In recent years there has been substantial discussion around the entertainment ecosystem of the need for a standardized, non-confidential talent identifier. Studios and talent agencies and organizations such as HITS, EIDR and MESA have led active dialogues on the topic. MovieLabs has participated in some of those explorations and is now publishing this white paper to advance the industry discussion with a recommended path to implementation. The paper discusses the need for a Talent ID, lays out the potential use cases for the industry, defines key requirements for building such a system, assesses the pros and cons of other ID systems, and proposes a model for building and deploying a new ID based on collaboration with existing efforts like the International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI), the Digital Object Identifier (DOI), and Entertainment ID Registry (EIDR).
Broad industry adoption of a new standard ID for people would deliver substantial benefits to the entertainment industry. It would decrease costs with reduced errors and increased efficiency, lower privacy and security risks, improve analytics, and facilitate new means of promoting and finding content. The industry has moved aggressively to adopt standard work identifiers and implement suites of automation initiatives around delivery of avails data, marketing metadata, package and manifest data, digital extras, etc. The industry is well-prepared to apply that knowledge and experience to the implementation of a standard Talent ID for people.
We look forward to deeper discussion of these issues with stakeholders across the ecosystem.
DOWNLOAD THE TALENT ID WHITE PAPER
