Recap of Meet the Makers 2021

Vertical video

One thing is for sure: the future of video is vertical. Smartphones are one of the main devices on which we watch content, so broadcasters are working hard to adapt to this new trend. At Meet the Makers, we invited some of VRT’s experts and gathered an international panel to discuss their insights about vertical video.

Joris Wijnen (NPO), Anna Metzentin (ARD Tagesschau), Eirik Tufteland (NRK) and Kirsty Drain (BBC) talked about how they succeeded in reaching an online audience. They also shared some interesting insights like “make sure that you have the attention of the viewer in the first three seconds.”

“For us, TikTok is not only used to post content but also to receive content. To understand the platform and understand the mechanics.”

Bavo Mortier, digital creative at the VRT sports brand Sporza also acknowledged the importance of staying on top of TikTok trends. During the summer of 2021 Sporza developed new short-form video formats, and their online audience grew exponentially in a short amount of time. Bavo shared some hands-on suggestions on how to make sure the viewer keeps coming back. Like the fact that one host really works because people feel connected to them and much more.

VRT-colleague Rani D'Hulster talked about some ins and outs surrounding the technical aspect of social media content creation for “The Warmest Week', which is a yearly fundraising event for non-profit organizations. The Warmest Week is mostly active on IG TV, and besides sharing her insights surrounding the ever-mysterious algorithm, Rani focused on how they shoot vertical content.

Keep reading about vertical video! Don't miss a thing that was said about this topic during Meet the Makers 2021. You can find an in-depth article on this topic over here.

Future of Broadcasting

For the future of broadcasting, we took a look inside the new universal control room at RTBF, learned more about the many astonishing ways Touchdesigner, a node based visual programming language for real time interactive multimedia content, can be used. We also dove deeper into the agnostic approach that Patrick Knopjes, Operations Manager Video at Mediahuis Netherlands, took to develop the cloud-based player service Agnoplay. Starting with the question: how can we internally improve the video-workflow at Mediahuis? And ending with a player they control themselves. Patrick motivated us to not just think about how we can change something fixed, but to find solutions that blend in without having to change too much of the working.

One thing that comes back a lot when we talk about the future of broadcasting, is that innovation is born out of a need. But we need to analyze those needs first, otherwise, we might, as Patrick said, “End up with a fancy Formula 1 car in the garage when we only need a car to get groceries”.

Besides that there were international case studies about Virtual Fan Zones and AI-based video clipping, that can inspire you to come up with some innovative answers yourself. We top it off with some insights into the VRT’s virtual studio.

“I honestly believe that this mix between physical events, and to have something virtual where you can have fans or press interact with athletes has such a huge potential to tie it closer together with broadcasting.”

Want to keep heading into the future of broadcasting? Discover more insights and knowledge on this topic: r ead our dedicated article about the Future of Broadcasting over here.

Streaming

RTBF knows what’s up when it comes to gaming. Their in-house streaming label called RTBF IxpE is dedicated to videogames, geek culture, and e-sports. IxpE is named after the experience, something that is really important in a video game. As Greg Carette, expert video games and eSports at RTBF, said: “It’s everywhere, and part of the entire game”. We also went to their streaming studio, a whole IxpErience in itself.

“Some people think that Twitch is just: I have a videogame, I have a camera and I will make money. That is not true. Our mission as a public service is to explain to people that they have to learn."

But besides that, they also moved their popular children's tv-show character “Rocky” of “Rocky & Lilly” into the metaverse.

Charly Dutat, digital production team manager, was constantly looking for ways to connect with the younger audience. Going from live shows to a Rocky Whatsapp account, he and his team developed a community inside of the gaming platform Roblox. The large player base is spread out across the globe, but more importantly: over half of the players are under 13 years old. Unlike, for example, Instagram, it’s a safe environment for younger children. Not only did RTBF find a way to stay relevant with the new generation, but by talking directly to the kids in Roblox, they get to know what the kids like and they can implement it into other projects.

Curious about what more was said during our sessions about Streaming? You can find the long read article over here on our website.

Curious to see our event? Watch our aftermovie on YouTube!