Archion Technologies, a leader in intelligent, ultra high performance shared storage solutions for media workflows, announces the rapid growth and adoption of Archion's EditStor in Western Canada, highlighted by two leading media companies in that region – Fusion Cine, a top media and entertainment technology vendor, and Great Pacific Media, a leading producer of factual television content. Those companies have invested regularly in Archion's EditStor for large scale post-production and broadcast requirements involving high profile TV programming.
In great demand for its work with numerous episodic and reality television producers and production companies across Western Canada, Fusion Cine’s clients include Netflix, AMC, CTV, CBC, Showcase, Amazon and DirecTV. Recent such projects have included the Netflix series “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” and “Travelers,” to name some.
Mark Todorovic, the Post Division Manager for Fusion Cine, explains that his company not only sells post-production equipment like Archion’s EditStor, but also rents both post-production and camera equipment to the TV & Film industry in Vancouver. On the post side, Fusion Cine rents everything from a single Avid Media Composer on up to a full, turn-key editorial department, and can drop in a whole set up, including computers, servers, all editorial tech, storage, cabling, desks – the full deal, as well as 24/7 support. They can provide a full editorial package for any production. Fusion Cine is also the premiere reseller of RED Digital Cinema cameras in Western Canada, as well as a reseller of SONY Professional and Canon Cinema EOS gear.
Regarding Fusion Cine’s relationship with Archion, Todorovic says, “We have been selling and using Archion products for about the last 7 years now. Today, we regularly offer EditStor units to our diverse client base within the media and entertainment industry who use a variety of creative tools, ranging from Avid Media Composer to Adobe CC to DaVinci Resolve, RED, and more. Between our rentals and our sales, we’ve moved nearly a dozen EditStors units to our customers during the recent past.”
“The Archion EditStor is reliable, offers great value for the dollar when compared to Avid branded and other solutions, and delivers great collaborative benefits. Plus Archion offers excellent tech support. Our clients greatly appreciate Archion’s attention to their needs and are extremely pleased with the support they receive,” Todorovic concludes.
Among Fusion Cine’s clients is Vancouver-based Great Pacific Media (GPM), the leading – and busiest – producer of factual television content in Western Canada. GPM’s post production department, which employs between 60-65 people, is currently working on five HD TV shows. Those projects are: GPM’s flagship series “Highway Thru Hell,” currently in its sixth season; the second season of a sister show out of Ontario called “Heavy Rescue 401”; two home renovation shows – “Save My Reno” (shot in Toronto) and “Worst to First” (shot in Vancouver): and a fifth show entitled “Queen of the Oil Patch,” which will soon begin production in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Jason Mullen, Operations Manager with Vancouver’s Great Pacific Media, says, “I’ve been in my position about a year and have been dealing with Archion on a regular basis. During the few times we called in to customer support, I’ve always been able to get quick assistance from the support team at Archion – they are fantastic guys to deal with. I have to deal more often with a lot of technical issues with Avid and other manufacturers of hardware and post-production software, but the Archion guys are number one, hands down. They are amazing.”
Mullen explains that within GPM’s post department, comprised of 60-65 people, 47 of those people, all with Avid on their systems, are attached to the EditStor. These include 15 editors, writers, producers, show runners, and assistant editors. GPM also does all of its own online and coloring on-site. At present, GPM has four TV shows on one EditStor embellished with three chasses, giving the system 75 TB’s of storage.
“We rely a great deal on our EditStor. We’ve been pushing it pretty hard and we keep it pretty full,” Mullen continues. “We know that we can connect however many people we may need to connect at any given time. Troubleshooting is very easy, and Archion’s share connector software is very user- friendly. So far, it’s been very reliable for us during the past few years. We love that we can add additional storage to the chassis at any time – you don’t have to buy a whole new system. It’s plug and play, buy an additional chassis, and there it is. The Editor is definitely working great for what we are doing here. I would absolutely continue to use Archion products again in the future. “
Regarding GPM’s relationship with Fusion Cine, Mullen concludes, “Mark Todorovic is the most trusted guy in Vancouver when it comes to buying any technical post production gear. My relationship with him has existed for many years. He’s well trusted – everyone in Vancouver knows him and deals with him all the time. He’s a really great guy.”
Dan Stern, Archion’s VP Business Development, said, “Fusion Cine has been a great partner, and Mark is one of the most knowledgeable media production professionals in our industry. Archion works with many media production companies located across Canada, but we are especially proud to be working with both Fusion Cine and Great Pacific Media.”
About GREAT PACIFIC MEDIA
Great Pacific Media, the factual arm of Thunderbird, is a global leader and one of Canada’s leading factual TV producers. Their hit series “Highway Thru Hell” was commissioned by Discovery Canada and is seen in 170 countries. It is now in its sixth season.
Started by TV veterans Blair Reekie and Mark Miller, Great Pacific Media specializes in the development, production, co-production, and financing of factual, documentary, game show and reality television. Science programs produced by Great Pacific Media have won numerous Telly Awards and awards from groups such as the North American Association for Environmental Education, along with excellent reviews in a variety of journals.
Great Pacific Media was acquired in 2014 by the Thunderbird Group of companies to accelerate the growth of Thunderbird’s presence in the unscripted television space. The Thunderbird Group includes UK -based theatrical distributors Soda Pictures and Vancouver-based production companies Reunion Pictures and Atomic Cartoons. Please see: www.greatpacifictv.com
About FUSION CINE
Vancouver-based Fusion Cine was built upon the “fusion” of broadcast and professional video technology with cinematic creativity and vision. The company provides products, solutions and technical resources that enable and transform the way creative professionals gather, manage and communicate their vision.
Fusion Cine’s knowledgeable team of industry professionals ensures every angle of their customers’ experience has been customized to address their specific needs, from acquisition to post to data management and archiving.
If a creative professional shoots, produces or posts, Fusion Cine has the tools and technologies they need, along with the know-how and support to ensure the best possible content creation. Please see: https://fusioncine.com/
About ARCHION
Based in Los Angeles, CA, Archion Technologies is a global leader in intelligent, high performance shared storage solutions for media workflows, with an emphasis on 4K video storage specifically designed for the editorial, graphics, and other media workflows commonly used where creative storage systems are required for the broadcast, production, corporate, education, government, house of worship, and sports industries.
Founded by a team of post production, technology, and entertainment industry professionals in 1998, Archion has defined a new standard of performance, protection and affordability for shared storage solutions. Since its founding, the company’s storage technologies have been critical to the success of thousands of TV, film, commercial, documentary, and other content creation projects.
Archion’s storage systems are most often used by professionals integrating Avid, Apple, Adobe, Autodesk, Blackmagic Resolve, NewTek and other creative workflow tools. For more information, please visit: http://www.Archion.com
