Trusted Partner Network president Terri Davies talks to TVBEurope about the importance of collaboration and certification in ensuring security in the media industry
By Jenny Priestley
Published: September 24, 2024 Updated: September 25, 2024
Trusted Partner Network president Terri Davies talks to TVBEurope about the importance of collaboration and certification in ensuring security in the media industry
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
The Trusted Partner Network (TPN) is a global security initiative, launched by the Motion Picture Association in 2018.
The aim of the organisation is to help vendors and film studios establish a single benchmark for security in various contexts and at various points in the content pipeline, including on-premise.
Before TPN was launched, vendors were often subject to multiple security audits when working with just one studio. As each vendor would often work with more than one studio, that meant lots of paperwork. TPN created a single benchmark built upon MPA best practices and its own questionnaire.
The needle, of course, went over the record when Covid happened, because all of the sites that had been assessed shut down and everybody moved to the cloud, explains TPN president Terri Davies. And really, because the best practices in TPN hadn't included software and applications at that time, the studios had no choice but to go back to the old ways and create their own application and cloud assessments, and therefore the industry became fragmented again.
Davies joined TPN in February 2022 and was tasked with refreshing the programme, reducing the best practices from 365 to around 65. In February 2023, TPN relaunched to include software applications and the cloud.
Coincidentally, in my old job, I had just been through a TPN assessment, so I experienced it firsthand, and it was painful. It was 450+ questions and not super comprehensive either. It took the 365 best practices and set a questionnaire on top, Davies continues, because, frankly, back in 2018 there was no budget, it was a group of well-intentioned people just wanting to follow progress over perfection and help.
Davies admits that the cloud does make things more complex compared to possible physical weaknesses such as doors and windows, but she believes security in the cloud is possible if just a bit more complicated.
TPN used to be very flat, very simple. It was vendor A in Barcelona, here's the site assessment for that Barcelona building, she explains. As we thought about bringing in software applications, which are mostly in the cloud these days, it suddenly made it much more matrixed.
Now, if a technology vendor completes the TPN assessment, any post or VFX house that uses that technology will automatically inherit the TPN assessment. Studios can then see the full technology stack and the fact that the post or VFX house is responsibly sourcing their technology partners.
TPN is not a pass or a fail, adds Davies, first of all, for antitrust reasons, but also because we've got all eight big studios, plus BBC, Canal Plus and Sky Studios now using the data, and they all have very different risk profiles. We provide information from which they make their own independent risk-based decisions. We also don't use the word certify, because that implies pass or fail.
At the time of our interview, TPN had awarded 637 gold shields. The process includes both the Q&A and an assessor who audits the company against their answers. They may have some remediation items and we may require them to update their remediation plan, she continues. Then they get the gold shield which is really an indication to content providers that the vendor is someone they should come and look at.
Our companies are struggling, and we need to find ways to help them, continues Davies. We understand that money is difficult at the moment but any company can come and sign up on our platform, TPN Plus, create an account, create their profile, answer the TPN questionnaire, which we give a Blue Shield for, see where they're compliant with the best practices and they don't have to pay us a penny.
Looking ahead, education and training will be a big focus for TPN in 2025 and even possible expansion into the music industry. We're seeing a lot of crossover with vendors in the gaming business and the music business, as well as the media, movie and TV business, so I think that's probably a natural extension for us, concludes Davies.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
12/06/2026
Meet The Grumpy Onion Ireland's newest online sensation, all he wants is to ...
12/06/2026
RT stays Up All Night with brand new daily 2026 FIFA World Cup Vodcast
Adding to the fun around 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, RT has launched a brand new d...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
Trusted Partner Network president Terri Davies talks to TVBEurope about the importance of collaboration and certification in ensuring security in the media industry
