RTS Thames Valley hosts an event about the expansion of film studios in the Thames Valley and what the plans are for the future with panellists Mark Sheffield, Pip Studios, Robert Laycock, Marlow Film Studios, Roger Morris, Stage Fifty, Lilly Hudson, Berkshire Film Office, and Abhi Arumbakkam, Resource Productions.
In this RTS Thames Valley session, each stage of getting a script on TV is explained, from how to come up with an idea to the commissioning process.
Chair:
Lyndsay Duthie, CEO, PGGB and RTS TVC Committee
Panellists:
Chloe Seddon, Head of Development, Parable Films
Bianca Gavin, Head of Production, Pulse Films
Karen Redfern, Post-Production Supervisor, (To Olivia)
Dee Allen, Company 3/Method Studios / No Chiefs
“It can be [anything] from a very simple and specific task being replicated in a simple algorithm to an intelligence system that can take complicated decisions,” explained the Digital TV Group’s Yvonne Thomas. “We see a big advantage to using AI and machine learning technologies in... search and discovery. Increasing the reach of content and making it discoverable is absolutely key [for the] monetisation of content.”
Rich Welsh, SVP for innovation at digital technology outfit Deluxe, who chaired the RTS event, said: “[AI] can be used, like any technology, for good or for bad.”
But once the pandemic ends will these changes remain? This was debated at a RTS Thames Valley session in late February, “Will news ever be the same again?”
Session chair Simon Morice highlighted how innovative news services available on YouTube such as the US podcast Too Long; Didn’t Read were breaking the mould and offering what he described as “authentic voices” to young people who tend to shun mainstream TV news bulletins.
Bruce Devlin, Dr Richard Hoptroff and Gerard Phillips explore why time synchronisation is so important, the challenges this brings to the industry in the IP environment and how these will be met, not least with new concepts such as traceable time as a service (TTaaS).
RTS Thames Valley goes behind the scenes of the iconic and historic TV outside broadcast, Christmas Carols from Kings, with the production team including TV Director Ian Russell, Lighting Director Bernie Davis and Head of OB Operations Peter Taylor, in conversation with Tim Marshall.
Carols from King’s, which was first televised in 1954, is a well-oiled machine in normal years, but this year the production team had to work under Covid-19 restrictions.
“It became very clear early on that we would not have a congregation,” recalled Taylor, who was talking to RTS Thames Valley’s Tim Marshall, a former BBC head of events.
The challenge, he continued, was “to reflect the congregational style and make it still feel like a church service, rather than a Christmassy Songs of Praise”.
An RTS Thames Valley event in early December celebrated this anniversary with contributions from subtitling experts and Dawn Jones, a subtitle user.
“I’m exhausted at the end of the day from the effort it takes to engage with real life, so it’s lovely to come home, turn the telly and the subtitles on and relax,” said Jones, who was born hard of hearing.
In conversation with Tim Marshall, Jeff Foulser, Executive Chairman, Sunset and Vine, talks about his life in sports TV and how the industry has changed, both in terms of technology and business over the past decade.
At a late-July event, ‘The future of shows’, Darren Woolfson of Molinare, Abby Parsall (Boxer Systems), Ciaran Doran (Rohde & Schwarz), MC Patel (Emotion Systems) and Mark Birchall (Tradefair) formed an impressive panel, chaired by Penny Westlake (Interra Systems).
