34 l September 2012
www.prosoundnewseurope.com www.prosoundnewseurope.com/broadcast SOUNDBITES broadcast S&PP’s long-term future is still at TVC
The 2012 Conch Awards will be held on 19 September 2012 at The Mayfair Hotel in London. The award ceremony was originally scheduled for 30 May, but was postponed due to the number of entries received. Among the shortlisted nominees for this year’s awards are Sherlock (series 2), Frozen Planet, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
www.conchawards.co.uk
Veteran Paris-based sound engineer François de Morant was contracted to capture audio for French insurance company MAAF’s latest commercial. de Morant – who has around 70 movie and TV credits to his name – chose a 4-channel wireless set- up consisting of four Lectrosonics SMDB/E01 transmitters and a Venue receiver mainframe outfitted with four VRS receiver modules. IFB equipment included one Lectrosonics T6 transmitter and 12 R1A/E01 receivers.
www.lectrosonics.com
London post-production house Deluxe 142 has installed a networked storage server in its audio department, linking every studio and giving access to all projects held on the system. The facility has also built a new track- laying room and upgraded other main suites. A DDP server with a capacity of approximately 15TB is now being used at Deluxe 142's Film House headquarters in Soho.
www.deluxe142.com
More than 30 Calrec consoles were in use at UK outside broadcast events during the summer’s Olympic celebrations. Calrec was well-represented in OB facilities, including trucks covering tennis at Wimbledon; equestrian at Greenwich; boxing at ExCeL; rowing at Dorney; mountain biking at Hadden; football at Wembley, Hampden Park, and St James’ Park; athletics and road cycling on The Mall and at Hampton Court; triathlon and marathon swimming at Hyde Park; and various coverage of ceremonies and other athletics.
www.calrec.com
at S&PP, says this will involve BBC Studio D and Studios 8 and 9 at Elstree Studios. White adds that discussions
UNITED KINGDOM
BBC Studios & Post — now and next
The past few months have been uncertain times for BBC Studios and Post Production but the broadcasters’s commercial facilities arm is looking towards a more stable future, writes Kevin Hilton
AS THE UK’s public service broadcaster, the BBC is always under scrutiny, particularly from right-wing politicians and newspapers. Last year it came under fire when it moved into MediaCityUK, relocating five departments to Salford Quays. This year has brought the closure of Bush House and the start of operations at the expanded Broadcasting House. Most controversial of all is the recent sale of BBC Television Centre (TVC) in west London to property developer Stanhope. Less discussed in the wider media was what would happen to BBC Studios & Post Production (S&PP), the commercial subsidiary that runs the broadcaster’s studio and post operations in the capital. BBC S&PP has two sites in London: BBC Elstree Studios just outside the city, which has five studios but is used primarily for producing the soap opera
EastEnders; and TVC. Opened in 1960 TVC is indelibly linked with BBC programmes in the minds of many viewers, so the idea it was going to be demolished or at least no longer be TV studios caused a storm of comment in the press and on social media.
building would ultimately be used for, or where S&PP would end up. At the beginning of August S&PP announced its long-term future would still be at TVC. Stanhope is to redevelop the 1960s concrete icon into a mixed-use site, with leisure, office and residential
“Moving away from TV Centre in the short term will give us the ability to strengthen our team and invest in more technology”
Craig White, S&PP S&PP operates six studios at
TVC, each with supporting vision and sound galleries, equipment rooms and hospitality suites, plus post-production facilities. These include three 5.1 audio dubbing suites and preparation rooms. When the sale to Stanhope for £200 million (€255 million) was announced there was no word on what would happen to the technical areas and what the
facilities. The existing BBC studios will be redeveloped and S&PP will lease these once work has been finished, estimated at 2015. In the meantime S&PP will
move from its long-term base during 2013 into temporary accommodation, using space at both the BBC studios and the commercially-run studio at Elstree. Craig White, head of new business and entertainment
are already underway with Elstree Studios to use other spaces, including the George Lucas stages (Star Wars was shot at the site during the mid- ’70s). Sound desks, cameras and lighting gear will be moved from TVC to Elstree to “enhance” the offering. White comments: “Both BBC Elstree and Elstree Studios will have digital sound systems installed to cater for the expected studio shows. These will comprise the Studer Vista 8 equipment from TV Centre.” At this stage the plan is for the
“new” TVC to have three HD TV studios, all equipped for surround sound production. “No decision has been made on what consoles will be used just yet as our return won’t be until 2015,” White says. Similarly no firm decision has been made regarding equipment for post-production. “We have a strong revenue base from our Post Production division,” White adds. “We’re nearing the end of an evaluation about where our services should be located to best suit our clients’ needs. But moving away from TVC in the short term will give us the ability to strengthen our team and invest in more technology.” The BBC Elstree site will also operate up to four edit suites and a multiplex area for live transmissions. A new chief executive has been
appointed to head S&PP during these changes and beyond. Anna Mallett has been with the BBC since 2006 and is currently controller of business strategy. While there is no firm timetable
for the redevelopment of TVC, White says S&PP will move out by the spring of 2013 and aims to return two years later. “As everyone knows, technology changes are always happening in our industry so we’re keeping our options open around what set-up we’ll have at the new site. However, we’re in discussions with our current customers with returning series at TVC from April 2013 to ensure that we can cater for their production needs at Elstree Studios and BBC Elstree.”n
www.bbcstudiosandpostproduction.com
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