International news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has invested in Quantel's new sQ 1800 servers for its brand new global news production solution. AFP's Enterprise sQ system supports more than 50 simultaneous users at the Paris headquarters, a large operation in London, 10 further international bureaux and 100+ roving journalists.
The sQ 1800 servers are 100% compatible with AFP's existing Enterprise sQ system, providing a zero-risk system upgrade with more disk space for original footage and support for more editing workstations. When the new system goes live, scheduled for late 2015, AFP expect to produce more than 100 unique video stories a day, with localized versions for six different markets, all in TV and web formats, making a total output at least 1,200 media assets every day. In addition to daily news ingest, all system users will have access to the online archive, expected to accumulate up to 3,000 hours of media every year.
Philippe SENSI, deputy CIO at AFP, said, "The new servers are an investment for the future, allowing us to take maximum advantage of the latest generation of disk and processing technologies. We have developed a close relationship with Quantel and Snell over the past year, with our support team travelling to Quantel and Snell's Newbury, UK headquarters every two months to work with the development team to debrief and get an update on the project plan."
Tim Thorsteinson, CEO at Quantel and Snell, said, "We're working very closely with the AFP team to ensure their workflow has the ability to adapt and grow as future requirements in the industry change. The new servers give AFP unbeatable speed from ingest to editing to playout, maintaining its position as one of Europe's leading fast-turnaround news production facilities."
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More