The Fierce Video editorial team is proud to present its second annual Emerging Leaders Awards, recognizing the brightest young professionals rising up the ranks of the streaming TV industry. Throughout the months of May and June we’ll be featuring these profiles with each of our finalists. We will announce the winners during our StreamTV Show with an awards ceremony June 17 at 3:15 p.m. ET. Not yet registered for the StreamTV Show, running June 15-17? Be sure to register now and save your spot at this free virtual event!
Jack Hurley/Cinedigm:
As director of content and technical operations, Jack Hurley oversees the digital supply chain for TVOD, SVOD, AVOD and FAST OTT for Cinedigm’s film and television content. Jack maintains and develops new workflows and technical partnerships to bolster Cinedigm’s ability to automate and scale content ingest and distribution to meet customer demand.
What his colleagues are saying:
“Over the last few years, I have seen Jack's role and importance to the company continue to grow. For several years now he has continued to excel in his ability to juggle the demands of a growing department in an industry that continues to rapidly evolve. It is through Jack's extensive expertise in video streaming technology and his ability to adapt quickly to changing demands that has allowed him to lead with such great success.” - Tony Huidor, senior vice president of product and technology at Cinedigm
“Jack Hurley is an invaluable resource and an established leader both within and outside our business unit. Possessing strong abilities to multitask and juggle multiple deadlines Jack diligently shepherds each project to successful conclusion. Our operations run efficiently and smoothly due to Jack’s tireless supervision. - Kali Turja, executive director of digital sales at Cinedigm
Streaming Industry Q&A:
What streaming services do you subscribe to?
Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Funimation and Disney+
Describe your biggest career highlight so far.
Amidst the global pandemic, Cinedigm increased the amount of FAST linear feeds we deployed and managed by around 150% by establishing smarter more automated workflows surrounding content ingest and delivery. The result is we now operate and manage 16 linear feeds concurrently, distributed across best-in-breed connected TV and device manufacturers (Roku, Samsung, Vizio) and linear platforms.
What has been your biggest career learning experience?
Biggest is a tough question, but would certainly say the most recent challenge I've had to navigate as a department head is hiring and training employees fully remote without ever meeting them in person, most on the other side of the country relative to me. The challenge to overcome is ensuring that they are learning and retaining information effectively despite not having the full immersion of an office setting. The experience has taught me how to be a more patient and attentive manager and has had me critically re-thinking our training processes which in turn has led to a massive improvement in them.
What's next for you in terms of new challenges in streaming TV?
Content, content, content. It's the name of the game for anyone in this space and we are no exception. To meet the growing need for more content for viewers to consume across our growing portfolio of FAST channels I will continue to discover and integrate new technology to continue to help us automate our supply chain.