Before MediaLab, Post Castelijn worked with DVDs and couriers to collect and send casting videos. After every casting recording, the team manually burned DVDs and built custom folders in-house, finished with colors and the company logo. The process took up a lot of time and money.
The discs themselves were not always reliable. Sometimes they did not work on the DVD player of a director, or they got damaged during transport. Shipping by courier also introduced delays, and DVDs were sometimes lost altogether, adding to the time it took for a casting video to reach a client or colleague after recording.
Wanting to keep a copy of a disc added a further complication: it led to stacks of DVDs building up in Post Castelijn's own office.
"Before we had MediaLab, we worked with DVDs and couriers to collect and send casting videos. Of course, this process took up a lot of time and money. We manually had to burn DVDs after the casting recordings in the studio and custom folders with nice colors and our logo. However, sometimes these did not work on the DVD player of a director or they got damaged during transport." — Betty Post, Casting Director, Post Castelijn Casting
"In addition, it took a while for a casting video after recording to get to the client or a colleague to be viewed. There were often delays due to shipping by courier or DVDs were lost. Sometimes we also wanted to keep a copy of a DVD, which led to stacks of DVDs in our own office," continues Fay Muller, Casting Director at Post Castelijn Casting.
Working with DVDs has become a thing of the past with the introduction of MediaLab. Post Castelijn has been using MediaLab since the founding of the platform, integrated fully into their daily activities, and the casting agency was also able to indicate certain needs that were subsequently developed on the platform.
The platform removed the need for different tools to open different types of files, and the team found it very user-friendly. Each of Post Castelijn's independent casting directors can work on their own projects in their own spaces.
"A user-friendly media platform for easy sharing, receiving and viewing of videos." — Betty Post, Casting Director, Post Castelijn Casting
Send and receive media. Sending casting videos is easier and faster since Post Castelijn moved to a media management platform. A casting video is uploaded after recording into the correct folder of a project, and it is in the system.
"Uploading media onto the MediaLab platform goes so fast that almost immediately after a casting, when the actor just walked out of the door, I can send a share link to my colleague or to a director for review." — Fay Muller, Casting Director, Post Castelijn Casting
When a new actor registers and the team wants a video of a scene, Post Castelijn simply sends an upload invitation to that actor for a specific project folder. All other media on the platform stays out of view for the uploader, who can only upload their own video.
Review media. After a casting is shot, a share link goes out to watch the video without downloading anything. With the theatre view, a casting can be watched without saving anything to a laptop. Betty doesn't use the feedback option to comment on a casting, preferring to discuss casting face-to-face after watching, though she notes it is useful when going through a lot of short videos.
Fay also used the MediaLab app while on vacation in Italy, when a director asked for her opinion on a casting. She was able to view it easily in the app without downloading any video.
Media management. Group permissions on the platform matter to Post Castelijn because of the privacy of their actors. Every casting director and their team has their own folder permissions to work in, without access to other files, which keeps everything structured and easy to manage. As a result, there's no need to search for a specific casting, since it sits neatly in the folder of the assignment. Fay adds that the platform is very user-friendly and doesn't require technical skill to work with.
Protect media. Post Castelijn is trying out MediaLab's newest feature for extra security on shared media: watermarking. Sharing casting videos and other video files with a logo added as a watermark means the media stays branded when viewed or downloaded by others. The uploaded source file itself remains untouched by the watermark.
Top features for Post Castelijn:
- Share media without downloading (theater play)
- Upload invitation for actors
- Group permissions for teams to work in different folders
Casting videos now move from studio to client or colleague in the time it takes to upload a file, not the time it takes for a courier to complete a route. New actors can be invited to contribute directly, casting directors and their teams keep their own folder permissions, and reviewing a casting no longer requires downloading it, whether that's in the office or, as Fay found, on the road.
"It's an easy and quick way to send, receive and view audition videos and casting recordings. All teams can also work independently on the platform and each has its own folder environment." — Betty Post, Casting Director, Post Castelijn Casting