There's nothing like a curling up in front of the television for a great movie. But did you ever stop to think about where those movies come from? Well, if you're watching such cable channels as American Movie Classics or Bravo, those movies are coming to you not from glamorous, magical Hollywood — but from a bustling complex of buildings in Floral Park, New York — where movie magic comes to life with a little help from FileMaker Pro, the award-winning database software application from FileMaker Inc.!

Business Challenge

That bustling complex houses Rainbow Network Communications — a firm with an essential but little–known role in bringing you your evening's entertainment. While the programming itself is produced elsewhere, Rainbow Network is the place where it's actually put together — the individual programs, commercials, and features all arrive on professional–grade Beta video cassettes, and are then fed to the satellite system that in turn delivers the programming to your local cable company.

Documenting the flow of that program material is Frank Orlando's job. If it's time for a movie to air — that tape had better be in the right spot. If a cartoon or short subject is needed to fill time between features — a subject of exactly the right length needs to be found and scheduled. And there's no room for slip ups.

Successful Solution

Used to be, this documentation was done the analog way — with card files and loose leaf catalogs. It was slow, cumbersome, and prone to error — and as the operation grew, the system became unworkable. But FileMaker Pro has changed all that. 'We wouldn't be able to manage the networks without the databases to track everything,' says Frank. Program material can be indexed and cross–indexed by any category necessary — by genre, by title, by cast, by director, by release date, by production company, by running time. Or, by any other classification Frank can think of to improve the efficiency of the system. 'As we've identified problems with our information flow, we've been able to deal with them,' explains Frank. 'The best feature is that you can search any field or any combination of fields to find exactly the information you need — anytime — and you don't have to go through a lot of hoops to get it!' Frank can't begin to count up the dollars — or the hours — FileMaker has saved, but he's sure of one thing: 'It's been an incredible help!'

The best feature is that you can search any field or any combination of fields to find exactly the information you need — anytime — and you don't have to go through a lot of hoops to get it!

— Frank Orlando, Database Coordinator, Rainbow Network Communications