Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1122868
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 69 Can you briefly talk about the Post Partnership Program and what it means to Netflix? The Netflix Post Partnership Program (NP3) is an engagement program that showcases a roster of post-production partners supporting Netflix- commissioned workf lows. While there is no requirement for post-production finishing partners to be in the NP3, membership within denotes that a facility has had proper due diligence—including onboarding, infrastructure vetting, security review, testing, and training in Netflix workflows and applications. For the partners, this allows them the opportunity to gain a Netflix "badge" which displays they've been through the process and presents them with a central business point of contact to help provide information, access to engagement opportunities, and regular communication. Productions working on Netflix content are not required to use NP3s for finishing services, though this program helps to give visibility and recommendations on facilities. More information and details on how the NP3 program also supports other services such as language dubbing, audio description, and master QC, can be found at np3.netflixstudios.com. How much does Netflix feel drawn to conform to existing external broadcast and streaming technical specifications? We strongly value consistency across the industry and we conform to existing standards whenever possible. When we diverge from others, it's in pursuit of higher quality. We hope others will join us when our changes make sense for the broader industry as well. Could you briefly talk a little about how you come up with these specifications (case studies, internal research, industry feedback) and how you determine what will be a "best practice" and "technical specification"? The specifications evolve over the years in relation to the feedback we receive from creative partners. As new issues arise, we add to the language to prevent future problems and to maintain quality. For example, we didn't have detailed instructions on fold-down until we had stereo mixes on a few shows that were made wrong, harming the creative intent of the mixes. In my view, specifications should always be "must haves" rather than "would be nice." We must have peaks which don't exceed -2 dBFS, because some of our codecs are based on open standards and some decoders can create audible distortion if audio goes to 0. We must have a loudness standard so audio levels on the service will not vary too much from title to title. On the other hand, we make loudness range measurement optional. While managing dynamic range is essential to creating a great broadcast mix, we didn't feel another specification made sense here. We publish "Best Practices" sections as advice which crews should follow only if they find it useful. Creative freedom is one of our core values, so we try to only make specifications that are absolutely necessary. Finally, what would you describe as a mission statement for your technical specifications? Quality, Longevity, Authenticity. The specifications exist to help protect your creative vision at the best quality for as long as possible. • Creative freedom is one of our core values, so we try to only make specifications that are absolutely necessary. 1 Zac Epstein, "Netflix will release 62 new original shows and movies in May—here's the complete list", BGR. https://bgr.com/2019/04/25/netflix-may-2019-releases-list-all-original-shows-movies/ (Accessed April 27).