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The language metadata table: Providing a single, unified language reference source for media and entertainment
Journal of Digital Media Management,
10
(4),
294-305
(2022)
Abstract
The Language Metadata Table (LMT) offers a single source of reference for language codes for use throughout the media and entertainment ecosystem. This paper explains how it came to be, and why it has been embraced so enthusiastically. The paper also discusses the role of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Professionals (SMPTE) as the standards body responsible for the provision of language codes adopted by the LMT. This is followed by a case study of how Paramount Global has leveraged the LMT to resolve its language needs following a series of mergers and acquisitions.
Keywords: language; metadata; media and entertainment; content distribution; terminology; localisation
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Yonah Levenson is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Digital Asset Management Certificate Program at Rutgers University, and Rutgers Professional Development Instructor of the Year for 2020–2021. She is also the founder and Co-Chair of the Language Metadata Table, an industry standard for language codes. Her previous positions include Vice President/Group Director of Information Services at Ad-ID, Manager of Metadata Strategy and Taxonomy Governance at WarnerMedia and HBO, and Senior Metadata Analyst at Pearson Education.
Bruce Devlin is Founder of Mr MXF and past Standards Vice President for the Society for Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE). Over the last 30 years, Bruce has designed everything from application-specific integrated circuits to algorithms, and has become well known in the media industry for his work on files and systems, particularly MXF and IMF. Bruce is an alumnus of Queens’ College Cambridge, fellow of the SMPTE as well as the recipient of SMPTE’s David Sarnoff Medal and the International Moving Image Society Achievement Award.
Eric Emeric is the Director of Metadata Management & Data Governance at Showtime Networks, where he leads all global metadata and data governance endeavours related to customer-facing data flows within enterprise systems, from inception to distribution. He has been a data professional for the last 23 years, establishing metadata best practices in the medical, legal and entertainment fields. Eric has a master of library science from Queens College in New York, and currently is a virtual volunteer for the Library of Congress.
Sarah Nix is Senior Director of Archives and Data Governance at Paramount Global, where she is responsible for a collection of over 2 million physical and digital assets as well as the metadata used to uniquely identify them. As part of her role, she sits on the board for EIDR, the universal identifier registry for movie and television assets. She is also the Co-Chair of Women+, which supports the strong community of women within the company. Sarah holds a BS in communications from Ithaca College’s Roy H. Park School of Communications, where she serves as on the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
