Profile - Stuart Green: Computer love at first sight for boss riding the digital wave

AS soon as a 13-year-old Stuart Green clapped eyes on the early computer in the corner of his classroom, he was hooked.

The Commodore Personal Electronic Transactor (PET) may have been a rudimentary machine, with just four kilobytes of memory, a 9-inch monochrome monitor and a cassette tape drive, but it was the dawn of a new era.

“As soon as I heard about computers I was really intrigued,” said Green. “My school got one. Whenever I could I was on it writing software.”

That fascination grew. He went on to study computer science and maths at university, gaining a PhD in computer science from the University of Bristol.

Green then co-founded a number of complex but practical technology start-ups, including LightWork Design, a 3D graphics business which helps create high-quality virtual models, and NavisWorks, a company which creates simulated walk-throughs of complex environments.

Now, about 30 years after he fell in love with the PET, Green is chief executive of a company at the forefront of how we consume digital media.

He was appointed CEO of Zoo Digital in February 2006 after a spell as its chief technical officer.

The Sheffield-based software firm works with companies ranging from Hollywood studios to computer giant Apple to devise ways of speeding up and improving the efficiency of publication of various types of media, from e-books to computer games and DVDs.

Working with studios including Warner Bros, Disney and Universal, its tools allow film studios to speed up production of DVD titles in various languages. They streamline and automate production, allowing for faster and cheaper production of titles – an attractive proposition in tough markets.

One of Zoo’s latest products for the music industry is its Interactive Content Editor. This allows record labels to efficiently create digital packages with additional features such as bonus tracks, interviews and videos.

“There was an element of (the music industry) being in denial about whether digital products would ever replace physical products,” said Green, referring to the peer-to-peer file-sharing revolution which took the music industry by surprise 10 years ago. “They thought that what people wanted was albums, but customers buy tracks, not albums.

“What happened was the world moved around them. The music publishers found it difficult to make that transition and were excluded. It would have been better to embrace that from the outset.”

Zoo is helping industries – from film and music to computer games and books – make that quantum leap. It hopes to appeal to companies which are faced with the competing challenges of piracy, dwindling physical sales and pressure to cut costs.

Its tools, based around the core principle of automating “re-purposing” of traditional media, without the need to laboriously edit each new title manually.

Zoo is also developing products for tablet devices – portable computers with touch screens and no physical keyboard. Its e-book builder aims to equip book publishers with the ability to turn their vast libraries of publications into readable digital versions.

But it’s about more than being just readable. “Publishers really care about the quality – they want to recreate that experience.”

The challenge, said Green, is not to compromise the quality of the original version. While plain text publications can easily be designed to digitally ‘flow’ simply by re-sizing text, recreating digital versions of illustrated books is far more complex, as often images and text are intrinsically linked. The plan is to re-purpose items including comics, travel guides and cookery books.

“It’s opened up a really interesting opportunity,” said Green. “Creating these kinds of books is technically quite challenging.

“Prior to us developing these solutions, for publishers to create e-versions of their books, they were required to outsource to production companies and graphic designers.

“It’s work that takes quite a bit of time and can be expensive. We’re building software that will do that job automatically. It’s almost a given that it will be less expensive.” Green does not claim Zoo’s new technology completely eradicates human intervention, such as proof reading. But he said the key is “intervening only when you need to”.

Zoo raised £1.7m through placing earlier this year to develop this technology, and plans to license out a version to publishers next year, targeting technology firms including Apple and Amazon.

“I don’t think anyone knows how big the opportunity is,” said Green. “What we believe is there’s a very significant proportion of titles which would require this treatment.”

Despite a flurry of companies leaving the Alternative Investment Market, Green, a 15 per cent shareholder in Zoo, insists it can achieve this growth on the stock market.

The company’s valuation can be “frustrating at times”, he admits. “As a small quoted company you’re vulnerable to small share trades having a disproportionate effect on the share price. Ultimately we believe being on AIM is the right place for us. It provides credibility and a means for valuation.”

Green, whose career has been shaped by the digital revolution, gains a valuable perspective on how different generations interact with technology through family. He’s a father of five, and his nine-year-old acts as his wife’s “remote desktop support” because “computers aren’t her thing”.

“It’s really intriguing seeing how they deal with technology and how that’s different to what I was brought up with,” said Green.

“It’s like the TV – you don’t think about it as part of technology. It’s second nature.

“With social networking and things like Facebook, my kids totally get it and it’s part of their culture. Seeing the pace at which that’s caught hold, it’s quite astonishing.

“The pace at which younger people can embrace these changes is completely different.”

But despite his passion for technology, Green still enjoys a few traditional pastimes – including playing the oboe in Sheffield’s Endcliffe Orchestra and playing music with his family. It’s something completely different and an escape. I’ve always been musical and all my kids are musical. It’s a bit like the Von Trapps – we play music together. My kids all play strings and my wife plays the violin.”

Does he ever find the relentless pace of technological change a bit overwhelming? Green grins and shakes his head.

“There’s not a week goes by that something new and interesting does not come out. Embracing change is one of the most difficult things for a business, but in a business like ours it’s just the name of the game.”

Stuart Green Factfile

Name: Stuart Green

Title: Chief executive, Zoo Digital

Date of birth: July 8, 1965

First job: Working with my brother as a joiner and carpenter

Favourite song: Anything by Sting

Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption

Favourite holiday: Tuscany, Italy

Car driven: Volvo XC90

Last book read: The Time Traveller’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

Spare time: Playing the oboe in Sheffield’s Endcliffe Orchestra and photography

Most proud of: My family and raising kids