SVG Remote Production Forum Discusses Progression in IP, Cloud-Based Workflows in Los Angeles

More than 200 industry professionals attended the one-day event at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel on Sept. 27

SVG’s Remote Production Forum headed west to Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 27 as more than 200 attendees were treated to a full day of sessions packed with leaders from major sports broadcasters, leagues, teams, streaming outlets, and technology vendors. The event shed light on how remote production continues to change rapidly as technologies like fiber connections, IP, and the cloud have opened up new ways for sports productions large and small to be produced.

The event was kicked off with a conversation about new remote production workflows that have opened up a whole new world of how to produce sports events. TAG Video Systems’ VP of Live Production and Sports Robert Erickson, NBC Sports Bay Area & California’s Senior Director of Live Events & Special Projects Devon Fox, NEP Group’s SVP of Production Jeff Jacobs, Pac-12 Networks’ EVP of Content Larry Meyers, and NFL Media’s VP and Head of Media Operations Dave Shaw shared their thoughts on the possibilities and limitations of a world where production operations and personnel can be de-centralized.

More than 200 of industry professionals attended the one-day event in Los Angeles.

Dolby.io’s Solutions Engineer Braden Riggs took to the stage next for a 15-minute case study about mastering remote production with real-time streaming. Riggs explained the role of low-delay video and audio streaming in enabling remote production at scale and how some of the industry’s biggest players are using this technology today.

At mid-day, the event was highlighted by a Women’s World Cup Reflection with three members of the team at Fox Sports. Moderated by EVP pf Technical and Field Operations and SVG Chairman Mike Davies, the trio of  VP of Field Operations and Engineering Kevin Callahan, VP of Live and Post-Production Engineering Rob Rees, and Director Courtney Stockmal broke down their production plans, workflows, and lessons learned for an event that spanned the globe.

After lunch, the program questioned the role of the cloud and how it’ll impact the sports-production industry moving forward. Featuring Sony Electronics’ Account Manager of  Professional Networked Solutions Division Dave DeBuhr, Disney Entertainment & ESPN Technology’s Director of Architecture Michael Kidd, Matrox Video’s Product Marketing Manager Angus Mackay, Riedel Communications; Global Vice President of Sales Enablement Costa Nikols, and CBS Sports and Paramount+’s Senior Director of  Digital Software Engineering Corey Smith, the panel dissected the latest developments in cloud-based production and how your organization can take the plunge.

Up next, LiveU presented a case study on how to produce a live remote event in the mountains. In this chat, LiveU’s Senior Sales Engineer Nick Upchurch and Broken Arrow Skyrace’s Director of Visual Media Scott Rokis highlighted how the production team approached this event and leveraged IP technology in portable encoders and mobile apps to solve wiring and bandwidth constraints, while bringing every possible angle to life for viewers.

With advancements in IP technology, how are these changes driving broadcast innovation? A panel, including Tennis Channel/Sinclair Broadcast Group’s VP of Engineering and Technical Operations Bruno Brunelle, Fox Sports’ Manager of Field Ops and Engineering TJ Scanlon, NEP Group’s VP of Network Origination and Delivery Steven Thorpe, and LTN’s CTO Brad Wall, spoke about how these technologies continue to become more ubiquitous when it comes to opening up new ways of working and transporting signals in an efficient manner.

Fox Sports reflects on their production and operations efforts at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

To end the day, the conversation shifted to how artificial intelligence and automated production fits within the industry. Kiswe’s Global Head of Sports Partnerships/Content and Business Development T.K. Gore, Fox Sports’ SVP of Production Operations Dustin Myers, and Pixellot’s President of North America David Shapiro mulled over if these workflows are friend or foe, how they’re impacting productions today and what their impact will be in the future.

The SVG Remote Production Forum was made possible by Title Sponsor LTN, Diamond Sponsors Canon, Kiswe, Matrox Video, Sony, TAG Video Systems, and The Switch, Gold Sponsors Arista Networks, Clear-Com, Cobalt Digital, Panasonic Connect, Riedel Communications, RTS Intercom Systems, and Teradek, Case Study Sponsors Dolby.io and LiveU, and Event Sponsors Fortinet, OpenDrives, and Solid State Logic.

All sessions from the main stage of the event will soon be made available for viewing on SVG’s on-demand video platform, SVG PLAY.