Studios' High-Tech Bookkeeper
Hollywood Software product used to reserve screens, track prints
| Vital Stats |
- Headquarters: Hollywood
- Founded: November 1996
- Management Team: David Gajda, CEO; Robert Jackovich, president; James Miller, CFO; Tiy Bowton, vp theatrical distribution applications
- Ownership: Private
- Investors: First funding round under way.
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By Michael Bitton
Hollywood Software seeks to improve the way Tinseltown distributes movies by way of new software that has been adopted by several major studios, including 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Artisan Entertainment and Lions Gate.
The company's TDS 2000 system interfaces with other entities, including Technicolor and Entertainment Data Inc. What Hollywood Software brings to the dance is one central application from which studios can book screens, track prints and get boxoffice results.
All 37,000 screens in the United States and Canada are in the TDS 2000 system, and the company said it will add screens worldwide by late next year.
Hollywood Software is run by CEO Dave Gajda out of a Hollywood office building that once served as a recording studio for Wolfman Jack.
A computer programmer and strategic planner by trade, Gajda said he decided to form a company after working as a technology consultant in the entertainment industry.
"Everywhere I worked, everyone had their own computer systems," Gajda said. "Everyone was so parochial."
It was the growing trend of digital filmmaking and the likelihood of digital distribution that led Gajda to launch his enterprise. But until digital distribution arrives, he's eagerly distributing conventional film.
About 30% of the movies distributed last year were booked using TDS 2000, Gajda said. He expects half the movies made next year to use the system.
The first film widely distributed using TDS 2000 was "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace." 20th Century Fox has used Hollywood Software's distribution solution to book every film it has made since March 1999, the studio's senior vp theatrical distribution Justin Yaros said.
"Before this, we had a 20-year-old mainframe computer system that functioned but was very manual," Yaros said.
Artisan was among the earliest adopters of TDS 2000, using the system first for Wes Craven's "Wishmaster."
"Dave Gajda has made it a lot easier for us to do what we do," said Steve Rothenberg, president of Artisan Releasing, the distribution arm of Artisan. "We've only got 19 people at Artisan Releasing, but with TDS 2000, we can get movies out with a fraction of the staff of a major studio."
Artisan will use TDS 2000 again this week to distribute "Dr. T and the Women" and in coming weeks to distribute "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2."
Rothenberg said he's particularly pleased that the system interfaces with Technicolor to track prints and with EDI to track boxoffice results.
"Twenty years ago, when I got my start in this business, I sat with a ledger book and called theaters from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. to record all those numbers," Rothenberg said. With TDS 2000, the data is downloaded automatically to his computer every Sunday night.
TDS 2000 is available in a traditional software package that loads onto the hard drives of computers as well as online as an application service provider accessed through Hollywood Software's business-to-business distribution Web site, TheatricalDistribution.com.
Gajda said the company has been profitable since its inception nearly four years ago and that it is looking for a first round of venture capital investment to pay for expansion plans.
For additional information, please contact Hollywood Software, Inc., 1604 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Suite 115, Hollywood, CA 90028. Phone: (323) 463-2144. FAX: (323) 463-1319. Email: info@hollywoodsoftware.com or david_gajda@hollywoodsoftware.com. Web sites: www.hollywoodsoftware.com, www.theatricaldistribution.com, and www.Rightsmart.com.
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