Rather than the traditional panel made up of security insiders from a variety of companies discussing a variety of topics, this year’s State of the Industry session took a slightly different approach. The audience, which outnumbered chairs, was treated to a more of a highly focused case study featuring three security and IT professionals from Paramount Pictures discussing the studio’s security overhaul to address a number of previous concerns.
Scott Phemister, Paramount’s executive director of Global Risk and Crisis Management, took the reins, walking attendees through the lot-centric approach to security the studio adopted previously to protect its 65-acre Hollywood property and the 150-plus buildings on that site. While Paramount’s perimeter security was top-notch, that approach left a lot to be desired. For example, it didn’t take into account the studio’s 25 off-site locations, special events and production and filming locations worldwide.