Digital Signatures in the Entertainment Industry

Lights, Camera, Action!

The entertainment and media industry makes a substantial contribution to economies the world over. Consisting of cinema, television, music, publishing, radio shows, magazines, OTT, etc., this industry is a powerhouse of numerous financial deals, contracts, etc.

The U.S. media and entertainment industry contributes more than $717 billion to the economy.

However, everything has changed with the Covid-19 situation; different industries and companies have faced complex challenges to keep their businesses running while maintaining social distancing between their workers, vendors, and production staff. This has forced entertainment and media companies to alter their planning processes from short-term to long-term, considering how different the industry might look in the upcoming years.

Gradually, the necessity to deal with large amounts of paperwork within a specific duration has risen, too. As a result, media companies are looking for solutions and services that help them manage their paperwork, documentation, and other contractual elements effortlessly. This is where digital signatures are spreading their roots rapidly, enabling media houses to ease complicated processes with security and reduced TATs.

The United States passed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) in 2000, which states that e-signatures share the efficacy of ink or wet signature and are acceptable for documentation in every state of the U.S.

With digital signatures, businesses can remain productive while effectively cutting down paperwork-related costs. The use of online signatures for the media industry can prove remarkably useful. Let us look at some of the most significant benefits:

Cost Reduction

Whether you need to sign contracts or shoot approval documents, implementing e-signature software can substantially reduce your costs. You can limit expenses associated with ink, packaging, maintenance, and shipping and storage.

Smart Contract Execution

Awaiting approvals for agreements and contracts can take up a significant amount of time. Imagine waiting for approvals from your higher-ups when your crew is waiting to start production. Electronic signatures aim towards greater transparency and responsibility when it comes to sharing legal agreements and contracts. With digital signatures, media professionals can send documents to all the stakeholders or sign the received documents from anywhere, anytime. In addition, features like document fields and templates make this process extremely efficient and swift.

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Reduced Hassles

Instead of chaotic practices like printing, signing, and scanning, implementing an e-signature solution presents you with a much more manageable way to conduct your business. The production staff can use digital signature solutions for signing and receiving signatures in a matter of minutes, with little to no hassles of dealing with a string of documents.

Boosts Productivity

Using digital signatures, you eliminate the time spent on tedious, repetitive administrative tasks, allowing you more time to focus on the actual part of your business, creativity, and content creation that engages your audiences. For example, an agent of a leading actor can focus on choosing the best projects for their client instead of wasting time on getting contracts signed and storing them.

Saves Space

Most companies in the media and entertainment industry need a lot of additional space to physically store a large number of documents and boxes. The solution is to switch to E-signatures, which eliminates the need for physical paperwork and cuts down the need for unnecessary storage space. Electronic signatures allow users to securely store documents online on the cloud.

Quick Payouts

The media industry works under demanding schedules. A lot is happening simultaneously, and, as a result, crew members and vendors can face issues in their daily payouts. However, this problem can be entirely resolved by implementing digital signature solutions. Digital signatures can help streamline document-signing workflows with just a few clicks. Payment approvals and invoices can be signed quickly for remitting faster payments anywhere, at any time, from any device.

Minimum Risks

Using digital signatures means reducing risks. For example, entertainment businesses deal with confidential and sensitive data, making privacy and security a major concern. With e-signatures, documents can be handled securely using a robust encryption or coding algorithm that does not allow any third party to access the records without consent.

Using paper documents for high-value contracts can be risky as they are fragile and can be easily damaged or tampered with. Digital signatures, on the other hand, help by encrypting, storing, and securing the document.

Maintaining Documents

Digital signatures are convenient and easy for professionals – even those who aren’t tech-savvy. When signed, agreements, shoot approvals, or contracts remain saved securely in a digitized format. The signing process is intuitive and straightforward and makes the document easily accessible from any device across any location. In addition, documents or agreements can be verified effortlessly in a matter of minutes.

Conclusion:

The media and entertainment industry is on an exciting growth path and is expected to grow further in the coming years. Considering the massive number of contracts and legal agreements that come with its management, it can be inferred that the industry needs help in that department. Additionally, as the competition in the media and entertainment businesses rises, the need for efficiency becomes essential in order to stay ahead. Digitization and new technology is the best way forward.

Using digital signatures, the entertainment industry and media professionals can count on huge benefits across an array of instances such as service agreements, actor agreements, casting contracts, location rentals, invoices, equipment rentals, etc. So, if you work in the media industry, it is time for you to look closely and see how electronic signatures can transform your business.

Exela’s DrySign is a user-friendly solution that is the right choice for professionals in this industry. Create smooth, hassle-free, and paperless document-signing experiences for your clients and employees with DrySign. Want to know more about DrySign? Click here.

Sources: www.clio.com | www.forbes.com | www.vault.com

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