The Sony hack proved that Hollywood is not immune from cyber thieves.
That’s a lesson “Games of Thrones” producer Greg Spence is taking to heart as the show’s fifth season premieres next Sunday.
{mosads}Spence, the head of post-production for the hit HBO series, said he fears his digital files could fall into the wrong hands and go viral, revealing crucial plot spoilers.
“The cast is looping all over the world, sending files back and forth. Artists are working in special-effects houses all over the world. The files are watermarked, and editors have to confirm in writing that they’ve deleted them,” Spence said in an interview with the Denver Post, his hometown paper.
Spence is in charge of the show’s editing, music, special effects, color and sound, the paper reported, which makes his work especially vulnerable to digital pitfalls.
All it would take is for an employee to take the wrong device home or slip a proprietary file to a friend for the show’s secrecy to unravel.
“Games of Thrones” is the most successful HBO series ever, drawing a total of nearly 19 million viewers during Season 4. The show costs a reported $6 million to $10 million per episode, and is known for both its digital effects and major characters’ unexpected deaths.
Viewers are hungry for details about season 5, particularly because it is expected to surpass the narrative timeline established by the original book series on which “Game of Thrones” is based.
Spence did not describe the cybersecurity measures the show uses to protect its data.