Prague-based authoring and production facility Brickbox Digital Media has acquired what it describes as a significant stake in International Digital Management (IDM), based in Los Angeles and Sofia, Bulgaria, with sales offices in London. Brickbox has been expanding its global reach with offices in the United Kingdom, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, where it acquired authoring house Media Vision in February.

IDM’s ten-year history supplying digital services to the majors was seen to complement Brickbox’s leading position as a provider of services to the independent film, music and publishing sector. IDM’s LA office (pictured) opened in 2009 to bridge production aspects such as encoding and project management that should be undertaken in US with the onward cost-efficiency savings of its East European facility.

While both companies will continue to operate under their existing structures, many elements of the supply chain services will benefit from their joint collaborations. The combined entities will have a presence in seven territories, making it one of Europe’s largest groups in this sector.

IDM’s focus, says the company, is to remain innovative by driving efficiencies through its digital supply chain which includes digital cinema, compression and authoring services for packaged media and VOD and online innovations to support these formats. “Co‐developing key digital technologies and enhancing client services will deliver greater efficiencies which we can pass onto our clients,” says IDM’s Sofia GM Mihail Markov.

Brickbox provides the range of services covering the entire product lifecycle – from content management through digital services (including digital cinema), to the production of optical media, distribution, repackaging and recycling.

Story filed 22.04.10