PlayStream, a streaming media service provider, today announced that the American Film Institute (AFI) has relocated their Web and database systems to PlayStream?s new Seattle datacenter in a pilot program designed to integrate their Web and database systems with PlayStream?s streaming media and digital rights management services. The pilot program provides AFI with a foundation to soon roll out AFI film and video assets online as an additional service benefit for its members.
Benefits of the initiative include a private and secure partition within PlayStream?s network with which AFI may manage their data remotely. Also, dedicated Web and database systems allow them to implement custom applications that will integrate better into PlayStream?s streaming and digital rights management services. AFI will also enjoy use of partitioned section of PlayStream?s distributed storage area network complete with RAID redundancy, tape backup and off-site data protection services.
?By hosting their Web and database services at PlayStream, AFI will be able to leverage PlayStream?s talent and resources to accelerate their online initiatives in the growing digital arena,? says George Grubb, CEO for PlayStream. ?We believe this program will serve AFI in their leadership role in advancing and preserving the art of the moving image.?
?The ?virtual AFI? means providing services, benefits and information to AFI members and to millions of film-lovers world wide,? said Nick DeMartino, AFI Associate Director, Strategic Planning. ?This is only possible with the expertise of a company like PlayStream, an innovator and growing player in the online streaming and hosting world. AFI is very grateful to PlayStream for its leadership and support.?
Says James Mutton, PlayStream?s CTO, "We are excited to see AFI integrate their on-line application initiatives with PlayStream's robust content management and delivery platform. The integration of large scale media management and content delivery is opening new opportunities for AFI and we are eager to see those opportunities take shape."
About PlayStream
PlayStream empowers thousands of businesses and consumers worldwide with rich capabilities to manage and deliver audio, video, and multimedia content over the Internet. What is unique about PlayStream is that it integrates the Streaming Industry?s most popular formats with PlayStream's own proprietary technologies to provide PlayStream?s customers with a simple, yet powerful service that streamlines the delivery of media over the Web. Privately held, PlayStream maintains its main office in Seattle, WA. For more information, visit www.playstream.com.
About AFI
AFI is the preeminent organization dedicated to advancing and preserving the art of film, television and other forms of the moving image. AFI trains the next generation of filmmakers at its world-renowned Conservatory, provides film preservation leadership and explores new digital technologies in moviemaking. AFI's New Media Ventures programs bring together the creative and digital communities, as the department seeks to develop a literacy program for the 21st century, helping young people learn to read and write screens of all sizes-cinema, television, computer and the Internet. With AFI ON SCREEN, the institute is the largest nonprofit exhibitor in the US, with programs at the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival (AFI FEST); the AFI National Film Theater at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC; and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. A 49,000 square foot complex with three theatres?one historic, two new state-of-the-art stadium-style theatres?the AFI Silver exhibits film and video generally unavailable elsewhere in the region. AFI's annual almanac for the 21st century, AFI AWARDS, honors the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year. AFI's 100 Years . . . 100 Movies, 100 Stars, 100 Laughs, 100 Thrills, 100 Passions and 100 Heroes & Villains have ignited extraordinary public interest in classic American movies. During the past 31 years, AFI's Life Achievement Award has become the highest honor for a career in film. More information about AFI can be found by visiting its Web site, located at www.AFI.com.
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