BroadcastPro ME July/August 2022

ISSUE 143 | JULY-AUGUST 2022

Licensed by Dubai Development Authority

Haider Rashid on the making of his award-winning film Europa and capturing the brutal journey of a migrant on the Balkan route

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PROINTRO

GROUP Managing Director Raz Islam raz.islam@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5471 Managing Partner Vijaya Cherian vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5472 Director of Finance & Business Operations Shiyas Kareem

Welcome

shiyas.kareem@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5474 EDITORIAL Editor Vijaya Cherian vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 55 105 3787 Sub Editor Aelred Doyle ADVERTISING Group Sales Director Sandip Virk sandip.virk@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 50 929 1845 +44 (0) 7516 993 862 DESIGN Art Director Simon Cobon Designer Percival Manalaysay MARKETING & EVENTS Events Producer Paul Godfrey paul.godfrey@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5470 Social Media & Marketing Executive Gladys DSouza gladys.dsouza@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5478 Events Executive Minara Salakhi minara.s@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 433 2856 CIRCULATION & PRODUCTION Data & Production Manager Phinson Mathew George phinson.george@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0)4 375 5476 DIGITAL SERVICES Abdul Baeis FOUNDER Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015)

Back home in India, especially in the cities, cultural activities, street theatre and country-specific week-long film screenings are pretty common practice, widening our outlook on the world and enabling us to see life beyond our relatively cloistered upbringing in the UAE. It’s one aspect of my youth that I sorely missed when I returned to my home in Dubai.

Fortunately, the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has fed that need for a few years and now, more recently, we have independent cinema house Cinema Akil and the likes of Mubi.com bringing some fantastic films to the public. And it’s at Cinema Akil that I had the opportunity to see Europa by award-winning IraqiItalian director Haider Rashid.

Europa is a tough watch, and the camera remains unrelentingly pinned on the face of this young Iraqi trying, along with several other migrants, to cross over to Europe illegally. A brief prologue to the film gives us a glimpse of the brutality of that journey and the violence and cruelty that await migrants at every step, but slowly the camera moves to the protagonist, and from then on we are just with him on this very intimate

journey of survival. The director doesn’t try to soften the blows or gloss over any part of that journey, and although there is very little dialogue in the film, you find you can't take your eyes off the screen. Haider pulls off a fantastic feat with this film, which is at once a thriller and an emotionally gripping work that can easily stand its ground at the box office. You have to hear the story in his words.

In the meantime, there’s also been plenty of action at the BroadcastPro office as we concluded two in-person roundtables, a virtual tech summit and some panel discussions, as well as visiting new studios, interviewing new people and so on. All that action always finds its way into our pages, which are replete with information on different aspects of the MENA region’s Media & Entertainment business. From media convergence and anti-piracy to a new sound recording studio, virtual production and IBC’s plans for this September, we have plenty of good reads for the summer. Happy reading!

Vijaya Cherian, Editorial Director

Published by ISSUE 143 | JULY-AUGUST 2022

Licensed by Dubai Development Authority

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every effort to ensure the content is accurate on the date of publication. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the publisher and editor. The published material, adverts, editorials and all other content are published in good faith. No part of this publication or any part

Haider Rashid on the making of his award-winning film Europa and capturing the brutal journey of a migrant on the Balkan route

Filmmaker Haider Rashid with stills from his film Europa.

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July-August 2022 | www.broadcastprome.com | 1

PROCONTENTS

Inside this issue 05 NEWS DFTC launches Bollywood initiative; BeIN and ACE shut down four pirate websites in Egypt; StarzPlay takes on ad sales for ADM; New JBM Studio launches in Al Quoz; and more 14 THE MIGRANT'S JOURNEY – UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL Iraqi-Italian director Haider Rashid talks about the making of his film Europa, a gripping thriller about a migrant's journey that leaves audiences uncomfortable in their seats.

July-August 2022 COVER: THE MAKING OF EUROPA

JBM STUDIO LAUNCHES NEW FACILITY

08

14

MEDIA CONVERGENCE AND ITS MANY FACETS - A RED BEE MEDIA ROUNDTABLE

22 ASSESSING MEDIA

CONVERGENCE WITH RED BEE Digital execs in MENA media discuss how media convergence is driving new business models

28 A NEW STUDIO IN TOWN The Neumann Studio @ BKP tour

32 AVID IN JORDAN

22

ATG upgrades facility with Avid tech to enable 8K production

A TOUR OF THE NEUMANN STUDIO @ BKP

ARAB TELEMEDIA GEARS UP FOR 8K

36 IT'S FAR FROM OVER BeIN, OSN and e& discuss how they try to stay ahead of pirates 42 VIRTUAL PRODUCTION – 3 Configuring the right set-up is critical, says Matthew Collu 46 TAKING ART SERIOUSLY Nora Razian on showing art and film at Jameel Arts Centre

28

32

PANEL DISCUSSION - BATTLING PIRACY

MICHAEL CRIMP ON IBC 2022

50 CANON ROUNDTABLE Content experts share their success stories

54 IBC BACK IN-PERSON IBC is ready, says Michael Crimp

56 THE CLOUD ERA Chris Clarke on the future of cloud-based broadcasting

36

54 July-August 2022 | www.broadcastprome.com | 3

PRONEWS

DFTC announces new Bollywood initiative for Emirati scriptwriters Dubai Film and TV Commission (DFTC) is inviting Emirati scriptwriters from the UAE and beyond to write for Bollywood. Partnering with some of the biggest Indian film studios, DFTC is launching the Ticket to Bollywood initiative to expand the reach of Emirati talent. The programme builds upon the UAE and India’s long-standing relationship, marked by decades of cultural and social exchange.

Candidates 18 years or older can register their interest, experience and portfolio on the DFTC website.

Shortlisted applicants will go on to submit a story exploring topics of their choosing within the drama, action, thriller or romance genres. A panel of

Saeed Aljanahi, Director of Operations at DFTC.

experts in the film industry will vet the works before selecting outstanding writers to develop a feature-length script

Pebble expands UAE team to accelerate growth Pebble has added further support and project implementation capacity in the UAE with three key appointments. Ziad Sanbar (r), who has been with Pebble in the UAE since 2011, has now been promoted to Regional Solutions Manager.

Belkacem Hennane (l)

joins Pebble as Customer Fulfillment Engineer, having spent the previous 12 years at Tassili Media Production, most recently as Technical Operations Manager. Christian Mesmar (c), a Product Trainer and Customer Fulfillment Engineer, will relocate from Pebble in the UK to the UAE.

for the participating Bollywood studios.

Saeed Aljanahi, Director of Operations at DFTC, said: “Bollywood has a special place in the hearts of natives and expats across the region. For decades, Indian culture, from food and fashion to film and song, has interacted with and influenced our own. We are delighted to enrich our relationship with greater cultural and creative engagement.

This initiative aims to provide Emirati writers a chance to demonstrate their knowledge and appreciation for the industry with their personal touch, while gaining invaluable experience working alongside established writers and directors from one of the world’s biggest filmmaking industries.”

Red Sea International Film Festival invites entries for second edition The Red Sea International Film Festival has announced that the deadline for receiving films for the second edition from filmmakers in Asia and Africa, including the Arab world, is August 14, 2022.

Filmmakers can participate in the Competition and the Red Sea: Shorts Competition categories.

Saudi filmmakers can also apply to screen as part of New Saudi/New Cinema. Submissions will be viewed and selected by the festival’s selection committee. The festival aims to promote crosscultural exchange and foster the growth of the Arab film industry, positioning Saudi Arabia as a key contributor to the

international film industry.

The films in competition will vie for the Yusr Awards, chosen by an international jury. The Red Sea Golden Yusr for Best Film winner will be awarded $100,000.

Cash prizes will also be awarded for Best Director ($30,000), the Red Sea Golden Yusr for Best Short Film ($25,000), the Red Sea Silver Yusr for Short Film ($15,000), and the Red Sea Silver Yusr Jury Prize ($20,000). Prizes will also be awarded for Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, Immersive, Cinematic Contribution and Red Sea: Competition Special Mention. There will also be cash prizes for the Audience Award and Best Saudi Film.

July-August 2022 | www.broadcastprome.com | 5

PRONEWS

CNBC Arabia switches to High Def CNBC Arabia is now on air with a complete HD set-up, as part of phase 1 of a long list of plans that includes opening large studio facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Mohamad Burhan, CEO of CNBC Arabia, told BroadcastPro ME: “It’s part of a bigger vision as well as the new face of CNBC Arabia.

We aim to have the latest in terms of technology and simultaneously undertake a horizontal expansion with more news gathering from the bureau offices. We also intend to localise our services better to meet the needs of our audience.

“As part of these plans, we will have a big studio in Doha and Saudi Arabia and intend to go live from there.

They will also be built under the guidance of our Director of Operations, Broadcast &

From left: Director of Operations, Broadcast & Engineering Shabbir Hussain, and CEO Mohamad Burhan.

Engineering, Shabbir Hussain.

In addition, CNBC Arabia will have a more detailed social media strategy and the channel’s social media content will be re-tailored for the broadcast screen.”

Speaking about the channel’s technical strategy, Hussain said: “The company’s vision is not just to move to HD, although that was a

much-needed first step. We aim to go digital, and our websites and applications will be changed soon. Our Doha facility will be entirely IP-based. We hope our Saudi facility will also be ready this year. Egypt will come after.”

The migration has not been without its challenges. With an old facility and limited space to create redundancy,

the team struggled but successfully managed a smooth transition from SD to HD with no downtime.

“We began this phase by installing Avid iNews, and our playout solutions were migrated to Pebble,” Hussain explained. “We had to migrate or create a new TX so that a new operation area could be constructed, from where we could go live while the old system continued. We had only one CAR but it was well managed with the help of our systems integrator MGI.” Key technologies installed included GV cameras and switchers with the whole infrastructure from Evertz, IP audio from Lawo for the Qatar facility, Calrec for the Dubai facility, Avid solutions and a Riedel intercom system to connect all of CNBC Arabia’s bureaus with its Dubai HQ.

Dubai Media Council launches One Media Dubai exclusive services Dubai Media Council has launched One Media Dubai, a one-stop shop for Emirati, Arab and foreign media professionals and organisations to obtain a range of exclusive services in the emirate, under the directives and in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Council. Services offered in the initiative’s first phase include media and commercial licensing, office leasing, visas and

Dubai Media Council with representatives from its key partners in this initiative.

immigration, banking, tourism and hospitality, education consulting, residential real estate, and telecom services.

Key partners in the initiative include the Media Regulatory Office, Dubai Media City, Federal Authority

6 | www.broadcastprome.com | July-August 2022

of Identity and Citizenship, General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Emirates NBD, Dubai Design

District, and Etisalat.

Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, commented: “The department will work with the council to ensure we can meet the needs of various media professionals, including entrepreneurs and investors in the sector.

As part of the initiative, we will be providing licences for projects and certain media activities, as well as consultancy in the tourism and hospitality sectors in Dubai.”

PRONEWS

BeIN and ACE join forces to help shut down four pirate websites in Egypt BeIN Media Group and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a coalition dedicated to protecting the dynamic legal ecosystem for creative content, have shut down four illegal piracy operations in Egypt.

ACE and beIN, which joined the coalition earlier this year, worked together to support the takedown of four major illegal live sports operators in Cairo: Goalarab. com, Yalla-Shoot-7sry.com,

yalla-shoot.us and yallashootnews.com. Combined, the four websites engaged more than 1.8m users from Egypt and more than 4.8m users globally during May 2022.

Since the start of this year, an estimated 9m users in Egypt and 24m users have globally watched illegal content stolen from beIN Sports channels. Almost half of the global visits to these pirate websites came from users in Egypt. They were among the most popular

illegal live sports streaming sites in the Arab-speaking region, with each totalling close to 1m views.

Jan van Voorn, Executive VP and Chief of Global Content Protection for the Motion Picture Association and Head of ACE, said: “The successful action against these four illegal piracy operations highlights the real-world value of the new partnership between beIN and ACE. Working together, we have the network, the resources and

the expertise needed to tackle the serious threat piracy poses to media companies all over the world and to protect the legal marketplace for content creators.”

The action included 60 Egyptian police officers supported by the Egyptian Ministry of Internal Affairs, ensuring all relevant authorities were involved.

This led to the subsequent arrest of three individuals and seizure of the domains, assets and IT equipment.

Abu Dhabi Media appoints StarzPlay as exclusive partner for ad sales Streaming platform StarzPlay has signed a long-term deal with Abu Dhabi Media that will see it exclusively handle the UAE network’s commercial and advertising deals for its entire portfolio, including TV channels, radio, digital and publishing, across the MENA region and beyond. Further to the deal, StarzPlay has established an advertising sales business team within the company that will be headed by Hamad Malik.

Abdulraheem Alnuaimi, GM of Abu Dhabi Media, said: “This agreement signifies an important step as we look forward to enhancing our reach across the MENA region and beyond … We are confident that our continued commitment to

Senior executives from Abu Dhabi Media and StarzPlay with Hamad Malik (extreme right), picked to lead the new ad sales team.

providing compelling and engaging content across our platforms will present brands and advertisers with ideal opportunities to reach audiences across the region.”

Danny Bates, Chief Commercial Officer and cofounder of StarzPlay, added: “The market is continuously evolving, and as leaders in

the industry we have always strived to innovate and evolve with the changing trends. The addition of advertising sales is a longterm strategic decision, and we look forward to exploring multiple opportunities in this space.”

StarzPlay plans to expand its sales network to the GCC in order to unlock

the regional advertising potential for Abu Dhabi Media. This agreement comes as an extension to Abu Dhabi Media’s strategic objectives announced in 2020, and aims to provide audiences with digital-first content, expanding its commercial partnerships across the MENA region and investing in local talent.

July-August 2022 | www.broadcastprome.com | 7

PRONEWS

JBM Studio launches Al Quoz facility JBM Studio has launched a brand-new studio space for digital and creative production in Al Quoz, Dubai. It is designed to be a place for the music, technology and visual arts community to connect with like-minded individuals who are exploring storytelling in the digital age and looking to produce high-quality creative and technical content.

This next phase is “about initiating homegrown projects that allow local talent to create and produce original content”, commented Benjamin Monie, cofounder of JBM Studio.

“We’re witnessing the emergence of more homegrown talent than ever before in Dubai and multimedia is the

Besides high-end recording systems, JBM Studio has a Dolby Atmos suite.

future of storytelling, so it is more important than ever that we can offer a studio like JBM.” The 5,200sqm studio spans two floors and features virtual and hybrid technology, with experts and specialists at hand to guide creatives through entire projects, from ideation to production and

launch. It also seamlessly combines the digital and physical world to give artists and producers in Dubai and around the world the opportunity to virtually connect and remotely work on events and projects.

The studio houses a black box set-up with cameras, lights and sound

Netflix chooses Microsoft for ad-supported plan

Netflix has selected Microsoft as its global advertising technology and sales partner.

In a statement, Greg Peters, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer of

Netflix, said: “Microsoft has the proven ability to support all our advertising needs as we together build a new ad-supported offering.

More importantly, Microsoft offered the

8 | www.broadcastprome.com | July-August 2022

flexibility to innovate over time on both the technology and sales side, as well as strong privacy protections for our members.

“It’s very early days and we have much to work through. But our long-term goal is clear: More choice for consumers and a premium, betterthan-linear TV brand experience for advertisers. We’re excited to work with Microsoft as we bring this new service to life.”

systems designed for talk shows, live streams and DJ and music sets, as well as an event space, office space and a collaborative workspace which will give people in Dubai talented in music, film and art a place to connect. It has been designed with flexibility and fluidity in mind, and can be used in person or remotely.

Cameras, lights and sound are connected through a virtual studio which can be controlled remotely by film, lighting and sound directors. The first floor has a Dolby sound picture studio, a podcast and vodcast suite, and a music recording and producing suite. Recording and surround systems include a Dolby Atmos suite.

Paramount Global International CEO “on leave” Paramount Global has announced that Raffaele Annecchino will be taking leave from his post as President and CEO of International Networks, Studios and Streaming.

Regional executives JC Acosta, President of International Studios, Streaming and Networks for Southern Europe, Latin America & MEA; Maria Kyriacou, President of Australia, Canada, Israel and UK; and Mark Specht, Executive VP and MD of Central and Northern Europe and Asia, will step in to cover for him.

Introducing ATEM Constellation HD

New live production switchers with standards converters on all 3G -SDI inputs, DVEs, multiviews and more!

Introducing the world’s most powerful HD live production switchers! ATEM Constellation includes advanced features such as DVEs, advanced chroma keyers, media players, multiviews and more! The built in Fairlight audio mixer includes a compressor, limiter, 6 band parametric EQ and expander on each input. Plus it includes the free ATEM Software Control for Windows and Mac.

Includes Multiview with Labels, Tally and Meters

Standards Converted 3G-SDI Inputs!

Broadcast Transitions, DVE, Stingers and More!

The ATEM Constellation HD family features models that have up to 40

ATEM Constellation HD includes a wide range of broadcast quality transitions

independent 3G-SDI inputs, with each input featuring its own dedicated up and

such as mix, dip, wipe, and more. All transitions can be customized in the

cross converter. That means it’s possible to convert any 1080p input source

system control menus with adjustments for border color, border width, position,

to the video standard of the switcher! That means each switcher SDI input

direction and a lot more! The ATEM Constellation switcher also includes a

can run a completely different television standard and it all just works!

powerful digital video effects processor for DVE transitions.

Customizable 3G-SDI Outputs

Choose from 3 Powerful Models!

The ATEM Constellation HD family have a massive number of fully independent

ATEM 1 M/E Constellation HD .....................US$1,075

3G-SDI outputs. These SDI outputs are very powerful because you can independently route any SDI input or any internal source to each SDI output.

That’s perfect for running independent feeds to stage screens, recorders and streaming processors. Plus all SDI outputs include RP-188 timecode, SDI camera

The built in multiview lets you monitor multiple sources on a single monitor.

All external SDI inputs, plus all internal video sources can be routed to any view. The multiviews are fully customizable and can be set to 4, 7, 10, 13 or 16 simultaneous views. You can also get a tally indicator, source label and VU meter overlay on each view.

ATEM 2 M/E Constellation HD .................... US$1,835 ATEM 4 M/E Constellation HD ................... US$3,995

control, tally and talkback.

Learn more at www.blackmagicdesign.com/ae SRP excludes duties, shipping and sales tax.

PRONEWS

Intigral offers HD experience with Bitmovin and Diagnal Bitmovin has partnered with Diagnal to help Intigral deliver highquality video streams to Jawwy TV and Dawri Plus subscribers in the MENA region.

Intigral uses Bitmovin Player, integrated with Diagnal frontend app development technology to ensure device support for video streaming and optimise viewing experiences for audiences.

Since this deployment, Intigral has observed a decrease in video start-up time, buffering and error rates. It has also covered the largest number of devices on the market through one player solution.

William Sharp, VP of Technology at Intigral, said: “As more new devices continue to enter the market, it’s essential we can deliver high-quality streams regardless of the device our customers are using.

The Bitmovin Player was our first choice because it has a robust feature set, existing integrations with other major vendors in the streaming space, and it supports the most devices with documentation to get us launched faster.”

Synamedia acquires Quortex and Utelly

Paul Segre, CEO of Synamedia.

Synamedia announced two acquisitions last month: Quortex, which offers a cloud video delivery platform optimised for just-in-time processing of live video streaming, and Utelly, a UK content discovery platform provider with products targeting the entertainment industry.

With the Quortex acquisition, Synamedia will enhance its cloud video network capabilities, complementing its VIVID Workflow as-a-Service with a set of solutions for OTT content processing, DR, long-tail content processing for large service providers, and live events.

The Quortex technology frees up resources if no one is watching a channel. This provides time to market and considerable cost advantages over existing cloud approaches, while ensuring that every deployed resource has a purpose.

Julien Signes, EVP and GM of Video Network at Synamedia, said: “We see enormous potential as we

10 | www.broadcastprome.com | July-August 2022

Marc Baillavoine, CEO and founder of Quortex.

expand Quortex’s reach globally, for the fast-growing D2C live streaming market as well as our traditional service provider customer base who want to reduce infrastructure costs and meet their CO2 reduction commitments.”

Marc Baillavoine, CEO and founder of Quortex, said: “With our breakthrough justin-time approach, we have turned the live streaming model on its head, ditching the need to wastefully provision streaming resources just in case.”

Synamedia’s other acquisition, Utelly, simplifies the complexity of user content discovery across TV channels, on-demand and multiple streaming services.

Its SaaS-based technology is already pre-integrated with the Synamedia Go video platform and will now be embedded in the Go.Aggregate add-on pack to help viewers find content across TV and apps on any screen. Utelly’s technology achieves this through metadata aggregation, intelligent asset linking, AI

Julien Signes, EVP & GM of Video Network, Synamedia.

and machine learning.

Utelly aggregates data in real time from multiple metadata providers, preintegrated with Gracenote, TiVo, IMDB, Netflix and 50 others. By unifying data and using AI to enrich sparse data sets, Utelly provides customers with search and recommendations that enhance content discovery experiences.

The result is an increase in customer Net Promoter Score (NPS), subscriber retention and ARPU. Paul Segre, CEO of Synamedia, said: "Every day we hear that metadata aggregation is an obstacle that is negatively impacting viewer engagement.

Utelly was ahead of the curve in recognising this and developing an SaaS solution that enables end users to find content across TV and video services.

Its AI-powered solution eliminates the complexity of combining data from multiple metadata providers and is a great addition to our Go streaming platform.”

PRONEWS

IAM Entertainment secures funding to aid MENA growth and expansion Dubai entertainment agency IAM Entertainment has confirmed a multi-milliondollar funding round led

by Abbey Road Investment Group. This will allow the agency to continue its growth across the region through live shows, movie and TV production, and talent/artist management.

Co-founded by Sonal Vara-Parmar six years ago, it has worked with artists such as Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga.

Ash Parmar, COO of IAM Entertainment, said: “This significant investment is crucial for our future growth strategy. A priority for us as a company is being able to invest heavily in our live shows division, bringing neverbefore-seen chart-topping international artists to the region in order to showcase their talent to the region’s residents and tourists alike.”

Sonal Vara-Parmar

Sonal Vara-Parmar.

LiveU acquires Pacific Live Media LiveU has acquired longstanding channel partner Pacific Live Media (PLM), as part of its strategy to get closer to its customers in key markets. Chris Dredge, PLM Managing Director, has been representing LiveU and its solutions for many years, supporting leading broadcasters, sports organisations, production companies and online media in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

The announcement follows last year’s acquisition of LiveU UK partner Garland Partners Limited, as the company increases its direct presence in specific regions. Over the last couple of years, LiveU has seen growth

in the APAC region, especially in Australia, with increasing demand for LiveU cloud-based and hybrid live video solutions for news, sports and other live productions.

Samuel Wasserman, LiveU CEO and cofounder, said: “With his deep technological know-how and passion for LiveU, Chris has played

Chris Dredge, MD, PLM.

a central role in growing our business. Our joint customers are some of the most innovative adopters of our cloudbased remote production workflows worldwide.

This move will help us to maximise our business potential and expand our end-to-end offerings as live events come back in full after the pandemic.”

added: “The second phase of our growth plan will see us cementing the region as one of the most desirable and commercially viable locations for movie and TV production, enabling a boost to the economy through building a new talent pool and job creation. IAM Entertainment has achieved significant success in the six years since we started, but this is nothing compared to what we will achieve in the next five years.”

Shahid teams up with Barajoun to produce original Arabic-language animations Shahid has signed a threeyear deal with Barajoun Entertainment, a Dubai animation and visual effects studio, to produce five original Arabic-language animations streamed exclusively under the Shahid Originals category.

This collaboration aims to grow and promote original Arabic animations featuring diverse stories that appeal to both local and international viewers.

It’s also part of the mission of both companies to mentor and support pioneering animators and other talented content creators, offering platforms on which their work can be accessed by larger audiences.

July-August 2022 | www.broadcastprome.com | 11

W E S T I N M I N A S E YA H I / D U B A I / U A E

Welcome to the MENA region’s leading industry conference and awards ceremony 08 November 2022

About the

Summit The 12th edition of the ASBU BroadcastPro Summit and Awards will be hosted in November, 2022, in association with the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU).

The Summit has, over the years, established itself as one of the region’s leading vendor-neutral events aimed at encouraging knowledge sharing and collaboration between professionals in the MENA region.

Each of the previous editions of the Summit brought together more than 300 professionals from the MENA region.

This event aims to tackle issues related to the latest trends in the marketplace. It encourages the adoption of similar standards within the MENA to ensure that all broadcasters benefit from collaboration.

The Summit is part of our commitment to bring together industry peers regularly through workshops and conferences to share technology intelligence, debate best practices and standards in the industry, discuss international and regional case studies, and take

home a wealth of knowledge that will enable us to make more informed decisions at our workplaces.

BroadcastPro ME is working alongside the Arab States Broadcasting Union and a board of technical advisors to ensure that we offer a comprehensive one-day learning experience for the industry at the Summit.

The Summit will be designed by professionals for professionals.

2022 Summit & Awards

Contact Us We look forward to hearing from you.

Content/Nominations

Sponsorship/Table Booking

Vijaya Cherian | +971 4 375 5472 vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com

Raz Islam | +971 4 375 5471 raz.islam@cpitrademedia.com

Sandip Virk | +971 50 929 1845 sandip.virk@cpitrademedia.com

Venue

Date

Website

Westin Mina Seyahi

08 Nov

broadcastpromeawards.com

Complimentary

Register now

Register for free and stay connected

About the

2022 Awards

Awards

Categories

Recognise. Reward. Reinvigorate The ASBU BroadcastPro Summit and Awards covers a broad range of categories to reward excellence in various fields across the broadcast workflow, from production and post-production to traditional broadcast and new media platforms.

The Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), an IBC award winner, and the only dynamic pan-Arab organisation involved in establishing and maintaining best practices in the field of

broadcasting, has teamed up with BroadcastPro ME as part of its efforts to tie with a partner that understands the market but also respects the need for integrity and credibility. The winners are selected by a panel of judges from across the MENA region with varying technical skills.

Our partnership with ASBU is designed to encourage greater participation from across the pan Arab market and to ensure that the choice of winners is a transparent and competent process.

ASSOCIATE SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSOR

PRESENTED BY

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PROCOVER

Haider Rashid's film Europa centres around the dangerous journey of a young migrant who dodges ruthless vigilantes on the Turkish-Bulgarian border in the hope of entering Europe. The film won global critical acclaim and was recently screened at Dubai’s independent cinema arthouse Cinema Akil. In an exclusive interview with Vijaya Cherian, the Iraqi-Italian filmmaker speaks about the making of Europa and how he hopes to underscore the migrant issue through his films 14 | www.broadcastprome.com | July-August 2022

PROCOVER

July-August 2022 | www.broadcastprome.com | 15

PROCOVER

Tell us about your filmmaking journey and how you began making films.

Europa is my fifth feature film and my third fiction feature. I have done two documentaries, but overall it’s the fifth. I always try to make movies about social issues, migrants and identity concerns, because they feel very personal to me. I began by making shorts, then I started working as a camera operator for some TV channels and I tried to learn as much as possible. When I was 23, I made my first feature. Since then, I’ve been on this journey.

Is making films your fulltime career? Where does your funding come from?

Yes, I produce and direct. This film had the privilege of getting public funding in Europe, which was great because it allowed us to make the film the way we wanted to make it. So, it was a little easier than the other projects, but you always have to juggle between different things in filmmaking. I do some commercial works that help pay the bills, and all the while I’m trying to scale up the filmmaking. My company also has a post-production arm and we're based in Florence. So in a way, we try to have a broader approach to filmmaking so we can cover all that.

You said migration is a recurring theme in your films. Is that because you are an immigrant?

Well, my father left Iraq in the '70s and moved to Europe. So I guess identity has always been something that’s been deeply fascinating, and I feel a certain responsibility to talk about migration and try to have a different angle on it.

Most of the shots in this film seem to be close-ups, and they seem deliberate.

Yeah – in general, I love close-ups. I love actors’ faces and telling stories

Haider Rashid's unapologetic portrayal in Europa of the brutal treatment meted out to migrants is a rallying cry for kinder international practices to deal with the situation.

through their faces and focusing on small details. For this film especially, the idea came at a time when there was a lot of news coverage about what was happening on migration routes, especially on the Balkan route in Europe, and I wanted to show it from a personal perspective.

At the time I was also doing a lot of VR work, and I was frustrated with VR because you lose control over the frame. So my idea was to

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share what I learned from VR in terms of approach, and see how we could bring that back to the theatre and try to tell the story from a very personal point of view of the character. It’s from there that the idea originated to focus on the character’s face.

We didn’t want to give the audience a broad look; rather, we wanted them to feel close to the character. The audience can

PROCOVER

"IT WAS A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO TAKE A VERY EMOTIONAL APPROACH TO THE STORYTELLING, AND THE WAY WE FILMED OUR ACTOR WAS A REFLECTION OF THAT Haider Rashid, director, Europa

somehow feel parts of the journey and be on the journey with him. It was a conscious decision to take a very emotional approach to the storytelling, and the way we filmed our actor was a reflection of that.

How did you go about choosing your characters for this film?

I wanted somebody who could understand the character, especially from an emotional perspective. So

I was specifically looking for actors who had experienced some sort of migration in their lives, and we came across Adam’s work. I was really taken by him and his ability to emote without saying much, and his physicality as well, because the film is very physical.

It’s important, because you can establish in this way a different type of relationship that goes beyond the story you’re telling. The film starts in the middle of the protagonist’s journey and

ends in the middle of it. So we don’t really know what happens before or after, but that was deliberate.

We just wanted to question how this situation was humane and how it was okay for somebody to go through it. So it doesn’t really matter what happened before and why the guy is running away or where to, or what’s going to happen to him.

Adam understood that on a gut

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PROCOVER

"WE SHOT THIS FILM CHRONOLOGICALLY WITH THE SCRIPT, WHICH WAS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT REALLY HELPED US GET INTO THE CHARACTER AND BUILD IT UP Haider Rashid, director, Europa

level and on an intellectual level, because he himself left his home in Libya when he was a child and moved to the UK, and has known that feeling of being different and having discovered a way to survive.

Do you feel that identity crisis too?

I was born in Florence and my mom is Italian, although my father is from Iraq. I swam in the middle of both worlds. There are times when I don’t feel 100% Italian and times when I don’t feel 100% Arab; and when you’re growing up, it gets to you and you’re always asking yourself questions. For me it was relatively easier because of where I was brought up, but the questions were always there. When I reached my twenties, I sort of felt the urge to learn more about my Arab side.

So that drove me towards making films about the identity issue.

But I think you get to a stage where you accept the fact that you have multiple identities; and once you accept that and turn it around, you understand that it's

something that's very precious and gives you access. And that empowers you to look at the world differently. This is what happened to me in the past 10 to 15 years … that shift and understanding is actually a privilege. So that’s how I feel about it now, and I'm very proud of it.

How long did it take for you to shoot this film?

There are so many elements to this film.

We wanted to create that environment by shooting in a forest and shooting in the water. Something like this is a bit more tricky than shooting in a room or on land. The shooting only took three weeks because we had limited funding.

It may seem like a lot of time, but when you’re shooting in a forest with 40 people and you didn’t want to just shoot 20 metres from the road but deep in the woods, it can be challenging.

Additionally, we shot this film chronologically with the script, which was very important because it really helped us get into the character and build it up. Shooting in sequence also means you can tell how the gaze of the camera changes through

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the film and develops.

There are also major challenges production-wise that you run into when you shoot chronologically – for instance, you can’t control the lighting – but it was really worth it.

When you are shooting something like this deep in the woods, your whole team is also detached from the world, and we purposely tried to do that to keep the experience as authentic as possible.

Do your films usually end up at film festivals, or directly for theatrical distribution?

What is the path that Europa is taking, and what is your end goal for your movies?

We always try to find a balance between art and commerce. And I guess that's one of the things we try to do in terms of making a film that is deeply political and social, but then also has a humaninterest element to it. I think it’s a film that everyone can watch; even if they are not interested in the subject matter, they will

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PROCOVER

Haider Rashid at Cannes.

required a lot of effort because we wanted to create an immersive experience, and we edited in Dolby Atmos and then downmixed to 5.1.

We experimented a lot, since we have a post-production facility and that offers you the opportunity to explore different aspects of the film.

somehow be engaged with the film.

The film took almost four years from script to screen. We could have shot it much cheaper with a smaller crew and turned it out in less than a year, but I felt we needed to take our time to really build the story in the correct manner, and finance it correctly so that we could make some sort of impact.

This film really lends itself to the big screen and it offers a very intimate approach to a harrowing experience. But today you just don't know how people are going to watch it because there are so many devices out there. I think it's important just for people to see it.

Europa has now been released in the UK, Australia, Italy and the Middle East. So it’s travelling, and for a small film it’s still defending itself well.

What were your previous features about?

My first film was was shot in London, and there also the characters have an identity crisis.

The second film was related to migration and centres around a character who is expelled from Italy because his residency permit expires, although he was born in Italy and doesn’t know the country he’s being sent to. Then I made other short documentaries about the topic. I always feel like a lot of the stuff on this topic is told from

an outsider’s perspective, and because I grew up among migrants, I felt I had another perspective to share.

What about the technology?

Is that important to you?

Yes, of course. I have a broad technical background, especially in terms of post-production. For this film, sound

What cameras do you generally favour for shooting such films?

We shot this film with the ARRI Alexa Mini, which was great because we were in the middle of the woods. The DoP detached the batteries and everything else so that he could keep the camera as light as possible. There are lighter cameras, but we wanted to make sure we could shoot with an Alexa. In general, we try to have lighter cameras to ensure greater freedom of movement.

Haider Rashid received the award for Best Director for Europa at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia last year.

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PROCOVER

Europa was presented at Cannes 2021 as part of the Directors’ Fortnight line-up.

"THE FILM HAS NOW BEEN RELEASED IN THE UK, AUSTRALIA, ITALY AND THE MIDDLE EAST. SO IT’S TRAVELLING, AND FOR A SMALL FILM, IT’S STILL DEFENDING ITSELF FOR A LONG TIME Haider Rashid, director, Europa

And I like to shoot with smaller crews, which was well suited for this situation. On this film, it was very hard to control the lighting because we wanted to use as much natural light as possible. I think the Alexa is great on that front, and although it was designed a while ago, its sensor is still probably the best that you can use for natural light.

Was there anything specific that you tried to achieve in editing?

Yes. The last scene on the boat with lights in the background was done by the VFX team. We also asked Foundry if they could help us to show the protagonist as he moves to another place, because that last shot is literally seven minutes long. So the tracking of that took a while, and we would

have had to rotoscope every frame.

Our VFX supervisor used a new technique that employs artificial intelligence and cut the time that was needed for that shot by almost a quarter. So instead of having a team of five or 10 roto artists, he was just able to do it with one compositor and have the rest of the work taken care of by the AI. I like to use VFX to complement the narration and don’t like it to be in your face.

There are three or four shots in this film that we couldn’t have made without VFX. There’s a scene where the helicopter sort of hovers over the character, and I wanted it to be a little overblown, because then it looks more real.

What's next for you?

I’m writing my next film and then

working with some relatively new filmmakers that I admire and would like to help launch their career.

I am also writing some series, and this has been a very prolific time for me because I am writing a lot. I’m also trying to scale and do bigger projects. I’m hoping to shoot my new film next year.

What has been your greatest honour in recent times?

We were very proud that after the Cannes premiere last year, Iraq chose this film as its entry for the Best International Feature for the Oscars. On a personal level, that was just wonderful because it feels like I’m more accepted by the country.

And then it took us on a journey where we learned a lot and got to meet some amazing people.

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PROROUNDTABLE

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PROROUNDTABLE

MEDIA CONVERGENCE AND ITS MANY FACETS As media houses straddle the worlds of linear and OTT, understanding what media convergence entails on the technical, infrastructural and business levels is increasingly important. In conjunction with Red Bee Media, BroadcastPro ME hosted a roundtable at VOCO Hotel Dubai, in which we discussed how definitions have evolved and what it takes to be fully converged today. Sarah Nathan brings us the details The discussion on Media Convergence: Evolving Trends in Broadcast and Streaming in MENA explored the shift of the region’s media industry towards convergence. Steve Russell, Chief Product Officer at Red Bee Media, moderated. Joining us for the roundtable were Afzal Lakdawala, Head of Digital Transformation, ARM Holding; Bassem Maher, Director of Media Operations, Warner Bros.

Discovery; Feras Al Kiswani, COO, Progressive Generation Studios; Heba Al Samt, Digital Media Director for TV and Radio, Dubai Media Incorporated; John-Paul McKerlie, VP of Marketing and Sales, TOD/ beIN Media Group; Karim Morgan, Head of Digital Technology, Asharq News; Nadine Samra, Chief Business Officer, Weyyak.com, ZEE; Dr Naser

Refaat, CTO, Rotana Group; Peter Van Dam, CEO and founder of Audio and Video Consulting LLC; and Sanjay Raina, a global media and entertainment professional. They looked at convergence from various perspectives, its impact on the future of linear, the latest business models and what is yet to come.

What is convergence?

Russell opened the discussion with a fundamental question on what convergence meant to each person in the room. With the lines between traditional TV and OTT blurring, he believes this can “augment and diversify revenue” for media companies. The challenge is to streamline the old while effectively implementing the new.

“Convergence is any integration

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PROROUNDTABLE

and interaction where you have touch points with the end user,” commented Lakdawala.

“The industry has gone through convergence for several years, starting from when we converted from analogue to digital.” The transitions from HD-SDI to IP and from traditional media to digital and social media fall under this umbrella. However, convergence is also prevailing in the most recent concepts: “New media is also going through media convergence. OTT players are looking at live streaming linear

“We launched Discovery Plus two years ago and

now have four million subscribers.

However, most of our revenues are still coming via linear. We cannot just stop linear and only go digital” Bassem Maher, Director of Media Operations, Warner Bros. Discovery

channels or feeds on their platforms.”

Alternatively, convergence can be an entry point where users can find entertainment and adjacent services, such as commerce. “It is a single access point that offers you the ability to do virtually anything,” commented McKerlie. Using YouTube as an example, he argued that convergence is driven by “a change in the profile of consumption of the user”.

The platform houses everything between minute-long clips filmed on mobile phones and hour-long professional productions. To achieve convergence, McKerlie recommends that companies answer the question: “How do I bring these adjacent types of consumption within this platform that is our delivery system?”

Successful convergence is sustaining both linear and digital, rather than favouring digital and disregarding linear, said Maher.

Although digital invites viewership through subscriptions, linear generates revenue. Discovery is currently experiencing this balance: “We launched Discovery Plus two years ago and now have four million subscribers. However, most of our revenues are still coming via linear. We cannot just stop linear and only go digital.”

The key objective behind convergence should be consumer benefit – are consumers getting the same value across multiple touchpoints? “If you don’t deliver value to the consumer, there is no convergence,” Raina explained.

“Otherwise, it’s just a disruption or transformation of business that has happened.” However, with the growth of OTT, this leads to the question of whether companies should strive for convergence. “American studies show human interaction with devices is decreasing while OTT services are proliferating. With touchpoint time going down, do you really want to give consumers so much content in various places?”

Which will prevail – OTT or linear?

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“When it comes to OTT, I think these

business models [gaming, gambling etc] are a little bit far away from our core business.

Anything that will contradict your main revenue stream should be put aside”

Nadine Samra, Chief Business Officer, Weyyak.com, ZEE Although PG Kids started out airing on linear channels, evolving technology quickly showed Al Kiswani that traditional means would not be rewarding. “Selling to linear TV channels was not going to give us the growth that we built our dream upon. So why not move to OTT?” To achieve the goal of producing content in several languages, PG Kids recognises that OTT is the ticket.

“In the coming few years, we can start growing globally and we see that these years are heading towards digital platforms.”

PROROUNDTABLE

However, OTT can displace a defining element of linear programming – curation. Based on viewer preferences, linear programmers can create regular follow-on content. “With OTT, the rights, when sold, don’t allow you to curate follow-on content,” McKerlie pointed out.

“If I had a recommendation engine and an enablement, I could create a channel on the fly.”

When discussing its future, linear can be generalised too widely, Morgan said. “We need to segregate which type of linear content will sustain and which will move towards digital and OTT, and essentially converge.”

While news and live events, mainly sports, are likely to remain on linear channels, entertainment appears to be converging. Programmers should

“It [convergence] is a single access point that offers

you the ability to do virtually anything” John-Paul McKerlie, VP of Marketing and Sales, TOD/beIN Media Group

consider curating more content to keep things exciting and engage viewers. “We need to integrate other solutions and technologies to scale down costs of content creation, but much, much more content is required,” said Van Dam. The debate over linear’s destiny in the region began over a decade ago, with early discussions suggesting it would quickly fade. Although linear is still around, working under the belief that it has run its course has helped companies reach their current positions, remarked Samra: “We at Weyyak had lessons nobody else had and were able to immediately create and catch up with what was going on. The question was, is linear going to go away or is it going to stay? No – instead, OTT just came onboard. Investing in linear is still worth it. If it weren’t, most channels would have shut down by now.”

What business models can convergence bring?

With convergence comes the inevitable shift in business models to keep pace with the possibility of multiple revenue streams. Lakdawala believes the latest trend is social commerce – incorporating e-commerce on traditional and digital platforms.

At Weyyak, social commerce has been tried and tested. Previously, if viewers liked characters’ outfits, they could click for more details or recommendations of similar apparel, then purchase from e-commerce sites. However, this model saw little success. “Coupling the interactive e-commerce experience with content was a very interesting experience, but it didn’t work for us,” Samra reflected. “It may still be a bit early.”

Dubai TV adopted a similar method to support the government’s 100 Million Meals campaign this past Ramadan, which sought to feed those in need. Capitalising on increased viewership during Iftar hours, the linear channel showed a QR pop-up that redirected users to

“For production companies like ours,

30-40% of their business comes from TV stations or cinemas, but 60-70% is from merchandising.

So, we’re now looking into this”

Feras Al Kiswani, COO, Progressive Generation Studios a donation page. The result was overwhelming. “It was one of the highest clickthrough rates we’ve ever had,” said Al Samt. However, when Dubai TV adapted this model to redirect users to Awaan, its OTT platform, it proved less effective. “It worked, but I think more people wanted to participate in the campaign, which was why we saw more success there.”

This model has helped media houses achieve the same objective, commented Morgan, referring to a broadcast network with which he had previously worked. With several series premiering on digital, either original or acquired,

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PROROUNDTABLE

“It [One Million Meals campaign] was

one of the highest clickthrough rates we’ve ever had”

Heba Al Samt, Digital Media Director for TV and Radio, DMI the broadcaster “wanted to drive traffic to digital and redirect users to the OTT platforms”.

Trailers and promotional videos appeared on linear channels with QR codes which then took users to digital platforms. Even if series had not yet premiered, users would be directed to the mobile app to set notifications for alerts when they became available.

Rotana Media Group is turning to FAST to open up another revenue stream. “FAST is essentially allowing ad replacements,” Dr Refaat explained. “If you want to make money, you have to change all the linear ads and streaming ads that relate to the viewer, to increase CPM.” Eight of Rotana’s Turksat channels are deploying FAST for the likes of hotels to play ads relevant to Turkey and Europe.

“It’s all about monetisation.”

The key to mastering FAST is spreading it internationally on multiple platforms. Otherwise, it could simply be wasteful. “Our ads run between $2,000 and $5,000.

If you go to FTA, you’re talking about $5-20 per CPM. At the end of the day, that’s not much. If you’re going to use FAST, make sure you go global and on several platforms that support FAST, so you can start seeing some revenue.”

As a channel targeting children, PG Kids faces a harder challenge when bringing in revenue. “Nobody’s going to advertise on FTA kids’ channels,” Refaat commented. “That’s why I encourage kids’ channels to bring physical products that you sell around your series.” PG Kids is already exploring this avenue, with plans to enter the merchandising market. “For production companies, 30-40% of business comes from TV stations or cinemas, but 60-70% is from merchandising. So we’re now looking into this,” said Al Kiswani.

Entering the metaverse and launching NFTs helps rake in the dollars and viewership. Refaat pointed out that Dubai’s Business Bay has recently welcomed a port for NFTs and the metaverse. Rotana Group is looking to capitalise on this and gearing up to establish a theatre in the metaverse.

Although currently prohibited in the region, gambling could also be a prolific business model, which speakers reckoned is the industry’s next step in the region and an indirect model to monetisation for sports.

A player that companies in the region should follow for its business models is Amazon Prime, Raina suggested. Combining e-commerce, OTT television, video gaming, merchandising and advertising shows the company’s “brilliant convergence”.

Russell pointed out that Amazon Prime went a step further and ventured into live sports in the

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UK while capitalising on the country’s busiest retail period.

“They took a very narrow slice of rights, which were the games over Christmas, and showed them on their main app; there was no parallel app. The CPMs they achieved for the ads shown during those matches were the highest that anyone had ever seen.”

However, OTT players must keep in mind that partnerships with gaming, gambling and e-commerce players should take a back seat to their main objective, Samra advised. “When it comes to OTTs, I think these business models are a little bit far away from our core business.

Anything that will contradict your main revenue stream should be put aside. Otherwise,

“We need to segregate which type of linear content will

sustain and which will move towards digital and OTT, and essentially converge”

Karim Morgan, Head of Digital Technology, Asharq News

PROROUNDTABLE

Steve Russell, Chief Product Officer at Red Bee Media and the day’s moderator, flanked by colleagues Houssam Al Khaled (l) and Neil Meadows (r). Below: Peter Van Dam, Afzal Lakdawala, Dr Naser Refaat and Sanjay Raina.

you’re really just diverting.”

Should companies handle their own tech?

PG Kids faced a dilemma when launching – should the company invest in the means to run in-house technology, or should it outsource technical services to a white-label provider? Once Al Kiswani and his partner realised that longterm upkeep and technology updates wouldn’t help long-term goals, outsourcing to Red Bee Media seemed a no-brainer. “Why invest in technology, when we can invest in Red Bee services as a white label and in content? We are a production house, and we need to focus on kids’ content.”

Lakdawala concurred that companies should seize opportunities to outsource technology services, to mitigate risk and concentrate on core business objectives. “Keep the technical worries to the company providing you services,” he advised.

Outsourcing also promises security and faster time-to-market, granting companies much more efficiency.

After a few years on the market with a service provider, companies are also likely to have more scalability. “Service providers with specific knowledge of what they do in niches are becoming the key factor,” said Van Dam. An exception to the outsourcing trend is Discovery, which runs its OTT platform entirely in-house. “The reason is we have our own IP,” Maher explained. “We prefer to have our own technology carry our own IP.” At the time of inception, the scarcity of service providers gave it this ability.

In today’s industry, Raina suggested that moving in-house could become a conversation once companies hit revenues of $100m. In the meantime, partnering with internet and outsourcing businesses seems to bring results.

What’s next?

Media convergence in a decade is likely to resemble its current state. Although

the tools and platforms might change, companies will continue to strive for convergence, Lakdawala commented. Al Samt ventured that non-linear platforms might be discussing convergence – for instance, platforms may evolve to give users a more immersive experience. “Entertainment is a social event. Feeds will move to an environment where you can sync with friends,” McKerlie suggested.

Today’s ‘content is king’ mantra is likely to evolve in the next five years, Raina said. “Content creators will become the rulers, and content will become god and beyond.”

In fact, platforms may even turn to viewers for content, said Morgan.

“The audience will increasingly become the content creators, as opposed to production houses.”

Al Kiswani added that in coming years, practices from prominent OTT players such as Netflix will serve as lessons for media companies in the region. PRO

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PROSTUDIO

Matt Fady is Partner/Composer and Sound Designer at BKP Media Group.

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PROSTUDIO

BKP OPENS NEUMANNDEDICATED STUDIO SPACE IN DUBAI

The Neumann Studio @ BKP, a collaborative project between Sennheiser Middle East and Barry Kirsch Productions, featuring a mix of new gear, promises to take audio content creation to the next level. BroadcastPro ME takes a tour

Dubai-headquartered BKP Group, which specialises in music, vocal, video and post-production, recently partnered with Neumann/ Sennheiser Middle East to upgrade one of its seven sound recording studios to a Neumann 7.1 set-up.

Studio 2, which has been renamed The Neumann Studio @ BKP, is in the company’s Business Central Towers facility in Dubai.

The teams worked in conjunction with UAE distributor Thomsun Trading to execute this project.

“BKP decided at the beginning

of this year to upgrade this studio, and the work was completed in April,” says Matt Fady, Partner/ Composer and Sound Designer at BKP Media Group. “The aim of this upgrade was to improve BKP’s audio monitoring system and widen its microphone inventory for use in all of the audio content creation that we are involved in.”

The audio monitoring system replaced a legacy system, while the microphones were an enhancement of what was already in place. Today, the studio boasts

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PROSTUDIO

The teams from Sennheiser Middle East and Thomsun Trading.

seven Neumann KH-120 full-range monitors with KH-750 subs as well as a raft of different microphones including U 87s, TLM 103s, KM 184s and a range of regionally exclusive AES-42 digital mics.

Once the music is captured, whether from an instrument or a vocalist, the availability of so many microphones at BKP means it can be transported as either an analogue signal or digital data (AES-67) to the recording software and mixing console for processing. It is then reproduced on the Neumann monitors.

“The Neumann KH120s that we have now are perfect for the room they are installed in and provide an accurate image, working in surround. Already, in the short space of time we have had them, they have proved their worth. In fact, we have just returned from KSA after working on a very tricky immersive audio project with a 6.1 set-up with 360-degree video projection.

We pre-mixed everything in the Neumann studio in pre-production and the mixes needed virtually no tweaking on-site,” explains Fady.

This collaboration between BKP and Neumann was not typical. Neumann was also looking for a partner in the region to showcase the full range of its solutions, and BKP fit the bill.

“BKP has been responsible for some of the most iconic theme

tunes, soundscapes and advertising jingles throughout the Middle East for decades,” says Ryan Burr, Head of Technical Sales & Application Engineering | Professional Audio Systems, Sennheiser Middle East.

“Their credits range from telecoms provider DU’s sound logo, to the Expo 2020 theme song, to the Lincoln Navigator advert soundscape. It’s almost impossible to watch any regionally created video content without Barry [Kirsch], Matt and their team having some sort of involvement in the sound.

There really wasn’t a choice to be made.”

With the range of solutions deployed at The Neumann Studio @ BKP, the facility can be set up for 2.1, 5.1 and 7.1 monitoring configurations, depending on the content being created, though at present most mixing is done in 5.1. These are tuned using Neumann’s MA-1 alignment mic and software to ensure that any nuances in the room are

“One of the more unique microphone offerings they have is an array of Neumann

AES-42 microphones.

These have analogueto-digital converters and some digital signal processing built into them”

Ryan Burr, Head of Technical Sales & Application Engineering | Professional Audio Systems, Sennheiser Middle East

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smoothed out, and the studio has a flat frequency response for whichever configuration is being used.

“The microphone options here are vast, and it does depend on the type of sound source being used and the style of content being created when it comes to which to choose. One of the more unique microphone offerings they have is an array of Neumann AES-42 microphones. These have analogue-to-digital converters and some digital signal processing built into them. This not only creates the ability to hone them to a particular voice or instrument internally, but perhaps more importantly also means that the audio is converted into digital data right at the capsule, thus eliminating any acoustic noise created through the cables, connectors and other parts of the signal chain,” explains Burr.

Although the recording studio has used Neumann mics for more than 30 years, Fady says this is the first time BKP has worked with a brand at a corporate level; it saw this partnership as a new opportunity.

“Neumann is probably the most iconic brand in audio since the 1950s. If you’ve seen Peter Jackson’s documentary way back in the ‘60s, you’ll see Neumann 47 and 67 mics in most of the studio shots. Every professional studio has a range of Neumann mics, so when we were invited to collaborate with the brand,

PROSTUDIO

we were flattered and happy to take the opportunity. We had no hesitation.

“We’ve used the mics and topof-the-class equipment to produce some legendary work we’re proud to share. Two or three years ago, we were commissioned by the Prime Minister’s office to arrange the official score of the UAE national anthem. At the time, there were various versions in use – a marching band, one had a saxophone in the score and others.

We arranged the score of the version now in official use, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it on display at the Etihad Museum last year.”

BKP brought together 60 musicians from across the world to produce the score for the Expo theme song.

“The aim of this upgrade was to improve BKP’s audio monitoring system and widen its microphone inventory for use in all of the audio content creation that we are involved in” Matt Fady, Partner/Composer and Sound Designer at BKP Media Group “Some had never travelled outside their home countries before. It was a fantastic experience as they mixed up ensembles, each an expert in their field but they had never played together before. We also produce Sonic branding, as Ryan mentioned.

Most of the animated logos from the region,

such as du and Etisalat, have been produced by us,” adds Fady.

While most of the team was familiar with the equipment, Sennheiser did offer product orientation and training on the MA-1 alignment software and process for the monitors.

“The new equipment offers BKP’s current and potentially new content creators a more enhanced experience when using the studio. Some of this content is then used in the broadcast industry,” explains Burr.

Asked what’s next, Fady says the compact size of the KH120s creates the perfect scenario for an Atmos set-up – that’s on the to-do list. “This is something we would like to do in the near future.” PRO

The studio boasts seven Neumann KH-120 fullrange monitors with KH-750 subs as well as a raft of its analogue and digital microphones.

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BRINGING FUTURE-K PRODUCTION TO THE MIDDLE EAST

Arab Telemedia Studios has modernised its content workflows and storage system with a raft of new Avid solutions that will enable it to undertake 8K productions seamlessly. BroadcastPro ME brings you the lowdown

With more broadcasters and content creators pushing forward with UHD/HDR announcements, high-resolution content is gaining popularity with Arab audiences and producers alike. Jordanian firm Arab Telemedia Studios sought a comprehensive end-to-end upgrade from long-time partner Avid to go beyond 4K and meet future 8K production requirements; earlier this year, it announced a new end-toend upgrade and multi-year subscription agreement with Arab Telemedia Studios (a subsidiary of Arab Telemedia Group), as part of the company’s push towards futureproofing high-resolution productions and workflows.

In recent times, Arab Telemedia Group, founded as a family business in 1983 by late producer and director Adnan Al-Awamleh, has been transformed into an independent commercial media enterprise specialising in producing rich content in different genres that has built a large and

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loyal audience across the Arab world, such as the first-ever International Emmy award-winning series The Invasion, The Sons of Al Rashid, Al Hajjaj and Malik Ben Al Rayeb.

Under CEO and producer Talal Al-Awamleh, the company offers filmmakers and production companies the opportunity to benefit from its production services and latest technologies to produce outstanding content. In addition, it licenses and distributes thousands of hours of content to a variety of platforms and networks. To achieve its goals and produce high-quality international films and television, it uses the latest Avid technologies to fuel its existing production workflows and power its roster of acclaimed cast and crew.

The long-term relationship between Avid and Arab Telemedia Group stretches back to 2015, when the production house was searching for a partner to help deliver cutting-edge solutions to boost operational efficiency and improve the

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quality of its productions. Faced with fierce competition, rising viewer demand for content and ever-shrinking production budgets, ATG chose Avid to provide the technologies needed to improve operational efficiency, deal with the challenges of working in 4K and quickly produce a large volume of media under tight deadlines.

The deal made the company the first Middle East production house to base its workflows around 4K productions and the Avid DNxHR codec, enabling it to quickly adapt to the evolving requirements of

high-resolution media and produce content in 4K without dramatically straining the production infrastructure. It included advanced media management solutions from the Avid Media Suite, including Interplay | Production and Interplay | Archive media asset management systems, Interplay | Capture ingest control, and Avid MediaCentral | UX, the cloud-based, web front-end to the Avid MediaCentral Platform.

To effectively archive a massive volume of 4K media, Arab Telemedia Group deployed media storage solutions from the Avid Storage Suite, including multiple ISIS shared storage systems and AirSpeed servers.

With Avid Everywhere, contributors throughout the organisation could quickly gain access to and monetise the extensive archive of valuable media assets. Media Composer video editing software with Avid Resolution Independence also gave Arab Telemedia’s creative teams the ability to acquire, edit and deliver content in any format and resolution, 4K and beyond. Media Composer’s floating licensing enabled the company to share licences across its entire network and scale workgroups on demand.

Arab Telemedia Group returned to Avid when it realised that its older tools and systems needed an upgrade. Aside from naturally occurring system failures in legacy storage hardware, which posed a threat to the secure retention of highly valuable archived material, present solutions had reached a point in the technological cycle when they couldn't keep up with current technology. Even though the hardware could still be relied on, it wasn’t ready for the demands and strains of future high-resolution production workflows.

In addition, much like other productions around the world, creative teams adjusted remarkably quickly to the increased need for remote editing and collaboration during the Covid-19 pandemic. The introduction of newer ways of working and processes provided a new work-life balance for teams used to working within the safe confines of their homes for the past two years.

This not only increased productivity and benefited those looking to express their creativity, it also shone a spotlight on the challenges of dealing with variable internet

speeds away from the turbocharged studio-grade hardware, and the need for better and more efficient software-based solutions in the cloud. With more editors working from home, Arab Telemedia Studios needed to move away from the original installation prioritising hardware-based workflows in the studio, to adapt to remote working and globally distributed workflows.

Raad Haddadin, Senior Vice President for Technology at Arab Telemedia Group, says: “Regardless of how new a system is, there comes a point in time where an upgrade is needed – either to keep up with the latest technological advancements or due to newer demands on productions, the cycle always reaches a tipping point. We also needed to increase our storage requirements both from a bandwidth and transfer of files perspective.

We knew it was time to upgrade so that our productions using the latest cameras and tools can match our post-production workflows and enable us to continue delivering on our award-winning work.”

Avid pushed Arab Telemedia Group to not only upgrade its systems to the newest available versions, but also to enhance existing workflows. This upgrade required modern technologies and solutions that could provide reliability and predictable spending while allowing the same degree of creativity from creative teams working remotely. Working on highprofile projects as an editor can be daunting, however, as it requires open collaboration with hundreds of other editors and contributors, using myriad tools and screens.

That’s why Avid introduced ATG to MediaCentral, a fully modular platform that connects and integrates Avid and third-party partner solutions to streamline and accelerate production workflows.

With this integration, it adopted resolution independence across

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many MediaCentral-enabled solutions, including Media Composer and MediaCentral | Production Management, allowing teams to work with and manage high-res and UHD media as easily as HD and SD media, and have it displayed consistently across all different tools.

With the adoption of subscriptionbased creative tools and content platforms by a growing number of post-production houses, broadcasters and other content creators, Avid decided it was time to introduce Arab Telemedia to subscription-based creative tools and content platforms, for optimally flexible and scalable workflows that ensure production resources are always available.

As a key requirement in allowing remote access to teams regardless of physical location or time constraints, the new subscription agreement to the latest Media Composer I Ultimate editing software removes reliance on perpetual licence software and ensures editors are equipped with all the required tools. It also enables editors to work from anywhere without changing their workflow and to extend collaboration to assistants, showrunners, producers and other

“This upgrade means that Arab Telemedia Group’s creative teams will be

able to tackle all future productions remotely while reducing overall costs and carbon footprint” Raad Haddadin, Senior Vice President for Technology at Arab Telemedia Group

Arab Telemedia Group's office in Jordan.

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creative contributors. This floating model of licence subscription not only allows anyone as many seats as needed, whenever needed, it also increases predictability when overseeing operational spend.

MediaCentral | Collaborate was also deployed to empower teamwork and connect teams in the studio, in the field and at home, across any device. Building on the need to collaborate remotely, it allows teams to plan stories, gather resources and delegate assignments to tracking tasks, topics and ideas. The fact that this is available as a phone or web browser app thrills editors, who can now take advantage of working together seamlessly from anywhere, without added travel costs or other operational expenses.

The upgrade also prioritised the replacement of legacy Avid ISIS storage systems with an Avid NEXIS | E4 shared storage platform, enabling any number of editors using Avid and third-party tools to connect, share media and collaborate on projects in real time from anywhere. The world's first and only software-defined storage platform that enables true storage virtualisation for any media application, this powerful system delivers unmatched flexibility, scalability, control and extensibility to Avid MediaCentral platform applications. It helps accelerate Arab Telemedia Studio’s team's workflows and is future-ready in that it grows with every production need.

“Now, armed with the latest production tools across both software and hardware, this upgrade means that Arab Telemedia Group’s creative teams will be able to tackle all future productions remotely while reducing overall costs and carbon footprint.

With more pressures globally and inside the MENA region for faster, better and more cost-beneficial, sustainable productions on the agenda, we have a great future ahead of us,” says Haddadin. PRO

PROANTI-PIRACY

DEVISING A MULTI-PRONGED STRATEGY TO PROTECT CONTENT

The MENA region is facing a number of threats from illegal satellite distributors and internet piracy in the form of IPTV and social media streaming services. BroadcastPro ME recently brought together key figures from some of the region’s most popular content providers, where a multi-pronged approach comprising technology, modified commercials and strengthened legal enforcement emerged as the ideal way to tackle piracy The US Chamber of Commerce estimates that $29bn is lost each year because of digital piracy. Closer to home, IDC estimates the cost of piracy in MENA to be around $750m. A 2021 report by media analyst firm Ampere Analysis and video technology provider Synamedia reveals that the MENA region is a piracy hotspot, while it is also the biggest potential market for paid operators.

Media companies have been adopting initiatives and technologies to counter piracy and better monetise their investment in content, and BroadcastPro ME recently hosted a panel to unearth how some of the big Middle East media players are doing so. Moderated by Dr Sherif Zaidan, co-founder and CEO of SilkBytes (a DigiSay Group company), the panel consisted of Cameron Andrews, Legal Director, Anti-Piracy, beIN Media Group; Fiona Robertson, General Counsel, OSN; and Sunil Joy, Director of Content, evision by e& life (one of the business pillars of e&, formerly known as Etisalat Group).

Over the past few years, and peaking during the pandemic, piracy has exploded across the broadcast industry. Pirates use a plethora of illegal methods such as localised pirate

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networks over terrestrial broadcasting and cable, traditional card-sharing control words, and encryption hacking.

However, it is internet-based piracy, with content offered via websites, social media live streaming platforms and IPTV, that is posing an almost existential threat to the industry.

Today, pirates can stream content onto YouTube or Facebook, make a peer-to-peer file, send movie links to friends or make it available on a website. While broadcasters put in massive efforts to keep piracy off the social streaming sites, the “real potential killer for the business is pirate IPTV”, commented Andrews. beIN, one of the leading MENA sports rights owners, has suffered losses to the tune of billions due to piracy in the region.

“This has just been exploding, and it has exponential growth. It’s fuelled by middleware that the pirates use, platforms like extreme codes and other variants of it, which have made it very readily accessible across all markets. Wherever the internet is growing, we see pirate IPTV following.”

While IPTV is also a concern for pay-TV operator OSN, the network is further plagued by piracy of linear content,

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“I think it’s the ease with which pirates are able to get all of the content without paying anything for it, and charge almost nothing for it, that is an absolutely killer for legitimate businesses” Cameron Andrews, Legal Director, Anti-Piracy, beIN Media Group especially on platforms like YouTube. “Our focus is on the protection of originals and exclusive content, as they are the most important driver for subscribers.

YouTube pirates seem to get the content within five minutes of us putting it out. So we do a lot of work on YouTube,” said Robertson.

“There are a number of very well-known pirate devices, which are generally hybrid boxes that are enabled for reception of illegally decrypted pay-TV channels through control word sharing networks and IPTV. So the users of those boxes tend not to know how they’re receiving

the content,” added Andrews.

Although hybrid receiver boxes are popular in MENA, the internet is a breeding ground for piracy, making it more difficult to track pirates and pursue action against them. There’s also been an increase in smart IPTV services. Additionally, pirate services tend to be generic and unbranded.

A combination of these factors is making it challenging to trace illegitimate distributors and pursue enforcement action against them.

While piracy is rampant across all forms of content, sport is one of the hardest-hit broadcast avenues and revenue losses are huge. Andrews gave the example of the Champions League, for which beIN has exclusive broadcast rights. MENA viewership figures were recorded at 83m.

Given the scale of piracy, broadcasters are rethinking their business models. BeIN is aggressively protecting its new content, as it is a key differentiator and massive revenue driver for the network. Over the past few years, it has had to drop some crucial broadcast rights from its portfolio, such as German football, Italian football and Formula 1.

For Andrews, a shrinking portfolio is an indicator of shrinking revenues.

“We don’t have the money to invest in carrying all those portfolios.

And if piracy continues with these sorts of exponential trends, then I think that’s where the business will respond – the portfolio will have to shrink. There have been job losses in beIN as well, which are directly attributable to the direct impact of piracy and shrinking revenues.”

Apart from revenue and job losses, piracy has also had an impact on consumer access to original content.

For instance, after beIN dropped some of its rights, those broadcasters haven’t been able to find alternative partners to carry the content – a significant loss for the region’s audiences, according to Andrews.

Conversely, OSN has been able to salvage some of its revenue from the

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pirates. The network’s drive to convert ’side set-top box’ sellers to legitimate distributors has been quite successful, with OSN able to collect considerable revenue. While “piracy is annoying and has been an issue for the industry for quite a number of years”, said Robertson, “I think that there is a perception in the market that piracy erodes our legitimate revenue streams.

There’s a small percentage of people that would ordinarily pay for a subscription, but most of the people that are taking on these very cheap or free streaming services are not going to be paid consumers at any point. So this isn’t really something that we would use to move the goalpost of our business.”

All of the panellists agreed that production studios must offer greater support to broadcasters with exclusive rights, in order to take down pirates. With tens of thousands of VOD titles available at negligible cost to consumers of illegal content, the playing field isn’t level for broadcast networks and aggregators. As Andrews put it, “I think it’s the ease with which pirates are able to get all of the content without paying anything for it, and charge almost nothing for it, that

Sunil Joy said that eLife tracks the usage of its devices, apps and platform to tackle piracy.

PROANTI-PIRACY

Sherif Zaidan, co-founder and CEO of SilkBytes, moderated the discussion.

is an absolutely killer for legitimate businesses. We have a huge portfolio and are probably the biggest owners of sports rights of any operator in the world. We can’t really look at the beIN platform and say it’s lacking in the content it provides. That’s not the issue that we face in MENA.” For aggregators, the challenge lies in creating customised viewing packages when broadcast rights move between networks.

The eLife packages offer a multiple choice of networks and a seamless transition between networks and their channels.

Asked if beIN or e& life are considering a pay-per-game or pay-per-view option as a possible measure to counter piracy, Andrews and Joy both said no. “I don’t think it really has any great impact on the piracy of it. Pay-per-view games suffer from huge amounts of piracy, and it is an absolute nightmare to try and manage the piracy of those events. In fact, those sort of broadcasting models are particularly vulnerable and particularly sensitive to piracy,” explained Andrews.

The panel unanimously agreed that a multi-pronged approach comprising technology, modified commercials and strengthened

legal enforcement was the ideal way to tackle piracy. On the technology front, beIN has invested in industryleading conditional access systems (CAS), DRM and content security. The network is also the world’s leading broadcaster when it comes to the implementation and deployment of watermarking technology. BeIN is also developing other tools using AI to detect and take action against piracy.

Website blocking is another important part of the network’s strategy, and it’s working with internet service providers in more and more countries in the region to block access to pirate websites. The network is also exploring the option of serverbased blocking. Finally, beIN actively runs disruption campaigns to stop piracy. This involves identifying all the services that pirates use, from e-commerce platforms to streaming platforms, hosting providers and social media, and issuing take-down notices.

BeIN has also stepped up judicial action against pirates. The network recently joined the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, a global anti-piracy alliance with a great track record of bringing enforcement actions. The company is already seeing success in this avenue.

OSN’s dedicated piracy team has developed software that scours the internet for its content and takes pirated sites down. This year alone, 35,000 streams have been taken down by the OSN team. OSN also collaborates with social media giant Meta to take down content on its social media sites. However, set-top box raids remain OSN’s biggest pushback against piracy; the network works with authorities such as SAP in Saudi Arabia, the Egyptian police, Dubai’s DED and Citra in Kuwait to clamp down on illegal providers. OSN also works extensively with the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store to take down illegal apps. The network has ties with the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and works with them on local anti-piracy campaigns.

Joy highlighted that eLife tracks the usage of its devices, apps and platform to tackle piracy. Its OTT Switch and eLife ON app have built-in controls to detect device registrations and regulate the frequent switch of devices. The company also attempts to curb piracy through collaborative deals and packages and in conjunction with partners such as beIN and OSN, where it creates value-added bundles for viewers. For instance, bundles that mix and match beIN’s sports, OSN’s entertainment and eLife’s broadband services

“Our focus is on the protection of originals and exclusive content, as they are the most important driver for subscribers. YouTube pirates seem to get the content within five minutes of us putting it out. So we do a lot of work on YouTube” Fiona Robertson, General Counsel, OSN

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have emerged as winning combinations for the growing number of eLife subscribers. eLife also actively works with regulatory bodies and other telcos to block piracy sites. While take-down notices are effective, the process is time-intensive and doesn’t serve well in cases of live streaming, added Joy. eLife, he said, is pushing for blanket rules that will help enforce tighter and faster blocking mechanisms.

Disruptive measures such as video throttling are also taken, to discourage viewership of pirated content. However, this is risky, as to the layman a throttled video seems like the result of a poor internet connection, casting a shadow on the reputation of the service provider.

Unlike the US or the EU, MENA countries are not unified by common laws. This makes it difficult for networks and regulatory bodies to put stringent controls in place.

Some countries have robust policies and laws on paper, but less forceful execution on the ground. The region also suffers from a prevalent ’culture of piracy’. “What we need to tackle is the mindsets of the people and raise awareness about the impact of piracy,” said Andrews.

He pointed to parts of North Africa, where pirated streams through settop boxes are the only way “people have been watching TV for years”.

According to Andrews, the culture can be resolved only through advocacy, with

“Pay-per-view games suffer from huge amounts of piracy, and it is an absolute nightmare to try and manage the piracy of those events. In fact, those sort of broadcasting models are particularly vulnerable and particularly sensitive to piracy” Cameron Andrews, Legal Director, Anti-Piracy, beIN Media Group networks, ISPs, broadcasters and regulatory bodies collaborating to take down pirate networks.

In such cases, classifying piracy and intellectual property theft as trade issues and escalating them to

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the government level appears to be the most appropriate solution. beIN is starting to take steps towards this too.

Here, OSN has had considerable success in Saudi Arabia in tackling piracy through regulatory bodies, while in Egypt the network has yet to make headway. “We’re starting from step one and trying to learn our way around each country, because they all are very different.

We do need to get engagement from the top down to allow us to get the resources that we need from the police and from the enforcement, in order to take the pirates down,” said Robertson.

Joy also advocates for continued close collaboration between government agencies and media bodies, to encourage higher investment in production and increased monetisation for the broadcast of original content.

The panel concluded with the participants agreeing that the speed with which pirate channels and their methods proliferate means piracy is an ongoing challenge that will go unabated unless there is collective, pre-emptive and sustained action from every stakeholder, including regulatory bodies, broadcast networks, production houses and even audiences.

PROVIRTUALPRODUCTION

SETTING THE STAGE TERMINOLOGY IN VIRTUAL PRODUCTION – PART 3 Choosing the right virtual production set-up and configuration is much like choosing the right lenses, framing, feeling or movement of a scene, explains Matthew Collu in the third part of this series

In content creation, the difference between acceptable and exceptional production often comes down to informed decision-making based on experience.

Executing tasks such as selecting a lens or blocking a scene are critical decisions driven by a team's extensive exposure to similar production requirements.

With the vast range of fields in the industry, leveraging expert proficiencies in a traditional production environment can help forecast the impact of these decisions on the aesthetics and costs of production.

But what about something less traditional – something much more recent, innovative and influential that aims to change how studio production and content

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creation are approached and achieved?

There is no better example in today’s media landscape than virtual production. Shrouded in mystery but with eager curiosity, creatives are itching to gain the experience to make informed decisions. Leveraging my own experience in both production and research, I’d like to start by helping you answer the question: Which stage is the right stage?

Due to its near-infinite scalability, from a small, singular LED wall to a monolithic 270-degree LED cove, choosing the correct virtual production set-up and configuration is much like choosing the right lenses, framing, feeling or movement of a scene. Those choices are made based on how well they suit the needs of the production, and each is motivated by

PROVIRTUALPRODUCTION

selecting a facility and thoroughly planning how that facility will be used, all departments stand to benefit from the deployment of virtual production tools when it is done with care and with their specific concerns in mind.”

the three Cs – concept, content, camera – each equally important and intricate. Although synonymous with breaking down traditional production needs, they differ in a virtual production context.

Other End Head of Virtual Production Kevin McGeagh says: “To make sure that productions are able to meet their goals, a proactive and holistic approach to planning a virtual production shoot is necessary. In both thoughtfully

Concept The concept is relatively unchanged in both understanding and approach. A good way of breaking down your idea into transferable and actionable facets is to ask: What is the story, and what is the visual tonality and literacy used to tell it? This allows critical elements to present themselves organically and dictates major components when bringing the idea to life. Things like characters, themes, motivations, visual style and setting (the most directly applicable to virtual production) are all deciphered and discovered at this stage. Figuring out who says what and where they say it equips you with the first nugget of information needed to figure out the best set-up for your big idea.

Virtual production leverages the efficiency and interactivity of realtime game engines to run photo-real digital environments that range as far as your imagination can take you. This means that, like the LEDs it's projected onto, the environment and solution are scalable, allowing incredible location and scenery no matter what size your set-up is. If your frame consists of close-up shots of your actors skulking through a dimly-lit alleyway, a smaller layout should suffice, rather than a massive one that could house the entire city. Deciphering your concept informs you not only what your virtual vista looks and feels like, but also how to capture it, ensuring that your choice of the stage is as correct a decision as any other production tool.

Content Now that you know where your scene occurs, the next step is to figure out the content that fills it. This is less about the media itself and more about the elements that make your location feel real. A flickering light above a worn-down door, a dumpster with a mountain of

garbage piled beside it, produce crates scattered along the back entrance – these are content to fill the scene. However, with virtual production there’s an additional component: world placement.

To be more specific, the world you place your content inside matters. Like most studio productions, a good setting is a multi-layered cake of foreground and background elements. The background could be an entirely constructed set, or a chroma solution used for set extension during post-production. The foreground could be objects or scattered terrain placed closer to your subject. The same principles apply when executing a scene layout with virtual production, though more visually immediate and accessible onset, and infinitely and digitally extendable without fear of running out of physical depth.

Understanding what content will fill what space is crucial when establishing your virtual production set-up, as this dictates what size facilitates your foreground and background content needs. If the background elements of your closeup alleyway shots are simply the narrow walls and atmospherics, you will likely fill out your foreground with a dumpster, a wheelbarrow, a shipping van and three back-alley miscreants. A smaller set-up would make that rather difficult. A firm understanding of your content layout makes all the difference when deciding what kind of solution works best for your scene, since the scale of your captured world can correctly translate into the scale of your LED wall.

Camera Finally, we arrive at the camera components you intend to employ to capture your scene in all its glory. With a multitude of parameters to decide on, this

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Movement without consideration for the real estate it moves through is an issue on both a standard set and a virtual one, says Collu.

demands some forethought on framing, lensing and all things that dictate what you’ll need from the LED wall. However, perhaps the most significant component is the kinetic nature that ties it all together: movement.

Movement without consideration for the real estate it moves through is an issue on both a standard set and a virtual one. Just as you want to make sure a light or crew member doesn’t suddenly appear in your crane shot, you also want to avoid shooting the edges of your LED wall. For large, epic, sweeping arcs covering much ground, you’ll need a full-path solution – otherwise, you may capture far more than just your alleyway and subject. Knowing your visuals and kinetics helps you

make the right choice when selecting your LED solution for how you wish to move through your set and, ultimately, how you want to represent the space.

As separate facets of the scene breakdown, these are important and integral thought points in any production, virtual or traditional. Combining all three allows a concrete and diligent understanding of the requirements for the story, setting and solution, to bring it all together. Picking the right stage for your production truly comes down to correctly understanding the world you are building and the world you are working in – knowing the story you wish to tell, and above all else using the practical experience gathered during proper time spent with your idea in order to make informed decisions as to what makes it come alive in the best way possible.

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Matthew Collu is Studio Coordinator at The Other End, Canada. He is a visual affects artist and cinematographer with experience working in virtual production pipelines and helping production teams leverage the power of Unreal Engine and real-time software applications.

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PROINTERVIEW

TAKING ART SERIOUSLY

Jameel Arts Centre has been making waves in the art community for featuring different art forms, including film.

Head of Exhibitions Nora Razian tells Sarah Nathan about the centre and elaborates on the film segment at the facility

How is Jameel Arts Centre different from other galleries in the way you integrate different art forms?

Jameel Arts Centre is essentially Dubai’s contemporary art museum. We have a collection that we show within our exhibitions’ programme; the robust film programme; the culture park where we commission works; festivals and events; and an arts library. This is the first open-access library in the Gulf that looks at art history theory, social theory and architecture, and includes a large holding of artists’ books, journals and a special collection of archival material.

That’s the Jameel Arts Centre in a nutshell, and it’s part of a bigger umbrella organisation called Art Jameel. We have a second site that we recently opened in Jeddah as well, which has an arts centre. It’s the first independent arthouse cinema and will be opening very soon.

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What does the integration of film bring to an exhibition?

We have a film programme, and when I say that I’m talking about artist films – artists who work within the moving image.

Sometimes these are documentaries, but they can also be quite experimental. This is a large way that many artists are choosing to work these days, and have been for a while. I would say it’s due to the region historically lacking access to materials and because it’s easier to circulate film works.

There are also lots of works questioning historical and documentary forms that have come out of the region, which have been quite interesting. So for us, artist film productions are important to showcase and introduce to audiences. We have a dedicated film gallery where we have month-long features of one artist, or we sometimes do thematic programmes that are related to exhibitions or other areas of interest

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– conferences, for example.

What do films bring to the table?

Everything’s in conversation with each other, and that’s how we try to see things. A conversation struck up by a film could be carried on through a talk or seminar, or go with something in an exhibition.

Everything is interconnected as one larger conversation. We try to flesh out these conversations in as many ways as possible, because people come to things with different interests and different formats to which they respond. Some people enjoy going to talks, seminars or conferences, whereas other people get so much more out of a film or an exhibition. It comes down to how to create these moments of learning.

How do the themes of films complement those of exhibitions?

Sometimes films are thematic, but other times they’re stand-alone artist features. When we opened in 2018, for about two years we were featuring about one artist a month in our film gallery. These were distinct showings of one artist, but they had some sort of dialogue with each other unfolding over time.

For thematic films, we have one that flows quite consistently – our interest in artists’ practice looks at our relationship to the natural world, such as climate change, and questions what it means to be human in relation to other inhabitants in the world. That’s been an ongoing theme many artists are working on and continue to work on.

We’ve had a theme looking at the politics of material heritage and memory. This was in mind for a show that we had in 2019 called Phantom Limb, which looked at material heritage, particularly from the region in Asia, and how communities are able to construct histories in the absence of access to artefacts that enable a connection to that history. That was part of a

“The great thing about contemporary art is it can take any medium. The door is

completely open, and it's the same with our exhibitions” Nora Razian, Head of Exhibitions, Jameel Arts Centre larger series of exhibitions we did and was accompanied by a film programme that included artist films as well as features and feature documentaries.

Most recently, we had a thematic programme related to our show in

Hayy Jameel, which is our space in Jeddah. Our opening show was called Staple What’s On Your Plate and looked at the politics of food and agroecology. We had a programme of artist films that were shown in Jeddah during the run of the show, and then came to Dubai as well to run for a couple of months.

Our opening show [in Dubai] was called Crude and looked at the idea of petromodernity and how the petrol economy shaped certain forms of architecture and art in the midtwentieth century up until the present day. Then we explored material

Nora Razian.

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Jameel Arts Centre is located in Jaddaf Waterfront, on the Bur Dubai side of Dubai Creek.

heritage and had a run of exhibitions, public programmes and films. Now we’re looking at climate change and nature, and we have an upcoming theme that’s looking at water.

So we have these broad themes but try to unpack them in really different ways for our audiences, and showcasing artist films is part of that.

What goes into the production of films? What does the technical side look like?

The artist films we show are already produced, so we rarely commission films. Sometimes we support artists who work with other institutions by coming in as co-commissioner.

However, artist films are usually films that are already done that may be going to festivals or haven't been at festivals. There’s also quite a variety of filmmaking styles – some can be quite experimental and low-fi, while others could be feature-style films. It really varies in terms of what we might show.

How do you select artist films?

The selection process is very much in

“A conversation struck up by a film could be carried on through a talk or seminar,

or go with something in an exhibition. Everything is interconnected as one larger conversation” Nora Razian, Head of Exhibitions, Jameel Arts Centre conversation with artists whose practice we're interested in looking at, whether it be anything they’re working on that we might be able to show in the future, or if it's an older film. Sometimes we also show older films from the ‘60s and the ‘70s from filmmakers that might not have been shown here or might not be so well-known. That’s another way that we like to open up thematic concepts as well, particularly if an exhibition we're looking at might connect to that timeframe. It's on a case-by-case basis.

Are there any other audiovisual methods you bring to exhibitions?

The great thing about contemporary

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art is it can take any medium. The door is completely open, and it's the same with our exhibitions.

We’re completely open to so many different forms of artmaking – sound, video, video installations, digital works just made for the digital realm, interactive displays.

That also goes for older technology.

We had a show using TV sets from the ‘60s, which was actually more challenging than the contemporary audiovisual installations. We really do come across all of it.

How do audiences respond to films as part of exhibitions?

I think people always like to be surprised formally as well. Like I said, people really respond to things differently. Some people are more oral, visual or react better when they are able to interact with something. It’s quite varied.

We’ve had such a great response from people to the general film programme because it's so varied in terms of the kinds of films that it offers. People tend to find things that suit their interests as well. PRO

BY THE INDUSTRY, FOR THE INDUSTRY

WE ARE y t i n u m m o c r u

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WHERE THE ENTERTAINMENT AND TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY REUNITE Join us | show.ibc.org

IBC2022

BACK AT THE RAI AMSTERDAM | 9-12 SEPTEMBER 2022

PROCONTENT

WHY CONTENT IS KING – PERSPECTIVES FROM CONTENT CREATORS AND FILMMAKERS Canon recently hosted a panel discussion with three well-known content creators working in different spaces – films, documentaries and social media platforms – to explore how they have evolved on their journeys and made their craft commercially viable

When Bill Gates coined the phrase ‘content is king’ 26 years ago, no one could have imagined how much content would turn media and entertainment on its head.

When the mid-noughties heralded the era of Google, Facebook and YouTube, the way content was created and who created it changed overnight, with blogs, podcasts, infographics and GIFs becoming the norm.

During the 2020 lockdown, demand for content reached new heights with people spending an average of 2.5 hours every day on social media and messaging apps, mostly looking at content. When lockdowns began, 50% of streaming video subscribers increased the time they spent watching content.

Video is now the leading content format. This includes not just Netflix, StarzPlay, OSN+ and Shahid, but services such as TikTok, Meta, Reels and Snap too. Consumers have taken control of their own media consumption, backed by a constant stream of new channels. Coupled with MENA's mobile phone usage being the highest in the world, video content continues to shape the regional entertainment economy.

Indeed, content creation has become big business, with the creator economy worth more than $100bn in 2022. One major element that has levelled the playing field is the availability of cost-effective new technologies that empower anyone with a good script to create broadcast-quality content.

One prominent player that has helped make content creation easier with the development of new camera technologies is Canon. The vendor recently brought together three renowned names from the region’s video and content creation industry for a special discussion on ‘How the Content Creation Landscape Is Changing’.

Ahmed Nokari, Head of Production for Nas News Arabia and an expert in the social media space; Faisal Hashmi, well-known in the UAE for his short films and independent

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features; and Hasan Aslan, most prominent for his documentary work, welcomed the opportunity to share their success stories. They discussed how content creators can make their craft commercially viable while maintaining quality, quantity and creativity, and how new and evolving technologies had helped them develop their craft.

What each panellist had in common, despite specialising in different types of content across different platforms, was the fact that they had all persisted on this journey and enjoyed success in the process.

Nokari was born and raised in Lebanon with a passion for radio and television. “Ignoring people who insisted it wasn’t a money-making career, I decided to study this at university level. I returned to Dubai as a promo producer when content creation was still nascent and then switched to social media content, joining Nas Daily, who influenced my art by showing me how to use content to spread the positive side of the world. Today we have six million followers!”

Pakistani national Hashmi was born and raised in the UAE, which he calls home. A business graduate, he found his passion in making films once he graduated, and then there was no turning back. “We didn’t have a film industry here back then. I studied business. At one point, however, I realised I loved telling stories and my writings were more cinematic in nature. That’s how I got into scriptwriting.”

In around 2009, when YouTube was becoming a resource for learning filmmaking, Canon released the 5D, an affordable DSLR that people could easily use no matter their skill level.

Hashmi bought one and learned by trial and error. “I just figured what works and what doesn't work and improved.

Over the last ten years, I've been primarily making short films. Now I make horror films, thrillers and sci-fi. My films have played at festivals in the UAE and globally.”

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The journey has not been without challenges. Securing budgets for films is a constant struggle, and Hashmi has often donned several hats, from director, producer, scriptwriter and actor to any other role required to bring his project to fruition.

Aslan, by comparison, chose to stick to the role of cameraman and later DoP, and has found success doing that. He went to film school and began his career with feature films, including working on Mission: Impossible, shot in the UAE. “I've mostly being doing camera work, because after some time people recognise your work and ask for you because you are good at doing that particular job. Of course it can be tough and it would take a while, but eventually you get there.”

Affordable technology is a key driver Each panellist pointed out that their journey in creating content was more successful because they had access to affordable tech kit. “Most people didn’t have good cameras,” said Nokari. “We used phones because we didn't have money for a professional camera. Then Canon announced a camera that was affordable for everyone!”

With high-quality technology now easily available and affordable, Nokari encourages aspiring content creators to build their portfolio around topics they love. “Essentially, everyone is a content creator. Do you like cooking? Then film yourself cooking. If music is your thing, then create content about music. Everyone has a content creator inside them.”

Hashmi seconded that. He recalled how his first two short films before the 5D came out were shot on a handicam. “While quality differs, I believe you can shoot a

movie on anything. But people are savvy now; there is a difference in what their expectations are today of what content should look like. Reels and TikToks exist that have amazing depth of field and movie-level quality.

People expect quality today.”

Aslan didn’t just specialise in filming; he went so far as to directly contact manufacturers such as Canon, offering feedback and suggesting features he thought would improve the user experience. His requests were often honoured, with notable changes in subsequent versions of products.

Social media and monetising content Content creators are “the beasts of the new generation”, Nokari remarked, sharing some trade secrets.

“I believe content creators are going to

From left: Ahmed Nokari, Faisal Hashmi and Hasan Aslan.

July-August 2022 | www.broadcastprome.com | 51

PROCONTENT

Ahmed Nokari calls content creators "the beasts of the new generation".

be paid more than doctors, engineers, lawyers and people who have traditionally been paid a lot. Snapchat is the most paying platform right now. The CPM (cost per thousand impressions) on Snapchat is pretty high. You can make up to $60,000 from one video on Snapchat. You can make $10,000 from one video on YouTube.”

He also urged social media content creators to follow the three-second rule, a common tactic in viral content.

With attention spans waning and scroll addiction prevalent across platforms, a three-second hook, a good title and a great visual are key to attracting eyeballs. He dismissed the fears some content creators harbour about technical terms such as algorithms, stating that his experience had taught him that the only algorithm that mattered was the audience.

Having garnered 4m views in just four days for a one-minute video, Nokari has figured out what works and what doesn’t on social media platforms. He recommended consistency, with content creators needing to ensure they post daily. “If it’s one video you are doing each day, make sure you do it every day. I do a one-minute video every day and a three-minute video every week.”

He cautioned against being demotivated by negative comments on videos or discouraged by a lack of views – eventually the content creator will learn more about their audience, discover what works for them and

“I believe ... content creators are going to be paid more than

doctors, engineers, lawyers and people who have traditionally been paid a lot”

Ahmed Nokari, Head of Production, Nas News Arabia succeed if they persist long enough.

Hashmi commented that, unlike Nokari, he used social media primarily to connect with the film community and share teasers. As someone who creates films in different genres, he added that not all content works on social media.

“When I make horror films, I know

YouTube is probably where it's going to do well, or at horror film festivals.

If I’m making an arthouse drama, however, YouTube is not the place for it because the audience is not built for it. Probably I would enter film festivals with something like that.”

He often uses social media to keep people updated on his new projects and build up the excitement to the actual launch date. “It’s like creating a journey for the film … letting people know when the shoot was over or when the first poster was out. In essence, creating a buzz for the film and building anticipation for it.”

But Hashmi also warned against assuming social media works all the time.

“Many people instantly think of YouTube monetisation, which isn’t that great unless you get millions of views. It's not sustainable, but if it works it's a nice chunk of change.

Audiences pay money to watch, whether it's in a cinema or on Netflix.

So I have to think – if I'm making a film, how marketable is it? How commercial is it? Who can I go to for financing? With platforms like Netflix and others, we have so many avenues for filmmakers. If you're making films, especially after the pandemic,

Hasan Aslan is an established cinematographer based in the UAE.

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PROCONTENT

a lot of it is shifting to streaming, which is where the money is.”

Monetising short films was often not a reality for Hashmi, so he turned to creating TVCs and commercial videos for his bread and butter.

The money he made helped him fund his personal film projects.

Aslan agreed. “Most short films don’t make money, which is why I went into commercials. Start focusing on particular projects, and step by step you become better as a cameraman, as a soundperson, as a scriptwriter or a producer. You find the right team and within a year or three, you find yourself in a nice spot where your projects bring income.”

Nokari reiterated that you don’t need millions of followers to become a successful content creator. What matters most is authentic storytelling that engages the communities who interact with it, delivering regularly and telling the story you want to tell. Without this, the consistency and hard work can lead to burnout.

Regardless of how you start a video career, the opportunities are endless.

The panellists were asked what their dreams were. Nokari said he hoped to be sitting in Hawaii one day, creating content there. Aslan said he would work closely with Canon and other manufacturers to help develop even better tech options for creators.

Hashmi he said he wanted to be a brand like Jordan Peele and make great content people still want to see years later: “I am okay if I don’t make a $100m movie. Of course, it would be great to make those kind of movies, but I would be content

“So I have to think – if I'm making a film, how marketable

is it? How commercial is it?

Who can I go to for financing?

With platforms like Netflix and others, we have so many avenues for filmmakers” Faisal Hashmi, filmmaker

to make a great movie and have the freedom to have a producer and hire a soundman and the other professionals needed, as well as a great studio, while I just scripted or directed the movie, along with an audience that appreciates my movies.”

Their concluding point was that passion and creativity are the key drivers – the money follows.

Canon concluded the panel with Bengü Topçu, Regional Marketing Director, Canon Middle East & Turkey, stating that the company was always looking to support future talent.

“Witnessing a packed room of attendees for our panel discussion further underscored our commitment to engaging with content creators and supporting them in creating innovative content. We are proud to support future digital content creators, filmmaking enthusiasts and the movers and shakers of the digital and entertainment industries in visualising cutting-edge content for assorted audiences.” PRO

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PROIBC2022

IBC GEARS UP FOR 2022 EDITION

IBC CEO Michael Crimp talks to BroadcastPro ME about new developments and trends, Covid-19 measures and sustainability After two years, IBC seems to be gearing up for a full-fledged show. Could you tell us what changes we might expect?

It’s been an incredibly busy time as we gear up for our first live, in-person show at the RAI since 2019. Our industry has faced a challenging couple of years through the pandemic, and we all know how much we missed doing business in person. We’ve looked at ways to improve the show experience for visitors and exhibitors – and naturally, things have changed since 2019. This year, IBC Show will be made up of eleven halls and an outside exhibition area, featuring world-leading technology players and market innovators covering all elements of the media value chain.

Our expanded Content Everywhere area, with its new home in Hall 5, will also include a rich speaker programme. Delivered on the Content Everywhere stage across all four show days, the programme will include a series of presentations, panel discussions and case studies exploring the rapidly evolving content distribution and consumption ecosystem, with insights on areas like live streaming, video-on-demand, achieving low latency, content discovery and recommendation, audience engagement and ad tech.

What are some of the new features you want to highlight at the show this year?

New this year, IBC’s Partners’ Programme is hosting IBC Changemaker sessions. These What are some of the traditional Michael Crimp, CEO, IBC. bring together industry trailblazers highlights to focus on for to discuss opportunities for this edition of the show? positive change, covering topics such as raising equality, IBC2022’s two-day paid-for Conference (Friday 9 & advancing sustainability and mental health awareness.

Saturday 10 September) boasts a stellar line-up of All IBC attendees will enjoy free access to Changemaker visionary speakers from some of the world’s biggest sessions from organisations such as RISE, Albert, MovieLabs, media brands, including Marvel Studios, Warner Bros.

Soho Media Club, Marketing Leaders Circle and more.

Discovery, Paramount Global and Universal Pictures.

Our Accelerator Media Innovation Programme is a relatively The Conference theme this year is ’What’s next? Design new element of the live show, having been launched in 2019. the future together’. We have a range of top-quality Innovation is in IBC’s DNA, and the programme is a fastspeakers, in-depth panel discussions and cutting-edge track innovation framework for the media and entertainment technical paper presentations in store this year, allowing industry. It brings together broadcasters and pioneering attendees to gain critical insights on some of the most technology companies to collaborate on ways to solve realpressing business issues faced by our industry today. world challenges and common pain points, experimenting Alongside the IBC Conference, our expanded free-towith new technologies and innovative approaches. attend content programme across our showfloor stages is a This year we have an incredible line-up of projects breaking fundamental element of this year’s IBC Show. It’s key to our new ground in areas such as cloud production, lower latency, mission of fostering knowledge-sharing and fuelling business metaverse, extended realities (XR), 5G remote production and conversations. Showfloor stages include our new Showcase blockchain. Accelerator proof-of-concept demonstrations will Theatre in Hall 12, offering thought-leadership sessions and be presented at IBC in Hall 2 on the Innovation Stage – where demonstrations on rapid-growth markets from leading exhibitors other thought leadership sessions will also feature – and in and sponsors, including Accenture, AWS, EVS and Zixi.

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PROIBC2022

PikoTV, LiveAPI, Riverside.fm and XroadMedia – just to name a few!

a dedicated Accelerator Zone in the same hall. Each project has its own pod to outline its challenges and findings, so I’d encourage you to head over there to learn more and see these innovations come to life on the showfloor.

What new challenges or concerns have come up for IBC owing to Covid?

Naturally, with Covid-19, we were forced to pivot the show to virtual formats for two years running.

This year, live, in-person trade shows are taking place around the world safely and successfully, with some attendees electing to wear a mask. The majority are reporting good attendance. The positive momentum towards a strong IBC2022 continues, and we remain aware of new developments around Covid.

Our approach has always been to follow the regulations and guidelines set by the Dutch government and, aligning with that guidance, there are currently no formal restrictions or requirements relating to Covid at IBC2022. We are working closely with the RAI to ensure we can organise and deliver an engaging live event in a safe way, and we of course encourage show visitors to be mindful of hygiene measures and other attendees’ personal preferences.

technology and new ideas. Today, IBC is as much about streaming, social media and personal devices as it is about broadcasting, cable and satellite. The adoption of cloud, IP and software-based solutions will remain an important theme at this year’s show, as well as some particularly exciting advances made with new 5G use cases for broadcasting.

We’re also seeing more immersive and unique audience experiences than ever before, as next-gen tech such as AI, VR/ AR and the metaverse begin to play an increasingly influential role in our market.

Any new exhibitors you’d like to name?

New exhibitors that we’re excited about include the likes of Ad Insertion Platform, Blitz micro, Ceeblue, Castify. ai, Castr Live Streaming, Green Streams,

How is IBC addressing the sustainability element at the show?

Sustainability is of massive importance to our industry today. All companies have their own roles to play in making media and entertainment a greener sector, and at IBC we’re committed to fostering and driving sustainability knowledge sharing, best practices and initiatives.

Visitors can enjoy a range of sessions and demos from exhibitors exploring sustainability. The IBC Changemaker sessions will also look at sustainability questions and best practices. Attendees can learn from Albert, the organisation supporting the global film and television industry in reducing the environmental impact of media production.

IBC’s Social Impact Awards celebrate outstanding projects aimed at reducing our industry’s carbon footprint, with winners to be announced online preshow and presented with their awards at a physical ceremony at IBC2022. IBC will also be playing its own role in reducing the show’s footprint this year, utilising recycled materials wherever possible. PRO

What new trends and technologies do you expect to see at the show?

IBC champions ground-breaking

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PROGUEST

“Any shift to virtualised infrastructure must also address the specific challenges that accompany it”

The Future of Cloud-based Broadcasting Despite recent advances in cloudbased broadcasting throughout every stage of the content chain, there is still some hesitancy to fully leverage new media workflows.

The buzz around a cloud transition within the industry tends to suggest a one-size-fits-all shift – out with the old and in with the new. But this underestimates the complexity and diversity of the media supply and content delivery chains.

A recent Deloitte report, ‘The Case for M&E Cloud: Moving to fourthgeneration broadcast infrastructure’, highlights the importance of softwaredefined, cloud-based flexibility but notes some of the main barriers to widespread adoption. These include the need to reskill broadcast engineering teams, manage product lifecycles and plan infrastructure upgrades effectively.

Next-generation broadcast infrastructure Content delivery networks (CDNs) carry their own unique set of logistical challenges. The successful delivery of a live event, for example, relies on multiple stakeholders with different technical set-ups and capabilities. The journey from capture to transport of content, delivering to takers and rights holders all over the world, is not an easy one. If this is to be done via broadcast-grade IP, then the right expertise to facilitate seamless delivery is the linchpin holding it all together.

There is a tendency, when planning for widespread change, to assume that we must dismantle the old infrastructure completely and replace it with the new approach in one swift

transition – but this is clearly naïve.

The broadcasting industry has already made significant investments in its existing infrastructure, and while IP upgrades are important, any changes to existing hardware should be managed carefully. It is crucial that organisations are advised on the right broadcastgrade hardware, to avoid investing in kit that doesn’t meet requirements.

The best way to mitigate these challenges is by making broadcast IP solutions as interoperable as possible.

Most stakeholders have already invested in the provision of one or more protocol environments, so instead of locking users into proprietary systems, next-gen vendors can ease the transition to new technologies by offering greater compatibility. A protocol-agnostic approach will allow different stakeholders to deliver feeds across all environments with minimal engineering requirements.

The ability to orchestrate in any cloud environment for cost, geo-location or feature requirement purposes will maximise the flexibility the cloud offers.

The broadcast engineer challenge As the industry moves from a reliance on physical infrastructure to an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud-based approach, there will be resource challenges. While a broadcast engineer can be highly skilled in one set of workflows, this is not always transferrable to a broadcast IP environment and it’s important to ensure that feeds are compatible downstream and broadcast at the desired specifications.

The benefits of IP aren’t always

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accessible to content owners and takers without the technical support in-house to move those feeds efficiently. As with any transition, time and training will catch up to the new products and workflows. But it also makes sense to leverage the IP knowledge already integrated within the broadcast industry.

Rather than pushing a one-size-fits-all approach, technology providers need to recognise the complexities of the transition and the engineering experience that currently exists in the market.

Where IP broadcast workflows or processing and transcoding options aren’t well understood, a self-service model is unlikely to meet the needs of a changing industry. The complexity created by a multitude of feeds, different protocol formats and hybrid workflows which leverage global teleports can be overwhelming. Combined with the reality of engineers on the ground, organisations may need more hands-on support from vendors to deliver a successful transition.

To facilitate a move to the cloud and future-proof operations, we must acknowledge that content contribution and distribution have completely different requirements. The challenges for SaaS remote editing or cloudbased media asset management are not the same as for CDNs. The generic term cloud used to describe them all often falls short of the mark.

The need for change is clear, but any shift to virtualised infrastructure must also address the specific business challenges that accompany it. The broadcast delivery chain needs IP – but without the compromises.

Chris Clarke is CEO of Cerberus Tech

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