-players who are all leaders in their fields. Everyone is fully bi-lingual and very involved in the international community whether it comes to usability/design, Ruby on Rails (our development framework), or the international TV community. 

To the BeBanjo Team: Together we’ve accomplished an amazing amount in a very short period of time. We’ve rocked in 2008, and we’ll rock even harder in 2009! Thanks and a big hug.

To those we’ve encountered on the way:  I wish you the best for 2009! Thanks for trusting in us, stimulating us, helping/supporting us and driving us to succeed in our mission.

Being Banjo we are really looking forward to make our statement , earn our respect and be successful  in each of our professional communities during 2009 and I’m positive that during next year’s Christmas party we’ll have even more things we can look back on with pride. 

Happy holidays. 

-Bastian

What happens once a content deal is done – Traffic – Part I

A content licensing deal gives the buyer (licensee) the right to display the content from the seller (licensor) for a specific period of time on an specific distribution platform in a specific country. The time during which a licensee has the right to display a specific title is called that title’s “window”

Once the deal has closed, it’s up to the licensor to ship materials (DigiBeta tapes, DVD’s, music cue-sheets, transcripts, box art, EPK’s, subtitle files, additional audio tracks etc.) This usually happens a set time before the window’s start date.

The human side of traffic

 

The other day I was visiting a media company at an undisclosed location somewhere in Europe and I took this picture to show you the human side of “materials traffic”.    

 

 

When I asked the gentleman pushing the cart if it was OK to take the picture he mentioned that this cart was pretty empty. Usually these are filled to the brim.

I have a limited edition BeBanjo post-it pad for the first one to correctly guess where I took this picture. Your best guesses in the comments please….. I know, I know…. not so generous, but we’re still a start-up, so this is as good as it gets for now.

In the coming months I hope to write more articles about the workings behind the scenes of all these TV channels and services that millions of people watch everyday. Stay tuned.

-Bastian