Europacorp taps IBM Aspera for fast, secure collaboration and distribution of major films

ARMONK, NY - 23 Jun 2016: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that EuropaCorp, a major film producer in France, is using IBM Aspera high-speed file transfer software throughout the production, editing and distribution of major motion pictures to speed collaboration and file exchange between offices and partners.

Founded by French filmmaker Luc Besson, EuropaCorp produces and distributes English and French-language feature films, including blockbuster franchises such as the Taken trilogy and the Transporter series.

The company is using Aspera Faspex™ to collaborate and exchange large files between its Paris headquarters, a satellite office in Los Angeles, and external vendors and film directors around the world. With an easy-to-use web interface and high-speed Aspera transport technology built-in, Faspex simplifies and accelerates the transfer of visual effects (VFX) materials, digital cinema packages (DCPs), trailers and other large media files and metadata on a daily basis, shortening end-to-end production schedules and improving collaboration between globally dispersed creative teams.

Today with the Aspera solution, EuropaCorp is able to send a DCP file (100 GB or more) from Paris to L.A. in two hours, a process that could take up to a week with traditional transfer protocols such as FTP.

“When we set out to find a transfer solution that could meet our requirements for speed and security, there were no comparable options – no one else can do what Aspera does,” said Agnès Berger Sébenne, head of postproduction at EuropaCorp. “Other options simply aren’t good enough.”

In addition, EuropaCorp leveraged Aspera to replace its traditional means of transporting the data across international borders. Up till now, the company often relied on overnight mail services or sending employees with the material to personally deliver the files, however both options carried significant risk of theft, loss or damage. With Faspex, all content is secured with encryption over the wire and at rest, and all security options can be preset and enforced through security policies.

“EuropaCorp required a fast, secure and dependable file transfer solution to shorten production schedules and keep valuable content safe from loss or theft, which can be very costly and damaging to the company’s revenues and brand,” said Bruce Brewer, European sales director at Aspera. “For EuropaCorp, Aspera was the obvious choice because of its unmatched speed, reliability and extensive security features that keep content safe throughout the transfer process.”