AAF Task Force Incorporates as AAF Association Inc. and Appoints Executive Director
Broad industry initiative becomes formal trade association

Atlanta, GA -- February 10, 2024 – Taking the final steps to becoming a formal trade association, the Advanced Authoring Format Task Force has incorporated as the AAF Association Inc. and appointed industry veteran Brad Gilmer as its Executive Director.

The AAF Board of Directors now includes representatives from many major players in the media industry, including David Dale of AVID, Andrew Oliphant of the BBC, Gordon Castle of CNN, Ian Gordon of Discreet Logic, Gavin Schutz of 4MC, Alain Legault of Matrox, Tom McMahon of Microsoft, Laurin Herr of Pinnacle, Jon Pannaman of Quantel, Peter Dare of Sony, Clyde Smith of Turner Entertainment Networks and Steve Long of the US National Imaging and Mapping Agency.

"The AAF Association presents a rare opportunity for vendors and users to work together to resolve a challenging problem in the production community," says AAF Association Executive Director Brad Gilmer. "Becoming a formal trade association will help ensure that we build on the enthusiasm being generated, and accomplish what we set out to do." "This is a follow-on to the work of the EBU/SMPTE Task Force which was concentrating on exchange of material in the digital environment." "We will work with due-process standards organizations such as the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers to standardize AAF in a public forum."

"The widespread adoption of digital technology has revolutionized the media industry, opening up new creative possibilities, along with huge increases in productivity," he notes. "But to realize the full benefits of digital technologies, the entire media industry must come together to create an effective standard for exchanging files and metadata between systems and between applications. This is what the AAF intends to accomplish."

Gavin Schutz, Chief Technical Officer and Executive Vice President of 4MC, a major production company says, "The development and deployment of cross platform authoring tools for enabling development of program content will be an important part of how the editorial and creative companies assemble material in the future." "The AAF will provide an open forum where the needs of users can be reconciled with manufacturing and standards development."

"Across CNN and Turner, the use of video servers, non-linear editing and media management systems are key part of the existing and changing infrastructure.," Says Gordon Castle, VP of R&D at CNN. "The AAF is an open environment where users and vendors can work together to develop and promote solutions that will benefit the industry as a whole."

About Brad Gilmer

AAF Association Executive Director Brad Gilmer has over 20 years of experience in broadcast operations and production. He is currently president of Gilmer & Associates, Inc., a consulting company that specializes in strategic business issues surrounding technology for rich media. Gilmer also chairs two committees of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

Gilmer was formerly Director of Engineering and Operations at Turner Broadcasting Systems in Atlanta. He writes a column for Broadcast Engineering magazine, and makes regular presentations at industry conventions such as NAB and IBC. Gilmer started his broadcasting career at CBS affiliate KGGM-TV in Albuquerque, NM and is graduated Summa Cum Laude from Georgia State University.

About the AAF

The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a multimedia file format that enables content creators to easily exchange digital media and metadata across platforms, and between systems and applications. The AAF simplifies project management, saves time, and preserves valuable metadata that was often lost when transferring media between applications in the past.

About the AAF Association Inc.

Founded in March 1998 and incorporated in February 2000, the AAF Association Inc. is a broadly-based trade association intended to promote the development and adoption of AAF technology throughout the media industry. With representatives from many major players in the industry, the AAF Association intends to help deliver the full benefits of digital media to content creators including film, television, and post-production professionals.