ACT Entertainment Partners with Just Industries to Distribute the.BRIDGE, an Innovative VPN Solution for Creative Collaboration

ACT Entertainment has announced that it has become the exclusive North American distributor of Just Industries’ the.BRIDGE, a unique implementation of VPN technology with plug-and-play hardware designed to power remote production workflows.

“We have worked with Just Industries’ founders in many other aspects of the business – they have many years of production expertise, which informs the development of the.BRIDGE,” says Doug Mekanik, Director of Sales for ACT Entertainment.  “It’s exciting to see them turn their energy to developing a tool for anyone requiring a collaborative workflow across multiple locations.  the.BRIDGE is a very creative solution for these tumultuous times.” 

Producers, production companies and other creatives have embraced remote workflows to tie together disparate locations, take advantage of a sun-never-sets work schedule and tap best-in-class craftspeople wherever they may be.  The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent increase in virtual production and use of emerging technologies such as Extended Reality (xR), have further accelerated the need for a seamless solution linking individuals and teams across the globe.

“the.BRIDGE is a totally seamless, plug-and-play system that meets the entertainment industry’s needs to bring together networks that are physically separated so they operate as if they are in the same room,” explains Ryan Hindinger, ACT’s Marketing Manager for Concert Touring and Live Events.  “Just Industries has taken what used to be a difficult and cumbersome way of networking systems in different locations and developed a magic box that manages everything for the customer.  the.BRIDGE represents a massive quality of life improvement for people who manage large networks with gear all over the world.  The last two years have only highlighted the power of a tool like this.”

Nick Fletcher, CEO and Co-founder of Just Industries, says, “We’re delighted to form this new partnership with ACT.  Our shared histories in live production aligns our values and ACTs well-earned reputation for providing the best support in the business makes this a natural partnership to support our offering at scale.      

“The underlying mission at Just is to connect people to who and what they need no matter where they happen to be,” Fletcher explains.  “Since we’re show professionals ourselves, we cater the user experience to collaboration when working under extremely stressful conditions.  We like to say: “with the.BRIDGE in every rack, you’re never alone.”

the.BRIDGE is securely encrypted, fast, and creates a transparent tunnel through the internet just for you. And, since the whole system is managed remotely, no on-site configuration is necessary. It supports a host of entertainment protocols for lighting networks, encoded streaming video and control data payloads.  ACT Entertainment will distribute the.BRIDGE plug-and-play hardware while Just Industries maintains management of the.BRIDGE’s cloud based management platform and underlying network.     .

“As the world gets back to work, we’re all thinking about new ways to work that require less travel, get things done faster,and offer access to resources we      never had before. Just Industries is creating the infrastructure for that to run on.” notes Fletcher.  “ACT is the gold standard in terms of product support which makes them the perfect partner to get the.BRIDGE out to the world while we focus on our core mission of making the product the best it can be.”