Distribution Operations Associate-Mastering

On any given day at Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology, we’re reimagining ways to create magical viewing experiences for the world’s most beloved stories while also transforming Disney’s media business for the future. Whether that’s evolving our streaming and digital products in new and immersive ways, powering worldwide advertising and distribution to maximize flexibility and efficiency, or delivering Disney’s unmatched entertainment and sports content, every day is a moment to make a difference to partners and to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

• Building the future of Disney’s media business: DE&E Technologists are designing and building the infrastructure that will power Disney’s media, advertising, and distribution businesses for years to come.
• Reach & Scale: The products and platforms this group builds and operates delight millions of consumers every minute of every day – from Disney+ and Hulu, to ABC News and Entertainment, to ESPN and ESPN+, and much more.
• Innovation: We develop and execute groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and enhance how audiences experience sports, entertainment & news.

Content Operations is ultimately responsible for successfully delivering Disney’s entertainment and sports content to millions of people every day. This involves developing, operating, and managing a global content supply chain – the myriad of steps involved from taking a finalized TV show/movie, or live piece of content, from inside Disney to audiences around the globe, in their preferred language and format. This team also manages technology operations in Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

The Distribution Operations Mastering department is responsible for the mastering of all titles produced by 20th Television, ABC Signature Studios, Freeform, FX Productions, Disney Branded Television, Hulu, and other production entities, including content acquired for Disney+ and Hotstar. The Distribution Operations Mastering department liaises with studios, production companies, post-production, third party audio and QC vendors to acquire, QC, prepare and transform both preliminary and final materials for localization, servicing, and global archival purposes. The Mastering department is the gateway between production and consumption of over 300 television series enjoyed by global audiences on multiple platforms including Disney+, Hulu, Hotstar, FX, ABC Network, Disney Channels, and Freeform.

Job Summary:

The Mastering Distribution Ops Associate must be technically knowledgeable and effective in gathering and understanding of business requirements, technical specifications, schedules and workflows. The Mastering Distribution Ops Associate coordinates with the post-production teams and third-party vendors to ensure timely, accurate, and efficient delivery; and “owns” the customer relationship between internal clients/stakeholders. In addition, the Mastering Distribution Ops Associate is a hospitality specialist who delivers excellent customer service by interacting comfortably with creative and executive team members. They must possess flexibility and creativity and be willing to assume challenges and increased responsibility, including handling routine matters in Manager’s absence as well as keeping an eye out for ways to improve workflows/increase efficiency, etc.

• Project Management:  Coordinate the day-to-day delivery priorities while also forecasting the optimal approach to maximize resources. Additional tasks include:
• Scheduling, status updates, reports, managing metrics, resolving issues, system status updates, billing, facilitate meetings and manage tracking and communication of assigned show schedule(s) and mastering progress across stakeholder groups.
• Assist in assigning day-to-day priorities of third-party vendors and assist them to ensure they are set up for success while performing their work.
• Client Services and partner management:  The building and fostering of relationships with our customers and partners – being a friendly and helpful person who is happy to serve our clients and facilitate smooth deliveries with our partners.
• Support management, partners and customers in understanding their Mastering Schedule needs and liaises with other departments and partners (i.e. Localization, Servicing, Global Content Ops, Studios, Total Quality Management, etc.) to ensure proper coordination and communication across teams.
• Maintain daily communication regarding the status of the work. Due to the nature of production and post-production, there is the need to proactively communicate how changing schedules impact work and timelines.  Data entry must be entered in a timely manner.
• Process Improvement & Innovation:  Identify opportunities to improve existing workflows/systems and understand new technologies that we can leverage to be the most effective, innovative, and secure facility in the industry.
• Work Order Creation:  The APM creates work orders and is responsible for accurate billing of services offered. He/she works together with clients to ensure that the proper time and facility rates are billed.
• Must be capable of solving a range of straightforward problems and analyzing possible solutions using standard procedures, while receiving a moderate level of guidance and direction.
• Must have an understanding of technical elements, creation, repairs, localization, updating & tracking of work orders & purchase orders, coordination of distribution logistics, use of technical materials library, and knowledge of the range of formats used within the organization.
• Must understand specific business processes and how those processes support the delivery of goods and services for mastering operations and business segment; Prior experience in a planning or scheduling function in either or all of a creative environment, manufacturing environment, or product development environment.
• Guarantee timely, high-quality execution across the supply chain and assists in creating detailed project plans to ensure deadlines are met and handoffs are successful. Create and maintain documentation including project plans, templates, and post-mortems.
• Must effectively solve problems and roadblocks as they occur while escalating when necessary.
• This position interacts with internal and external peers and/or managers to exchange semi-complex information related to assigned activities. Must be able to distill information accurately and convey it (verbally and/or written) to business partners and stakeholders. This role serves as key contact with project team members to help resolve project resource conflicts. Communicate both detailed and high-level progress to stakeholders.
• The role will perform extensive vendor & asset management and conduct research across all inventories, systems, and tools used for mastering operations.

Responsibilities and Duties of the Role:

• Vendor & Asset Management: reviewing QC reports and issues to ensure vendor and ensuring assets are delivered in on time to the right specification.
• Title Management: including associated mastering work orders, overseeing all communications about the title including reporting timelines, issues or escalations to management, keeping other teams updated on the status and entering data into TWC systems
• Managing vendor performance metrics including SLAs and timelines
• Managing relationship such as the third-party production partners or internal post production executive teams

Required Education, Experience/Skills/Training:

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience
• Minimum 3 years progressively complex digital media/content production and/or distribution experience at a Studio, Network, Streaming Platform, or Post House or related experience in the digital distribution space
• Intermediate Level Technical knowledge and understanding of video and audio file formats including Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, UHD, HDR, SDR and digital media codecs (eg. ProRes, IMF, MXF, XDCAM, etc)
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal are essential, as is the ability to advocate and negotiate diplomatically within a matrixed organization. Strong collaboration and interpersonal skills.
• Strong project management skills with ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously against short deadlines and minimal lead time. Must be an expert organizer with superb time management skills.
• 2 years experience reading and understanding video and audio QC reports and is capable of conveying issues to post production and technical teams to resolve a variety of issues at once; takes a new perspective on existing solutions. Works independently while receiving minimal guidance. Exercises judgment based on the analysis of multiple sources of information.
• Must be a master of workflow diplomacy; consistently auditing and analyzing localization and global launch plans and timelines against constantly evolving post production delivery schedules.
• Must understand television postproduction and delivery schedules.
• Metric, data analysis and financial acumen
• Must be able to create concise, executive-friendly presentations.
• Must have strong Microsoft Excel and Google Doc skills.
• Strong computer skills with Microsoft Office Suite, experience using MAC, PC, iOS, Android, Web based applications and services.
• Make decisions with help from manager

The hiring range for this position in California is $77,900 to $95,100 per year based on a 40 hour work week. The amount of hours scheduled per week may vary based on business needs. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.