Randy Hudson President, Broadness, USA Founder and President, DVDA NYC Treasurer and Member of DVDA Board of Directors www.broadness.com  Randy Hudson "What would I change about it? I would have put the whole thing through a time machine, have everybody sit down and sort out five years ago some of the technical problems that everyone is dealing with today."
"We continue to look for ways to reduce the cost of operation while at the same time provide high quality service."
Fall 2004
DVDA (Bernie Mitchell, President): When and how did you get involved with DVD?
Tell us about your background.
Randy Hudson: I was involved with Optical Disc Replication and working for a company
that provided CD replication. DVD, the format, started to be formed and
I remember all the discussions with the competing formats; the high
density CD versus the DVD formats. We got involved, we did some early
industrial titles back in 1997 and 1998 and continued.
DVDA: Tell us about Broadness. What is your mission?
When was the company formed?
Randy: We formed Broadness in the early part of 2000 to work with digital
distribution media, including DVD and broadband media. We provide
audio/video digital media services that can include online services in
certain cases, but for the most part it is DVD, given the demand on the
technology. Ninety-five percent of our business is in DVD and DVD-relat-
ed technology.
DVDA: Who are your clients?
Randy: Major record labels, independent record labels, independent video content
producers, corporate clients, and marketing companies.
DVDA: Has the business been steady? Has it grown in a curve, or down cycle? Randy: Well, business has progressed in two ways, you know. DVD is being
embraced, yes, but there has been a lot of deflationary pressure put on
the price of services. It is no longer niche; it is rapidly becoming a com-
modity service business.
DVDA: How does a company like Broadness, which has some fairly
high-end capabilities, stay competitive?
Randy: By doing all the things any business would do. You always try to
keep your costs at the lowest. We continue to look for ways to
reduce the cost of operation while at the same time provide
high quality service. And in certain cases the clients can go a
long way in helping themselves. They can learn to do menu design or pro-
vide a lot of assets in a more prepared way, thus reducing the cost of the
overall project by reducing the scope of the project as it relates to the
work in our shop.
DVDA: Do you see growth for your business as you look forward?
Randy: Yes. The growth areas obviously are the publishing areas, where there is a
lot of information. DVD really allows you to put a lot of video and
video/ROM information all on the same format, which is fantastic. The
DVD ROM or the Video ROM hybrids and DVD marketing are where we
see a lot of potential for growth. There is a tremendous amount of mar-
keting promotion being done in DVD.
DVDA: What are the best and the worst DVD projects that you have been
involved with?
Randy: The best DVD jobs are the ones where the client has done his homework
and is involved and competent when it comes to his role in the produc-
tion of his project as relates to the shop. The worst projects are the ones
that involve those who are just not educated. Often the uneducated ask
for the impossible and don't even know they are doing it. Scope creep is
probably the worst thing that can happen in any job. You know,the client
starts handing you asset upon asset. "Oh,it's just,you know,what's
another 20 menus? What's another 30 menus? "Without understanding
the consequences of linking, cross-linking and the QC that goes along
with increasing the scope of the work or the complexity of the behavior
of the job. I would say that is the worst-case scenario.
DVDA: Let's shift gears then and go to the DVDA. When and why did you
become involved with the DVDA?
Randy: I've had very wonderful experiences both personally and professionally
with trade associations. On the optical disc side,I was involved with SIG-
CAT as a member, and one year we were a conference sponsor. I have
been involved with the recording academy, NARAS,the Grammys, AES,
New York New Media Association-there are wonderful benefits to be
had as part of a trade association, especially in very rich or deep media
production. SIGCAT was wonderful, it was always the group if you had a
question about CD-ROM publishing or a format issue, even down to what
media works best with which burner. All those bits of information are
priceless to the people who are working in the professional tier. When you
have to get the job done, and it has to go out right,it's got to go out
properly, you can count on these sources of information and resources at
the highest level. To me, the DVD Association was always the group if you had a question about CD-ROM publishing or a format issue, even down to what media works best with which burner. All those bits of information are priceless to the people who are working in the professional tier. When you have to get the job done,and it has to
go out right,it's got to go out properly, you can count on these sources of
information and resources at the highest level. To me the DVD
Association promises to have the same benefit if not greater for its mem-
bers,given the inherent multimedia nature of DVD and how rich the
design was for the media itself. Truly,it is more than win-win.I have
always felt that I have gotten more out of it than I have put in.
DVDA: Tell us about the New York chapter of the DVDA.
Randy: The New York chapter started with the first meeting at the end of 1999.
By the second chapter meeting, I was solidly hooked in there.I thought,
"Yes ,this is something that we want to participate in."
We originally were meeting at Zuma, Masterdisc,and a
lot of the other shops around town. We formed the
chapter based on outlines and guidelines from the DVDA
at the time. Aileen Stein, Blaine Grayboyes of Zuma, and
Ralph Goodman,who was director of DVD operations at
Masterdisc at the time, became the proposed officers of the group. And
then down the line we incorporated and formed a board here and now
we look forward to helping support the DVD Association any way we can.
DVDA: As the Chapter Development Chair on the Board of Directors for
the DVDA,what are your responsibilities? How does someone
get involved in starting a new chapter? What is the process?
Randy: My responsibilities are to continue to develop our chapter support
material in the form of a start-up kit that we distribute to any proposed
chapter-anybody willing to step up and help start a chapter.The
start-up kit includes all the guidelines and recommendations for starting
a chapter. It gives references to resources for those individuals who
are willing to help, including me and the rest of the board of the
DVD Association.
DVDA: If someone decides that they want to do that, how do they get
the kit? Do they contact you?
Randy: They can contact anyone on the DVD Association board, if you go to
www.dvda.org you can find a contact roster there. Any board member will
refer that information to me and then I will send a chapter kit out and
make sure that the person is edified and also make sure that we have our
support in chapter start-up.
DVDA: Are you seeing interest throughout the country for startups?
Are you sending kits out?
Randy: Yes. I think we have upwards of 20 potential local chapters. I think realisti-
cally by the end of this year we will see a solid 10 chapters, actively hold-
ing meetings in the United States.
DVDA: Where do you see the DVDA going? Where do you see the DVD
industry in the next 1 - 3 years?
Randy: Well, the DVD Association is a diverse group, almost like an umbrella
organization that can really hold a rather divergent organization that can
really hold a rather divergent group of interests, whether it be the new
"need to know" group or the hardware/software contingent or large
groups of end users including government. In terms of where that is all
leading, I think the synergies of having an association that can embody
all that,deal with content and technology issues, training issues, forms
a community.
A community of best practice issues, networking, business development
and business model analysis. Ralph LaBarge, a former board of directors
member, did a beautiful conference piece on DVD publishing that is very
informative. You've got the government agencies, where standards and
technologies happen, involved. You've got media testing and compatibility
issues that are huge, especially given the lack of low cost, media testing
tools that are available. To be able to have regularly published testing
analysis on media and recordable media technology is priceless.
DVDA: If someone were to wave a magic wand and give you ultimate
powers, what would be one thing that you would change about
the DVD industry?
Randy: What would I change about it? I would have put the whole thing through
a time machine, have everybody sit down and sort out some of the tech-
nical problems, five years ago, that everyone is dealing with today.
DVDA: That's my list of questions, do you have any closing thoughts
or words of wisdom that you want to give the readers of the
DVDA Newsletter?
Randy: I would say that everyone who is reading this should consider joining the
DVD Association as a member or a sponsor. And that,you know, I can give
testimony to the fact that investment of your participation is something
that is a great investment and to my experience has always brought me
more back than I have given.
DVDA: Thank you Randy Hudson and continued success for Broadness. Interview Conducted by: Bernie Mitchell, President, DVD Association
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