Post production behemoth Ascent Media has announced that it will simplify its structure into two global operating divisions – Creative Services and Network Services – and streamline the management team.
AMG, which owns top London post production facilities including Rushes, St. Anne’s Post and Todd AO, also announced the departure of CEO, Ken Williams, and CTO, Gavin Schutz. Day-to-day management of the company and execution of AMG’s global strategy will now be the responsibility of AMG’s management committee. This committee is composed of Scott Davis, president network services; Robert Solomon, president creative services; George Platisa, chief financial officer; and William Niles, general counsel. The AMG management committee reports directly to Bill Fitzgerald, who continues in his position as AMG’s Chairman.
AMG has stated that this restructuring will have minimal effect on the employees of the individual facilities or the Network Services business units. Senior facility staff will continue in their current roles ‘with increased focus on customer service and integration of their facilities into the global AMG family’.
AMG’s UK Creative Services facilities will become part of the global Creative Services division. Solomon said: “We are particularly excited about fully integrating our UK-based companies into our palette of creative options. The Creative Services division will now be able to mobilise and customise an international array of talent and facilities to fully service the growing global needs of our customers.”
AMG will also consolidate its global Media Management Services unit into the Creative Services and Network Services divisions along customer and service lines. This acknowledges the fundamental changes occurring in the process of creating and managing entertainment content on a global level. Solomon added: “With the collapsing release windows our customers are looking to achieve, the creative workflow needs to incorporate many concurrent processes in order for projects to open simultaneously, on multiple distribution platforms, all around the world.”
AMG’s Networks Division will continue to operate as a global organisation that provides outsourced solutions for media management, content distribution, and connectivity. Systems integration and consulting capabilities round out the division’s service offering. Said Scott Davis: “This reorganization will allow us to further integrate a range of media management services with the next-generation content distribution platforms we are implementing for our customers. As our customers prepare to take advantage of these new distribution opportunities for their content, our comprehensive file based capabilities should prove essential to their strategies. These systems allow them to readily adapt programming for local markets and to quickly re-purpose material for new distribution channels such as mobile and IPTV.”
