Cinedigm, an entertainment distributor and the largest aggregator of independent digital content worldwide, is now using Aspera’s (News - Alert) high-speed fasp technology for digital content deliveries to all of its partner distribution platforms, as well as to pull in content from independent film producers and studios.

As Cinedigm’s business grows, the company required a solution for retrieving more content from production companies and quickly disseminating it to distribution partners worldwide. Presented with full-length HD films, often uncompressed and in high-resolution formats, Cinedigm sought a transfer solution that could accommodate very large file sizes while maintaining speed, efficiency and security.

Shipping times previously took a minimum of 24 hours. Now, Cinedigm delivers media files ranging from 40 to 90 GB in just a few hours or less, which the company called “a stark improvement.”

Cinedigm adopted the Aspera Connect Server to enable content partners to deliver files directly to Cinedigm. Once content is received, it goes through a series of steps, including processing, transcoding and ingest before Cinedigm uploads the files to “workflow watch folders” for high-speed delivery to distribution channels. Partner distributors such as Netflix and Hulu (News - Alert) can use their own Aspera clients or the auto-installed Aspera Connect browser plug-in to download content.

Aspera is used by or affiliated with the back-end delivery systems of nearly every company that Cinedigm works with, it said, meaning that adopting Aspera has opened the door to an existing ecosystem of Aspera-based workflows, making transfers between partners and clients more seamless.

“Aspera is a trusted partner for the companies we work with,” said Ben Rothman, senior manager for digital distribution at Cinedigm. “With Aspera, we have confidence that our content will be delivered to our distribution partners in a consistent and timely manner.”

Internally, Cinedigm selected Aspera Point-to-Point to transfer feature-length films directly to its Tier 3 (News - Alert) mirror SAN storage facilities and to its sister office, enabling collaboration between cross-country team members.

“Tape-based distribution systems are widely being replaced by file-based systems in the media and entertainment industry, and to keep up with growing demands, content distributors like Cinedigm need a solution to move large volumes of digital content quickly and securely to partners located around the world,” said Richard Heitmann, vice president of marketing at Aspera, in a statement. “Aspera provides Cinedigm with the speed, reliability and scalability they can depend on so they can continue to dominate in the world of digital content distribution.”