Tape delay: Marty Schorr, founder of MSE Media Solutions, has turned video repair into a key component for a firm that recycles and resells used tapes. (Small Business).

A mid-December fire had swept through the offices of Stone Stanley Entertainment, producer of ABC's "Celebrity Mole Hawaii," the water all but destroying master tapes for the series and the rest of the firm's library.

"All of our masters were soaking and dirty to the point that, when you looked at them, you just knew they were unusable," said Heidi Friedman, Stone Stanley's executive vice president of production and finance.

Friedman contacted Marty Schorr, founder of MSE Media Solutions to try and restore the tapes. While the bulk of MSE's business is videotape evaluation, essentially taking used tapes and scrubbing them clean in preparation for resale, the technology has reached the point where a thriving sub-business is developing in tape restoration.

Within 12 hours of the fire, Schorr began working on the tapes, using cleaning solutions and techniques developed since he started the company in 1986.

MSE's staff restored the masters and ABC ran the show on schedule. Though neither party would disclose the fee for the "Mole" restoration, MSE's fees run from $7.50 per tape for a simple restoration to $2,000 each for a more complicated project.

"There are two great challenges in videotape restoration: timing and logistics," Schorr explained. "The sooner I am able to preserve and physically work on the media, the better the chances of success and cost containment. The greater challenge is having to work with new and unknown substances contaminating the tapes."

Getting In early

Though he confesses to being a video enthusiast ("I had the first videotape recorder and personal video camera on the block") Schorr didn't set out to make his avocation his life's work.

He began in the order department at Western Valve and Supply Co. in Vernon, selling piping products to the marine industry. In 1972, Schorr purchased a 25 percent stake in the company and three years later was named president.

He stayed until 1982, when he sold his interests to the other shareholders and, with partner David Gorton, formed Valley Video Center, a wholesale/retail pre-recorded tape business. The two started buying used tape from studios and production companies, selling the product in as-is condition to local evaluation--high-tech recycling--companies.

Schorr saw an opportunity to build the evaluation business, but when Gordon wanted to focus on tape sales, the partnership dissolved. In 1985 Schorr formed MSE, cashing in $100,000 to buy equipment and take 1,800 square feet of warehouse space in Norwalk.

Building on standard technology and processes, Schorr developed a 10-step process to produce used videotapes that sell for 40 to 50 percent less than new ones, with negligible loss of quality.

"There are, in my best estimation, hundreds of thousands of videotapes in storage in Hollywood that would be suitable for evaluation and re-use," Schorr said. That's in addition to the 3 million to 4 million videotapes used in production annually.

The rehabbed tapes are used for "b-rolls" (non-critical secondary footage), dailies, public service announcements and sub-masters can be easily redone if a problem is discovered.

"We didn't have any customers, so I just got started making calls," he said. Initially, it was slow going. "We had a flatbed truck and sometimes we'd only have one can of tape to deliver or pick up each day."

Today, the company runs two fully packed vans to production companies, studios and other clients from its 19,000-square-foot facility in Commerce. MSE had revenues last year of $3.1 million, up from the $2.8 million in 2001. About 60 percent of revenues are generated by tape evaluation, 35 percent from new tape sales and 5 percent from restoration.

Schorr's near-term goal is growing revenues by another 50 percent over the next three years, primarily on the evaluation business.

While the business was built on analog tape, Schorr said digital imaging plays an increasing role. 'We have made the transition from producing three different formats of analog recording tape to producing in 20 different formats, including 10 different digital tape formats," he said.

MSE has also moved beyond Hollywood, marketing its services to government, corporate and religious organizations.

"Marty's got people working for him, in the shop and even drivers, who've been working for him for 15 years or so," said Carl Erickson of Five Star Video, a Hollywood provider of sub-mastering, duplication and other video production services.

Erickson has been buying evaluated tapes from Schorr for 15 years. "He word is law, and that's unusual in this business. He'd make a statement and it would happen like he said. And he'll work with you--that's more important to me than anything," he said.

Friedman agrees. "A lot of businesses like his work 9 to 5, Monday through Friday," she said. 'We work 24t7 and he will, too. He. sets realistic goals for what he can accomplish and meets or exceeds them. It's unusual to find (a company) where nothing's a problem."

RELATED ARTICLE: PROFILE

MSE Media Solutions Inc.

Year Founded: 1986

Core Business: Videotape evaluation sales and service

Revenues in 2001: $2.8 million

Revenues in 2002: $3.1 million

Employees in 2001: 22

Employees in 2002: 23

Goal: 50 percent revenue growth in the next 3 years.

Driving Force: Evolving needs of the entertainment industry.