The Role of Technology & AI in Media Creation. An Interview with Brian Meaney.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I first met Brian Meaney almost twenty years ago when he was part of the development team for Apple Final Cut Pro. While we didn’t meet often, every time we met I learned something valuable about the software and how it is developed. I found him one of the most forthcoming and informed product and UX designers at Apple.

Over ten years ago, Brian left Apple and, ultimately, joined Magic Leap as principal interaction designer and senior director of UX (User Experience) for all their apps.

Last month, he joined Alteon.io as their new Head of Product. I was offered the opportunity to interview Brian via email and I instantly said: “Yes!”

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Larry: Brian, by the time you left Apple, you’d taken Final Cut from newcomer to industry titan, co-authored dozens of patents and personally accepted the 2002 Emmy award on behalf of your entire Apple engineering team for Engineering, Science & Technology. What new mountains are there for you to climb?

Brian Meaney: From the beginning of my career, I have always focused on empowering creatives with the necessary tools to unlock their full potential. With Final Cut, our goal was to give independent creatives a competitive edge—the same aspiration that drives me at Alteon, where we are democratizing creative workflows with revolutionary tools.

Embracing new trends and technologies has always been a challenge, but it’s what makes our industry so exciting. You asked about “mountains”—I predict extended reality (XR) will profoundly transform the art of storytelling, and I’m excited to be a part of that shift.

Larry: What attracted you to Alteon.io?

Brian: Alteon is unique in the field, combining multiple single-purpose apps into a universal space. The cloud has always interested me, especially from a workflow perspective—how teams work together remotely unlike ever before. I’m well aware of how cumbersome it is to have to ship physical drives just to transfer files. Ultimately, what drew me to Alteon was their concise mission statement—to help content creators focus on creating—combined with their vast mandate to solve the industry’s problems, using technologies such as cloud computing, tiered storage, NLE integrations and artificial intelligence. We’ve seen the industry change so much in the last few decades, and are excited to prepare creators today for the way stories will be told tomorrow.

Larry: What are your responsibilities?

Brian: As Head of Product at Alteon, I help spearhead the company’s business direction and shape the platform itself. I guide the team in determining our product’s future development and help discern what initiatives are, or are not, aligned with our overall vision. My goal is to ensure that what we’re building meets the needs of our users and the creative community at large.

Larry: As Head of Product, what do you see as your challenges?

Brian: One of our primary challenges is deciding which opportunities to pursue. As a mid-sized startup with a solid product that’s been around for a year now, Alteon is at an inflection point, where we’re quickly gaining new users and media attention, and realizing we can grow in any number of directions. That said, we recognize the importance of maintaining a laser-sharp focus on our chosen endeavors. Our mission is fundamentally to develop workflows that enable creatives to harness their full potential—this is why we are prioritizing projects such as our mobile app, which launched for iPhone in March and iPad in June, so creators can upload and view media on various devices. We have also been intent on making the UX as smooth as possible, listening to user feedback and constantly making quality-of-life improvements that help creators focus on creating.

Larry: When I interviewed Alteon CEO Matt Cimaglia a few weeks ago, he emphasized the role that AI and machine learning play in their products. First, how do you define AI? And, second, how is it being used in Alteon’s products?

Brian: The term “AI” encompasses a wide range of definitions and nuances. At its core, AI is when machine-learning algorithms can analyze large data sets to automate tasks—a critical function for Alteon. Before the end of the year, we’ll be adding features such as facial recognition and speech-to-text transcription, as well as object recognition, so you can search with text to find certain shots or photographs stored in your Alteon account. Combined with searchable meta tags that our users can already add to media files and projects, this kind of automation will make asset management and organization significantly faster and cleaner.

Beyond that, we have a strategic, multi-year phased approach to integrate AI and ML deeper into the system. I can’t say too much, but our users will be able to work even faster and more seamlessly, while our platform optimizes their workflows, media management and industry network behind-the-scenes.

Larry: In the press release announcing your hiring, you wrote that Alteon’s goal is to “get the technology out of the way. Enhance your media to make you as efficient as possible. Creatives require complex systems beneath a simple, intuitive interface. Alteon is fundamentally redefining content creation.” What does this mean?

Brian: The creative industry is broken in many ways. Because it sits at the intersection of arts and technology, you face a dilemma: creatives are not usually technologists, and technologists are not always creative. Collaborating on a video requires logistical preparation, technological knowledge and a cohesive game-plan, all coordinated often remotely, and almost always on a tight budget. That results in ad hoc workflows comprising a clunky array of freemium tools.

We’ve built a tool that solves both ends of the equation: a comprehensive platform that doesn’t require an IT specialist to set up, that’s intuitive for everyday creators to understand, but with incredible under-the-hood power. We’re shifting the paradigm, working with outdated models due to a lack of new tech being available and affordable. That’s why we say we’re breaking down barriers—both technological and financial—and democratizing the industry.

Larry: It seems to me that AI is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it makes complex tasks easier, broadening the market. On the other hand, it makes the people who used to do those complex tasks less valuable. Personally, I think AI is going to cause a lot of job loss for people whose skills are no longer needed. What’s your perspective?

Brian: In the creative industry specifically, I believe roles will change more than they will disappear. Our CEO, Matt Cimaglia, wrote a great blog post on this subject a year ago, specifically about assistant editors. He discusses how algorithms can scan footage and apply meta tags automatically—once the domain of assistant editors. But, as he points out, we’ll always have assistant editors, even if their duties change. We’ve already witnessed that position evolve into more of a data-management role. This trajectory will likely continue.

Put another way: AI is a tool that creatives can, should and will use. It holds the potential to unlock new possibilities for individuals. AI can serve as a catalyst for exploring new techniques and applications that were previously uncharted territory. It empowers them with a creative edge, allowing for experimentation with different styles and enabling additional edits that may have been constrained by time limitations in the past. Ultimately, I believe that AI has the power to enhance content creation, leading to the production of higher-quality and more captivating experiences for viewers.

Larry: What role do ethics play in software development? There are issues with how large language models and other AI tools are trained. There are also issues with copyright ownership and the ease of creating deep fakes. Who is responsible for thinking about these things and what thought is Alteon giving to them?

Brian: At Alteon, we’re at the beginning of integrating AI into our workflows, but we understand what’s at stake and are closely observing and learning from the experiences of others in the industry.

One area of particular focus for me is copyright ownership, which is a significant concern for creatives. We understand the challenges that creators face, such as the misrepresentation of their work or the lack of appropriate financial and recognition credits.

Since creators are at the heart of Alteon, we have strategies in place to address these issues. One idea we’ve talked about publicly is integrating blockchain technology into Alteon, so every media asset has a clearly established provenance and ownership, similar to NFTs, but without the buzzy marketing. The technology behind the NFT boom was interesting, even if the medium as an artistic fad faded away.

Larry: What do you see as the biggest challenge of working with AI?

Brian: The biggest challenge for companies entering the AI space is the availability of large, accessible data sets. Thankfully, Alteon has that covered.

A challenge we’re tackling internally, from an end-user perspective, is achieving seamless integration. Throughout the evolution of this technology, even from its earliest days with tools like Clippy in Microsoft Word, we have witnessed how distracting and hindering it can be to the creative process. The trick is to strike a balance between a powerful tool and one that feels extraneous.

Larry: What do you see as the biggest benefit to working with AI?

Brian: One of the most exciting aspects of AI is its potential to truly empower creatives in their artistic pursuits. We’re already seeing this when tools like ChatGPT are democratizing the technology for everyone. By leveraging AI technology, we can automate repetitive and mundane tasks that often consume valuable time and energy, such as tagging assets and transcoding footage. This frees up creatives to focus on what truly matters—their artistic vision.

Larry: To wrap up, why should video creators consider using the tools that Alteon (and your team) create?

Brian: At Alteon, one of our biggest values is being adaptive to the industry. Many of our competitors have gotten too big, to the point that they’ve stopped innovating as rapidly; our advantage is our agility. That trend isn’t stopping any time soon. Our users continue to reap the benefits of our updates long after they sign up for the platform, and we make sure to always help them with the tools they need.

We keep hearing one thing from our users, over and over again, regardless of the size of their team: Alteon is helping creatives work faster. Whether it’s Ryan Serhant’s luxury real estate brand, which needed Alteon to handle an expanding workforce as they approach nearly a petabyte of media footage, or local, independent production companies, where the multitasking CEO was driving around for hours hand-delivering hard drives to clients and editors, Alteon is making a real difference. That’s something we’re incredibly proud of, and excited to continue.

Larry: Brian, it is always a pleasure to chat with you. Thanks for sharing your time!

Brian: Always a pleasure reconnecting with you as well—I’ve been fortunate to work at so many innovative companies, from Apple to Magic Leap and now Alteon, witnessing firsthand the creative industry’s evolution. I look forward to being a part of what comes next.

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