Zoo Digital Share Discussion Threads

[martina pescatore] 15/4/2020 13:59

Regarding the ZOOsubs ticker I have kept loose records over the last few months, trying to capture the number every Friday morning. Some Fridays were missed though.

Looking back to my data to October 2019, the weekly ave is in the 800k;

In November 2019 it is in the 900k;

In December 2019 it is closer to 650k;

In January 2020 it is again close to 650k;

In February 2020 it is close to 865k;

In March 2020 it was consistently in excess of 1M per week;

Over the last 5 weeks the blended average weekly rate is almost exactly 1.5M.

Hope this helps.

NIA and DYOR

[snoper] 15/4/2020 10:43

In the last week 2 new job openings have been listed in the mid-level dubbing management operations. They will be ao "managing a small but growing team". If I do a quick scan on "dubbing" of the 1,014 currently affiliated persons on Zoo's linkedin page, I can see a number of recently hired dubbing personnel (senior and mid level, in Q1 and April this year). Some earlier hires in the dubbing sphere of Zoo have some explicit mentions of their responsibilities including: "My team managed the communication for all European dubs to enable to timely launch of Disney+", "Supervise, manage and coordinate international dubbing and contact services process from start to finish for Disney + and other clients."

Another thing that struck me is the prior working experience Zoo's employees; they often have worked at Disney before. But we knew of the strong ties between Zoo and Disney already.

A small piece of the puzzle. DYOR.

[nicyts] 15/4/2020 10:01

Certainly speeding up. The issue is how dubbing is doing?Activity map is more active and impression is that they have taken on a number of dubbing director's. This is the area they have real competitive advantage because their system is set up for home working. If this area has had a similar increase then it would bode well.

[malandliz] 15/4/2020 09:49

Haven't got exact figures but just over half what it is now. They posted that they had achieved 300 million at the beginning of April 19 and the figure at 23/3 was around 344 mill.It's 5 mill up since then.

[tkamp] 15/4/2020 09:25

@Malandliz

How does that compare to average levels over the last 1-2 years?

[malandliz] 15/4/2020 09:09

Since the 23rd March trading statement the Zoo website counter is averaging 1.5 million subtitles a week.

[stellainvests1977] 09/4/2020 12:14

Disney + already racked up 50 million subscribers what impact for Zoo !!

[snoper] 08/4/2020 17:14

Great read:

hxxps://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/tech/a-game-changer-for-dubbing/5132588.article?utm_campaign=Dubbing&utm_content=125026100&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&hss_channel=lcp-125052

[snoper] 31/3/2020 15:02

https://slator.com/press-releases/interest-in-zoo-digitals-cloud-dubbing-service-surges-amid-lockdowns/

[amt] 31/3/2020 09:12

Good point tkamp, well made.

[tkamp] 31/3/2020 09:00

@amt

The big upside from Corona for Zoo could be that its cloud-dubbing solution gets more widespread adoption in the industry. That effect is potentially a WHOLE lot stronger than the adverse effects from production being stopped for a few weeks (or even months). When things normalize again (whenever that may be) the bull-case is that Zoo comes out much stronger as more clients have now tried their cloud-dubbing and find it a superior value proposition to traditional dubbing.

[johnma] 31/3/2020 08:52

Zoo is clearly leveraging its platform for home working in this instance.

[amt] 31/3/2020 08:41

Didn't even mention dubbing. So I think caution is needed.
I got the impression they would get through without more cash but not expecting any upside.

[amt] 31/3/2020 08:40

OK but in the trading statement they said
Regarding original content, the COVID-19 outbreak is impacting our customers, with new title production being significantly hampered due to restrictions on travel and group gatherings. However, the Company's strategy of delivering services through proprietary cloud-based software provides natural resilience in these circumstances; steps have already been taken for staff to work from home without any significant disruption to production, and our network of freelancers is largely unaffected.

[martina pescatore] 31/3/2020 08:20

Predictably, the latest news item on the Zoo website confirms the above.

I quote “... ZOO is experiencing a surge in demand for our cloud dubbing services as major Hollywood studios and global streaming services turn to a work-from-home dubbing industry amid the global COVID-19 outbreak.”

See the news item of 30 March 2020.

Another quote “... “We’re migrating projects to our proven network of distributed, approved home-recording locations without any detrimental impact to quality or security. With the media localization industry becoming more collaborative, we are also supporting our competitors to complete any in-progress projects for their customers.”

In response to the surge in demand, ZOO is rapidly recruiting dubbing directors, voice actors and script adaptors from across the industry to work on a freelance basis.”

Zoo technology appears to be in a sweet spot here and there is always a chance that once dubbing directors, actors and studios get used to the benefits of the cloud technology that many will not return to the former bricks and mortar studios(?).

NIA and DYOR

[nicyts] 27/3/2020 13:17

News section of zoo's website. Article on their home dubbing. Indicates they are assisting others . Looks as if there is general acceptance of the technology.

[snoper] 25/3/2020 22:32

Does anyone have access to this article?https://slator.com/financial-results/media-localization-zoo-sees-this-bright-spot-as-production-of-originals-slows/

[nicyts] 25/3/2020 11:25

If as I expect most dubbing studios are shut down then zoos home dubbing is the only game in town.They appear to be tooling up for this. See the adverts for voice actors and dubbing directors on their website.

[anothertim] 24/3/2020 10:59

Yes, but any benefit from increasing revenues at Netflix, or other OTT/VoD providers, will be a log way downstream and may evaporate before it gets to Zoo. If it's a long term increase in streaming then that may lead to more subscribers, therefore revenue and ultimately drive content production, but if when the Covid-19 crisis is over and levels drop back then there's no real improvement. I think you have to be really cautious when trying to infer benefits of service demand onto Zoo's bottom line.

Content generation is what drives Zoo forward, both from new releases (currently on hold but the impact on Zoo will be delayed as the existing new backlog works through) and from existing back catalogues as pointed out elsewhere on this thread.

I do wonder if the back catalogue is chargeable at the same as new content as this will indicate the value that the content creators place on the content and how valuable that revenue stream is to Zoo.

[cokehookerscars] 24/3/2020 07:59

Netflix lowering their streaming quality in order to keep up with increased demand !

[amt] 23/3/2020 17:00

In theory, but less work. Look at all the cancellations of films, TV shows etc. Better to stick with Bango and Boku on plays for people staying at home and using the Internet more. Both are already benefiting as was clear from recent statements.

[buffetteer] 23/3/2020 14:02

Should play right into their hands -what could be better ...forced to stay at home

[uknighted] 23/3/2020 13:03

“ The success in winning new long-term service contracts and building the necessary software integrations has meant that revenues for FY20 have been weighted to the second half, with H2 revenues of approximately $16m, up 12% on last year. This has also impacted short-term working capital and the year-end cash position is expected to be an overdraft of circa $1m, utilising a third of our facility. Shortly after the year end we expect this position to reverse as our customers, primarily major global media companies, settle their invoices and cash should exceed $2m. The Board does not anticipate a requirement for any additional working capital.”