Specifications & Resources

MovieLabs and its member studios have published a white paper that lays out a bold vision for the future of media creation technology some 10 years into the future. We describe technological advances which will enable seismic changes in media workflows, and we propose ten foundational principles as keys to that future. We invite stakeholders across the industry to read the white paper and work with us to deliver on the future of media creation and continue to empower some of the world’s best storytellers and the entire creative community.

Protecting cloud production needs a new approach to security. This second white paper outlines the principles required to build a foundation of security for the 2030 Vision.

The proliferation of diverse devices and the advent of OTT have complicated the deployment of content protection. To give the industry a common target for implementing content protection for Ultra HD, MovieLabs developed with its members the MovieLabs Specification for Enhanced Content Protection (ECP). The specification includes best practices for digital rights management, platforms, and end-to-end systems. It covers a range of practices around cryptography, device binding, software diversity, title diversity, revocation & renewal, output & link protection, secure media pipeline, secure computation environment, hardware root of trust, watermarking, playback control, and certification.

To increase efficiency and reduce the costs of responding to copyright notices, MovieLabs created ACNS, an open-source specification for automation of notice handling.

For automation of digital workflows and supply chain efficiency, MovieLabs has created a suite of compatible standards and specifications. They cover core aspects of online distribution, including identification, metadata, avails, asset delivery, and reporting. Developed and delivered through industry collaboration, these standards and technologies enable automation, cost reduction, and improved consumer experiences across the industry. Collectively, we call these the MovieLabs Digital Distribution Framework (MDDF)

MDDF is based on a cohesive set of specifications that support business models and promote efficiency across interrelated entertainment workflows. The recommended standards and specifications cover:

• Identification of content using the Entertainment ID Registry (EIDR)
• Delivery of content metadata using Common Metadataand related standards such as Media Entertainment Core Metadata
• Delivery of availability metadata using EMA Avails
• Specifying asset delivery using Media Manifestand the Interoperable Master Format (IMF)
• Delivery of digital extras using CPE-Manifest
• Precise transaction reporting using EIDR roundtrips and the DEG Digital Sales Reporting Specification

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MovieLabs aggregated ratings information from ratings bodies around the world and created a centralized web resource for reference by content publishers and distributors, allowing automated retrieval of the most current ratings information to support metadata standardization across distribution work flows.

In 2013, MovieLabs led a cross-industry initiative to add High Dynamic Range and full color gamut to the Ultra HD/4K roadmap. The ask to the industry was captured in high-level specifications which defined the key features that the MovieLabs member studios wanted in the next generation of video formats.  This served as the basis for new standards and individual studio requirements for the distribution and protection of HDR and UltraHD content. MovieLabs continues to work on best practices for these technologies to enable their successful deployment to the consumer.

Our Cross-Platform Extras (CPE) specifications enable the standardized delivery of digital extras that enhance the user experience. We provide the Cross-Platform Extras Manifest (CPE-Manifest) specification as a means to communicate a user experience that includes main titles, bonus video, image galleries and other media. MovieLabs also provides best practices and tools for implementation of user experiences on devices and browsers, including Cross-Platform Extras HTML (CPE-HTML), which defines an API that supports HTML-based interactive user experience that can be executed across retailers.

MovieLabs has been a longtime advocate of providing consumers with easier cross-platform access to content and has assisted studios with the development of the UltraViolet and Movies Anywhere platforms.

To enable the development of more interoperable data systems and drive adoption of core data infrastructure, MovieLabs has published a Creative Works Ontology that provides a machine-to-machine framework for automating connections between the disparate data systems that populate the film and television world.

A standardized, non-confidential talent identifier would improve the creation and management of data on the key contributors to the creative assets of our industry. MovieLabs has published a white paper that discusses the need for such an identifier, lays out use cases, summarizes key requirements, and recommends a path to implementation.