Focussing on the media sector, the purpose of this business experiment is to use Grid technologies to support and optimise workflow in the Creative Industries - primarily in the area of movie post-production.
The process of film making is extremely complex, and usually involves many partners. Film segments move through various stages during this process (including shooting, scanning, grading and adding visual effects), often with different people  and companies being involved at each stage. The current workflow relies heavily on manual data-transfer and makes it difficult to obtain information on the progress of tasks. In particular, the location of film segments is seldom clear.
The outcome of the experiment will be FilmGrid, a Grid-based tool designed to improve film post-production workflow by enabling better management of the flow and availability of data.

While film technology is embracing the digital present, the process still follows a model suited to the analog past. We are taking the initial steps towards integrating digital film production and post-production. Our objectives are to:

1. Deliver a data transfer tool to provide the secure, reliable and timely transfer of digital assets required by the film industry.
2. Deliver a data management system to reduce the scope for confusion in the current manual process. This system will add transparent accountability for what film segments exist, what has been done to them and who has worked on them.

Together this data transfer tool and data management system make up FilmGrid. FilmGrid will be a proof-of-concept forming a basis for further work, rather than a complete and finished product.