A Tech Wizard Ascends To Ceo

In a very brief period of time, Ken Williams has guided John Malone's Ascent Media Group into the future.

His efforts in pinpointing and implementing next-generation digital services for the media and entertainment industries were rewarded Wednesday when Williams, formerly chief operating officer, was named president and CEO at the Liberty Media division just one year after joining (HR 10/9).

Key areas of technological expansion under Williams' tenure at the postproduction conglomerate include digital intermediate mastering, satellite-based collaborative tools for creative sessioning, digital dailies and a number of store-and-forward applications that are being implemented on a global basis.

"We're in the early days of real file-based content management systems," he said. "We're not yet talking about studios turning their libraries into deep archive files. But we are seeing a number of applications that are designed to provide solutions to current challenges on the distribution front," from DVDs to content for brand management, he said.

Because of the shortening of day-and-date windows for theatrical releases, it has become increasingly important for studios and postproduction firms to design efficient internal workflows, Williams said.

"This next stage of digital to data is as much about saving time and removing roadblocks as it is about dollars," Williams said. "(A studio's) ability to get (its) DVDs on the shelf more quickly has a direct relationship to some very significant revenue opportunities. If you can facilitate that with process change, that's worth an awful lot."

Williams believes the biggest challenge the industry faces is the transition from digital to data. As media firms bring larger data files online and distribution becomes more globalized and instantaneous, firms will need to restructure, Williams said.

"Large media companies will have to come to grips with the fact that they currently operate in market verticals," he said. "Yet most are already grappling with the reality that the product travels horizontally. In order to take advantage of this new data environment they're going to have to realign their processes."

Williams also noted a growing interest in scanning feature level material at 4K (considered to be film resolution) but says nobody is yet prepared to work at 4K.

"There's qualitative improvement in image quality with ingesting at 4K, down-resing to 2K and working in 2. That's a clear trend. From the perspective of finishing content at the feature level we are already sizing our infrastructure too," he said. "However, 4K is not an environment that is supportable currently on a commercial basis beyond the initial baby steps of ingesting."

In the meantime, Williams said Ascent has made a commitment to support technology evolution and keeps a keen eye on the activities of forward-thinking technology groups like the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers.

Before joining Ascent Media Group, Williams was president of Technicolor Digital Cinema after he held a senior executive position at Stan Lee Media. He previously spent 18 years in studio operations at Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment.