TVB Europe 96 April 2023

Intelligence for the media & entertainment industry Democratising visual tools for all

APRIL

THE EVOLUTION OF CINEMATIC TV

HOW HIGH-END TV IS SETTING A NEW STANDARD FOR THE SMALL SCREEN

and media tech

Green machines

One of the things I love about editing TVBEurope is that I’m always learning new things. Whether that’s to do with the impact of cloud on the media industry, the ongoing adoption of IP or the growing influence of artificial intelligence, there’s always something new to catch my attention. Recently, I’ve been learning about Jevons paradox, which states that because an increase in efficiency results in decreasing costs, it ultimately results in increased resource usage. We can see this example in the use of cloud or even remote production, and it’s particularly notable in the industry’s attempts to become

Talking of NAB, as the show is celebrating its centenary this year we invited the media tech community to share pictures from across the decades with us. We were inundated. Thank you to everyone who went back through their archives to share some fun images. We’ve included as many as possible. If your image isn’t there, we’ll be publishing them all online soon.

Elsewhere in this issue, we take a look at the latest cameras and lenses being used on highend TV series. There’s such a boom in that area of the industry at the moment, which is resulting in some fantastic TV to keep viewers glued to their screens. Of course, any increase

FOLLOW US Twitter.com/TVBEUROPE / Facebook/TVBEUROPE

CONTENT

Editor: Jenny Priestley jenny.priestley@futurenet.com

Graphic Designer: Marc Miller

Managing Design Director: Nicole Cobban nicole.cobban@futurenet.com

Contributors: Kevin Emmott, Kevin Hilton, Farah Jifri Group Content Director, B2B: James McKeown james.mckeown@futurenet.com

MANAGEMENT

SVP Wealth, B2B and Events: Sarah Rees

UK CRO: Zack Sullivan

Commercial Director: Clare Dove

Head of Production US & UK: Mark Constance

Head of Design: Rodney Dive

ADVERTISING SALES

Account Manager: Sadie Thomas sadie.thomas@futurenet.com +44 (0)7752 462 168,

SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE

To subscribe, change your address, or check on your current account status, go to www.tvbeurope.com/subscribe ARCHIVES

Digital editions of the magazine are available to view on ISSUU. com Recent back issues of the printed edition may be available please contact customerservice@futurenet.com for more information.

LICENSING/REPRINTS/PERMISSIONS

TVBE is available for licensing. Contact the Licensing team to discuss partnership opportunities. Head of Print Licensing Rachel Shaw licensing@futurenet.com

more sustainable. As broadcasters and production companies adopt more sustainable technology in order to decrease their carbon footprints and costs, they end up using it more than ever. Is that a good thing? I leave that up to you to decide.

Sustainability is an ongoing discussion within the industry. Broadcasters want to be ‘net zero’ by 2023. In order to do that, they need support. We know that carbon-neutral targets are being written into production contracts now. But, it’s still taking its time to work downstream to technology vendors. Is it now time for them to step up and become more involved in the discussion? I know many are creating products that can be used remotely or are moving from hardware to virtualisation, but I think there’s still a big conversation to be had. I’m looking forward to hearing more about that at NAB.

in production, whether that be in drama, sport, news or whatever means more demand for staff within the sector. But more demand can mean more pressure, which is something that the Film and TV Charity has been focusing on over the last few years. It recently published the findings of its Looking Glass survey, a review of the state of mental health and wellbeing in the industry. We talk to the charity’s CEO Alex Pumfrey about the findings and where the industry goes next.

Mental health impacts everyone, no matter whether you’re working in live production, post, technology development or sales. It’s an incredibly important subject and one that I’m sure we’ll come back to in the future.

n

Sustainability is an ongoing discussion within the industry. Broadcasters want to be Net Zero by 2023. In order to do that, they need support.

JENNY PRIESTLEY, EDITOR JENNY.PRIESTLEY@FUTURENET.COM @JENNYPRIESTLEY

IN THIS ISSUE

APRIL 2023

06 Technologywon’tsolvethe environmentalcrisis, innovationwill

By Carys Taylor, director of albert

11 CreatingcinematicTV

High-end television has set a new standard for acting, writing, direction and technology on the small screen. And, as Kevin Hilton finds, it is not only restricted to drama

18 Remember when…

TVBEurope celebrates NAB Show’s centennial with a look back at some of the interesting events, guests and exhibitors who have attended the show over the years

22 Lessonslearnedthrough theLookingGlass

In February, the Film and Television Charity published the third edition of its Looking Glass survey, a review of the state of mental health and wellbeing in the film and television sectors. Kevin Emmott reports

30 Preservingthepast,present andfuture

Today’s multi-channel television world has produced an increased demand for programming, both new and old. As Kevin Hilton discovers, this has put even greater pressure on archives

34 Democratisinghigh-end visualtoolsforall

Unity Wētā Tools wants to make some of the solutions used on Oscar-winning film Avatar: The Way of Water available for all creatives, no matter their budget. Jenny Priestley finds out more

38 Sustainabilityandstudio production

As producers look to create content that is more sustainable, how can studio facilities help them reach those targets?

55 Youcan’twinsustainability

By Dom Robinson, founder, Greening of Streaming

Technology won’t solve the environmental crisis, innovation will

By Carys Taylor, director of albert

Most people understand by now that the solution to the environmental crisis isn’t just a technological one. Even if energy generation on Earth magically went zero-carbon overnight, there are still a whole series of interlocking economic, societal and behavioural practices that need to be rethought if we are going to steer the planet away from the abyss.

Still, if we don’t get the technology right there’s not much hope of solving all the other problems. And luckily, technology is where some of the fastest, easy wins are in creating a sustainable future.

BAFTA’s albert was first launched as a piece of tech. It was a carbon calculator, hatched in 2011 at the BBC. Soon after, it was given to BAFTA for general use by the film and TV industry and has since expanded to become the industry’s leading body for sustainable content production. We convene broadcasters and content creators across multiple working groups to create and publish best practices and to raise public awareness through relevant content, and our albert certification programme encourages sustainable practice across every type of production.

The albert certification process is infamously rigorous, with production managers working hard to ensure their submissions are accurate and thorough. Some companies are now in a regular groove of sustainable practice, while others are only just getting used to adopting new ways of doing things.

Decarbonisation and encouraging biodiversity are things no one is even close to doing perfectly and everybody is continuously learning from each other. But whether or not a production company gets fully paid for their content by a commissioner is often tied to a successful albert certification. Consequently, any technology that can give that company an edge in reducing its carbon footprint is going to be greeted with enthusiasm.

CREATIVE EFFICIENCIES

Technology – by definition – creates efficiencies, and through efficiencies it has the almost magical ability to create time. The arrival of the internal combustion engine meant you could take a train across the country in the same time it would take your grandparents to drive a cart to the ‘big city’, or it meant a single person could do more weaving in a day than their ancestors could do in a month.

Efficiencies – and the time benefits they create – are gold dust to producers looking to do more with less and reduce their impact on planet Earth. Virtual

production studios, leveraging LED or green screen tech, and distributed workflows seamlessly connecting multiple live production sites, are two notable areas that seem to promise dramatic reduction in carbon footprints and material waste.

When it comes to the environmental crisis, time is something that we are desperately short of. We use words like ‘crisis’ and ‘emergency’ when we talk about it. An emergency is a situation where you’ve run out of time, when you’ve lost the ability to choose, where circumstances are dictating your reactions. What the screen industries need now are technologies that bring more efficiencies than ever before, that can allow us to create content consuming far less energy and far fewer resources; and far less time.

JEVONS PARADOX

Again, technology alone won’t solve the environmental crisis. In fact, technology without smart stewardship and cooperative planning will probably just make it worse.

In 1865, Victorian economist William Stanley Jevons outlined a principle that has become known as Jevons paradox. The principle underlines the fatal flaw in efficiency for efficiency’s sake. In his studies of the coal industry of the time, Jevons observed that greater efficiency in the use of coal didn’t lead to less coal consumption, it actually led to an increase in coal consumption. Jevons paradox is now a widely studied phenomenon which illustrates that efficiencies can enable greater craving for the very things they’re trying to conserve. Snack makers know this when they make something ‘bite-size’.

The extra resource and efficiency produced by technology is often automatically reinvested into the same workflows it came out of. The results are that instead of lightening the workload on your existing crew, you have the capacity to bring in even more crew to do even more work; instead of having to do something in the studio, you can now afford to do it on location; instead of three projects a year, you can now throw yourself into six.

The first impulse we have when efficiencies arrive is to do more. Instead, we should take that extra resource and think about how to do better, and smarter. The next generation of content production isn’t about more of the same, it’s about creating something brand new. Technology alone won’t solve the environmental crisis. But technology combined with wise planning and cooperative effort just might. n

Why the media industry needs more energy-efficient streaming strategies

By Damien Sterkers, video solutions marketing director at Broadpeak

In European countries, the carbon footprint generated by the digital industry is significant, estimated to be around three per cent of the globe’s overall carbon footprint. While video streaming only represents a small part of the digital industry footprint today, research shows that data usage from video sites increased by 24 per cent in 2022, and that video accounted for 65 per cent of all internet traffic last year, which might translate into a higher proportion in the future.

To avoid this situation, increasing energy consumption efficiency must be a top priority in the video streaming world.

WHY MORE SUSTAINABLE STREAMING MATTERS

Data consumption is growing exponentially. For ISPs, it is critical to make sure that the extra capacity required in the future doesn’t turn into an equivalent increase in hardware equipment. Furthermore, if ISPs want to follow IPCC and ITU recommendations for energy efficiency, they need to not only stabilise but dramatically reduce the quantity of equipment they’re using as they increase overall capacity. While this feat is achievable, it will require the various actors involved in the distribution of streaming services to invest in efficiency and optimisation technologies.

One step ISPs can take now to ensure sustainable streaming is to obtain more abundant, accurate, and standardised measurements from the field. This will enable them to see precisely how much energy savings they are realising or whether they’re using too much energy.

In addition, there’s an opportunity for ISPs to improve sustainability when streaming live events. Live events, such as sports, are increasingly consumed via OTT rather than through traditional media such as terrestrial broadcast or cable. These events generate huge peaks of traffic on the networks and are dimensioning its maximum capacity, requiring more equipment to be deployed for short periods of time. It is critical that ISPs work on reducing these peaks to limit the need for additional equipment.

The majority of increased network traffic today comes from video. ISPs have been optimising the delivery of their own video services for years; however, the enhancements they’re using don’t usually apply to external traffic and, in particular, to the exploding traffic coming from successful streaming platforms. There is a giant opportunity to save on network infrastructure by allowing content providers to use these optimisations in their network and thus save on the network’s carbon footprint.

By working together with content providers, ISPs can make energy-

efficient streaming a reality. The best way to ensure collaboration between content providers and ISPs is to develop tools and practices to make their interactions as simple and scalable as possible.

BENEFITS OF OPEN CACHING AND MULTICAST ABR TECHNOLOGIES

Several technologies are driving forward sustainable streaming and simplifying the relationship between content providers and ISPs. For example, SVTA Open Caching is an interoperable caching system that unites content caching across content delivery networks (CDNs), ISPs, and content owners. With SVTA Open Caching, ISPs can pull video content from local caches to reduce traffic across the network and ensure better streaming quality. This avoids the multiplication of third-party CDN caches inside the ISP networks.

By caching content as close as possible to end-users, ISPs can significantly improve streaming quality. With edge caching, content is streamed from a server even closer than a PoP, reducing further congestion risks along the delivery chain.

Another innovative technology that ISPs can use within their network to improve sustainability is multicast ABR, which offers a radically efficient approach for streaming live events, allowing millions of users to be served by a single delivery stream. With multicast ABR, ISPs can eliminate the peaks of traffic that would have been generated otherwise.

The partnership between Italian telco operator TIM and OTT sports streaming service DAZN is an excellent example of how popular content can efficiently be streamed to a large audience. Through multicast ABR, DAZN can offer a superior quality of experience to its audience, without any impact on the network. Multicast ABR provides DAZN with significant savings in terms of reducing the amount of deployed equipment for live streaming and therefore decreasing its energy consumption and carbon footprint.

CONCLUSION

Given the explosion in video streaming traffic, and peaks of traffic from live events, the carbon footprint of delivery networks is growing. By creating more accurate, standardised methods for measuring their carbon footprints, working with content providers, and employing network optimisation technologies such as edge caching and multicast ABR, ISPs can be champions for sustainable streaming while maintaining an outstanding quality of experience for end users. n

How cloud and remote production can aid sustainability

By Eric Bolten, vice president business development, Zixi

When it comes to implementing sustainability, the first wave of major changes made in the industry have been fairly easy to quantify. These have been the macro changes, the ones that are easy to measure and easy to visualise, such as a reduction in the number of trucks and personnel sent to major sporting events. The point that we are reaching now is the next phase of the sustainability initiative, which is looking at the detail of the production pipelines and how we can make further inroads into carbon emissions above and beyond such obvious savings of people and fuel consumption.

As well as the obvious desire for meeting sustainability targets, the two different phases have one other major driver as well: the economic advantages that adopting sustainable practices brings to production. This is very much what ‘sealed the deal’ on the carbon savings realised during the initial Covid lockdown and the forced adoption of remote production models that evolved as a result.

Data collected by the albert sustainability project suggested that the average emissions per hour for the events and OB sector fell by 66 per cent from the pre-Covid era to the lockdown peak, mainly due to a decrease in travel and accommodation emissions as the industry pivoted to deploy remote workflows. Suddenly, minimal crews were being sent to venues and all the production equipment that could be collated into centralised hubs, from switchers to slomo, was either taken out of the trucks or the trucks were just parked back at base and kept there.

While there was a definite investment in new equipment to make this happen, the ongoing running costs were so reduced that it is hard to think of any productions that have gone back to utilising legacy workflows. And from there the two goals of increased sustainability and reduced costs have pretty much moved forward hand in hand.

On the production level this has led to almost everything being under the microscope, such as the large and obvious changes that can be made with the introduction of electric vehicles and the choice of biodiesel and hydrogen-powered generators, extending all the way down to the more micro-level issues like plant-based catering and the provision of water to crews on site. Can we drop a few cameras or move from manned to the new generation of PTZ units that can

be controlled remotely? Can we run those production hubs 24/7 and start to bid on contracts from outside our base time zone?

This gives us insight into the next wave of sustainability gains that will come from work being done based on connectivity, transmission and a movement into the cloud. One of the big costs of production control rooms has always been keeping them on 24/7 regardless of whether any work is done in them to mitigate against a potential failure to boot up. Moving to virtualised workflows in the cloud means that this is no longer the case. It’s not even a matter of just externalising the carbon costs either, as an increasing number of data centres switch to renewables and work relentlessly to bring down energy expenditure.

We’re working hard at this at Zixi. Several years ago it was common to provide a data throughput of 100 Mbps per computer core, but we’ve undertaken some engineering innovation to take this up to 1 Gbps in the latest version of the Zixi software.

The step changes are amazing and while the CPUs are being driven harder, the increased energy expenditure is more than offset by the increased throughput. People are also starting to lean toward the cloud more and trust its abilities. We have seen as many as four different signal paths being used to guarantee redundancy in the cloud, whereas traditional broadcast was typically content with just two; a fibre link with a satellite back-up, for instance. As productions become used to reliable cloud operations, that same more constrained dual diversity will start to be more typical in the cloud as well as further cutting costs and energy use.

And it’s here where we can link it all back to the economic argument that cemented sustainable practices in remote production. Recent industry data from the DPP has suggested that while sustainability is still a target for many companies, its implementation will be driven by ROI. If it delivers economic benefits to an organisation it will be actioned; in the current economic climate at least, if it doesn’t, it won’t.

In many ways, that means that the new sustainability officer in any company is now the de facto CFO. The good news there is that initiatives such as our work with CPU throughput and people rearchitecting cloud workflows for greater efficiency ticks both boxes, allowing them to save costs and be greener at the same time. n

ICYMI

TVBEurope’s website includes exclusive news, features and information about our industry. Here are some featured articles from the last few weeks…

CASE STUDY: CREATING THE BEAUTY AND HORROR OF ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

To

EBU SELLS EUROVISION SERVICES TO DUBAG GROUP

The European Broadcasting Union has sold its media services provider Eurovision Services to German private equity company DUBAG Group. Eurovision Services works with sports federations, right holders and media companies around the world and has a presence in North America, Europe, Middle East and Asia. n

https://bit.ly/42jNyiV

M*A*S*H RETURNS, THANKS TO CHATGPT

Editor

led to creating a film that is as authentic and realistic as possible. n

https://bit.ly/3yM5PYD

Alan Alda has used artificial intelligence to write a new scene for iconic TV series M*A*S*H 40 years after the show ended. As part of his podcast Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda, the actor reunited with co-star Mike Farrell to perform a scene between their characters Hawkeye and BJ, which was written by artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT. n

https://bit.ly/3ToXQds

PROOF-OF-CONCEPT DEMONSTRATES NEXT-GEN CLOUD TECHNOLOGIES FOR LIVE BROADCAST WORKFLOWS

#IWD2023: CELEBRATING THE WOMEN WHO INSPIRE US

M2A Media, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Videon, Singular.live, TAG Video Systems and Spalk have come together for a first-of-itskind, multi-vendor proof of concept demonstrating how next-generation hybrid cloud technologies are pushing the boundaries of traditional live broadcast workflows. n

https://bit.ly/42lnZOB

https://bit.ly/3JRwXMs

Sven Budelmann discusses his work on the BAFTA-winning drama, and how his close collaboration with director Edward Berger

mark International Women’s Day 2023, TVBEurope celebrated the women who inspire others in the media tech industry. We invited members of the

industry to tell us about the women who inspire them, whether they work in media tech or not. n

CREATING CINEMATIC TV

High-end television has set a new standard for acting, writing, direction and technology on the small screen. And, as Kevin Hilton finds, it is not only restricted to drama but is taking in sports broadcasting, live entertainment and natural history as well

When it came to acting talent, budgets, technology and overall spectacle, television used to languish in the shadow of cinema. That has all changed, with the relatively new genre of HETV (high-end TV) pulling in big name stars and featuring the latest technical advances in cameras, lenses, visual effects and hardware to produce that cinematic look.

Small-screen hits such as The Crown, His Dark Materials, Slow Horses and Ted Lasso all have the highest possible production values. This turnaround has been led by the streaming platforms, with Netflix and Amazon Prime initially forging the way in differentiating themselves from linear channels with technologies such as 4K and Dolby Atmos.

As John Sorapure, one of the two directors of photography on Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, says, cinematic styles and equipment have been used for some time on HETV production, but it is now increasing. “That’s due to both the availability of high resolution digital systems, with filmic or vintage lenses, and the demands of streaming services such as Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime, which are competing fiercely for audiences,” he comments. “There’s also a drive to differentiate shows by the way they look, so cinematographers are encouraged to take a less conventional approach to a project.”

Ted Lasso is shot on ARRI Alexa Mini LF (large format) cameras, which were selected by Sorapure and follow cinematographer David Rom to produce a shallow depth of field – particularly associated with cinema – while filming close and wide to the subject. Sorapure and Rom devised a look for the show’s first season that has carried through to the recently released season three.

The Mandalorian is regarded as a benchmark for visual effects in both TV drama and feature films

Ted Lasso is among the TV shows where cinema styles and equipment are now being used

“Apart from knowing we were working on a two-camera, high-end comedy-drama for Apple, we were given a fairly free rein and shot camera/lens/LUT [Lookup Tables, which determine specific colour settings] tests to show the producers for sign-off,” Sorapure explains. “We wanted to create something cinematic that had licence for dramatic range betweens scenes. Although there were some small tweaks along the way, I think these early decisions served the three seasons pretty well.” Cameras for Ted Lasso were supplied by the UK branch of ARRI

Rental, which has worked on many prestige TV dramas in recent years, including The White Lotus and 1899. The latter production was shot by DP Nikolaus Summerer using ALFA anamorphic lenses. This lens series was originally developed in conjunction with DP Greig Fraser for The Batman, with Summerer also providing input while preparing for 1899 “Between those two we came up with the optical recipe for the lens,” says Andrew Prior, head of camera technology and development at ARRI Rental UK.

Netflix’s 1899 was shot using ALFA anamorphic lenses

House of the Dragon employed a CODEX Vault XL storage system

The technological cross-pollination between cinema and HETV productions illustrates how the small screen is continuing to not only borrow technologies from its big screen rival but play an active part in developing them. This applies to the workflow, with full production chains from the on-set camera to either the post production facility or the cloud now used routinely for HETV productions. One such is Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, which employs a CODEX Vault XL storage system to hold the vast amount of image data captured on an ARRI Alexa 65 (the digital equivalent of cinema 65mm wide film stock), plus Mini LFs.

DP Fabian Wagner chose the ALEXA 65 to both show off the “beautifully designed big sets” and exploit depth of field to “dig into the shadows” for closeups. On-set colourist and DIT (digital image technician) Ian Marrs adds that one day’s shooting from the 65 and Mini LFs produces “easily more data than we used to shoot in a week” (on Thrones). While the earlier series depended on previous physical media, including memory cards, House of the Dragon works with Vault Sled transfer drives, which are sent to a processing lab with its own Vault XL.

TV drama production relied predominantly on videotape from the 1960s onwards, but there are precedents for the medium to use film. In the UK this can be seen in the cult ‘70s crime show The Sweeney, shot on 16mm. More recently, the last run of ITV’s quirky comedy drama Doc Martin was also shot on 16mm. Film is more commonly used for US episodics, with Succession, Euphoria and Westworld all shot on Kodak 35mm stock.

Something else being used to great advantage for HETV is virtual production, with The Mandalorian regarded as a benchmark for visual effects in both TV drama and feature films. Sony is offering its own version of what Industrial Light & Magic and Epic Games devised for the Star Wars spin-off, with TV a target market. “Broadcast is using LED walls and virtual techniques, with two cameras set for higher frame rates,” comments Will Newman, business development manager for cinematography at Sony Europe. He adds that this enables a green screen set-up where everyone can see what is being projected, with the ability to produce specific reflections and light effects.

Moving camera support rigs are a key part of virtual production for simulating natural movement and dynamism. “There is a look and a standard that has been set, which no longer allows a divide between blockbuster releases and the streaming providers,” says Callum Cameron, VFX and motion control producer with Mark Roberts Motion Control. “In turn, this has increased the demands for high-end film cameras and lenses to be used alongside specialised equipment such as virtual production and camera robotics or motion control.”

Remotely controlled camera supports also play a major role in other areas of HETV, predominantly sport but also live entertainment shows. The AGITO motorised dolly produced by Motion Impossible has featured as part of coverage of the Grammy and BRIT awards, various sporting events and wildlife documentaries. “It’s being used wherever people want to have camera movement, with high production values that fit their budget,” explains chief executive and founder Rob Drewett. “We’re able to offer different types of shot compared to older movement systems. It’s an interesting proposition for the broadcast world, which is now looking at using Super 35mm [S35] cameras, instead of two-thirds sensor models, for a more cinematic look.”

This filmic style is now more prevalent in TV sports broadcasting, with cine lenses and higher-end cameras providing ‘beauty shots’ in addition to the main action. “Cinematic TV is bigger business than episodic TV,” comments Carey Duffy, director of product experience at Cooke Optics. “Digital has allowed an immediacy, so you can shoot live in the OB truck.”

Another leading lens manufacturer, Fujifilm, is targeting this burgeoning market with the newly released Fujinon HZK 25-1000 cinematic box lens. While looking like a standard TV systems camera lens, it produces a filmic look, with the ability to support both S35 and large format type 3 sensors. Smaller format cine-style cameras are also being specified for live sport, with Sony’s FX3 full frame S35 compact model providing crowd shots during coverage of last year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

With bigger TV screens and higher image resolutions already in the homes, viewers are ready for the new generation of high production value broadcasting. And with the latest camera, lens, hardware and virtual technology now being used to produce a wide range of programming, the ‘small screen’ seems destined to get bigger. n

Succession was shot on Kodak 35mm stock

SUSTAINABILITY AND LIVE PRODUCTION

Outside broadcasts have been at the forefront of broadcasters’ attempts to lower their carbon footprint. Remote production is helping to reduce the number of OB trucks and staff sent around the world to cover major events. TVBEurope hears from three leading outside broadcast companies, EMG, NEP Broadcast Services, and Timeline Television about how they’re working with broadcasters towards ‘net zero’

WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM CLIENTS IN TERMS OF THEIR SUSTAINABILITY DEMANDS?

Rohan Mitchell (RM), group ESG director, EMG: We are working closely with all our clients to align our mutual sustainability goals. Most of our UK clients report their productions to the BAFTA albert sustainable production/carbon neutral production certification. We’re able to support these applications by supplying EMG’s emissions data on a per-job basis, should this be required. In terms of new trends, we’re seeing a push for improved qualitative data for scope 3 emissions in productions (crew travel/hotels) which we are fully supportive of.

Simon Moorhead (SM), managing director, NEP

Broadcast Services: Our clients are focused on their ESG responsibilities and sustainability goals. Whilst we have found that this has been an increased focus over the last few years, we’ve been working with our clients for many years to anticipate sustainability needs and to become a more eco-conscious business. Carbon neutrality is a key component to this. Many clients have set targets to hit net zero by 2030, including their supply chain. We have always aligned on these goals with

our clients, as our involvement supporting their live productions will impact their overall targets and sustainable impact.

Clients are very interested in understanding more about our own roadmap to become a carbon-neutral business, as well as our initiatives and ways in which we are continuing to reduce our carbon footprint. Our regular dialogue is focused on how we have been reducing our footprint in deploying our outside broadcast (OB) services, including our fleet of tractor units and trailers; the laden weight, agility, and power source in delivering ‘on-premises’ content capture; and how we implement carbon reduction measures on site.

Simon Littler (SL), director, Stratford division, Timeline Television: It is quite a mixed message but overall there is a clear ambition across the industry to improve sustainability in every aspect. We find the larger organisations have more specific goals that they wish to pass down the supply chain. It is now quite normal for broadcaster RFPs to include a mandatory requirement for a sustainability policy and additional proof of addressing these issues such as albert certification. Often, if the contract is more than one season/series there is also a commitment sought to measurable improvement over the life of the contract. The same is the case for the large indies that are actively passing on rights holder and broadcaster sustainability requirements.

For the smaller independent productions, it is not surprisingly less likely to be high on their agenda of formal requirements, but I have not talked to any leaders for a long time that are dismissive, even very small organisations have plenty of environmentally aware and conscious staff these days.

In longer-term contractual arrangements such as managed services and framework agreements, a more collaborative approach is required as there is so much closer interdependency between the client’s demands and the solutions provided. Both parties need to approach the issue together and assess the costs/benefits of different options in the round in order to make the best progress.

We work very closely with BT Sport, and Jamie Hindhaugh and the senior team have put sustainability at the core of their strategic mission for years. This has led to huge developments in, and use of, remote working solutions and multiple changes to the workplace in Stratford. There are a great number of different remote production workflows in weekly use at BT Sport involving Timeline TV and multiple partners.

DO YOU FIND THAT DIFFERENT GENRES OF PRODUCTIONS HAVE DIFFERENT SUSTAINABLE GOALS?

RM: Sustainable practices, green production knowledge and the importance of their production’s impact on the environment are becoming second nature to our clients. We see this as a journey we are taking together, so the sharing of these best practices is part of our client service. The growing collaboration between venues, broadcasters and facilities suppliers is key to ensuring sustainability is at the forefront of any planning.

SM: Different genres of productions may have different products, outputs and workflows required. I wouldn’t say that they have different sustainable goals and objectives. Our goal at NEP is to ensure that the production teams we work with understand the different broadcast solutions we have available, which can support their vision through our broadcast solutions in a sustainable way.

Some of the challenges for the industry have been around the production qualitative thresholds and the conventions that we have formed around traditional production methodology and workflows. In some cases, we have had to challenge the way in which we work and look at non-traditional workflows to see how solutions such as centralised production can help support the sustainability focus whilst supporting our client’s vision in telling their stories.

We want to support storytellers. We have focused on providing our clients with a full suite of broadcast solutions and services, so that they can achieve their sustainable goals, without this impacting their ability to tell their stories.

SL: My perception is that sport is leading the field in making sustainability goals clear, and working on continuous improvement. I think this is helped by a number of factors. They often have motivation from two key stakeholders in that all the big broadcasters and major rights holders are making demands to control and improve sustainability.

They also tend to have longer-term contracts for specific rights packages, so direct comparisons between similar or repeated productions are possible and progress over a longer timeframe can be tracked.

Sports producers are more comfortable than most with trying new workflows and innovations as it is embedded in their nature to continuously explore new ways of presenting the coverage of very stable game/contest formats.

HOW ARE YOU HELPING THEM TO MEET THOSE GOALS?

RM: Sustainability is at the heart of our ESG strategy, and EMG is committed to improving its environmental impact across the group. Transitioning to green energy, Green D+ HVO fuel consumption and sustainable best practices are all part of this process.

Sustainability has been at the forefront of the consultation process of key areas within the business, particularly our fleet. These purchase decisions factor the equipment’s power efficiency, weight and size, they improve efficiencies and have the most sustainable kit available.

SM: We have partnered with Carbon Footprint to assess our carbon emissions with the view to then setting science-based targets for future emissions reductions for 2023 and the future.

In 2021, we switched our NEP UK fleet of trucks to be powered by recycled biofuel supplied by Green Biofuels Ltd to further its commitment to combat global climate change. The introduction of Green D+ HVO [fuel] to the NEP UK fleet can reduce carbon emissions by 95 per cent as part of the company’s commitment to sustainability.

For our clients to achieve an albert certified production, they must audit and manage the carbon footprint and overall environmental impact of their production. We collaborate closely with our clients by holding regular meetings, reporting on key sustainability performance indicators, and reducing our own environmental impact when working on our clients’ productions.

Our commitment to reducing our own carbon footprint is reflected in our official albert supplier status and employee training programme; we aim to educate our staff on industry impacts, who will then be equipped to support our clients in their net zero goals.

Eliminating single-use plastics during a broadcast and production is just one of the many sustainable initiatives we are committed to, in order to secure an albert accreditation.

Inside EMG’s NOVA 111 OB truck

SL: Firstly, we are working to put our own business into a strong sustainable position. We find our own staff is very keen on minimising the environmental impact of their work wherever opportunities are identified, so it feels like a purpose that the team buy into.

We have our own operational managers prioritising improvements and they have implemented green biodiesel fuel across our compatible fleet of vehicles, and we have our own local storage so we can refuel at base. As we replace the fleet we will certainly be examining the impact of new purchases to inform sustainable choices. We are working with a number of consultants to help us to quantify in detail our impact and identify all the areas we can improve. It is a long task but continuously reveals scope for improvement at every level, buying the physical stuff from paper to HGVs and procuring energy supplies, travel and shipping. Our next step is to appoint a dedicated person to coordinate and manage all things relating to sustainability and social responsibility.

The Stratford Studios are in a BREEAM [building research establishment environmental assessment method] certified building with highly efficient heat/cooling energy supplied from a local energy centre, and all renewable electricity. The HereEast estate even has a large solar array on the top floor of the car park.

HOW MUCH IS REMOTE PRODUCTION PART OF YOUR GREEN CREDENTIALS?

RM: Across the EMG group, our yearly remote productions run into the thousands. The types of remote productions range from tier one UHD HDR full remote broadcasts to cloud and simplified productions. There are known environmental benefits of remote productions with less crew required on-site, less travel and therefore a smaller associated emission. Remote productions also have social benefits that are equally as important, with less travel to site and an improved work-life balance when working into one of our remote operations centres. We are aware that new flexible workflows can be beneficial to our sustainability strategy.

SM: Remote and centralised production form part of our suite of services to support productions to be more sustainable. However, this may not always be the best solution by itself, and so we work with our clients to identify the areas that work for their production needs.

Centralised production is a potential component in our value chain, which we can adapt to provide a hybrid solution that can help our clients achieve their on-prem physical presence whilst also harnessing efficient and sustainable workflows by centralising some elements off-site without compromising the delivery of the live production. We always look to provide client-focused solutions, whether fully remote, hybrid or with the use of an OB delivery when and where necessary. It’s essentially a production tool for companies who are looking to meet their objectives, whilst we also help them meet their sustainability goals.

It’s our goal to not diminish the quality of the output or restrict the vision of the storytellers but provide a range of options with varying aspects of meeting their sustainability criteria. By working in partnership with our clients, we can be making more conscious and informed decisions, which is a win-win for both NEP and our clients.

SL: Core to Timeline TV’s strategy for the future has been developing our early remote production workflows and systems to become a mainstay of the business. The Ealing Broadcast Centre was developed as a purposebuilt remote production facility as well as having studios. It has proved itself on so many pioneering projects a great example being the remote production of SailGP in Sydney.

Directed from London on the other side of the world, the Timeline TV remote solution helped SailGP with its sustainability mission by drastically reducing the amount of staff and equipment sent to the event location. When compared to the traditional OB model, remote production saves hundreds of thousands of crew air miles. This reduction in personnel travel will save hundreds of tonnes of CO2 emissions, and not shipping so much equipment saves even more.

NEP’s Tryfan outside broadcast truck

Remember when…

TVBEurope celebrates NAB Show’s centennial with a look back at some of the interesting events, guests and exhibitors who have attended the show over the years

looked very different in 1940

Cameras were not very portable in the 1960s (Image courtesy of NAB)

The NAB Convention

(ImagecourtesyofNAB)

Anton Wilson (blue shirt) and George Bauer (white jacket) in 1980 (ImagecourtesyofAnton/Bauer)

Grass Valley celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1984, while on the Strip, the longest strike in Las Vegas’s history was taking place (All Grass Valley images courtesy of Erick Canchola)

George Lucas drops by Avid’s stand in 1993 (ImagecourtesyofJamesBurke)

In 1998 Grass Valley showed off its iNews system while part of Tektronix

Oprah Winfrey receives the NAB Distinguished Career Award in 2004 (ImagecourtesyofLasVegasConventionandVisitorsAuthority)

It’s all go behind the scenes at Grass Valley’s stand in 2006

Miranda Technologies’ Nicholas Ashley (left), Vince Crook and Nick Pywell (picture taker) hit the road for their trip from LAX to Las Vegas in 2006

Argosy’s Chris Smeeton prepares to make a leap of faith at the top of the Stratosphere in 2014

The Dejero crew clearly enjoyed NAB 2017!

If the show gets a bit much, you can always escape to the golf course! L-R: Christian Kennel, Fox Entertainment; Sam Cook and Eric Carson, Ateliere Creative Technologies; Justin Briars, Fox Entertainment

Object Matrix’s Pete Watling (right, as chicken) takes on the 4K4Charity run in 2017

Ross Video returns to Vegas for NAB 2022

LESSONS LEARNED THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

In February, the Film and Television Charity published the third edition of its Looking Glass Report, a review of the state of mental health and wellbeing in the film and television sectors. While conditions have improved, the industry suffers from very poor mental health compared to the wider UK economy. There are some compelling reasons why, but how can the industry tackle it and where does it go next?

Kevin Emmott reports

Covid had quite the impact on the film and TV sector in the UK. It fundamentally changed how we approach live and post workflows, caused mass disruption to work schedules and production planning, and accelerated the adoption of distributed production.

On a more personal level, Covid also had a huge impact on mental health. According to the British Medical Council, recent NHS statistics point to a mental health crisis that is spiralling out of control, with demand for support far outweighing capacity.

It is a crisis that Film and Television Charity CEO Alex Pumfrey is all too aware of. Within two years of joining the organisation in 2017, she had overseen the implementation of two key initiatives; a 24-hour Support Line dedicated to the UK film and TV sector, and a groundbreaking report which revealed a mental health crisis that far outstripped the wider economy.

The charity’s first Looking Glass Report in 2019 identified a number of challenging mental health and wellbeing issues in the industry, with as many as 87 per cent of people having experienced mental health problems compared to a UK average of 65 per cent, and more than half of respondents having considered taking suicide.

The danger became startlingly evident following the tragic death of

freelance location manager Michael Harm, who took his own life in January 2017 at the age of 51. As friends and colleagues acknowledged how lonely and unsupported the industry can feel to freelancers, they approached the charity to create a network to provide better support.

PHONE SUPPORT

To date, the charity’s Support Line, which went live the following year, has taken more than 15,000 calls and averages between 200 and 300 calls every month, providing a lifeline to the 200,000 active members of the UK film and television sector.

“We already knew there were a lot of poor experiences in the industry and the first calls to the helpline provided evidence of that,” says Pumfrey. “For many people a chat is enough, but it also gives us the opportunity to recommend secondary services like counselling or financial support, which allow us to grow our service provisions and develop our network of expertise. Today we see fewer repeat calls and take-up of those services is on the rise, which hopefully means we are reaching new people and we are resolving some of those issues.”

The volume of calls to the Support Line was a red flag and led directly to the commissioning of the Looking Glass survey the following year. Its aim was to identify areas where the industry could do more to support

its members. According to Pumfrey, the response was phenomenal: “There were over 5,000 responses to the first Looking Glass Report, and that in itself felt like a big cry for help. There was a tidal wave of people who wanted to be heard and acknowledged, and the extraordinary response shows what strength of feeling there was.”

Additional surveys followed in 2021 and 2022, and the Film and TV Charity aims to track changing requirements every two years. The latest study shows an improvement in mental wellbeing with fewer respondents describing their mental health as poor, and fewer people considering leaving the industry. Meanwhile, the number of people who have experienced bullying or harassment fell from 53 per cent in 2021 to 46 per cent in 2022.

Pumfrey says: “One thing that was clear from the first piece of research is that there are particular dynamics in this industry which predispose it to poor mental health. Even though 80 per cent of respondents sensed a positive change in the industry’s capability to provide support, we have a very long way to go. There are three areas we need to address, and we describe those as the three Cs: culture, conditions and capability.

SUPPORTING FREELANCERS

“Although attitudes are changing, there is still a cultural stigma which exists around mental health, and around 50 per cent of the UK’s workforce in this sector are freelance,” continues Pumfrey. “This community is particularly vulnerable and although our services are open to everyone they will always be where our main focus is. Their need is most acute; freelancers don’t have an HR department or any continuity of support, and they are less likely to speak up about mental health for fear of missing out on future work, which can create a veil of silence around these topics.

“The industry also suffers from a culture of bullying and harassment and although we’ve seen some improvement it’s hard to celebrate when 46 per cent of people in the industry have experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination in the last 12 months,” she adds.

“We define ‘conditions’ as the established working patterns in our industry; predominantly freelance and project-based, our workers spend very long hours working, which are extreme by comparison with most industries in the UK economy.”

‘Capability’, in contrast, is an area where there has been much progress thanks to the charity’s dedicated work over the last few years. Better support provision was the first thing the organisation put in place, and with only around 35 employees it did so by working with strong partners. One of these was Paul Farmer, CEO of mental health charity MIND and co-author of Thriving at Work, the independent review into workplace mental health commissioned by the British government in 2017.

KEEPING IN MIND

Although skewed towards freelancers working in production, this support is available to anyone working in film, TV and cinema, and spans a range of job roles, from post and technical to distribution, sales and marketing.

All the charity’s mental health services are provided by qualified professionals, and it has partnered with organisations such as MIND to create long-term initiatives like the Whole Picture Toolkit, a free resource of guides and techniques to ensure productions are more mentally healthy and which are actively supported by mainstream production companies like Banijay.

Support is also available through the Support Line, a dedicated Bullying Advice Service and a Freelancer Wellbeing Hub. Meanwhile, companies like ScreenSkills have increased training around mental health and the message is getting through to a range of employers from production companies to broadcasters.

“The Whole Picture programme was intended as an urgent intervention to address what we saw as a mental health crisis, and the intent was always to segue into a longer-term mental health strategy,” says Pumfrey. “You don’t fix these things quickly; you need to continue to develop and focus in on the things that we can evidence have really positive effects on mental health.”

For Pumfrey, the journey to a more supported industry is just beginning. The data is there and the challenge is how to maintain momentum and engagement. There are easy wins, like asking broadcasters to include support details on call sheets, and she says that some employers are already putting wellbeing facilitators in place. But there is no silver bullet.

“These issues are complex and it’s about putting a very rich network of support in place for all individuals. Best practice will look very different in different organisations, but there are people who really care about getting it right and there are those who are putting the work in to get it right.” n

For more information on the Film and TV Charity, visit filmtvcharity.org.uk. The 24/7 Support Line is open to talk through professional or emotional issues on 0800 054 0000.

Alex Pumfrey

SHARING THE SAME VALUES

Jenny Priestley talks to Object Matrix CEO Jonathan Morgan about the company’s acquisition by DataCore, what it means for the media industry, and why the edge is going to be the next big thing

Operating in the storage space for more than 20 years, Object Matrix has a number of broadcast clients including the BBC, Warner Bros Discovery and ATP Media. The company provides on-prem, hybrid and cloud solutions, including its MatrixStore object storage software.

Keen to grow and extend the company’s reach and product ambitions, earlier this year Object Matrix’s management took the decision to sell to Datacore Software, which specialises in delivering end-to-end, application-centric solutions for high-growth markets, including media and entertainment.

“We’ve grown a great presence in the media and entertainment marketplace, but combining with a larger company, to be quite frank, extends our reach, and it’s something we’ve wanted to accelerate,” states Jonathan Morgan, Object Matrix’s CEO. “We’ve been around for a long time without taking any investment because we’ve been able to organically grow a very successful product, but that acceleration is something that we very much want to do.”

After initially speaking to DataCore at IBC 2022, the company decided it was the right fit for them, with the key factor to the deal being expansion, including sales, marketing, and R&D resources. “DataCore is very much a storage expert company, so there’s a lot of synergy there,” Morgan adds. “They were pioneers when it came to storage area network (SAN) virtualisation technology, very much the same way as we are pioneers in object storage. We also believe in continuous innovation, and they believe in continuous innovation.”

Morgan likens the decision to sell to DataCore as going from being single for 20 years to suddenly being married. “It’s a lot easier if you share the same values,” he says.

CLOSE TO THE EDGE

Object Matrix has been busy moving its software stack to become cloudnative so that applications can run on-premises and in the cloud, and area in which DataCore is an expert.

“That was kind of a wow moment for us, knowing we can start to tap into that,” says Morgan. “We’re bringing specialisation in object storage and the media industry to the party. We have experience in supplying solutions that make sense for mass data storage, media libraries, archives, distribution, etc, all the way from on-prem or the edge through to the cloud. So we bring that vertical stack to them.”

The edge is becoming more and more important to the media and entertainment industry as it allows companies to process huge amounts of data. While the cloud can also be used for the same thing, it is expensive in terms of the cost of moving data in and out, the time it takes, the bandwidth needed, the cost of storage, and egress charges.

“Some workflows that moved into the cloud during the pandemic have suddenly moved back off again because they just don’t work,” explains Morgan. “The edge is the solution. The edge is where you want to do as much of the processing as you can.”

Object Matrix’s aim over the next 12 months is to offer its solutions “all the way from the edge through to the cloud,” says Morgan. “We want to manage the data across all of those platforms in a seamless way and continue to specialise in the media industry. But there’s so much more we can do around AI, data movement, around the interfaces that we present. So I think you’ll see some pretty exciting news over the next 12 months.”

The two companies will be discussing their research and development work at NAB Show, with Object Matrix hosting its own stand as well as having a presence on DataCore’s. “We’ll have our largest-ever presence at NAB and I think that tells a story in itself about the direction the company is going.”

Reaction to the deal within the Object Matrix team has been positive, with every current member of staff signing up to be a part of the transition. Customers have also given the deal the thumbs up. “There hasn’t been a single customer who has reacted badly to this,” states Morgan, “everybody is very keen to see our technology out there and that the company is successful with that, so it’s been a great reaction.” n

“Some workflows that moved into the cloud during the pandemic have suddenly moved back off again because they just don’t work. The edge is the solution. The edge is where you want to do as much of the processing as you can”

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

The EBU’s Wouter Quartier talks to Jenny Priestley about the ongoing digital transformation of the media industry and how the organisation can help public service broadcasters connect further with their audiences

The move from traditional over-the-air TV delivery to digital continues apace. Viewers have become used to selecting what content they want to watch when they want to watch it, and more and more are opting to ‘cut the cord’ and watch via the internet. But what does that mean for traditional broadcasters and how can they compete with the big tech giants in terms of the technology needed to reach their audiences?

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) wants to help public service broadcasters with these challenges. In 2021, Wouter Quartier joined the EBU from Flemish broadcaster VRT as head of digital, transformation and platforms. Part of his role is to look at how public service media interacts and builds relationships with industryleading third-party platforms.

“Digital transformation is partly driven by technology,” says Quartier. “It’s

driven by the audience and having a good understanding of where the audience is moving to. So for us, digital transformation is our audience moving to a digital space and we have to follow that audience and make sure our content is available in a way that they can reach it.”

The EBU works with public service broadcasters across its membership to help them set out their strategies. “We work with them to say, ‘if this is your mission, if this is your audience, how can you use new technologies?’” explains Quartier. “Some technologies maybe don’t work for public service media but they’re a really cool gadget. Some of them might be very useful in the future, and therefore we should invest. Some we need to be on it right now if we want to be relevant.”

He cites an example of a conversation about the metaverse during the EBU’s Digital Media Days a couple of years ago: “We discussed public service media and how the metaverse could help us. We saw that the immersive experience in gaming could help us connect to our audiences and help connect our audiences to each other.

“Public service media could play a role there,” he continues. “It’s about connecting with our audience, understanding the audience and then seeing what technology can help us with that. On the metaverse for instance, we have a few projects going on. The point is to connect and share that to help our members decide and see their strategies.”

Of course, no EBU member or broadcaster is the same. They all face the same pressures of this new digital environment. Part of the EBU’s mission to help its members includes “boots on the ground”. It has developed a Digital Transformation Initiative, led by Dr Sasha Scott, which involves the digital transformation team visiting members and spending time with them in order to see the whole board. “We talk about what their challenges are when it comes to digital transformation,” explains Quartier. “We give them a report that will help them set their strategy and make the decisions on their own.”

That report is also shared with the entire EBU membership, with the hope that the knowledge gained by a specific member will be used by others. “It’s a knowledge hub where everyone learns from everyone else. We also share the expertise that we’re building. We’re working a lot on strategy and execution, these are the things that help our members set their direction. But ultimately it’s up to them to make those decisions.”

Quartier adds that over the last year, the EBU has witnessed a shift from digital transformation to transformation as a whole amongst its members. “It’s not just about digital anymore,” he states. “It used to be about digital products and digital services. Now public service broadcasters are moving as an organisation to a digital world and they are looking at us to help them create their strategy for that digital world.

“Our digital transformation service has shifted to a transformation service as a whole, working more on strategy and execution, how to budget, how to do the governance, how to make the whole thing work. The number one question we’re asked is, ‘how can we make choices between third-party platforms and our own platforms? And how can we make sure that we are in control of our distribution on those platforms?’”

While the EBU’s focus is on its members, the organisation does occasionally work with non-members. This enables the digital transformation team to once again share that knowledge so members can see different ways of dealing with the transformation. “We are media agnostic,” states Quartier. “We work with everyone because we are

about engaging and connecting with audiences. You could even make a comparison with banking and how they connect with their audience or clients and how they use the digital world and digital tools. Maybe we can learn something from that.”

The EBU has members across the continent, from the BBC in the UK to Latvijas Televizija in Latvia, each in different stages of development on their transformation journeys. “Some countries are further on in the process than others,” agrees Quartier. “When you look at the BBC’s iPlayer, that’s a case study for everyone to see the choices they made and are making. Same with the Nordics. But with other countries, we’ve been in Georgia twice to do a service there and I’ve learnt things that I can use in my conversation with more advanced members because they’re in a different timeframe.

“It’s also great to see some of our members doing great stuff with so little money and being effective and efficient with budgets and people,” he continues. “This is an example for some of our bigger members to see what’s possible with another business model. We visited one of our Nordic members a few months ago, and they had an honest conversation about the decisions they needed to make. By listening and opening up and learning you can make better decisions.

“The beauty of the EBU is that we have open discussions. This is not an organisation where you have a few top players and then we all listen to what they have to say, especially when it comes to data transformation and this new world; people open up and listen to advice from everyone.”

It’s not just the broadcasters who can help each other with this transformation, media tech vendors should also be a part of the discussion, says Quartier. “I think one of the key messages should be to always have the audience at the centre of the decisions and the choices you make in developing products,” he explains. “Public service broadcasters have great relationships with our audience because most are not doing it for advertising funding or to have a better share price. I think there’s a conversation to be had with the vendors around the best user experience for the audience. That conversation should also involve public service broadcasters.”

He adds that it’s also important to ensure viewers are not overwhelmed with lots of different kinds of interfaces in order to get to the content they want. “All of the content owners like to say we’re audience-first, but from a user perspective, you can go through five different interfaces to find your piece of content. You just want to watch a specific show and it’s so difficult. This is one digital space. It’s a shared space. We’re all together in it. You can’t live in isolation in this space. So we all need to find ways to make these services better. Are we talking about standards? Maybe. Are we talking about finding a way to standardise using metadata? Maybe.”

Finally, Quartier stresses the importance of a local connection to content for audiences. “People wherever they live are still trying to find content that is local to them. And local can be about the place I live or I used to live. But local can also be about what I am interested in.

“We need to find a way in this international world where it’s easier to push one streaming show to the whole world. How can we find a way to bring specific local content to our audiences? And again, public service media is a great way of doing this because we have that local connection with audiences. We need to make sure audiences can have that connection. Personalisation can do a lot. We can do a lot with data. We should meet that goal.” n

PRESERVING THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Today’s multi-channel television world has produced an increased demand for programming, both new and old. As Kevin Hilton discovers, this has put even greater pressure on archives, which are not only having to store modern digital media as well as older formats but do so in a sustainable way

Among the misconceptions made about television archives is that they are a repository for old programmes. The reality is that they are as much about what is being produced today as shows, newsreels and amateur footage from the 20th century. And although digitisation has forced broadcasters, rights holders and the archive sector in general to consider what is in the vaults, there is the realisation that not only is transferring everything costly and time-consuming but digital formats are not as future-proof or stable as might have been thought.

This also applies to new devices and formats for acquiring material, not just digital cameras for filmmaking and newsgathering but also video/audiocapable mobile phones that have proved invaluable in providing eye-witness footage of incidents or just snapshots of everyday life. Unfortunately, being digital does not guarantee the longevity of either, making both long-form programmes and clips potentially as vulnerable as film and videotape, if not more so.

It is a growing problem and forms the basis of recent feature documentary, The Living Record of Our Memory The director Inés Toharia, a filmmaker and specialist in film preservation, recognised there were problems

inherent in a vast number of people having the means to record video at any time. “Although we all know film and use media, even recording things on our cell phones, and are very in touch with this technology, we don’t really think about how long it will last or that the lifespan of

The Living Record of Our Memory looks at the life story of moving images

these materials is very short,” she says. “Not all of what we create is valuable but what is valuable should be kept and taken care of.”

Toharia explains that the core of the film is not only about the “acts of preservation” themselves but also the people behind them. Among the talking heads are representatives from UCLA Film and TV Archive, Museum of Modern Art, BFI National Archive, Pixar, Kodak and Sony Pictures, plus filmmakers including Costa-Gavras, Martin Scorsese, Idrissa Ouédraogo and Ridley Scott. The archival consultant on the project, who also appears, is Adrian Wood, whose credits include The Second World War in Colour and Churchill. He feels there is now a greater awareness of the importance of visual records, both among professionals and the public, but sees both an upside and downside to digitising archive material.

“Digitisation seems to be the answer to everyone’s dreams but the fact is you have to keep manufacturing LTO tapes [linear tape-open, a magnetic data storage format] and recorders because they have a finite lifespan and I don’t know exactly what that is doing for the environment,” Wood comments.

“If we rely upon server farms backed up in different locations, that has a huge cost to the environment. That’s the price of accessibility. I’m all in favour of accessibility but not at the cost of preservation.”

While film and videotape archives also have an ecological impact, largely due to the necessary temperature-controlled storage areas (as is the case with LTO and servers), Wood says both kinds of media can exist for a long time if kept well. “You can put a roll of film in a good environment and, if it’s on a polyester base, it will last an infinite number of years,” he explains. “I’ve seen nitrate film from more than a hundred years ago and it was in pristine condition because the emulsion and the base were produced properly. It’s about caring for the element on which the history is stored.”

This puts the onus on the archives and storage specialists dealing with a wide variety of formats and technologies. Among these is Digital Bedrock, a US company focusing on what it describes as “secure, off-cloud green storage”. It works with TV and film production companies, plus museums looking to store digital artworks. Founder and chief executive Linda Tadic observes that data-based material can be easily lost or accidentally deleted, making it more vulnerable than older formats, particularly film.

“Videotape is at risk just because of its nature, it was not meant to endure,” she adds. “But I would say digital content is at more risk than film. Some of the issues with TV preservation is that people don’t know what they have on digital files and they aren’t storing them well or they just throw everything up in the cloud. That’s

a huge waste of money because it’s a lot of content up there. Then, of course, where is this material? Can you manage it and is it being verified over time? There’s no need to store masters in the cloud if you’re not going to use them. It’s a waste of energy and those spinning hard drives are made out of rare earth materials, which the manufacturers know full well are finite.”

Digital Bedrock stores material on LTO tapes, with three copies of a project kept offline in different geographic locations. Tadic says fixity checks are carried out once a year to ensure files have not corrupted, with a programme of migrating to new generation LTOs as they become available.

The environmental impact of audio-visual archives is now a major issue, with the sector’s leading trade bodies undertaking a survey to assess the current situation. Instigated by INA (the French national AV institute), in conjunction with FIAT/IFTA (International Federation of Television Archives), the aim is to evaluate the level of awareness of the impact of archives on the environment; assess current practices and measures being taken; and to develop best practices and “adapt norms and standards”. The plan is for a report based on the results to be published on INA’s website and discussed at the FIAT/ IFTA World Conference in October this year.

Inés Toharia welcomes such initiatives but says people still need to change their attitudes when it comes to obsolescence of technology, particularly trading up for the latest laptops or mobile phones. “We’ve got used to that but don’t realise the digital materials, what we’ve recorded and what we’re watching, won’t last,” she concludes. “Archives are now working on solutions and coming up with standards but it’s also about people’s personal habits and our personal memories. We have to realise that if we don’t take care of them they will very easily disappear.” n

Inés Toharia (top), Adrian Wood and Linda Tadic

Archivists work to preserve film (Images courtesy El Grifilm Productions)

GOING FROM ‘WHY’ TO ‘HOW’ WITH SUSTAINABILITY

By Abdul Hakim, business development manager, DPP

Climate change is real. And it’s important that businesses are addressing climate change and reducing their environmental impact. In the media industry, our footprint is huge so our responsibility is particularly significant.

At the DPP Leaders’ Briefing 2018, our annual flagship event convening technology and business executives from media companies, many CTOs discussed how important sustainability was becoming to their organisations, and how they’re looking to their suppliers and strategic partners to help try to address and reduce their environmental impact.

They spoke about how difficult it was for them to identify suppliers who are really taking sustainability seriously. Because when it came to major procurement decisions, it really boiled down to sustainability being the key differentiator. Those organisations then looked to the DPP to try and help them.

As such, the DPP convened a working group of experts from across the industry. After a number of meetings and workshops, the DPP Committed to Sustainability programme was created and launched at the DPP Leaders’ Briefing 2019.

MONITOR, MANAGE AND REPORT

The DPP Committed to Sustainability programme is a way for suppliers in the industry to demonstrate that they’re working towards reducing their environmental impact; ensuring that they’re putting the management frameworks in place to be able to effectively monitor, manage and report on their sustainability work.

The recognition that comes from being part of the Committed to Sustainability programme comes not only from the DPP, but also from potential customers who are looking for responsible suppliers.

Quite often, there can seem to be a bit of a barrier to accessing other sustainability programmes because of the costs involved and the resources required. The DPP Committed to Sustainability programme provides a lightweight approach, so organisations can really start thinking about how they can manage environmental sustainability.

It provides a structured approach to helping you to reduce your environmental impact, and this is something that customers recognise. It offers a helping hand for your company in how it tackles sustainability challenges. If you haven’t got the in-house expertise or the resources, the programme itself provides guidance, tools and advice on how to make a start.

Media, broadcast and entertainment companies are the ultimate beneficiaries of the programme, in the sense that it’s given them the ability to identify suppliers who are taking sustainability seriously. More than 60 companies have the DPP Committed to Sustainability mark.

And these companies vary in size, scale and scope of what they do; we’ve got major global tech companies, media organisations and broadcasters, all the way through to small start-ups.

The initiative has been growing steadily, but needs to grow at a much faster pace if the media industry as a community is to fulfil its obligations of becoming ‘net zero’ and realising global commitments to climate change. If you are a media company or supplier to the industry, you need to take action now.

TRANSPARENCY DRIVES CHANGE

The DPP Committed to Sustainability programme is completely free with zero associated costs. It exists to help your company. Taking part in the programme requires filling in a self-assessment form, which can be completed online. Organisations are expected to provide evidence along with their submissions.

Companies are awarded a mark, from one to five. These are confidential; we don’t publish the score, although what we do recommend that if a customer asks for your score, then you are transparent and provide it. A number of companies have achieved the full five, including some major corporates who are investing significantly in their sustainability programmes.

Similarly, there are many organisations – large and small – who are just starting on their journey, and have yet to achieve a high score. Organisations can resubmit at any point as they continue their journey to become more sustainable.

SUSTAINABILITY REGULATIONS

There are regulatory requirements that are coming in which will really push the sustainability agenda, particularly with regard to procurement. One of the key changes is around the requirement to report on Scope 3 emissions; carbon emissions that exist in your value chain or in your supply chain. This is already information that investors seek as part of governance requirements. And next you’ll be required to report on that, and it will drive significant change.

Committed to Sustainability is an independent initiative provided by the DPP, but we are thankful to Red Bee Media which has supported it as a sponsor from the start. Throughout the year, we will facilitate a range of events and online masterclass sessions, showcasing leaders in the area. But we also embed sustainability in our other work, ensuring it isn’t treated as a bolted-on green session not related to other parts of the DPP’s activities. n

DEMOCRATISING HIG H -END VISUAL TOOLS FOR ALL

Unity Wētā Tools wants to make some of the solutions used on Oscar-winning film Avatar: The Way of Water available for all creatives, no matter their budget. Jenny Priestley finds out more

At this year’s Academy Awards, Avatar: The Way of Water was named the winner of Best Visual Effects. The geniuses who created the visuals for the film at Wētā have worked on multiple award-winning projects from Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones. But their work on the new Avatar film pushed the team like never before, and involved using a number of solutions from Unity Wētā Tools, the company created following Unity’s acquisition of Wētā Digital in 2021. As part of the deal, Unity acquired technology and tooling for film creation and pipelines as well as the company’s 275-strong engineering team. Their day-to-day jobs are still focused on film and TV work, but they also collaborate with other teams that are helping transition that technology into productisation.

“I think Wētā is the studio to beat and they’re always breaking new ground, so there are a number of benefits to them from the acquisition by Unity, including the realtime components that we specialise in that are converging the film and the video game industry,” states Allan Poore, senior vice president at Unity Wētā Tools.

“The biggest benefit is going to be to the people who can use this technology,” he continues. “At Unity we have this saying, ‘the world is a better place with more creators in it’, and the more we can provide them with these amazing tools, the better off I think everyone is going to be in terms of achieving their artistic vision. These tools are amazing. Wētā can handle things at scale like no other company in the world today. The output and the fidelity is world-class.”

The aim for Poore is to translate these high-end tools

Allan Poore

into technology that can be used by as many creatives as possible. “That’s what we’re focused on driving, that collaboration and co-development into bringing these tools to a wider audience.

“We can achieve things we couldn’t before. With large blockbuster tentpole movies, there are often discussions about how do we save costs, and what can you do to make decisions faster. A lot of the new technology is helping create realism as well as make decisions faster on artistic direction and where they go.”

These tools, which include Deep Comp, Barbershop and Loki, aim to provide faster and more efficient post production workflows for deep compositing, hair and fur creation and editing, as well as realistic simulations of elements such as water, hair, cloth, fire, and smoke, respectively. They were all key to the production of Avatar: The Way of Water

“If you go back and watch the first Avatar and then watch the second, the level of realism speaks for itself,” says Poore. “Water obviously was a big push in this film, not just how water looks but other simulations of characters’ skin and hair. How all these things interact in a realistic way is something that has made leaps and bounds in terms of progress in realism and what they can create there.

“The tools that we’re building are often based in physical realism, but we also have to balance that against the artistic direction,” he adds. “It’s an interesting dynamic that you have to play with as you make these films. Go back and watch films from ten to 15 years ago with visual effects, they really pull you out of the experience because they’re so jarring now, and you can just tell the difference between the two.”

Any use of water in a film’s story is always tricky. One of the companies that has managed to create a story where characters living in the ocean is believable is Pixar with Finding Nemo. Poore himself worked at Pixar for a number of years. But with Avatar: The Way of Water the visual effects team had a much more complex task to deal with. “There are so many things that are groundbreaking, like hair simulation, realistic skin, water droplets, how they all interact together,” he says. “That’s where it gets to be a whole different level of complexity. When the story is completely underwater and you have air bubbles and splashes and characters and all these things going together, and trying to get highly realistic

output, that’s really where a lot of this ground-breaking technology came into play.”

It’s not just Avatar: The Way of Water where these tools have been used by the creative team at Wētā. The company often has up to 12 projects on the go at any one time. Over the last year they’ve worked on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Batman, and HBO drama The Last of Us. “These tools have been used in all of those projects in different ways,” says Moore. “It’s the toolset Wētā use for all their work.”

“When the story is completely underwater and you have air bubbles and splashes and characters and all these things going together, and trying to get highly realistic output, that’s really where a lot of this ground-breaking technology came into play” Allan Poore

Director James Cameron and actor Sam Worthington on the set of Avatar: The Way of Water

THE TOOLS

To deal with the complexity of water, the team at Wētā Digital created a ‘water taskforce’ which conducted extensive research and experimentation to find the best approach to creating CGI water, taking into account the effects of tides, wind, and the sea floor.

Many of the film’s 2,225 shots were challenging to create, including a beach scene with children fighting that required eight days of simulation to achieve the high resolution needed. The film also has numerous scenes where the actors interact with creatures, sometimes including more than 50 in a single shot.

Loki, developed in-house, was used to create realistic simulations of various elements, such as water, hair, cloth, fire, and smoke. On Avatar: The Way of Water Wētā employed it to simulate the majority of water effects and combined the solution with Barbershop to create lifelike movements of the Na’vi’s hair, muscles, and clothing in response to their environment.

“Loki is the simulation engine that a lot of this stuff is based on, and the fact that it can cross multiple domains of simulation is what’s novel about it,” explains Poore. “You can bring them all together in Loki and have the right output happen as opposed to bringing them in later.”

Barbershop was created as a response to the challenges that arose in simulating hair and fur in computer graphics. The tool includes features such as simulation controls for the growth and movement of hair, the ability to create hair guides for shaping and styling, and the ability to edit hair dynamically in a 3D environment. It is one of the first tools that Unity is looking to productise, says Moore.

Deep Comp is a bundle of over 80 nodes for deep compositing in Nuke, developed for post production of multiple films and TV shows; including Avatar: The Way of Water. It enables faster compositing workflows, removing the need to perform re-renders or another pass through the production pipeline. Instead, it gives compositors the freedom to execute on their vision and stay in the flow of creative process through the solution’s advanced handling of dense deep image information generated earlier in the pipeline.

Moore describes it as a timesaver for those working at the end of the pipeline. “There’s a lot of changes you can make after the renders with Deep Comp,” he explains. “We always use fog as an example. If the fog is too heavy to see characters, you can use it to have the fog bank more in the background and not covering up prominent characters.”

The team at Unity Wētā Tools is currently working on developing all three tools for the visual effects market, continues Moore: “There’s a whole other effort that we’re pushing for later down the timeline of how we make

these tools a lot simpler while maintaining the fidelity of output. That’s not an easy problem, but we have some great proofs of concept of web-based tools or plug-ins where we’ve taken some of these complex tools and drastically reduced the number of parameters and knobs that you can dial to get the output you need with a much simpler interface.”

Currently, all three tools are being used on-prem, but there is work underway to develop them for the cloud. “We believe that’s where we’re going to reach a mass audience with a lot more people having accessibility to these tools,” says Moore. “We talk at Unity a lot about how the world is a better place with more creators in it, and we strongly believe that democratising these toolsets to people in 3D content creation will benefit them immensely.”

Unity Wētā Tools is targeting this year to release Loki, Deep Comp and Barnershop to the market, with some already in alpha and beta testing. “It’s so important to us that we enable creators to go and achieve their artistic dreams,” says Moore. “I look at the visual effects industry as the tip of the spear on breaking new ground all the time, but the focus is on how we take that technology and make it faster, simpler, more real-time and bring it to the mass audience,” he adds.

“Creation is happening in 3D everywhere. Kids are creating Roblox and Minecraft content. You have metaverse content, you have digital twins content, you have sports and live entertainment, all these places need content creation tools. We believe there’s a big future for us there.” n

The actors spent quite a lot of their time on set underwater

SUSTAINABILITY AND STUDIO PRODUCTION

As producers look to create content that is more sustainable, they want studio facilities to help them reach those targets. TVBEurope talks to a number of studios to find out how they are reducing their carbon footprints, and how technology can play a major role

WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM CLIENTS IN TERMS OF THEIR SUSTAINABILITY REQUIREMENTS?

Sion Clwyd Roberts (SCR), commercial director of Aria Studios: Sustainability is increasingly important to clients, both from a reputational perspective but also as part of a compliance obligation with funders, not only public service broadcasters but also streamers and commercial platforms. There is a welcome pattern of goodwill amongst producers who genuinely wish to make a difference in minimising the carbon output of productions wherever possible.

Andrew Moultrie (AM), CEO, BBC Studioworks: We’re hearing a genuine desire from our clients to work to the highest sustainability standards possible. However, there is obviously a practical need too, as many commissioners now either mandate, or strongly suggest, that productions must work to strict sustainability guidelines.

We are witnessing real aspirations from production companies to lead on green initiatives and not allow their productions to have an adverse

impact on the environment. The challenge the industry has is that going green is sometimes not the cheapest or the most ‘comfortable’ option for productions to take.

Laura Aviles (LA), senior Bristol film manager, The Bottle Yard Studios: I think there is a more widespread acceptance that real change is needed, and fast. The industry is of course positive about the high levels of production we’re seeing, but there is an awareness of the environmental impact this brings. We host a lot of Band 3 scripted dramas with schedules that combine studio and location filming, so our clients are exploring a number of different considerations such as finding local green suppliers, identifying close-by and accessible locations, and local crew that are recommended and available. As a studio committed to lowering its carbon emissions, we see it as part of our role to provide local information to help address these areas and assist productions to lower their footprint. In many cases these conversations are now happening from the outset. On Band 4 productions there are now designated sustainability coordinators

Aria Studios in North Wales

putting measures in place across every department from pre-production right through to post. In an ideal world that would be the norm across Band 3 and below too, but whilst the will may be there, the budget rarely allows it. We see it as part of our USP that we help productions make positive changes however big or small, to help bring down their emissions.

Andrew Culley (AC), COO, dock10: There is certainly increased awareness among our clients of the need to meet responsibilities around sustainability, partly driven by the growing eco-friendly expectations of audiences, employees, and the wider industry. Our clients are always looking for ways to decrease the environmental impact of the shows they make, rightly questioning everything from power consumption to waste and recycling to transportation. Productions frequently ask us a whole series of sustainability questions, especially relating to the albert questionnaire, and because we have such a strong focus on sustainability, we are able to support them fully in meeting their environmental commitments and ambitions.

Julie Hoegh (JH), head of sustainability, Garden Studios: Engagement from clients on sustainability issues vary a great deal. Some struggle to break out of production practices of old and others try really hard. We have definitely seen an increased interest in general. Productions are now asking for details on energy consumption for their carbon footprint calculations during their stays at Garden Studios. Some productions work closely with us in facilitating donations at the end of production. One recent production was keen on engaging at the preproduction stage to maximise re-use. This is definitely the most efficient way to ensure sustainability when it comes to materials. We have an extensive database of local and sustainable suppliers from lighting rental and prop hire to catering and courier companies that we share with our customers and using that can help reducing production carbon footprint.

James Enright (JE), CEO of Stage Fifty (Farnborough Film Studios, Winnersh Film Studios, and Wycombe Film Studios): Our clients are increasingly looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact and implement sustainable practices throughout their operations. Some of the key sustainability requirements they are looking for include waste reduction by implementing recycling programmes, using compostable or biodegradable products, and minimising the use of disposable items. Production companies are educating their crew on sustainable practices and encouraging them to adopt more sustainable behaviours on and off set.

HOW ARE YOU HELPING PRODUCERS TO MEET THOSE REQUIREMENTS?

SCR: Based in rural North Wales, Aria Studios plans to engage with producers in terms of ways and means of minimising carbon output of their productions. We will provide a range of local suppliers for production needs including a list of extras, crew members, security, catering, waste management and general support businesses thereby minimising travel time and ensuring compliance of sustainable production.

AM: Alongside other industry leaders we worked alongside BAFTA’s

sustainability organisation, albert, to help create The Studio Sustainability Standard, which is a scheme to help studios measure and reduce the environmental impact of their facilities by focusing on six key areas: climate, circularity, nature, people, management, and data. Our studio facilities are part of the first cohort of businesses currently having their data assessed by albert to achieve the standard.

Our Television Centre facility has achieved zero waste to landfill accreditation, its power is from a renewable source (we have REGO certification for all our sites), we have majority LED lighting within the studios and intelligent lighting across the ancillary areas. We also recently re-tendered for our on-site catering provider to ensure we have a 75 per cent plant-based food offering.

LA: Our biggest sustainability project to date has to be the 1MWp solar array that we installed on the rooftop of our new TBY2 facility, which opened last November. This was the result of the ambitious vision and pure commitment shared by our Studios team, Bristol Council’s Energy Services and Bristol Energy Cooperative, which funded the array. With more than 2,300 PV panels, it is the largest community-owned rooftop solar array in the West of England, and probably the largest of this kind in the UK. We are not aware of any other UK studios with a rooftop array of this size. Thanks to this ground-breaking collaboration, TBY2 is a film and TV production facility entirely powered by solar. The array is capable of generating the equivalent amount of energy to power 250 average households per year. The building itself was also designed with a sophisticated building management system to ensure the most efficient use of energy through heating, cooling and ventilation.

Not only that but the TBY2 rooftop array will bring wider benefits that will help Bristol reach its wider climate goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. Surplus energy produced over time at TBY2 is directed to other councilowned buildings in the city, through Bristol’s City Leap Sleeved Pool electricity supply model, designed to reduce energy consumption from non-renewables. The community ownership model provides a return to Bristol Energy Cooperative’s local investors, whilst surplus revenues go back to the local community through grants and investment into more local energy projects.

AC: At dock10, sustainability pervades our entire business because we embed strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies and practices so deeply that they are part of our company’s DNA. Through our ‘Commitment to Excellence’ statement we have declared our resolve to demonstrably operate a business that meets people’s expectations on sustainability both in principle and in action.

Across everything we do, our systems are regularly and independently assessed against national and international best-practice standards to ensure they deliver at the highest levels and meet all the expectations of our staff and our customers. We maximise our environmental and energy management systems by reporting and reducing our carbon footprint, minimising waste, efficiently using energy, water and other natural resources, actively preventing pollution, and prioritising designs that improve energy performance.

dock10’s building achieved net zero carbon status after being thirdparty verified against the UK Green Building Council’s 2019 definition.

The remaining emissions of dock10’s building will be offset through a Verified Carbon Standard project twinned with tree-planting. We celebrated our ten-year anniversary by planting 2,500 trees in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil, a commitment that has created an area of forest that is the same size as the physical footprint of our building; an enormous 12,500 square metres.

JH: Apart from providing green energy, which we already do, we see our biggest potential for impact in helping productions deal with their procurement and waste. After a thorough tendering process where we went out to visit several waste companies, we landed on local waste company, First Mile, which has a strong and creative approach to recycling. Better than recycling, though, is re-use, and given that so much of what goes into film production is very lightly used, this has been an area where we’ve spent a lot of effort. We just completed our first 100 per cent re-use film production and are very excited about that.

We also see great potential in changing how films are shot with compressed production schedules, less travel and reuse of VFX assets in virtual production. Having completed 82 virtual productions, we can engage with producers and directors on how they film to get the best outcome creatively, economically and environmentally. That creates momentum and propensity for change.

JE: Winnersh Film Studios has committed to achieving a net zero carbon footprint across the site. Among the steps we have taken toward our goal are 100 per cent renewable electricity and green gas procured through the grid; installation of energy-efficient and intuitive lighting; HVO fuel is used where applicable; and the landscaping team is composting green waste. We are also working on a number of other projects across our sites, such as installation of EV charging stations; installation of solar PV panels; and developing a green procurement roadmap with suppliers and contractors.

DO YOU PLAN TO UPGRADE FACILITIES IN THE NEAR FUTURE IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM MORE SUSTAINABLE?

SCR: We are actively planning further development of the facilities over the coming months and years and the plans include the installation of car charging points at the studio, investment in energy generation through ground source heating solutions and solar panels and offering clients a wide range of local service providers in support of all aspects of production requirements.

AM: Absolutely. We’re currently in the process of replacing our remaining Tungsten lighting across our facilities, we’re working to obtain zero waste to landfill accreditation for our new studio facility in Glasgow (Kelvin Hall), and we’re optimising our energy efficiently across our Television Centre facility to reduce energy consumption this year by 30 per cent. All initiatives are led by a dedicated Sustainability Task Force team who are tasked with ensuring we hit carbon neutrality by 2030.

LA: Whilst TBY2 is our new £11.8 million premium facility, backed with investment from the West of England Combined Authority and designed with state-of-the-art energy efficiency, the buildings on our main site are

older, having been built in the 1950s and repurposed to host film and TV productions. We are in the process of upgrading these older buildings to reduce their carbon output as much as possible, thanks to £300,000 worth of backing that we secured from the Salix Recycling Fund in 2021. This investment has made it possible for us to increase insulation and add low-carbon heating solutions, for example by replacing temporary diesel generators and warm air handling units with electric radiant heating.

Overall these measures have resulted in a reduction of between 80-92 per cent heat loss to two out of eight stages at our main site.

AC: We are constantly upgrading our facilities, spending millions each year, and improving our sustainability is an integral part of that process. Whether we are ordering new tech, refitting a studio, or simply refurbing our office space, we actively do whatever we can to reduce our environmental impact and that of our client’s productions. It makes good environmental and business sense to ensure that all our kit is as efficient as it possibly can be, for example taking every opportunity to replace lights with energy-efficient LED lighting.

JH: We have just launched a new and larger virtual production volume and two training stages to accelerate our ability to execute virtual production shoots. We’re in discussions with our landlords about installing solar panels and considering alternatives to our gas-powered energy needs such as boilers. We’re also in the process of installing a more granular system for monitoring energy use which should make it easier to manage energy savings initiatives.

JE: Our sites are all relatively new, with Farnborough Film Studios and Winnersh Film Studios opening in 2021. As a company, one of our drivers is building more sustainably. We’ve developed new technologies and innovative ways to build greener and more quickly than our competitors. Our stages offer a more sustainable alternative to traditional building methods as they have less embodied carbon than blockwork equivalents. They are robust, high quality, can be built in four months, and the construction materials are reusable or recycled. Other initiatives we’re exploring across our studios include solar panels to generate clean energy and living walls to help purify the air.

At our newest location, Wycombe Film Studios, we’ve applied a biodiversity-offsetting mindset, building in as many green spaces as

Bottle Yard Studios installed a 1MWp solar array on the rooftop of its new TBY2 facility

NEW TECH MASTERS AND THE FUTURE OF FILMMAKING

By Ryan Kamata, senior marketing manager, Canon Europe

With the rise of streaming platforms has come an increased demand for the constant availability of content at our fingertips, which has had a dramatic impact on the filmmaking industry over the last few years. Not only is the volume of content people consume increasing, with five hours and 16 minutes the average amount of time spent watching TV and video content in the UK in 2021 according to Ofcom, but also the way they consume it is diversifying.

This means filmmakers are required to consider production techniques and workflows that can support a broader variety of content than ever before; a requirement that is not often met by the right resources or budgets. This challenge has paved the way for the ‘new tech masters’ – an emerging category of filmmakers identified in Canon’s recent Future of Filmmaking report – who are striving for a filmmaking landscape that seamlessly incorporates new technologies for maximised agility and efficiency.

The increase in content from a number of different streaming competitors has caused a battle for viewer engagement as filmmakers try to cut through the noise. We have seen multiple innovative technologies that have been developed in recent years to address this challenge. However, this means nothing if they can’t fit seamlessly into the wider production ecosystem alongside different brands and tools.

While the appropriate integration approach will depend on the content type and production scale, as well as distribution method, cloud migration has already become a staple solution for a variety of workflows. For example, cloud-based collaboration tools such as Frame.io offer many benefits, including the reduction of IT costs, greater security, improved performance, and overall convenience.

Extended reality (XR) has also caused a significant expansion in the production world as it provides added flexibility and efficiency by replicating real-life backdrops using LED walls, which was particularly useful during the accelerated transition to virtual workflows. However, without every element working together, this level of technological innovation cannot reach its full potential. Canon, for example, incorporated industry-standard protocols into its products such as professional video lenses and PTZ cameras to make them compatible with this new way of working.

WHO ARE THE NEW TECH MASTERS?

A burgeoning category of filmmakers who are utilising these new

technologies is the ‘new tech masters’; those in the industry who have the confidence and courage to introduce them into their production ecosystem. While you don’t necessarily need to be an established professional to become a new tech master, it is true that those who have more experience in the industry may have a slight advantage when it comes to visualising how the new technology can be adopted into current workflows to meet the demand for more engaging content.

As there are so many different technologies used to produce, edit and distribute content, the skills required to become a new tech master will vary across each field. Therefore, vendors should look at how they can make training as accessible as possible, especially to the next generation of aspiring filmmakers trying to break into the industry.

AI AUGMENTED EXPERTISE

One way in which new technologies are becoming more accessible is through the intuitiveness and responsiveness of AI. By boosting collaboration and efficiency, AI has the power to unlock the full potential of seamlessly integrated production workflows. Although AI is still in its early stages, new tech masters will begin to realise the potential applications of AI in various areas of the industry. Adobe and Avid, for example, offer AI-powered features like media management and auto reframing, which can analyse footage and make the necessary changes based on pre-selected parameters.

Hardware and software developers have the important task of equipping AI technology with user-friendly interfaces so that new tech masters can easily adapt it into their production ecosystem without having to become AI experts. Canon utilises deep learning to enhance a camera’s autofocus capability, but this is to support a user’s camera operation and not something they need to learn about separately.

One area in which we will see new tech masters benefit from AI further is content management, where AI can support tagging each piece of content with visual and audio recognition. Such use of AI will maximise efficiency and enable producers to focus more on the matter at hand: producing engaging content.

With support from new tech masters – both industry professionals and hungry, aspiring filmmakers – emerging technologies such as cloudbased collaboration, AI and even the metaverse, will begin to evolve the production world into one that is more agile, efficient and equipped to take on the new era of content consumption post-pandemic. n

SUSTAINABILITY GOALS AT THE 2026 WORLD CUP

By Ivy Cuervo, director, brand and communications, Dejero

We’ve barely had time to catch our breath after Qatar, but planning is already underway for the next FIFA World Cup and this time rights holders will need to consider broadcasting from three different countries. The 2026 tournament will mark the first time a World Cup is hosted in football stadiums spanning an area of over 4,000 miles.

A record-breaking 48 teams will compete across North and Central America in a total of 104 matches. The USA will host the majority across 11 different cities, with the rest taking place in Canada and Mexico. This raises questions about the transportation of teams, fans, media and organisation officials. It’s imperative that national broadcasters are there; their viewers are expecting it. But from a logistical and budgetary perspective it will be challenging, and how will the event affect sustainability goals?

A few years ago, resourcing a fleet of outside broadcasting (OB) trucks was the only way; rolling up to each venue, lining up a network dish and tapping into satellite connectivity to transmit live feeds. Directors, producers, assistant producers, sound technicians, graphics operators, camera operators, engineers, etc, would all need to be on site.

Flying everyone across the Americas would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, let alone freighting or hiring OB trucks. And what about the logistical and customs considerations of the trucks and staff crossing borders? Broadcasters will also be competing with one another for expensive satellite time and bandwidth. On top of all that, the carbon footprint would be enormous.

Until recently, remote production was considered experimental and difficult to comprehend in terms of its expense and complexity. Things have changed and so have people’s attitudes to sustainability. International production company Quality is a pioneer in IP remote production, being one of the first to use video mobile transmitters and mobile apps as the primary transmission path for live sports.

“We launched Quality during the industry’s worst financial crisis in 2017, so we had to evolve our business model, finding a way to produce top quality remote productions without passing on the cost of a full crew and OB van to our clients,” says Pablo Reyes, CTO, Quality.

The trailblazing company was soon producing live football matches for LaLiga and went on to provide live feeds from the 2018 World Cup in Russia for all Spanish media. Last year, Quality made television history with the first ever all-remote multi-sport production as joint host broadcaster for the XII South American Games in Asunción, Paraguay. Its lean remote production workflow equated to a net present value saving of approximately $2.5million.

The savings aren’t just about costs and logistics, however; they are about saving the planet. “We’ve realised that, as a direct result of implementing IP remote productions, we are helping to meet our sports broadcast customers’ sustainability goals,” says Reyes.

Dejero has played a key role in Quality’s achievements. EnGo video mobile transmitters, WayPoint receivers and CuePoint return servers with built-in Smart Blending Technology are at the heart of Quality’s remote multi-camera productions, providing uninterrupted connectivity between the sports venues and their production hubs.

“Thanks to Dejero technology, all our production facilities and resources remain at our hubs, which saves us between 65-70 per cent on set-up time and costs, including cable installation, production crew time and travel, as well as logistics,” adds Reyes.

Many of Dejero’s customers are considering a different strategy for the upcoming World Cup. Basing or hiring one lean remote production crew in each country (USA, Canada, Mexico) or region (western, central, eastern) is one idea, consisting of one camera operator and one reporter and relying on a Dejero EnGo for live transmission. Ultimately, less movement of people and equipment would be required.

From last century’s heydays of OB fleets to now, where innovators use single mobile transmitters for live sports coverages, the evolution of remote production and blended IP network connectivity is pivotal in helping broadcasters reduce their carbon footprint and achieve their sustainability goals, especially at the next World Cup. n

Dejero’s EnGo video mobile transmitters, WayPoint receivers and CuePoint return servers are at the heart of Quality’s remote multi-camera productions

PUTTING SUSTAINABILITY FIRST, ON AND OFF SCREEN

Claire Mackenzie, producer, Six Inches of Soil , discusses making a film about regenerative farming, and how the production team is producing as small a carbon footprint as possible

TELL US ABOUT HOW THE FILM CAME ABOUT AND THE MESSAGE BEHIND IT.

In the face of the existential risk posed by climate change, a small but growing movement of determined UK farmers are embracing regenerative practices. However, to really transform the system, the whole food industry has to change, and enormous forces are holding back the tide.

We want to show why a new generation of farmers in the UK (within a global movement) are turning away from conventional farming and choosing to work with nature to create a resilient farming system that does not rely on chemical inputs, heavy mechanisation and monocrops. Through these farmers’ eyes we’ll see the highs and lows of changing a ‘broken’ food system. We’ll show how they’re healing the soil and water, boosting biodiversity and fighting climate change whilst providing healthier, more nutritious food. We’ll explore how one particular iteration of regenerative farming – agroecology – offers a farm-to-fork solution to our broken food system, empowering farmers and consumers to be part of the solution.

The director, Colin Ramsay, was commissioned in December 2020 by South Cambridgeshire Council and a charity, Cambridge Caron Neutral to make a short film, FromtheGroundUp. Making that short has been the key inspiration for developing this feature film; when filming on one of the regenerative farms he describes standing in a lush crop of seven-foot-tall sunflowers in winter then being shown a neighbouring conventional farm where the soil was like house bricks. That’s when the penny dropped. It was

through this project that Colin partnered with me. Through developing our understanding and connections within the farming and food community we’re uniquely positioned to draw all the threads together.

We want the film to:

• Show how modern industrial agriculture is degrading our soils, rivers, biodiversity and long-term food security and why we need to act now

• Follow the journey of three new entrant farmers as they seek the knowledge, finance and access to work with nature to produce affordable, nutritionally rich food

• Give a voice to British farmers and through them show the principles and benefits of agroecology and regenerative agriculture

• Illustrate how the ‘soil food web’ is a complex living system that interacts with the environment, plants, and animals

• Debunk the myth of food scarcity and discuss how the world population can still have affordable, nutritious food whilst increasing biodiversity

• Challenge the supermarkets, agrochemical industry and food lobbyists to respond to this alternative vision for agriculture

• Act as an advocacy tool aimed at policy makers to support a vision of farming based on agroecology

• Encourage buying local, sustainably farmed food direct from farmers and producers

Director Colin Ramsay on location

PRODUCTION AND POST

HOW ARE YOU MAKING THE PRODUCTION ITSELF SUSTAINABLE?

As an independent production we’ve sought funding from ethical and sustainable individuals, organisations and companies. It’s difficult because we could be sponsored by many companies seeking to increase their ESG ratings but we’re determined to only work with those who are aligned with our aims and objectives. We’re working with 11 food and farming NGOs who believe that there should be a change in the food and farming system for environmental reasons from climate change to biodiversity. They’ve helped us with research and have supported and guided us on our journey. We’re now reaching out to them to develop our impact and educational campaign that will be part of the distribution of the film.

It’s an environmental piece and one that’s aiming to educate the audience and to invite them to want to explore this subject further. We hope that it will trigger a mindset change in farmers, and that food citizens might adapt their food choices and thereby support food and farming campaigns.

Regarding the production of the film, we’re a small team and only have three to four crew on each shoot. We’ve been very mindful to travel as little as possible and when we do we travel in shared cars or take the train. We also chose early on to stay within England and not travel further. Our team is spread throughout England but we manage to conduct the majority of our meetings via Zoom. When we do travel, we stay as close to the farms and other destinations as possible; many times we’re lucky enough to actually stay on the farm for free. Most of the production is shot outside using natural light so we have a low energy footprint. When we do shoot inside and need artificial lighting we use low power LED lighting. We also eat local food and support ethical farmers and producers in those regions.

The production the team is very conscientious and live as lightly as possible, from using renewable energy suppliers, creating their own energy from solar, keeping our thermostats low, reducing driving, and cycling and using public transport where possible, buying local and ethically produced food, rarely buying clothes and other goods and growing fruit and veg at home or as part of community projects.

HAVE YOU TAKEN ADVICE FROM THE LIKES OF ALBERT OR THE DPP ON THEIR SUSTAINABILITY GUIDELINES?

We have looked at albert’s guidelines and we’re working with a B Corp expert who is going to fully assess our company. We’re very different from the average film production as we are a small crew, have no studios, rarely using lights as most of the shoots have been outside or using natural light, and use no excessive heating, etc.

HOW DO YOU PLAN TO MAKE POST PRODUCTION SUSTAINABLE?

The footage is all being gathered and processed digitally and transferred online. We have an in-house editor who works in the team office and so there’s no need to hire an external edit suite for the majority of the post production. The footage is shared to the rest of the team via online reviews so again no need for the team to gather to view it. Also, we’re only using one PC to edit and all our video storage back-ups run in powersaving mode when idle.

IN TERMS OF DISTRIBUTION, HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT HOW YOU CAN ‘GREEN THE STREAM’?

Matt Aspray recently joined our team as distribution adviser. He’s currently reviewing our wider impact strategy and our streaming platform choice will be considered based around this strategy. We plan to have regional screenings on farms and at locations across England that have similar principles as our film and we’re also looking at self-hosting possibilities.

HOW DO YOU HOPE TO INSPIRE OTHER FILMMAKERS TO THINK ABOUT THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINT?

Via our comms channels, we constantly share how we’re filming and how sustainability is at the core of our film and its distribution. We’re planning Q&A sessions at the end of our film screenings where we can share our journey and explain how we’ve kept our carbon footprint as low as possible. We’re producing a high-quality film but with a small, compact team and we would try to inspire others to consider how many people are needed at shoots and how far teams need to travel to create excellent films. The biggest impact filmmakers can make is to reduce their travel. n

Colin Ramsay with Anna Jackson, one of the film’s principal characters

Claire Mackenzie and Colin Ramsay

A LIFE IN COLOUR

Originating from Vancouver, Jodie Davidson joined Technicolor in the UK (now part of Picture Shop) in 2009 and has worked across studio films, indies, and high-end TV series. Her first involvement in the DI side was the Wachowski’s blockbuster Jupiter Ascending, where she worked with double Oscar-winner John Toll on the dailies and assisted in the DI grade. Davidson has gone onto work with some of the biggest names in cinematography,

Jodie Davidson, senior colourist, Picture Shop, reveals how she got her start in the industry, and why she loves collaborating with director Joanna Hogg

including Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki on the multiBAFTA and Oscar-winner The Revenant, as well as Dion Beebe, Phedon Papamichael, Paul Thomas Anderson, and more recently David Raedeker on Sundance-winning The Souvenir, and David Katznelson on the critically acclaimed award-winning series, It’s a Sin

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND...

I started in Vancouver in the late 1990s. I worked my

Davidson has worked on multiple projects with director Joanna Hogg, including The Eternal Daughter

way up from the machine room to assistant, then junior colourist. I was working on all kinds of Canadian TV shows in Vancouver. I was Telecine grading through the late ‘90s, recording to all of the analogue flavours of tape that existed at the time.

In 2008, I moved to England with my British partner and I was freelancing when I heard about a job opening at Technicolor and from there started doing film dailies, eventually moving into digital dailies when the technology changed. That’s when I started travelling a lot more with some big films like The Revenant and Jupiter Ascending. I was grading on location and in trailers with the DPs and directors.

A highlight was working on The Revenant where I would have “Chivo” and Alejandro (González Iñárritu)

come to the trailer after the shoot and we would spend time tracking shapes and keying the snow and the trees on six different takes of Leonardo DiCaprio in the snow. It was the first project that shot with the Alexa 65, so overall a really memorable experience.

The first film I graded on Baselight was called 45 Years. It went on to be quite a success and was nominated at all the major awards in 2015, and I’ve been grading on Baselight ever since.

DID YOU INITIALLY WANT TO BE AN EDITOR?

Yes. The first job in post I took was because I wanted to get into editing, however, as soon as I sat down assisting a colourist, I was like, “wow, what is this?”. I had no idea this job even existed, and I immediately connected to it. It was one of those ‘aha’ moments. I knew I was going to love it, so I began pushing in this direction.

CAN YOU RECALL YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH BASELIGHT?

Yes, I can. I had a couple of days of training with FilmLight and then I was straight onto my first project, 45 Years. I was really pleased with the results and the look of the film. It was a completely different way of thinking for me because I had previously used the Lustre system while working on both Jupiter Ascending and The Revenant

I can’t even imagine grading on anything else now because Baselight just makes so much sense.

WOULD YOU SAY 45 YEARS WAS THE START OF YOUR JOURNEY TO WHERE YOU ARE NOW?

It opened the doors for me to work on British independent films that I love so much. I then graded The Souvenir, from director Joanna Hogg, which we collaborated on and it just stuck. We’ve now done three films together: The Souvenir, The Souvenir Part II and

ABOVE: The first project Davidson graded with Baselight was 45 Years, starring Charlotte Rampling

Jodie Davidson

most recently The Eternal Daughter which stars Tilda Swinton and premiered in Venice in August 2022.

WHAT IS A TYPICAL DAY FOR YOU AT PICTURE SHOP IN LONDON?

I usually get to the office about 7:30am and start tinkering; looking at bits that maybe I didn’t have time for the day before or take that time to work on details that need more refining. Then, clients usually arrive around 9 or 10am.

For some shows, like Amazon Prime’s The Wheel of Time, I’ll have the day to grade on my own after we’ve set some hero looks. Otherwise, it’s just a fully attended day and we go through scene by scene. I do try to set hero looks when I can, so I can go back and fill in the gaps when I’ve got a minute. I find this helps to keep things moving forward and I like working this way.

Once we do have a base look in place, we’ll watch it on double speed and see what’s working and what isn’t. Something I do like to do with Baselight – nearer the end, when most of the film is graded – is to stick each reel on a cursor and put them on a screen and then scroll through so every reel is moving at the same time. It gives a general feel of what the entire film looks like and helps to make sure we have not got a scene that looks way too different to anything else. I’m also a huge fan of using snapshots for matching scenes. It is something I absolutely couldn’t live without now, and the clients seem to love it as well.

CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR RELATIONSHIP AND COLLABORATION WITH JOANNA HOGG AND HER CINEMATOGRAPHERS?

David Raedeker was the DoP for The Souvenir and The Souvenir Part II The Eternal Daughter was shot by Ed Rutherford on film.

For The Eternal Daughter, we had previously made some daily LUTs, so we had some idea about where we wanted to go in the final grade. For The Souvenir Part II we had kept the first film online so we could use it as a reference.

In terms of how we collaborate, I always work very closely with Joanna. We even made that happen during the first lockdown when we graded The Souvenir Part II and could only have one client in the room at a time. When I graded The Eternal Daughter, Ed was really lovely and trusted in our collaboration. We played around with stronger colour at times, which was fun to do. Some parts are a bit darker than we would normally go, but I’d say it still maintains a similar film aesthetic.

The Souvenir was shot on Alexa using the 16mm sensor, to give it more of a filmic quality. The second film was shot on the new Sony Venice as well as a varied amount of film formats.

For The Souvenir, the palette we went for had a lot of silvery tones, and a lot of it was based on specific memories of certain colours that Joanna had in her head. For example, she’d remember the specific colour of an ashtray in the ‘80s and we had to replicate that exact look. She really drove the look of the film and it was less about visual references and more about communication and interpreting her memories.

Part II was interesting because we had a lot of the references from the first film. However, there is an entire sequence where we were paying homage to a student film that Joanna had done at collage, at her own film school, so that was really unique to experiment with.

Regarding Baselight, we used a lot of different features. I did a lot of hue swinging in the first film. For Part II, I used a lot of shapes and the flare tool as well. I used flare a lot in both films as well as vignettes.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON DIVERSITY IN THE POST PRODUCTION INDUSTRY?

I am personally trying my best to support female colourists coming up the ranks and doing all I can to encourage and motivate them. I’ve recently been working on mentoring a junior female colourist who will support me on The Wheel of Time season two.

A really proud moment for me was when I received a message on Instagram from a superstar female colourist in LA, Natasha Leonnet. She had watched something I graded, The Pale Horse, and messaged to tell me it was beautiful and a ‘tour de force’. Those words put me on top of the world, and I think industry support like this for each other is really beneficial.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NEXT?

I’m about to start work on the second season of The Wheel of Time for Amazon. Recently released projects include Dangerous Liaisons for STARZ and Wedding Season for Disney Plus, both of which are available to stream now. n

PICTURED ABOVE: Davidson’s recent credits include Wedding Season

BUILDING AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE OTT PLATFORM

By François Polarczyk, partnership and sustainability manager, Accedo

Over the last few years, just as consumer awareness around green issues has increased, the media industry’s mindset around sustainability has also visibly shifted. While in the past sustainability was more of an afterthought, it is now becoming a key consideration for media companies as they make business and strategic decisions. COP26 saw 12 leading broadcasters and streaming companies all signing up to The Climate Content Pledge. This demonstrated their commitment to using content to help audiences understand what tackling climate change might mean for them, as well as to help inspire and inform sustainable choices. However, although the will is there to make OTT offerings more sustainable, knowing what to do is not a straightforward process.

With such complex supply chains and so many variables to consider, what actions can OTT video providers take to ensure that their services are helping to create a more sustainable future?

DRAW ON ALL AVAILABLE SUPPORT

When embarking on a journey towards building a more sustainable OTT platform, it’s critical that video providers utilise the expertise and support that unifies all industries’ efforts in reaching a net-zero world to accelerate their own transformation. The first step in this journey is to understand the carbon reduction targets you will have to commit to; this will give you an overview of the data you will need to gather to set relevant goals. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), co-funded by the UN, WWF and not-for-profit charity CDP, is the right place to start.

There are other organisations that will help you capture technical data points which are key to assessing your platform’s carbon footprint. Dimpact, for example, has developed an online tool that collects multiple data points of the video distribution pipeline and emulates its carbon footprint; this would not give you the exact carbon footprint of your video service but a relevant enough reference point to start initiatives to reduce your platform’s footprint.

When you’ve got those technical data points set out, organisations such as Normative exist to help businesses manage other data points essential to your carbon reduction strategy; related to your corporate carbon footprint (office, travel, etc) and more importantly to that associated with the solutions and services provided by your suppliers. While this seems complex, there is a lot of support available and in a few months it should give you the possibility to enter phase two: actually looking at the reduction strategy. There, you will need support from broadcast industry-specific organisations such as Greening of Streaming, which is a members association that brings industry stakeholders together to encourage collaborative working and to define metrics and standards tailored to the complexity of a video distribution ecosystem.

OPTIMISING ENERGY CONSUMPTION

It is crucial that OTT platforms become energy-aware. Energy consumption improvement measures are really important in this transformational journey and should aim to nether impact performance nor user experience, as we still all want premium video experiences. It is certain there are obvious improvements that can be made, such as not distributing 4K content to mobile devices, but for most improvements it is currently challenging to just give a one-sizefits-all recommendation. Every OTT platform is a unique combination of technologies, from the cloud storage to the actual device you are playing the content on. We can however define metrics and monitoring strategies, enabling you to A/B test variations of your value chain and progress in the right direction.

It is of course also important to ensure that video services incorporate power saving functions, such as checking the user is still watching after a set time so that a stream is not left running endlessly. Building in features that allow the user to skip content they don’t want to watch such as trailers (while browsing), content intros, summaries and credits, also reduces wastage.

INFLUENCE ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

As touched on earlier, sustainability is such a broad wide-ranging topic, and it goes further than just targeting carbon emissions reduction. The potential influence that media organisations and OTT providers can have on society is massive. Media shapes us; informing our ideas, policies, and politics. It tells us who we are, and what we can be. Media companies can make a conscious decision to evolve their content and monetisation strategy to influence and educate viewers on sustainable behaviours.

As such, video services can make a difference on a societal level, by showing content that engages the audience with the sustainability agenda. Mixing entertainment with hard-hitting topics like climate change can be impactful. Netflix’s Don’t Look Up is a good example of this because as well as being a blockbuster movie, it prompted many viewers to interact with Netflix afterwards as they looked for advice on how to contribute to stopping the environmental crisis.

It is not just the nature of the content that is important to consider here. There is also a need to think about how editorial strategy and content personalisation can influence existing consumers’ biases or create change. Once again, you can find support in the ecosystem. A great example is the EqualVoice factor created by Ringier, which analyses text and images and calculates your platform’s score on diversity indicators.

We’re all aware that unsustainable and unnecessary consumption is fueling carbon emissions. Advertising undeniably drives consumption,

creating a culture of consumerism, so its role in streaming needs to be carefully considered. This is why it is so important that when developing strategies to reduce emissions and positively influence consumer behaviour, OTT providers need to also consider the emissions that result from the uplift in sales generated by advertising. The organisation Purpose Disruptors is at the forefront of this and exists to catalyse the advertising industry’s climate transition to align with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5 degree target.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Building an environmentally sustainable OTT platform is a complex and challenging task, and it requires a comprehensive approach to sustainability. Video providers need to consider every aspect of their service design and every stage in the supply chain. It is also important that they have well-defined processes for testing and measuring how effective each action is in reducing emissions. The availability of analytics services that measure and analyse emissions will help to make this more achievable. Green initiatives and expert advisors exist to support organisations to take smart steps, so need to be utilised as much as possible. By committing to SBTi, implementing A/B strategies on technology optimisation, assessing your content strategy’s impact and ensuring a sustainable (in all ways) monetisation strategy, OTT video providers can ensure that their services are helping to create a more sustainable future. n

THE VENDORS’ VIEW

Technology is going to play a major role in the move to more sustainable TV and film productions, whether they’re live outside broadcasts, dramas, shiny show floors, or news.

TVBEurope asked some key vendors to tell us what they’re hearing from customers, and how vendors can innovate to meet sustainability targets

DR CIRO NORONHA, CTO AT COBALT DIGITAL, INC

Today there is a big drive to move processing ‘to the cloud’. But, to do that, it is necessary to map the algorithms into general-purpose processors. This is obvious, but it has sustainability issues. General-purpose processors are power-hungry; it is not uncommon for a general-purpose x86 processor to consume 200W of power. Processing HD or 4K in real time requires a lot of processor power if you are doing this in a general-purpose CPU.

With power, comes heat, and now you need fans and other cooling solutions. You may not see this (since you don’t run the cloud), but the problem is still there. How is Cobalt different? Instead of making products with power-hungry CPU, we use specialised FPGAs to do the same job at a small fraction of the power; in many cases, we do the same function using less than 40W. Depending on the solution, this even allows for passive cooling (no fans). And, as people in the business know, the first thing to fail is the fan; and now you must throw away the old one and put a new one it. Less power, lower greenhouse emissions, and longer-lasting devices. We still do cloud, but only where it makes sense. Every design is vetted for power, size, and cooling before it is allowed to proceed.

RAYMOND MIKLIUS, VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES, EMEA, GATESAIR

The transition from tube to solid-state transmission technology has elevated efficiency levels across the board. With each new generation of solid-state technology, transmitters continue to reduce in size, weight, and componentry. With fewer internal parts, transmitters operate at higher efficiency rates and require less maintenance. And with modular architectures, replacing power amplifiers and power supplies is simpler than ever, without noticeably affecting the transmitter’s performance. Whereas a single tube once took the entire transmitter offline, hot-swappable module replacements are performed while still on the air.

The latest LDMOS-FET solid-state technology that companies like GatesAir integrate inside the transmitter is central to these efficiency improvements. They also improve energy efficiency to the point where transmitters consume less power than ever relative to kilowatt hours per month. Broadcasters see lower utility bills from electricity services

even as their transmitters run 24/7, with a greater annual savings and accelerated ROI that increase total cost of ownership. These greener transmission infrastructures also reduce carbon footprints that minimise emissions. That includes building sophisticated air-cooling and liquid-cooling systems that leverage efficient heat exchange systems.

With these continuous improvements, over-the-air transmission, once viewed as a relentless energy-consuming machine, has evolved into a greener operation that keeps operational costs in check while extending the transmitter’s lifecycle. This all adds up to a message of genuine sustainability for the terrestrial broadcaster that improves with each technology generation.

CHRISTIAN SCHECK, HEAD OF MARKETING CONTENT, LAWO Lawo’s customers increasingly request detailed information about our sustainability strategy. We started our journey with a focus on waste treatment, energy efficiency, 100 per cent green energy and the use of solar panels back in 2009.

Whilst there will always be arguments against increasing the software share in our product portfolio, Lawo is convinced that the move towards software, which was ushered in by our software-defined hardware seven years ago, deserves to be pursued.

Of course, there is a lot more we need to do. Some customers have started requesting carbon footprint information about our devices, and the first steps in that direction have been taken by our internal communications and CSR manager. She is also taking the lead in raising our awareness with respect to Lawo’s environmental and social responsibility. This has led to friendly reminders that Lawo employees are expected to do little things, like switch off the lights when leaving their office or lab, turn down the heating, and use water responsibly.

So, the message has been received, and an application for the renewal of our EcoVadis label has been filed with the relevant body. An external ESG auditor will be appointed any day now to help us with additional steps we want to take.

JON BRIGGS, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, PEBBLE

Pebble prioritises environmental sustainability in the design and delivery of our solutions, facility operations, and supplier selection. The changes in customer behaviour, understandably, demand more products that are sustainable.

From an operational perspective, we continuously monitor our impact in several ways; with the basics of reusing and recycling, reducing the consumption of power and water, as well as buying materials and resources that come from renewable sources wherever possible. We also support our live systems as long as practically possible and beyond the typical depreciation period. And our customers use Pebble solutions to deploy hybrid cloud workflows, which utilise the environmental economies of scale offered by cloud providers.

Transitioning into a remote-first organisation at the height of the first lockdown helped to reduce our carbon emissions as a business too. The majority of our team (just under 100 people) now work from home, meaning that they no longer commute to a place of work. We have moved to a smaller UK base to continue the operation of a workshop, which is used for receiving goods in and out and upgrading/maintaining hardware for our customers.

We were proud to have been awarded the DPP Committed to Sustainability Mark in May 2021. Regardless of this recognition, our ongoing commitment to reduce our carbon footprint, minimise waste, and promote sustainable practices will always be a priority. As a growing organisation, we will continue to incorporate sustainable practices into our business model and encourage our stakeholders to do the same.

DANNA MANN, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AT TAG VIDEO SYSTEMS

As a software-only company since 2008, TAG has an advantage when it comes to sustainability, and we are proud to announce that we’ve recently received the DPP Committed to Sustainability badge.

Just a few of TAG’s industry-leading customers have inquired about sustainability as they are looking into their own workflow’s carbon footprint and subsequently their scope 3 emissions. Nevertheless, we are not waiting for more customers to ask about it. We would like to be ahead of the curve as we are with our technology and service.

Our solution has never required proprietary hardware; it could always run on COTS, and more recently, cloud. Our customers benefit from an IT-based pace of innovation, which has enabled them to increase their monitoring density and as a result decrease the resources required for computing (hardware and power) which comprise most of their workflow’s footprint. In addition to improving sustainability through technological advances, TAG is constantly moving towards a more sustainable operation in all aspects. For example, TAG’s direct shipping emissions come mostly from trade shows and events, so the company took a decision to drastically reduce shipping emissions in this area. We have made a conceptual change in our exhibition display, committing to using only the bare minimum elements at core events, which are reusable and sustainable, and will dramatically reduce our shipping footprint. We expect this change to have a significant emissions reductions impact for NAB 2023, and footprint reduction ROI will increase the more we use this display.

Other areas of focus for TAG are employee and office emissions, as

well as development and environment emissions, and most importantly social impacts.

BARUCH ALTMAN, HEAD OF 5G TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS, LIVEU Sustainability is clearly an issue that’s vital for the future of our planet and is a subject that’s now an increasing priority for both us and our customers. Replacing satellite trucks with compact bonding devices goes a long way towards sustainable production with remote production very much front and centre when it comes to these conversations. As an industry, we’re moving towards more sustainable live content creation workflows using remote production and LiveU’s technology. Its fundamental IP basis and cloud-based solutions are inherently suited to this way of working, be it full remote productions or hybrid.

Reducing travel to production sites of both equipment and personnel, as well as moving dedicated resources from proprietary studios to shared resources in net-zero clouds, are all contributing factors. LiveU solutions are at the forefront to assist production companies in their efforts to reduce their carbon emission. Our multi-cam LU800 is a prime example; it reduces the size and amount of equipment required, lowering power consumption and travel costs and allowing multiple full HD camera feeds to be transmitted with a single compact device.

Our products have always been designed to increase productivity and reduce cost and waste. We will continue to do so with innovative, costeffective waste-reduced integrated cloud production, IP video delivery and bonding devices for more sustainable on-site and remote news and sports productions.

ALUN FRYER, TECHNICAL MARKETING LEAD, HYPERCONVERGED SOLUTIONS, ROSS VIDEO

In recent years, sustainability has become an increasingly important consideration for broadcasters and production companies. At Ross Video, we recognise the role that technology plays in helping to reduce the environmental impact of media production.

One of the ways that we are addressing sustainability is through our focus on developing hyperconverged solutions. Much like how a mobile phone integrates many functions including cameras, GPS navigation, and calendars, a hyperconverged system can merge routing, multiviewers, signal processing, video production and more into a single integrated platform. This reduces the number of physical devices required, which in turn reduces the energy consumption for the solution and associated cooling. This consolidation also reduces the physical footprint, weight, and cabling requirements of the solution, especially important for mobile applications.

In addition to their environmental benefits, hyperconverged systems can also help broadcasters work more efficiently and effectively. Operational workflows can be more easily integrated, and system upgrades are often achieved through software licenses which reduces the time and resources required to manage and maintain their systems. This can free up resources for other important initiatives, such as content creation and audience engagement. n

YOU CAN’T WIN SUSTAINABILITY

By Dom Robinson, founder, Greening of Streaming

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues have taken centre stage in every industry, and there’s no shortage of initiatives underway. The broadcast and streaming industry is no different, and it’s crucial to have a strategy focused on

sustaining your business for the long haul, whether for ESG or, given increasing energy costs, economic reasons. While products and services compete on features, ESG initiatives compete on…well, when it comes to environmental concerns, they shouldn’t compete at all.

They should collaborate. Even our most basic survival instinct tells us that we can’t win an apocalypse.

Producing ESG data points and using them to tout our progress toward sustainability creates a sense of ‘doing something’, but if those data points are disconnected from anything measurable (or from the rest of the streaming ecosystem), they’re meaningless.

To address this problem, Greening of Streaming – a not-for-profit group of industry leaders seeking to make real change through engineering and education – seeks to dig deep into the operational energy efficiency of streaming architectures and help the industry develop best practices.

BIG PICTURE CHALLENGES

There is no single measure that will provide a consensus view on the scale of streaming’s energy usage. There are numerous measures of various localised domains of service – such as encoding systems, caching systems, network and hosting services, etc – but few take a systemic, end-to-end view of streaming, and energy savings in one domain can cause very real energy use increases in another.

While there is little consensus on the data sets available, most engineers recognise that streaming services exert significant energy demand. The annual Cisco Networking Index indicates that around 70-80 per cent of all internet traffic today is video, and forecasts that as much as 94 per cent of all network traffic will be streaming (including VR and gaming) in the near future. Even using some typically extremely cautious data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) from 2021, telcos are consuming at least 1.1-1.4 per cent of global electricity demand, and data centres an additional 0.9-1.3 per cent (plus half again if we include crypto mining). While no really good data exists yet, consumer streaming device estimates could fairly conservatively be considered to be creating an electricity demand in a similar range of 1-3 per cent.

Together that comes to between 3-6 per cent of global electricity demand, and of that demand it would appear that streaming accounts for between 70-94 per cent of the traffic, so ultimately it is responsible for at least between 2-3 per cent of electricity demand.

We can quickly see that deployment strategy for scaling online streaming can strongly (and indeed potentially very swiftly) influence the pressure on energy on a global scale. Service scaling decisions at this stage can and do have potentially far-reaching implications.

BEWARE CUL-DE-SACS

A clear model of a live streaming distribution ecosystem can be seen in the diagram below.

We refer to this diagram frequently in Greening of Streaming as a way to understand the scope of areas we believe we can directly affect through our members’ supply and operation of these technologies. Each one of the ‘boxes’ requires power. Note that the consumer device (the orange unit on the far right) is typically the only one that gets turned off. The rest are available at all times. Also, only the encoder (left) and consumer device (decoder) significantly vary their power consumption as streams stop and start. Energy use for everything else remains constant. This is very important, and is something that has been overlooked in most of the analysis that tries to convert digital media flows to carbon claims.

In reality, 1GB does not equal 1kg CO2. The many claims out there relating data transfer to CO2 are misleading. There is no linear relationship.

Another common analysis claims a direct link between how much data you stream and the energy it takes to stream that data, and that energy is then translated into a CO2 footprint based on the energy input into the local machines providing the service. Our initial research across the ecosystem indicates that that is not a true picture.

What actually happens is that networks periodically increase the network capacity (think dial-up to broadband or 4G to 5G), and while advances in technology mean that each increase in capacity can be achieved more efficiently (the typical marketing angle), the actual energy consumption rises in steps as capacity increases. This is known as the Jevons paradox, which posits that because an increase in efficiency results in decreasing costs, it ultimately results in increased resource usage.

The ‘unused’ capacity is licensed by telcos to streaming (and other service) customers in reservations called service level agreements (SLAs), guaranteeing a minimum level of availability. These reservations theoretically fill capacity, which in turn creates commercial pressure and demand for the next generation of build-out, which in turn again steps up the energy usage and vastly increases the waste, at least for a while. All this even though most of the time the capacity is only being reserved for a rainy day or occasional spikes in traffic.

And thus the Jevons paradox is in full effect as it relates to energy and the economics of streaming content at scale.

OVERPROVISIONING, REDUNDANCY, AND SLAS

London Internet eXchange (LINX) has an average traffic load of around 5 or 6 Tbps, but its aggregate capacity is nearly 38 Tbps.

Of course, redundancy is necessary in a shared network environment where routes may change and link qualities vary all the time. And while software-defined networking and network function virtualisation and so on are all promised to modern networks and included with the

latest evolution of mobile networks, the orchestration of services is not fully dynamic in any way. But service activations and deployments are carried out periodically against (you guessed it) commercial SLAs, and not dynamically against actual use. So despite the efforts to convince people to use less data, network capacity is not responsive to traffic levels. As such, while increasing network use increases energy demands, reducing traffic does not reduce network energy demands. An analogy would be ‘Christmas trousers’ that get let out to accommodate the feasting, but do not contract during the new year fasting period.

Simply constraining the SLAs would have a massive impact on the economic incentives to grow peak capacity and would have almost no effect on any normal use of service other than slightly higher chance of a few frames of video going blocky or a rebuffering event. Note that we all experience these anyway, because of local conditions that already exist beyond the scope of the SLAs. We have in practice acclimated to a place where streaming is ‘good enough’ and doesn’t need anything like the levels of redundancy that are built in for the sake of little more than the salesperson’s bonus rather than real benefit to the consumer experience.

We are just now starting to understand that traffic measurement is not necessarily a good indicator of the energy required by the available systems that deliver the traffic, since capacity, not usage, drives the energy commitment.

Another unintended consequence has emerged: a reduction in encoding complexity on the left of the diagram may allow an encoding technology vendor to declare they are only using half the energy, so are twice as ‘green’. Without a full systemic view, however, we may not notice that the resulting effort for 20 million set-top boxes to decode this type of compression may have increased by 5 per cent, which translates to an additional 4/5 megawatts of energy across the supply network, with increasing environmental impacts and a cost to the consumer of perhaps a few pennies per hour of viewing, which mounts up quickly. This highlights why you can’t claim to be winning any sustainability arguments in any isolated set of measurements.

Through Greening of Streaming’s full systems analysis, we can start to spot some of these cul-de-sacs early and try to work out what makes a difference.

SO WHAT CAN WE DO?

A reduction in data sent to the consumer may not significantly reduce any energy demands, so ESG strategies purely focused on data reduction are at best extremely questionable.

It is crucial that we move from SLA-based commercial agreements that currently span months and years (and reserve/grow networks accordingly) to orchestrating networks and their SLAs by the hour, minute, and second. Once a customer signals a live event is over, release the capacity, turn down the redundancy, and reduce the SLA. That may potentially reduce SLA-based revenue to the telco, but it will also reduce

energy costs. With careful management, the turnover may be reduced without negatively impacting profitability.

All of this can be achieved with almost no technical overhead. It is purely a matter of managing expectations to achieve potentially significant reductions in overprovisioning, and instantly make a real difference to energy consumption. Based on the ratio of LINX’s utilisation to provisioning, it looks like there is at least as much as sixfold overprovisioning for average traffic. There is potentially scope to reduce energy: in the best-case scenario, scale that up to global energy demand and that could be a reduction of around 2.5 per cent.

There are very few other opportunities to reduce energy consumption worldwide by more than 1 per cent by simply changing how commercial deals between two groups are structured. There is still much work to be done at a technical level, but this commercial oversell culture is softer and easier to target.

Beyond network services and their commercial deployment, computeintensive streaming applications such as encoding and decoding also need careful consideration. The evolution of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) is dramatically reducing energy demands for transcoding and encoding. Sadly, they are still rare and expensive in public cloud environments.

Similarly, more efficient digital signal processors (DSPs) in TV sets and set-top boxes and GPUs in mobile phones and laptops significantly reduce energy demand, but their features and deployment are not standardised, and there is currently no energy-efficient default mode to target. Power consumption on a like-for-like consumer streaming experience (that varies in a codec feature such as high dynamic range or codec type and forces the TV to decode in software rather than on its DSP) could vary electricity demand from 3 watts to 30 watts or more: an order of magnitude just for a feature that the consumer may not even be aware of, and invisible to them unless they check their electricity bill in detail and understand that cause.

This challenge in particular is the focus of Greening of Streaming’s Low Energy Sustainable Streaming (LESS) accord project, which we have launched with support from IBC and others. It is an invitation to the industry to consider what ‘good enough’ quality might be if we focused on energy-efficient ‘default’ streaming delivery.

If we can change the focus to make energy efficiency a first-class design principle, rather than a retrofit afterthought, we may be able to change the direction of the industry, remove an entire percentage (at least) of global electricity demand, reduce costs, and benefit the environment, all in one go, and without removing consumer choice.

But it will require collaboration, and a ‘we only win if we all win’ mindset to make that shift happen. Please get involved in the LESS Accord. We want to hear your ideas (however crazy they might seem) about how technology in your purview might evolve towards an energyefficient default encoding and streaming quality. n

“If we can change focus to make energy efficiency a first-class design principle, rather than a retrofit afterthought, we may be able to change the direction of the industry”

WE ALL NEED TO DO OUR PART

Former SMPTE CEO Barbara Lange discusses her passion for sustainability, and why the media tech industry needs to get on board

How did you get started in the media tech industry?

I landed in this amazing business when I joined SMPTE as executive director in 2010. I was new to the industry but felt immediately welcomed. As I embark on my new business [Kibo121], I am excited to continue working in this space, leveraging that amazing network to build a brighter sustainable future.

How has it changed since you started your career?

When I started in 2010, smartphones were just a few years old and the iPad hadn’t even been released. Netflix started streaming in 2013. It sounds crazy when we think about it, but a lot has changed. The digital transformation was just starting in 2010 and really accelerated to where we have a software-based infrastructure moving video over IP networks, remote productions, and now the integration of gaming with media productions. The pace of these technological advances has been rapid, contributing to a world that looks very different than in 2010.

What makes you passionate about working in the industry?

The media tech industry is very exciting. Video content is pervasive in our lives today, contributing more than 80 per cent of internet traffic. It is the media tech sector who make it possible for consumers to enjoy that content on any device, anywhere. It makes our lives much better for educational, informative, and entertaining purposes.

If you could change one thing about the media tech industry, what would it be?

I would like to see the industry embrace sustainability as a core part of business operations. Climate change is an issue for all industries, and the media tech sector should also play a role in reducing its carbon footprint, along with other sustainability measures. We have a lot of work to do to educate businesses on the issues and how they can take substantive and lasting changes.

How inclusive do you think the industry is, and how can we make it more inclusive?

I think the industry is doing better than ever in this regard. There are many industry groups promoting women in the industry, for example. But, of course, we can always do better. We need to improve the pipeline of talent who wish to enter the field, even starting by encouraging those from under-

served communities to enter sci-tech fields in high school and university. Our industry is better with the diversity of perspectives.

How do we encourage young people that media technology is the career for them?

By engaging with young people wherever they are, we can demonstrate the many job opportunities in this dynamic industry. That means working with industry groups like SMPTE, IABM, HPA, Rise and others to encourage the discussion with young people. Encouraging more internships and other such programmes that bridge the gap between industry and academia is critical to building that talent pipeline.

Where do you think the industry will go next?

The pandemic had a great impact on the media tech industry. It accelerated the move towards remote productions, virtual productions, and operating in the cloud. Taken with the changing habits of consumers towards adopting streaming services and non-linear consumption of content, there are plenty of advances that will take our industry forward. I think there will be more integration with the gaming industry (as we’ve already seen with virtual productions), and, of course, I am hoping that we will move towards a more mindful approach to working sustainably.

What’s the biggest topic of discussion in your area of the industry?

My area of interest today is around building awareness and visibility of sustainability within the media tech sector. The topic has grown in recent years in other industries. I believe our industry also needs to take actionable steps to operate more sustainably. That includes looking at environmental issues, i.e. reducing the carbon footprint wherever possible, but also in the areas of general corporate social responsibility. As we move towards a place where we fully understand our own energy consumption use and habits, we will be able to make mindful decisions where we operate more efficiently with less waste.

What should the industry be talking about that it isn’t at the moment?

I think we need to continue raising the awareness and help the industry do better around sustainability. It will only grow as a topic in the coming years with incentives and mandates, so we should all be ready to do our part. n