Which trends will dominate NAB Show 2026? Featuring Blackmagic Design & Projective

Some of us can remember when NAB Show hosted multiple companies specialising in building giant radio towers (and they brought samples with them). Today cloud giants, the creator economy, and content sectors outside of broadcast have turned NAB into a show that needs to encompass both local amateur podcaster and some of the biggest tech companies on earth. In this FEED Forum, we talk to vendors who will be on the show floor, presenting solutions to a sector that is both turbulent and filled with promise.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Hello, it's Neil Romanic from AU, and welcome to another feed forum where we talk about the big issues around media technology and the broadcast business. Um, it's NAB time again. So, NAB, the National Association of Broadcasters show, which is a big trade show in Las Vegas, if you've been hiding under a rock and don't know it. Uh one of the biggest and kind of longest-running media tech trade shows in the world. I remember going to NAB when they literally had radio towers that masts, big masts that you could go and look at, like you could buy a radio tower. Uh, and now, um, you know, there's not that much there now. It's a lot of screens and digital stuff and people showing you stuff that maybe exists in the cloud, isn't even physical at all. So NAB has been trying to keep and has done a very good job of uh of keeping pace with uh changing technology and changing trends in the broadcast industry. Um, and um we're gonna talk to uh a couple vendors today who are going to NAB, um, two of the many, many vendors that you can meet on the trade show floor there, uh, and just kind of feel out what their plans are for the show. And what is the place of trade shows today? I mean, what are we doing? Just flying in and talking to people. Shouldn't there be an app for this? Do we have to have real human beings talking to each other in real spaces still? Anyway. My bot will call your bot. Exactly. My agent, when they say my agent, we'll call your agent. Means a whole different thing now. Exactly. Um so we've got Simon Westlin, who's uh director of AMIA at Black Magic Design, uh, and Derek Barrellow, who is the CEO of Projective. And hello guys.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Nice to see you both. Yeah, I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

So, all right, so what so where are you and your your NAB plans? Do you have your tickets? Do you're you're you're all ready to go, you're um you've got your hotel book. Do you know what shows you're gonna see in Las Vegas?

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Before we started, uh I mentioned just to you, Neil, I I I guess I'm I'm I'm on the lucky end of this because um it's my colleagues in in the US, in our San Francisco office, uh that they get all of the fun in the last sort of couple of weeks beforehand. I mean, obviously, as Derek will know, there's a huge amount of preparation. And I think the preparation probably starts as soon as the previous NAB is over. I think you then start to plan for for the following year. Um so yeah, on my side, it's been it's it's I shouldn't perhaps say this, but it's been rather easy because my colleagues in the US are uh are the ones that that that probably are currently in that final panic stage of is everything packed? Has everybody got a hotel room? Has everybody got shirts, you know, and and all those typical trade show things.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

On our side, uh yeah, we we're lucky uh we have a pretty pretty uh easy easy uh trade show footprint, it's pretty easy to manage. Uh we're a relatively small company, it's not like black magic with uh 10,000 people uh on on the booth, but um but you know we we it's good to have that ready to go now so we can just focus on trying to get the word out and getting those meetings set up and making it making the money worthwhile.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Well, yeah, but I mean black magic is you mentioned you you got that, I mean you always have this huge stand with a lot of great gear on it, and you know, everybody's always at that stand checking out the new stuff. And it's like it must be like a traveling circus going to these shows. I mean, do you have it lays it like down to a fine art? Or how how does that work?

SPEAKER_00 3:29

I guess we do a lot of them, so we we we we should be good at them by now when it comes to the sort of whole prep and and and sort of move error moving everything in and out. Um but yeah, it's a it's it's a pretty big operation uh to to to bring shows of that size together. But equally, you know, we we're talking about you remembering when there were radio towers at NAB, you know, my first NAB with Black Magic, we were in a 10 by 10 and in the bottom of South Hall lower. So, you know, it hasn't always been that giant booth in the front of uh in the in the front of the hall, but it has been for a number of years. So yeah, we're we're we're we're we're grateful of that. And it's uh you know, I think that it the the the show has just grown for us over the sort of 18 years I've done it with Blackmagic. I was there a couple of times prior to being with Blackmagic Design. Um so always in the same hall. So I think I'm on about uh twenty five NABs this year. We missed a couple, of course, due to that pandemic thing. Um but I think yeah, I'm about this is about probably number 25 personally for me.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

And will you have a booth, Derek, when you're there, or are you gonna are you're just gonna be doing the floors?

SPEAKER_02 4:43

We're actually not far away from from Black Magic and Lucid Link if you guys are looking for us. So you can find us N3144. Um But uh but yeah, the yeah, so we we uh we had a couple years in there where we would just kind of piggyback or or you know just have a have a little pod on someone else's booth. But for the past, you know, kind of since COVID, we started, we decided no, we're definitely gonna have our own booth and and we want that presence. We you know, we want people to know where we are rather than having to find us.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

So I guess let's get into I mean it'll be great also to hear later on exactly what you're planning to show at the uh at NAB at the show. But just to kind of pull back and look at these kind of trade shows generally. I mean, both of you mentioned COVID, and there was that thing in COVID where like, oh my gosh, what are we gonna do? And we had to like, you know, everybody had to reinvent their business over weekends, you know. Um, and and trade shows is as well. There was, I think it was um, I don't know if it was Mobile World Congress or one of those kind of big shows was about to happen in in Europe, and there was that like, oh, is it gonna happen? Is it not? And it was like, no, it's not gonna happen. And then we had that thing of waiting. Okay, is IBC gonna happen? Uh no. Is NOB gonna uh no? You know, and and then that kind of kept going and going. And and people found, I don't know if they found workarounds, but that whole idea came up of like, okay, do you need to go to shows? And of course, there's a sustainability angle. It's like, do we really need to be flying everywhere all the time? Um, and it'd be yeah, it'd be great to just kind of hear what your and also kind of what sh the shows offer you guys specifically for your business. But how are you thinking about trade shows? Is it is it still are you thinking about them really the same way you would have before COVID? Or are there new approaches or are they kind of are they the purpose different than it was before?

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Yeah, I think I think it's a I think it's a great question. I think there is a um, you know, it it's definitely a challenge I feel for the big show organizers to ensure that they stay relevant and they stay current and that and and that they stay up to date with the needs of what we all know is quite a change in customer base. Um, you know, it isn't the to your point, Neil, it's not the traditional sort of transmitter, people that out by sort of transmitters and masks and and and those kind of things. The market is very different to what to when we all started to do the show years ago. So I think there is a that there's a pressure for them to remain as important in the calendar. Um there needs to be, I think, from an attendee's point of view, a sort of fear of missing out. You know, there's got to be there's got to be reasons to attend. Um, because if they're not, you again, you know, make the point that, you know, these are expensive both as um the companies themselves who are exhibiting at the shows, but it's also really quite expensive for the attendees um to now travel out to uh Vegas. So I think you know, we probably see companies certainly in Europe, and and Derek's in Munich today, and and and I'm in Manchester. Um uh we see a lot of the sort of European um customers maybe not travelling out in as big a party size that that they may have done a few years ago. So you might get one or two people from um uh an organization come over from Europe rather than eight or ten, which was probably more commonplace when we were doing these 15, 20 years ago. So that you know, certainly some I I certainly think some pressures to to um to to you know stay relevant to to the attendees.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

I tend to agree with all of that, but uh and I think from our perspective, you know, we're everyone has limited means, right? So um unless if you're an AI company with uh with billions and billions being thrown thrown at you for doing nothing, we have to basically make the most usage of that um of that marketing spend, right? I still if I had a better way to get the concentration of good leads and meetings and kind of business business development and networking that you know marketing bang for your buck, marketing ROI, um, I would take it. But I I still haven't found anything that you know that approaches it. So I do think we have to, you know, the the the organizers of NAB and IBC and Broadcast Asia, if they're listening, they have to pay attention and try and look at ways to you know to also kind of reduce costs and make it easier for the vendors and the and the people to to participate and get more value. Um, because you know the the the market is definitely changing. Um you may not need to have three or four or five trade shows a year. Maybe the smaller boutique ones might just be easier to execute on and and run and save a lot of money. But um, but like I said, for us today there's still you know the NAB is the lighthouse marketing spend for us in North America, IBC is the mark, you know, light marketing lighthouse spend for us in Europe, and it's the way it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

Yeah, I think the major perhaps difference to when we started them was that you know customers don't have to now wait for 12 months to come and see a product. You know, it's not like you've got that annual pilgrimage to and to NAB or to IBC. Um, there's much greater access to product information, whether that's demonstrations or um, you know, to get in touch with a reseller partner or or uh other representatives. So there's there's many more um there's many more sort of touch points, access points uh than they used to be, I think, when the show started. I mean, I think NAB is something like 35 years old, IBC's 50 years old. The industries that that how they were then to how they are now are completely different. And I think the way customers buy is is also very different. So, you know, the shows have really, I think, you know, got to look at things like got to recognise that, you know, maybe providing more learning opportunities for customers, networking opportunities, um, you know, those opportunities I think also to see startup businesses, you know, because we were all startup businesses at some point in time. And that's where the trade shows were were so relevant and so important, you know. And Grant, who's my boss, sort of often comments that, you know, the real gold at trade shows is often down the back of the hall. You know, it's kind of it's buried away in the back corner in a in a in a sort of startup business that that's got some you know crazy idea that they want to bring to market and and and something really exciting. So um yeah, I think you know, all of those things, more networking opportunities, more opportunities for startups, um, you know, they're the things I think the shows have have really got to focus upon.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Uh that is interesting because you're talking about, you know, that changing uh the the changing attendance, there's kind of a new new um waves of people coming in as the industry changes. Um and I noticed that in it it seemed like looking at the content program from this year's NAB, and it's kind of been doing it for a while, but it there seemed a lot of emphasis on um programming, conference sessions, activities for creators, um, you know, the for that that creator economy, which has always kind of been there, but I I really I noticed how much more that seemed front and center. And I wondered maybe if that's those the kind of people are coming to the show. Um, or you know, how uh and I of course obviously black magic, I know you that's a one of the many audiences that you're or customer bases that you serve, or th or those creators. Um and I wonder how you're you're approaching that in terms of the the changes in the business. So it is it isn't those big I mean those big um broadcasters are there, but that's maybe not what the you know what the the total spend is gonna be. Uh and also those big broadcasters are gonna be, you know, they they're they kind of know the vendors that they're gonna see. Um but the bulk of creators, whether it's whether it's you know small creators or businesses or corporate, you know, it's much, much wider now than it ever was.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Well, I guess the expression these days is that, you know, anyone can be a broadcaster. Um from the point of view of, you know, it's it's it's not a case now of having to, you know, win a license, um, build big studios and and and have all of that infrastructure. Um you know, obviously um you can make content and post that to YouTube and other channels um really quickly, and you can attract audiences that are actually much larger than terrestrial TV. Um, you know, I I sort of top viewed programs in the UK TV market probably attract three, four million viewers in the evening. Well, you look at some of the numbers of of of um uh views that that the content creators are achieving, and that's staggering. And also what comes with that is their desire to um improve the quality of their output, you know, turn things around quicker, um, better workflows, more, more efficient, you know, faster turnaround of of content. So I think look, we see uh we see, you know, certainly from our perspective, um, because we sell everything from a$50 mini converter to a you know$50,000 um full five bay audio console for our fairlight, um, a fair light audio, digital audio consoles. Um so we've seen, we're kind of seeing everybody from, yes, the broadcasters clearly who are a big part of the business and our business through to individuals that maybe come and use DaVinci Resolve or um want to buy one of our pocket cameras or those kind of things. So, you know, yeah, I think that that content creator economy is quite exciting because it just brings, it's bringing more people and more creativity into the market. And they're probably a bit less scared than some of the broadcast community, where you know, new new technology, new technology can be frightening when you know they've got to sort of chuck out this old infrastructure and put something new in. We we perhaps have less hesitation. I don't know about what you find, Derek, but you know, the the the the newer breeds uh uh are sort of bringing you know newer demands, but but also new energy into the space.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

There's less tech debt, right? So a lot of the a lot of the creators are you know, they're they're they're A, they're producing so much frickin' content that they they get to the same point of having friction, you know, friction in the way they work that they need, they really quickly see the need to adopt technologies like ours, uh, from the people on this, on this, uh, on this webinar. But um, but also, you know, they they have less tech debts. They don't have they're not they're not saddled with people who this is just the way I've been doing things for the last 15 years. I'm not gonna change. Um, it's you know, it's a lot more, you know, desperate, I would say, you know, like the the necessities of mother invention, and uh, and they're a lot more ready to to kind of pull the trigger and change. Um, and I think, you know, looking at our personal customer base, yes, we have the biggest broadcasters in the world, and you know, we're we love working with them, but we also have super agile creative agencies and these kind of smaller uh corporate video, these these kind of creators. Um and uh if you look at the volume that they're producing, and by the way, I I I Simon, you hit on a great point. It's not just video, right? It's also audio, it's also graphics, stills. Um, and you know, I think the creators are a lot more uh used to kind of looking at that broader creative stack than I think a lot of the big broadcasters are, where they say, you know, I need a solution to get the video on the news at eight o'clock, right? I think that I think uh you know, I think the creative economies has to has to be by nature transmedial, right? Um and so I I we welcome that because it's it's right where our product fits, obviously, but um so I'm biased, but um but I think I I I I I think that's the the way I think that's where the market in general is going. The broadcasters that we're working with are also starting to think not just about Media Composer or Premiere or even Resolve, they're thinking about the entire stack.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

So looking at um, maybe turning to uh some more um painful topics, uh there's a few economic shocks uh kind of on the way, it seems like we're in the middle of some stuff. Um are you taking that into account when you're going over to the US uh as well? There's also a uh there's a war going on right now, which the US is engaged in. Um uh some people are rethinking their relationships internationally with how they do business and politically, and that's kind of uh we're kind of forced into a position of not uh you can't just say, well, we'll just keep doing what we've been doing for the past 20 years, I'm sure it'll be fine. Uh there's at least some uh some reflection that needs to happen. So are you going into to any trade shows um kind of rethinking how those relationships work and kind of rethinking how those those, you know, especially international relationships have worked in the past and the different kind of markets and how maybe they're splitting up and and doing different kinds of things?

SPEAKER_02 18:29

From from our perspective, I can jump in seven. We're you know, we're viewing NAB as an exclusively American United States of America based show this year. We're not anticipating uh the you know, in the past, we anticipated a lot of kind of Latin American, Canadian, you know, European customers, and we can meet all of them in one place. That was a big advantage of us, of of that, you know, the NAB show in particular. Um last year we saw uh a a dramatic di decline that most people that were at the show were kind of American or North American. We're talking to our existing customers and prospects, and basically it's it's gonna be most of the people in in the United States who are gonna be there. Um there'll be some exceptions, of course, we're we're one of them. But um but yeah, so we we're definitely seeing that that the show's gonna be for that specific market. And um for the organizers of NAB, that I think will present a challenge because you know if I think IBC is gonna profit from it, right? Because I think a lot of people are gonna go there instead, or MPTS in the UK that they'll definitely profit from as well. Um I think it's a good point.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

I think some of some of the yeah, I think that it could be to an advantage of some of the um sort of in-country shows, the likes of MPTS in the UK and shows like Satisse and Paris, and and I think what's we we tend to find that's what's happening is that people know that they're gonna get to see most of the same brands and manufacturers at those shows. So therefore it's a lot easier for them um to you know and and and a lot cheaper to actually attend one of the more local shows than than the international ones. And I think it's a it's an interesting point that Darren makes. I think that you know that that could certainly think will have an impact on those international events because the international movement of people and the cost of doing so is harder and it's more expensive. And I think, you know, we're likely, I think it we should probably we can probably expect that to have some some impact on uh on on numbers this year, I would think. Uh and and moving forward. I think certainly moving forward. I mean the one thing, you know, it's been it's been hard for them clearly over the last six years. I mean, we went into we went into the this new decade and and hit a pandemic which pretty much wiped out two years' worth of shows. Um the points you make are are all relevant. There's there's there's huge challenges across the globe at the moment in terms of conflict and in terms of economic crisis and and and these factors. Um so I think it's been I think it's been tough for for the trade show industry during this period of time. Well, one thing I would say from a customer point of view, and again, I'm sure Derek's found this, is that, you know, our customers are creative. So they find other ways of working. They'll find, you know, they'll take, you know, what we saw in the pandemic was was um, you know, incredible in terms of, you know, home studios, people remote productions. And I think that um, you know, the customers in terms of both the creative in terms of their output were creative in terms of the way they changed their businesses to be able to work. And a lot of those things, and I'm not sure what your thought on that, Derek, it's probably it's possibly accelerated certain things like cloud. Um, because cloud was almost a um well it became it became a must. Have during the times of the pandemic because it was easier to sort of sh share and move medium and all of those things. Some of the things that we probably adopted and were accelerated by the pandemic have now stayed very much at the forefront of sort of modern workflows for people. So, you know, there is a load of challenges, but I think, you know, it's it's our customers are pretty creative in terms of the way they work around those. And I think it's our job um collectively as an industry to respond to those challenges and keep pace with with what the customers need today rather than what they needed five or ten years ago.

SPEAKER_02 22:38

Yeah, so I I think um I like I like that that notion of the creators being creative, right? By necessity. Like ever it's just a part of the the the the nature of the beast. Um I think I I like I I mentioned before that you know, necessity is the mother of invention, right? So what we're seeing, you know, you talk about the global challenges. Well, one of them is that it's very difficult to get your hands on hardware right now, right? So, you know, that is pushing people to cloud resources. At the same time, the cost model of the cloud resources is pushing people back to on-premise in in certain cases. So there's this kind of push-pull between the two. Um and so I I I think in that kind of climate, flexibility becomes hugely important. It's it's almost a cliche to say so. But I think, and if I could you know raise my flag for a moment, one of the things that we provide with with that kind of project framework that can be in the cloud, it can be on premise, it can be both, it could be for all of your creative content. I think our that provides a flexibility that helps people kind of navigate. Now, those people still have to have dry powder or free cash to be able to make an investment, right? But if we if we have that, and we can sho we can show them then how you know the ROI calculations that we can provide when we're trying to get the purchase order out of them that it does translate into genuine, genuine value. And I think those kind of macroeconomic changes can actually highlight some of those processes.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

Um, the um so there's something about that that kind of in a red that having these like these interlocking pieces that are like, okay, there's you're set. We'll see you in seven years or whatever. That you have these sort of pieces that can, you know, you want to be able to be take them apart and put them together in different combinations really fast, which of course I guess is what we saw in in the pandemic. It's like, uh, don't come in to work Monday. We're doing something different. I'll let you know what that is on Tuesday, you know. Um and um and you mentioned cloud, or I heard cloud mentioned. So um, and that of course seems like a it's a bit of a double-edged sword too, because cloud, um, although we know a lot of cloud companies are eating up green energy, um, still there's fossil fuels fueling a lot of those, which means potentially that your cloud bills are gonna get bigger if you know the price of fuel. So so it's so it's a really interesting uh as you're saying that, and then so you do things on-prem and this kind of interesting juggling act. Um, but how are you what are you seeing the the place of cloud now and how it kind of affects your businesses? Um and and AI, I guess we can kind of dump in that too, because that is a it's a cloud service essentially. Um, and how that may go over the next, I mean we don't know for sure, but you know, over the next six months, year, or how that may pan out and how people might need to prepare or rethink things.

SPEAKER_02 25:34

So when we see this push-pull, right? So um, you know, there's there was this, like you said, Neil, in the pandemic, there was this huge push, get everything in the cloud because so we can work from anywhere, and and then and then the the opex cost model kind of did this curve and and everyone got afraid of of um you know of of the long tail of some of those investments. And now so hang out a second. And then we so we've seen some of some of our cloud customers trying to repatriate and move what's what doesn't need to be in the cloud back on premise. We see other customers who can't get their hands on on-premise uh hardware pushing to the cloud because at least they can get you know they can do something, right? Um so that there's definitely that push-pull in play. Um I think at the end of the day, it's it's it's always gonna be an application that's driving it, right? So the you know, you're gonna you're you're trying to solve a problem for a particular application for a particular use case. Um so and I'm I know I'm painting with a very broad brush, but um, but you know, cloud is an enabler for to do particular things and and uh and you know, and that's all driven by the the the application underneath it. So everything else is just a is just a uh basically cost dollar cost averaging uh how much how much you can get the most bang for your buck on the on the price per terabyte.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

I think I think it's what is interesting is though that now I think cloud cloud is regarded as being an essential part of of modern workflows. Um it's no longer a sort of optional or do we, don't we? In some shape or form, it exists within within most people's workflows. Um and we've seen a lot over the last um uh couple of years, obviously, with um things like our camera to cloud. So blackmagic cloud, you can upload directly uh proxy files or camera originals straight into Blackmagic Cloud. You can use your DaVinci Resolve project in the cloud, um, and you can share media in the cloud, and and from one cloud store to another cloud store, you know, it's it's all it's all modern stuff. Uh um, and and what we're seeing is is actually um, you know, there's no real fear now, I don't think, with with the customer base like there may have been four, five, six years ago, people were a little bit more tentative as to what that meant. People are now seeing that the um the advantages are so dramatic in terms of the speed of moving media and being able to work collaboratively. One of the things we talk about with Dementia Resolve is that it's very common for you know an editor to be in um London, but the colourist to be in LA. Well, that that's no longer a technical challenge in any shape or form. It's now really easy to make that happen. Um, in the same way we were involved in a um we had a customer who shot a um um uh a feature film um out in Romania um two or three months ago, and the production company were back in London. Well, in terms of being able to see those dailies and to be able to see that material on set, they were literally uploading proxies straight from camera up into cloud, and they're being watched back in the production office in London whilst they've still got the talent on set. Now, previously that used to be a next day thing, and you know, you'd have to reset it and everything else. They were literally being able to go through approvals within a matter of minutes, and and I mean I think that's that really is I think where cloud has genuinely sort of revolutionized people's people's methods of working. Um, you know, they're now able to do things that they just couldn't do previously.

SPEAKER_02 29:28

Can I paddle into that, Samuel? Because I like I think you and like a lot of the times people are asking the question, like what's our cloud strategy or what's our AI strategy? As if it's this like a separate, separate thing, right? And and I and I I feel like that's a that's a that's a fallacy, right?

SPEAKER_00 29:48

Totally agree.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

It's not about like it's not about implementing cloud somehow or implementing AI somehow. It's about getting your content turned around faster, saving money, getting, you know, and hundred percent and and I that's part of what I um you know what we're trying to show is that you know it it can be easy to to use little individual point solutions that are in the cloud or individual point AI tools that are out here and next to where you're working. It's a little bit harder to take the framework of how you're working and then kind of break it apart to figure out what bits you can put in the cloud and what bits AI can can do with it, right? And our approach to the whole thing, be it cloud, be it AI, is to try and say, no, let's let's focus on getting that foundation in place, being sensible, whether it's resolve or whether it's Adobe or whether it's Premiere or Media Composer or whether it's Pro Tools, and whether it's cloud or on premise. And basically let's get that framework in place. And now we can say, right, well, this should be cloud because this is the way that work is being done. Or these these review and approval makes sense to be in the cloud, but the editing process needs to be in on premise, or the archive needs to be on premise for cost reasons. Or you know, there's just just break up the problem into different parts of how you work and pick the best debris technology that completely agree, completely agree.

SPEAKER_00 31:12

And I and I think that you know it works when it's seamless. You know, it works when actually, and it's one of the things that that you know people sort of say with with resolve. I mean, you you know, you you you open up or you start a new resolve project, and it's kind of giving you three options. Is it local, is it on a local network, or is it in cloud? And if you want to, you can move it between any of those three at any given time. So, you know, it's not that I don't think it's about forcing customers down one particular pathway. It's actually making the whole thing as seamless as you can, because that's where the true sort of freedom comes from of what you know cloud can offer.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

And that adaptability that you're talking about, of being able to just really s turn on turn on a dime if you have to. Yeah. Um, so the so I guess getting to the show itself, what are you guys showing at the show? What is it, what's your big message for the show? And I know that Black Magic will have a lot of stuff, uh, probably a few different things. And projective, do you have and start with you, Derek? Maybe what is your your goal for the show and what stuff are you really uh want people to get in front of people?

SPEAKER_00 32:22

Yeah, he's asking for the trade secrets a week out before a week out before the show.

SPEAKER_02 32:26

So I was gonna say I'm good, I'm glad I'm going first because Simon's gonna do each of the different product lines of black magic, like I'm gonna be here for a month. I can turn off, I can turn off uh after I'm finished. No, um so basically, you know, I I I already kind of alluded to it, right? So we we kind of create this project foundation that could be cloud or on-premise, right? And the what we're basically showing is our first attempts to bring AI, I hate even using those two letters, but bringing media intelligence functionality into that framework so that we can do things like um, you know, semantic search or uh emotional search of our kind of complete kind of data set that we're managing. Or we can do you know, automatic transcriptions of you know, audio tracks that are coming in, so it all becomes searchable metadata. And I know there's at the application layer, that some of this isn't new because I know you guys are doing stuff like that. I know, I know the guys Adobe are doing stuff like that at the application layer. But what we're trying to show is how if you do it at our kind of production asset management layer, you have a systematic win from that, in that rather than having this editor or these five of your 50 editors repeating the same task of transcribing something, you can do it in a systematic way on ingest or um you know, or during your edit process, and and you can really offload those tasks. But then also the output of it, A, it it it's we're you know, it's usable, it's searchable. And B, because we're managing how that content comes in, all of it is is captured, right? I always like I always like to say, you know, a lot of people are talking about AI these days. Again, thinking about it as this thing that's out there, I need an AI solution, right? But if you're pointing AI at chaos, you you will get zero benefit from it, right? If you get the foundation in place, then you will start to see benefits of it. So when basically that's what we're what we're showing is our first attempt to bring those kind of media intelligence features into our product set so we can drive those concrete real values and not the kind of esoteric like uh, you know, AI, right?

SPEAKER_00 34:41

Now with AI now with AI. Now with one of those. Absolutely, yeah. Um I think we'll have a few things.

SPEAKER_01 34:50

So there are there will there be some new ta-da, some some revelations we don't we don't know, product releases that we that will surprise us?

SPEAKER_00 34:57

NAB is generally uh uh in in terms of our calendar, um, the show where we would make most of our new product announcements. Um so yes, I think we'll see some things. I think what we'll see is a lot of that building on the recent years of of what we've been doing. Um I think you know, obviously DaVinci Resolve um is now um extremely successful uh having come from a colour correction tool and now transforming into a sort of complete post solution for editing and audio uh post-production and VFX work um all under sort of one umbrella. Um so Resolve certainly um will will will be high profile again, I think, uh at NAB this year. I think we're gonna see um you know quite a lot um in the area of of um infrastructure wise of things like 2110. Um IP video, I think that's that's kind of caught fire over the last 12, 18 months. I think, you know, if you're not if you're not putting your you're if you're not connecting in cloud, you're now connecting with with IP uh and with 2110 infrastructure. So I think one one of the things that we hope that we're able to do as a business is make some of those technologies democratized and to make them affordable, easy to use and to integrate within existing SDI workflows so that again, people are not being asked to make a decision to throw everything out that they already have. But how do they get the two things working together? How do they work in an SDI-based infrastructure, which certainly our broadcast clients do and most of our clients do? But how do they then get the advantages and the benefits that 2110 and IP video will bring, but be able to get the two things to coexist um without recruiting an army of IT engineers, is the sort of big challenge of that. So I think we're gonna see um quite a lot around those product areas. Um, we have a really strong digital film camera lineup um that's evolved over the last couple of years uh with our new RGB W sensor technology, um, which is kind of challenging um the traditional way of Bayer sensors and and um to great create greater colour fidelity. Um and obviously for us cameras go hand in hand with resolve, so there's a there's a there's a relationship there. So yeah, look, I think, I think um there'll be one or two things. So no no no no no sort of um I'm not divulging any product names and uh and and details in that answer. Um, but yeah, expect there to be expect there to be a few exciting things on the uh on the booth.

SPEAKER_01 37:47

Amazing. Um and uh so I guess what is it um what is it that you really hope to come away with from the show? I mean what is it like, you know, Derek, if there's one thing you could come away with, what what is what is that? What's your goal for the show? What's your wish list?

SPEAKER_02 38:04

As a good sales guy, we're looking at we're looking for leads and we're looking at you know to have good meetings to move our existing pipeline forward, right? Um, you know, we we uh we always joke around about we're you know we're a very well kept secret. And I'm looking to change that, right? So if you guys have any tips for me, I'm I'm all yours. Um but uh yeah, so it's really about the same as it is every year of kind of getting the word out and and you know moving getting new pipeline created and then getting all also kind of to our customers with um you know those those opportunities moving forward. So we can fund so we can fund the next NAB in 2027.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

And do do you have a pretty booked calendar or or or uh every day is filled up with appointments or so I don't want to embarrass myself.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

I'm uh like I'm starting, but but my team members have have started to uh fill up my calendar, so we'll we'll we'll get there. But I'm uh you know, like I said, it's a little bit embarrassing, but this is actually early for me. I'm so freaking last minute.

SPEAKER_01 39:05

Yeah, yeah. I've you're preacher, preacher to the choir there. So what about you? Was black magic want to come away with?

SPEAKER_00 39:11

Yeah, I think yeah, one of the great things, and Derek alluded to this in one of the first answers given this afternoon about you know that that intensity of being able to see so many people over a short period of time. You know, one of the things that we absolutely love about trade shows, and it's one of the main reasons we do them, is that actually we come away from NAB with another 20 product ideas. You know, it's those conversations that take place on the booth, it's that opportunity, and we'll we are fortunate we'll see many thousands of people across across our booth across the four days. Um, but we get to have some incredible conversations. We get to learn, you know, we it's it's one thing for us to talk about your customer challenges and how they're working and their workflows. What we really need to do is have the customers tell us. And I think that you know, it's one of the things that we we really do sort of stress as being of of huge importance to us at NAB and other shows, but is that opportunity to have those conversations, you know, it's the learning that we do. I mean, again, Grant, my boss, sort of comes away at the end of day one and goes, Oh, maybe we should build one of these. I think we need one of those. We haven't done this yet. I'm like, oh, hold on a second. We've another three days of this trade show to go. Um, but by by the end of night one, there's there's there's kind of another, you know, six or ten product ideas that have stemmed from conversations that that we're able to have with people. So I think genuinely, you know, we get our best product ideas from from trade shows and and and from NAB. I'm a bit uh opposite to Derek in in in Switch as night. This is this is something I I made a conscious effort um uh a number of years ago to change about my trade show attendance. Um I don't book appointments in my diary now for NAB. And I don't do it on purpose because if I do, I'm going to meet with all the people that I already know. So the fact we might have you know several hundred dealers there that are coming in and it's kind of oh, can we sit down? Can we talk? Well, of course we can do that, and we we're gonna do that. Um, but the point is is we're there to meet people we don't know, not the ones that we do. So so I'm I'm actually, and so loads of people find it a bit frustrating when they say, Oh Sam, can we put this in your diary? Can we have it? And I'm like, Yeah, come to the booth. Come to the booth, come and find me, and we'll sit down and we'll um and we'll and we'll talk, which we will, and you know, I as as Derek knows well, you know, we'll all be talking four, ten hours a day, which is you know, if we have any voice left by day three, we've done pretty well. Um, but genuinely, I I now look, there's the odd thing that has to go into the diary, but as a as a rule, I will I will try and go to the show with an empty diary. Um, and to Derek's point, other people might fill it up for me. Um, but but uh I try and at least from my point of view, not make a a whole load of appointments before before going.

SPEAKER_02 42:12

I'm exactly the opposite. I'm exactly the opposite. It's it's sort of funny. I start I start late, but I fill up my calendar packed full, and then I end up juggling two deeps at the same time. But that's okay, because I can we figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 42:24

But I used to, I've been there, I've been there and done that before in the previous businesses, sort of gone there with a diary of going, oh my god, you know, when's lunch coming in? When's lunch coming into this schedule? So I've I've I've done both. Um and I think that, and as I say, yeah, look, we've got there'll be a whole host of meetings. But yeah, I really, I really kind of fight against sort of going out and going with a with a with a with a whole list of of uh of appointments because genuinely what happens then, and and and I do love this about how we'll we'll approach the trade shows, it means we put all that the people on the front of the booth. So when you come to the front of the booth and you come to Black Magic's booth, you're not talking to, you know, a huge sales team of individuals, you're talking to our product managers, you're talking to our tech support guys, you're talking to product specialists and and and and different members of the team. So, you know, we really want, and again, you know, if we're true to the statements I made about learning from customers and having those conversations, these are the people that need to be talking to the customers, not buried at the back of the booth in meetings for four days, the more conversations we can have. For us, that that that makes it a better show.

SPEAKER_01 43:40

I was just gonna say, as a journalist, I found that where like you're so busy covering the show that you don't actually get to cover the show. That you're just wall to while doing what you shouldn't be doing, that you actually miss what's going on. So um I'm also I'm really interested in that. Um how you're you're saying you get those ideas you know from the customer. That's what you get. You kind of Keep your ears open and you get ideas from people. Do you have any like ways of like methods? I mean, having done this for years and years of like how that data is collected and how things are acted on, and or does Grant just say, yeah, this is what we're gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 44:15

Sure. I mean, no, no, no fancy methods of of of of data collection. We we're all pretty disciplined and making sure we we we we go old-fashioned. We we've got a little notebook in the back of our pocket, we'll make a note, we'll take we'll we'll literally take the details. Yes, we scan leads on the booth and and and uh as as most as most companies will. But what we tend to do, we we'll we're quite often, to be honest, Neil, if if if there's a conversation that's taking place and it needs to have one of our engineers bought into it or one of our other product specialists, we kind of try to make that happen there and then where we can, where we'll say to the customer, oh, give me two minutes and let me let me find you know who I need to find. Um, and we'll try and make it happen there rather than that then go away and never get acted on or never get discussed. It might be a case of going, oh, could you swing by tomorrow and you know we'll we we we'll we'll we'll have a chat then. But we try and make as much of that happen on the booth because you know we've got a big part of our team there, and normally the customer might have one or two colleagues with them. So we find that actually at least starting that conversation in person whilst we're together at the trade show is normally the the initial trigger to then continuing that on. So, you know, sorry I've nothing fancier as a as an as an as a as a as a as an idea for data collection and how we make it happen. But we just try and have most of the conversations on the spot where we can.

SPEAKER_01 45:48

I mean, that's that's just that rather than I'll send you an email is uh seems worth this weight in gold.

SPEAKER_02 45:57

That is genuinely one of the issues, right? Like, so you know, you have these great conversations at the show and you feel like you know that's a definite project. And I can, you know, every show there's like probably 10 of them where you feel like we can really help this custom do something, and then you know, we have this great conversation, and then we reach out to the show and it's like and um so I think one of the things that's a challenge, I think one of the things we we want to get better at is making is kind of turning that momentum of the great conversation at the show into the next step at the show, right? So that because you know, we're we're all having these conversations and they the people we're talking to have probably had a hundred great conversations like like I had. And then um it's kind of it's kind of hard to uh keep the keep the front of mind after the show. So um I think it's important for us to try to figure out a way to kind of m keep that momentum going.

SPEAKER_01 46:48

I think we're kind of come out to the end here, but do you have any do you have any extra Vegas things planned for when you're there, or is it just do the show, get back on the plane as soon as you're done?

SPEAKER_00 47:00

Sleep every night by 10 p.m. is the golden rule. Some some some things you learn after doing 25 of these things is that is that you know, always say no to that extra drink in the bar at the end of the evening, and it's the best decision you'll make for the following day. So that makes me sound really boring. Uh, but but I think that you know, on on the basis that each day starts around 6 a.m. and we we we we we tend to get to to to the halls, you know, maybe an hour or show an hour or so before the show starts. Um, because I think that's just better than to coming in when the customers are arriving. Um but uh but genuinely I think um you know the the the the best feeling is for is for bedtime to start with a 10 or 11 and uh and and and you definitely feel better for it the following morning. So it won't be all boring. I'm sure we'll uh uh I'm sure we'll have uh uh a couple of nice dinners and and and catch up with some folks. But yeah, golden rule is golden rule is bed by bed by 10 or 11 pm these days.

SPEAKER_02 48:00

I can tell you with 1000% certainty that will not happen for me.

SPEAKER_00 48:04

Um but and that's where I see Derek in a bar and he taps me on the shoulder in 10 days' time and goes, You said you went to bed at 10 o'clock.

SPEAKER_02 48:14

Yeah, it's uh you gotta have you know, you gotta have goals, right?

SPEAKER_01 48:17

Gotta have goals. At least, you know, so you know how off course you've gotten, you know, if you've got that. So amazing guys. I I I hope you have a dynamite show. I'm sure you will. Um, and uh look forward to uh hearing how it goes and and seeing some of the new product releases and uh hope we can talk again soon. Thanks.