Kirsten Martin

As the Original Deliverables team leader and Paramount Archive Cloud Manager, I supervise the archival deliverables of new features and television series. I collaborate with Production Post, Post Vendors, Content Security, and the Archive to establish ideal archival processes.

My primary duties include supervising the delivery, metadata, and ingest processes for original content, overseeing the preservation and cataloging of assets in digital and physical media formats, and ensuring that they are accurately preserved for future non-theatrical sales and licenses.

I manage various assets, including Digital Source Masters, Domestic and Foreign Sound, Original Camera Files, Visual Effects, Picture and Sound Dailies, and Editorial Projects.

As the Cloud/Aspera Shares Manager for the Paramount Archive, I devise effective digital workflow strategies incorporating cloud and digital asset management solutions. I work closely with remote teams to ensure the smooth delivery of asset files to internal and external stakeholders.

Apart from helping manage data storage on the Cloud and on-prem, one of my primary focuses is to minimize physical media and its associated storage expenses. I have successfully achieved this goal since 2018, reducing physical media by 70%.

Additionally, I govern Paramount's Delivery Schedule documents for new features and TV, working closely with various departments within the studio, including Legal, Post Production, Editorial, Creative Content, Marketing, Music, Worldwide Localization, and Mastering. I ensure that asset requirements, technical specifications, and delivery guidelines are regularly updated.

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I played a crucial role in developing a new taxonomy and metadata schema for the Archival migration project at Paramount Pictures, which involved merging physical and digital databases into a single archival and distribution system, Alias. Our teams' efforts were recognized by the Journal of Digital Media Management, which published an article titled "One System to Rule Them All: The Story of Merging Two Inventory Management Systems," providing insights into the merging process (link: https://www.henrystewartpublications.com/jdmm/v8).
In addition, I developed a metadata ingest portal in Xytech that standardizes asset classification by establishing a harmonious taxonomy between digital and physical assets. This portal streamlines the cataloging process by eliminating irrelevant attributes and reducing cataloging errors. The ingest templates I created are mapped to a work order management system, reducing ingest time by 40%.
As part of my role, I oversaw significant inventory movement initiatives and collaborated with legal teams, studios, new rights holders, and vendors worldwide. I led the complete library movements for Marvel, DreamWorks Animation, and Miramax.
I was also responsible for overseeing and providing reports on yearly insurance coverage for over 3,000 Feature and Television titles at Paramount. This task involved determining specific insurance values while considering various factors, including rights, digital preservation, and geographic separation.

Between June 2006 and May 2011, I was Senior Audio Manager in the Worldwide Technical Operations Mastering department at Paramount Pictures. My key responsibilities included collaborating with various studio departments to ensure the timely creation and delivery of worldwide audio for new releases, catalog, acquisitions, and TV products. I also managed the scheduling and delivery of audio mixes for BD/DVD production, initiated and oversaw worldwide non-theatrical language dubbing for new release and catalog production, and helped supervise 5.1 Nearfield Printmaster, M&E, foreign language sound mixes, and audio restoration projects for catalog titles such as Godfather, Indiana Jones, and Beverly Hills Cops.

Previously, from January 2003 to June 2005, I worked as a Project Manager in the Worldwide DVD Production department at Paramount Pictures. In this role, I oversaw all aspects of DVD new releases and catalog features, trailers, and VAM content. This included ordering SD NTSC and PAL compression and work tape masters, coordinating foreign audio, full and forced subtitles conforms, and crafting menu chapter stops. I liaised between authoring/compression, mastering, subtitle, audio, menu, and QC companies.