TRW Forms Unit to Offer High-Speed Communications to Hollywood Firms

Defense company TRW Inc. on Tuesday raised the curtain on a new business venture in Hollywood, bringing its expertise in top-secret communications to movie making and television production.

TRW, known for high-tech electronics used in fighter jets, said it has formed a unit called Picture PipeLine to offer high-speed communications that enable directors in remote locations to work on film or videotape with editors and broadcasters in Los Angeles.

Warner Bros., a unit of entertainment giant Time Warner Inc., holds a small minority stake in Picture PipeLine, and its paramedic TV drama “Third Watch” has signed up as the company’s first client.

Using broadband connections and secure video streaming, Picture PipeLine promises to cut the time and costs involved in producing movies, TV shows, commercials and music videos.

“It adds efficiencies to their business . . . and when you talk about secure delivery of content, I can’t think of an industry that needs it more than entertainment,” said Charlie Mitchell, vice president of sales for Picture PipeLine.

For instance, a TV unit filming a segment of “Third Watch” in New York could send tape of daily shots directly to the studio in Burbank for the show’s producers to review the same day. The production unit normally would send the tape via overnight courier, and the producers would take a day to look it over and make suggestions.

Or, if a shooting unit in New York needed a guest star quickly and the producers did not have time to hold auditions, hire someone and send them to New York, the crew could set up a camera linked to the Burbank studio where casting directors could audition actors in New York.

Mitchell said the fee for the service depends on the client’s needs, but he’s been told that the cost of basic services for 90 days could equal one day of production costs for a film or TV show.

In a full-service package, Picture PipeLine would establish network connections, provide training and secure encryption of the data while it is in transit.

Other companies such as West Coast telecommunications provider Pacific Bell have offered similar links between Hollywood studios and producers and directors in the field, but Mitchell said none of those services offered as extensive a package as Picture PipeLine.

Mitchell said working with Warner Bros. to develop the system has given TRW insight into the needs of producers, directors and other creative professionals in the entertainment field. The subsidiary and its products stem from work TRW has performed on U.S. defense systems.

Cleveland-based TRW provides advanced-technology products and services for the global automotive, aerospace and information systems markets. It has extensive facilities in Redondo Beach.