Making the Media

S3E07: VICE Media Group has built a successful news brand aimed at a young audience, but how are they trying to expand that audience, stay true to their values, and deliver commercially in a tough and competitive market? In the seventh episode of season three of the Making the Media Podcast, host Craig Wilson is joined by Maral Usefi, vice president of news and editorial operations at VICE Media Group Our Guest This Episode Maral Usefi , Vice President of News and Editorial Operations at VICE Media Group Maral is responsible for news and documentary coverage, unscripted series, development, and specials. She also leads all internal VICE News operations with oversight over its studios, control rooms, and production scheduling. Maral serves as a Senior Executive Producer of the award-winning VICE News Tonight, along with a number of series including Small Town Secrets, Border to Border, and BLM: A Global Reckoning. Usefi is the recipient of multiple National News Emmy® awards, a George Polk Award, two Edward R Murrow Awards, and a Peabody, among others. Prior to VICE, she developed and launched Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien for CNN and served as senior executive producer of the morning programming slate for Al Jazeera America, along with a stint at Fox News. She got her start producing the morning show at KCRA in Sacramento. She is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. More Resources For more on this topic, check out Tomorrow’s News—This series of articles details the findings from a recent major report from the DPP. Making the Media with Avid CEO Jeff Rosica – Get the thoughts of Avid’s chief executive on the state of the media business and the future. Contact Us Questions? Comments? Cool ideas? Get in touch: makingthemedia@avid.com or @craigaw1969. Follow Avid at @avid. Credits Host: Craig Wilson Producer: Matt Diggs Social: Wim Van den Broeck Theme Music: Greg “Stryke” Chin

S3E06: ITV News has been at the heart of British broadcasting for more than sixty years. How is it planning to take on the streaming platforms with news at its core and deliver a new experience for its audience? In the sixth episode of season three of the Making the Media Podcast, host Craig Wilson is joined by ITV’s Director of News and Current Affairs, Michael Jermey. Our Guests This Episode: Michael Jermey, Director of News and Current Affairs, ITV Michael has led ITV's expansion of news programming and investigative current affairs output over the past decade on both television and digital platforms. Michael is a news industry veteran. Early in his career he worked on location on stories such as the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the 1990-91 Gulf War. In the early 1990s he was program editor of ITV's flagship program, News at Ten, and went on to run ITV's international newsgathering, and later all its regional news operations across the UK. As director of news and current affairs, he commissioned the first UK General Election leaders' debate in 2010 and subsequent debate program at every national election since. He's expanded the channel's broadcast journalism with the launch of political series Peston, the award winning investigative current affairs strand Exposure, and international affairs program On Assignment. In March 2022, Michael launched a new hour-long evening news program on ITV's main channel. It's currently the best rating commercial news program in the UK. Before the end of 2022, Michael will lead the launch of a bespoke news service designed for ITV's new free streaming platform, ITVX. Michael is an advocate for strong, impartial public service broadcasting. He is an honorary visiting Professor at the Cardiff University Journalism School and a former Chair of the Rory Peck Trust, a charity devoted to the safety of freelance journalists and camera operators. He has a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from the University of Oxford. More Resources For more on this topic, check out: Content from Anywhere– This e-book examines the impact decentralized production is having on modern broadcast news, as well as all the new possibilities it invites Avid’s News Solutions – Discover how Avid is enabling newsroom workflows for broadcast and beyond. Contact Us Questions? Comments? Cool ideas? Get in touch: makingthemedia@avid.com or @craigaw1969. Follow Avid at @avid. Credits Host: Craig Wilson Producer: Matt Diggs Social: Wim Van den Broeck Theme Music: Greg “Stryke” Chin

S3E05: The media industry is facing a skills crisis right when the demands for content are soaring. What can be done to encourage more people to join the sector and to retain them once they are there? In the fourth episode of season three of the Making the Media Podcast, host Craig Wilson is joined by two guests to discuss the issue. Our Guests This Episode Charlotte Layton With over 25 years in the industry, Charlotte has worked across the content creation pipeline. From a transmission controller at first L!VE Tv and then MTV, she joined BBC Resources (now Studio Works) in the early 2000s as a post-production producer. She then became Commercial Manager, taking on responsibility for the Television Centre studios, as well. After relocating the studio provision to Elstree, following the TVC site sale, she joined The Farm as Commercial Director, growing the business over seven years in preparation for its sale in 2019. Following the sale, Charlotte co-founded Racoon with The Farm's senior management team in 2021. Racoon is the post-production model for the future, focussed on redefining how we collaborate creatively in the work-anywhere world. Jay Welk Jay recently retired from the Davis School District after having oversight for the design and build of the Davis Catalyst Center, a technical high school where students work with industry partners to develop technical and professional skills in preparation for career and post-secondary education opportunities. Davis District is the second largest district in Utah with an approximate K-12 enrollment of 72,000 students. The ten high schools in the district offer a full menu of courses in all career and technical-education pathways. More Resources For more on this topic, check out: Live and Learn – Trevor Rumes from Thomas More University outlines how they prepare the next generation of media students. Avid for Education – Find out how Avid is helping education the media workforce of the future Contact Us Questions? Comments? Cool ideas? Get in touch: makingthemedia@avid.com or @craigaw1969. Follow Avid at @avid. Credits Host: Craig Wilson Producer: Matt Diggs Social: Wim Van den Broeck Theme Music: Greg “Stryke” Chin

S3E04: Innovative ways of engaging with sports audiences may be driven in the future by smaller leagues and teams because they are more willing to take more risks to attract new viewers and followers. In the third episode of season three of the Making the Media Podcast, host Craig Wilson is joined by Brian Leonard, Head of Engineering: Post and Workflows at the sports producer and rights holder, IMG. Our Guest This Episode Brian Leonard Brian has been working for IMG for more than twenty years in the engineering department, working across all facets of TV production (both live and post). Working his way up from a junior engineer to now heading a department that supports some massive federations with typically a focus on their world distribution, Brian is based at IMG Studios technical hub in London. He is trying to push boundaries in all AI/ML/Virtual and cloud production while holding some big manufacturers’ feet to the fire in all areas of what they are offering, while also asking tough questions on all things around sustainability. He is excited about what the future holds in sports production and thinks we are approaching a new age in cost-effective sports production, especially with a focus on the lower tiers. More Resources For more on this topic, check out: Getting Games Ready– Trevor Pilling from Olympic Broadcasting Services details the preparations for the world’s biggest sporting events. Avid NEXIS Shared Storage – Avid’s shared storage powers the biggest productions in the world. Find out more. Contact Us Questions? Comments? Cool ideas? Get in touch: makingthemedia@avid.com or @craigaw1969. Follow Avid at @avid. Credits Host: Craig Wilson Producer: Matt Diggs Social: Wim Van den Broeck Theme Music: Greg “Stryke” Chin

S3E03: TV news is already a crowded market, so when launching a new channel, how do you make shows which are distinctive and find an audience, and where is that audience, anyway? In the third episode of season three of the Making the Media Podcast, host Craig Wilson is joined by Erron Gordon, executive director of News UK Broadcasting, the company behind TalkTV, one of the UK’s newest news channels. Our Guest This Episode Erron Gordon Erron is the executive director of News UK Broadcasting and is head of studios and creative for TalkTV and Piers Morgan Uncensored. He was the launch and former series director of Good Morning Britain and Peston for ITV. Erron is a patron of The National Student Television Awards. More Resources For more on this topic, check out: Getting Creative – John Mason from STV in the UK shares his passion for live TV Avid Maestro Graphics – Discover the new Maestro Graphics, now available as a software-only subscription Contact Us Questions? Comments? Cool ideas? Get in touch: makingthemedia@avid.com or @craigaw1969. Follow Avid at @avid. Credits Host: Craig Wilson Producer: Matt Diggs Social: Wim Van den Broeck Theme Music: Greg “Stryke” Chin

S3E02: Newsmakers know they need to adapt to survive in a multi-platform world—but how can they do it, continue to remain profitable and relevant, and deliver to a new audience? Not easy. In the second episode of season three of the Making the Media Podcast, host Craig Wilson discusses a new series of reports on the news business, called “Tomorrow’s News”, with the chief executive of the body which produced them, the DPP, Mark Harrison. Our Guest This Episode Dr Mark Harrison CEO DPP Ltd Mark began his career as an historian at Cambridge University, before moving into the media industry. He spent many years as a director, producer, and executive producer, and won numerous awards for his filmmaking, including an International Emmy and a BAFTA nomination. Mark has held senior roles within the independent production sector and the BBC. He was MD of an independent production company before being appointed to be BBC’s head of arts, and then head of multiplatform production. He was subsequently controller of production for BBC North and leader of the BBC’s End-to-End Digital program, before becoming director of transformation for BBC Design & Engineering. In 2015, Mark became CEO of the DPP—the media industry’s international business network, which he founded. Today, the DPP has nearly 500 member companies from across the whole media supply chain—from global tech giants to start-ups. More Resources For more on this topic, check out: The Future of News and Cloud Production – Hear from news leaders from the BBC and ABC Avid Enables Story-centric News – Find out more about MediaCentral | Collaborate Contact Us Questions? Comments? Cool ideas? Get in touch: makingthemedia@avid.com or @craigaw1969. Follow Avid at @avid. Credits Host: Craig Wilson Producer: Matt Diggs Social: Wim Van den Broeck Theme Music: Greg “Stryke” Chin

S3E01: Look Ahead Enabling production teams to work efficiently and delivering innovations to aid the media industry on their journey to the cloud are key elements of Avid’s strategic direction. In the first episode of season three of the Making the Media Podcast, host Craig Wilson discusses the state of the media business with Avid’s chief executive officer, Jeff Rosica. Our Guest This Episode Jeff Rosica Jeff Rosica was appointed CEO of Avid Technology in February 2018. He joined the company in 2013 as the senior vice president of worldwide field operations and later became senior vice president, chief sales and marketing officer. He has more than 30 years of experience in broadcast, media, and entertainment technology, which includes a variety of senior leadership roles for Thomson/Grass Valley and Philips Electronics. Jeff also serves as Board Chairman for Boston Arts Academy Foundation, with the mission to drive awareness and funding for Boston’s only high school dedicated to preparing a diverse community of aspiring artists, scholars, and global citizens to succeed in their chosen professional paths and become active, engaged members of their communities. More Resources For more on this topic, check out: Production Without Pause Webinar – Discover how Avid’s news solution is bringing together remote and distributed teams Sinclair CTO Shares His Cloud Experiences – Mike Kralek from Sinclair discusses working in the cloud with Avid CTO, Kevin Riley Contact Us Questions? Comments? Cool ideas? Get in touch: makingthemedia@avid.com or @craigaw1969. Follow Avid at @avid. Credits Host: Craig Wilson Producer: Matt Diggs Social: Wim Van den Broeck Theme Music: Greg “Stryke” Chin

S2E14: Pick and Mix The relationship between program makers and their technology providers has changed forever, and the cloud has the capability to enhance it further, according to one of Britain’s biggest broadcasters. In the next episode of the Making the Media Podcast, host Craig Wilson discusses these topics in-depth with ITV Studios’ Director of Technology, Peter Russell. Our Guest This Episode Peter Russell Peter Russell has been the director of ITV Studios’ technology since 2016. His role acts as a key technology partner for the ITV Production Labels (both in the UK and globally), news, sport, and group marketing. Peter's previous roles have included director of studios & post-production and director of production technology at The London Studios, and director of technology for GMTV. Much of Peter's time has recently been spent on the ITV site move to White City, but his passion has always been designing systems and fixing problems to make great content. More Resources For more on this topic, check out: Avid’s Cloud Solutions – Discover how Avid is enabling cloud workflows The Future of Integrated Media Production in a Distributed World– Get insights into new ways of working Contact Us Questions? Comments? Cool ideas? Get in touch: makingthemedia@avid.com or @craigaw1969. Follow Avid at @avid. Credits Host: Craig Wilson Producer: Matt Diggs Social: Wim Van den Broeck Theme Music: Greg “Stryke” Chin

S2E13: Getting Creative News broadcasters need to continually evolve the way they tell stories and interact with their audiences in order to remain relevant and not risk becoming “legacy businesses.” In this episode John Mason, head of program output (technical) at STV in Scotland, outlines how they are addressing the need to retain their traditional TV audience while moving heavily into the digital world. Our Guest This Episode John Mason John works in the news division at STV in Glasgow, Scotland, and is responsible for a number of programs covering news and current affairs, as well as some lifestyle and entertainment shows for the channel. His role is to connect editorial, technical teams and resources to ensure the highest standards are met and that products remain relevant. As a former senior news director, his passion has been live news programming, but his latest challenge is working with location (ESC) teams to deliver high-quality and entertaining productions. He is still heavily involved in news and current affairs and aims to innovate and diversify their output, to reflect the outward-looking confident country in which he lives. More Resources For more on this topic, check out: Italy’s Biggest Public Broadcaster Upgrades with Avid – Find out why RAI is investing in the future with Avid’s newsroom solutions Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes– Discover how BBC News handles change in this podcast episode Contact Us Questions? Comments? Cool ideas? Get in touch: makingthemedia@avid.com or @craigaw1969. Follow Avid at @avid. Credits Host: Craig Wilson Producer: Matt Diggs Social: Wim Van den Broeck Theme Music: Greg “Stryke” Chin

S2E12: Getting Games Ready How do you prepare for the biggest sporting event in the world, ensure innovative ways of covering events, and deliver thousands of hours of content tailored to the needs of global audiences? In this episode of the Making the Media podcast, host Craig Wilson talks in-depth with Trevor Piling from Olympic Broadcasting Services about the work of Olympic Channel News. Our Guest This Episode Trevor Piling is a seasoned sports broadcasting executive based in Madrid, Spain, working as host broadcast producer for Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS). Trevor joined OBS in 2019 after a successful career in Canada where he was involved in the production of some of the biggest and most watched sporting events of the past twenty years, mostly working with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Trevor has worked at twelve Olympic Games and with OBS was the director of Olympic Channel News for the past three years, leading coverage at the Tokyo and Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. More Resources For more on this topic, check out: What Can Newsrooms Gain from the Cloud – Discover the work of Project Origin and its bid to authenticate media MediaCentral | Publisher – Beat the competition and distribute stories quickly and easily to all your social and online platforms Contact Us Questions? Comments? Cool ideas? Get in touch: makingthemedia@avid.com or @craigaw1969. Follow Avid at @avid. Credits Host: Craig Wilson Producer: Matt Diggs Social: Wim Van den Broeck Theme Music: Greg “Stryke” Chin