Video team works from home on syndicated content using a browser interface
When the staff of American Public Television (APT), like many media companies, faced the prospect of abruptly working from home due to coronavirus measures, they were ready. APT is a syndicator; a leading non-profit organization whose mission is to find, curate, license, and distribute content to public television stations. Operating with a modest staff, they’ve amassed a current and legacy catalog of hundreds of series and single event programs encompassing documentaries, education, travel, performance, news and current affairs programs ranging from Lidia’s Kitchen to Rick Steves’ Europe to Doc Martin and Midsomer Murders.
Just a few years ago, APT’s workflows were tied to physical media like tapes and hard drives. Upon implementing axle ai, they were able to economically transition to a browser-based, shared media workflow. So, when recently faced with COVID-19 work restrictions, they were able to swiftly navigate to a distributed approach almost overnight. “axle ai, as well as some of the other key network technologies we’ve implemented, like VPN and cloud storage, were the difference between being disconnected totally from our business due to COVID-19, and being able to operate nearly at regular capacity.” says APT Vice President of Technology Gerry Field.
A Better Way to Screen
APT began to transition to digital distribution and file-based workflows, with the goal “to turn our screening rooms into ingest rooms, and move our screening functions right onto everybody’s desktop”. Put off by the cost and complexity of MAM systems they investigated, Field and his team opted for axle ai’s budget-friendly software, which takes advantage of industry standards and cost-effective storage to simplify networked video workflows.
If content comes in as files, great; if it comes in as tape, we ingest, and in either case create proxies for screening through axle,” Gerry continued. Now, he added, “Anything being submitted to us is coming in as a file in a broadcast format. We’ve broken away from limited on-prem ‘silos’ we had before, and extend access to more content at the desktop regardless of the location. Of course, this same capability has made it possible for us to handle the switch to a fully-remote workforce, which would have been unthinkable previously.”
Designed for Easy Adoption
“Most of all, axle made it possible to get a system appropriately scaled for what we need, and for the resources that we have. The two equal parts are cost and complexity. There are a lot of asset management products in the market that, particularly for my needs, are tremendously overbuilt. We needed something that could be installed easily and give us access, quickly, to the content that we need to see.” I was able to get it spun up and operational inside of three days and get axle ai into the adoption cycle.”
The fact that axle is not technically demanding was very important: “APT has good talented and technically aware staff but we’re not the kind of company that has a deep engineering department, or a stable of editors” Gerry added. “I could possibly do deeper, more interesting things with a more expensive system, but my experience with things like that is they sound good, but wind up being a boat anchor.”
Expansion and Growth
As APT moves to a new public television member station interconnection system, axle has been integrated with APT back-end business systems, so licensing and media access rights information are linked to axle. “That’s important as APT owns very little programming; it’s almost all licensed for distribution under contracts. Under the new system, “material comes into our cloud, is synced from our cloud to local storage and axle makes proxy copies for screening and tracking.”
Gerry has seen APT’s use of axle ai grow, especially for review of underwriting spots and to help suppliers in negotiating with underwriters. “In addition to full length programs, we’re now including promos, sizzle reels, clips, and other promotional material related to the program.” Gerry said the staff is now using axle to make programming notes, “extending desktop screening access to collaboration and sharing comments about the content as well.”
Radically Simple Resonates
Gerry cites axle’s ‘radically simple’ principle as a key reason for adopting it. “It’s one of the things that got me interested. That, and the experience and credibility of the founders in both developing media asset management systems and knowing how they were actually used.” The recent switch from a single work location to a work-from-home team approach required under COVID-19 public health mandates worldwide, turned out to be achievable almost overnight due to axle ai’s affordable, accessible browser-based HD/4K workflows.
About APT
American Public Television (APT) is the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation’s public television stations. Founded in 1961, APT distributes 250 new program titles per year and more than one-third of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. Its programs include Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders, America’s Test Kitchen From Cook’s Illustrated, AfroPoP, Rick Steves’ Europe, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television, Front and Center, Lidia’s Kitchen, Kevin Belton’s New Orleans Kitchen, Simply Ming, The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, James Patterson’s Kid Stew and NHK News. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service and distributes Create®TV — featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming — and WORLD™, public television’s premier news, science and documentary channel. For more on APT’s programs and services, visit www.APTonline.org
About axle ai
axle ai is the recognized leader in developing radically simple search and remote access software. It solutions have helped over 600 media organizations improve the way they remotely search and manage their video content. axle’s radically simple media management uniquely addresses a burgeoning need and has caught on rapidly among video professionals in post-production, education, broadcast, corporate, sports, house of worship, non-profit, advertising-marketing, and government organizations worldwide. Axle ai, Inc. is a privately held company; its founders have extensive industry experience in media asset management for creative applications. Learn more at www.axle.ai; equity crowdfunding at www.republic.co/axle-ai.
2024 AICP Awards Tour Concludes with Stops in Dallas and Chicago
The 2024 AICP Awards Tour concludes with stops in Dallas and Chicago this month as it wraps up its tour of cities across the U.S. The National Tour brought presentations, panels and screenings to marketers, advertising agencies, production and post production companies. The AICP Awards will be in Dallas on Thursday, November 14th, at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, followed by the Chicago event, set for Thursday, November 21st at The Old Post Office. Tickets are available now for both events at www.aicp.com. In Dallas, the program kicks off at 6:45 pm with a happy hour, followed by the screening and panel discussion at 7:30. The evening ends with a networking reception from 8:30 to 11:30. The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is located at 2201 N. Field Street in Dallas. Appearing in Dallas will be Abe Garcia, Chief Creative Officer, Dieste; Julia Melle, Director of Brand and Content, Southwest Airlines; and Isaac Pagรกn Muรฑoz, VP, Executive Creative Director of PepsiCo Foods. The panel will review selected winners from the suite of the AICP Awards programs, offering insights into what made them rise to the top of their respective categories and share their viewpoints on key trends in the industry. The Chicago stop starts at 6:00pm with a happy hour, followed by the presentation and screening at 7:00pm. A reception caps the event, starting at 8:00pm and concluding at 11:30pm. The Old Post Office is located at 433 W Van Buren Street in Chicago. The panel there will feature 2024 AICP Awards Curators and Winners from the marketer, agency, production and post production sectors whoโll highlight this yearโs winners. The conversation will include a discussion about the winning work, including insights... Read More