The second series of the popular dating programme 5 Guys A Week started airing on Channel 4 on Friday 18 September.

The Gravity Media equipment rental team provided Avid and EVS integration facilities to record each episode in multiple locations across the UK between July and December 2019.

Gravity Media offers the latest broadcast equipment for rental to the outside broadcast, studio and production markets, supported by a 24/7 technical backup service. All our rental equipment is carefully prepared and tested before every job, and our transportation and logistics team deliver locally, nationally and internationally within days of order.   

Each piece of equipment comes with a robust, custom-built flight case ensuring it reaches you in perfect condition and ready for use, wherever you may be in the world.   

For more information on our broadcast equipment rental click here or email us enquiries@gravitymedia.com 

The fourth round of the 2020 Supercars season returned to Sydney Motorsport Park due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in Victoria, plus Queensland’s confirmation that its border would remain closed to people travelling or returning from Victoria.

Strict measures remained in place to ensure teams remain isolated and that health protocols were again adhered to.

The Gravity Media team was at Sydney Motorsport Park over the weekend for the second round servicing the world feed and Fox Sports unilateral. The team provided all of the technical broadcast facilities with almost 12 hours of practice, qualifying and racing broadcast live and advertisement free exclusively on Fox Sports 506 across the two-day event.

There were 17 sessions on show across the weekend of 18 /9 July at Sydney Motorsport Park, featuring a mix of daylight and night-time racing.

You can now watch the highlights from across the weekend here.

For more information on how Gravity Media can help you with your next production, please email enquiries@gravitymedia.com

As the 2020 Formula 1 season returned to TV screens earlier in the month, for race three the Gravity Media team provided outside broadcast facilities to Whisper for the Channel 4 F1 highlights programme.

Outside broadcast truck Pictor was in pole position at the Silverstone Experience with four cameras and a Portajib from Lammo Ltd alongside the remote commentary set up for the Hungarian Grand Prix 2020.

You can catch the highlights from the Hungarian Grand Prix here as it’s now time to start getting excited for round four at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix! 

Gravity Media, the leading global provider of complex live broadcast facilities and production services to content owners, creators and distributors, has provided BT Sport’s exclusive PPV coverage of the Deontay Wilder vs Tyson Fury 2 heavyweight title fight. Columbus, Gravity Media’s Los Angeles-based 4K multi-purpose mobile unit, was deployed at Las Vegas’ iconic MGM Grand venue alongside its operational B Unit for the rematch on February 22, which was expected to become the biggest fight this year. This follows the split-decision draw between the Gypsy King (Fury) and Bronze Bomber (Wilder) in December 2018.

The two Gravity Media mobile units joined three additional OB trucks and six SNG vehicles within the TV compound at MGM Grand showing the scale of the intense media interest. They were used to produce BT Sport’s on-site presentation studio as well as coverage from ringside. In addition, Gravity Media also supplied commentary and comms solutions to the UK rights holder.

The flexibility offered by its 60ft single expanding Columbus unit, which carries and deploys UK-friendly production solutions, was one of the key attractions for BT Sport when it came to selecting its facilities partner for this project. Tools such as Glensound commentary equipment, and Coles lip mics, combined with an engineering team that’s experienced in UK production workflows involving EVS and intercom particularly, make Gravity Media an ideal choice for British broadcasters operating within North America. Gravity understood BT Sport’s requirements from the outset as the team clearly understood the UK technical language that was being used by BT Sport’s engineers and operations team.

Marc Genin, Gravity Media’s Executive Vice President, added: “Although Columbus was built to serve the North American production market, it can be reconfigured with elements that are preferred in British productions. This means that we can meet the specific requirements of UK content creators such as BT Sport which are covering major events over here without having to compromise on ambition or quality to achieve a familiar feel.”

Columbus is the flagship of Gravity Media’s North American fleet and was the first mobile unit to feature a full 4K monitor wall, one-button hydraulic deployment and integrated RF. It has been used for a range of high-end 4K HDR and UHD sports and entertainment productions in the US.

The Broadcast Awards ceremony is always a big night for the TV industry. Held this year on Wednesday 5 February at Grosvenor House on Park Lane, the Awards recognise the best in the UK’s TV – from the most entertaining to the most thought-provoking and pretty much everything in between. It’s a night where we take great pleasure in celebrating our clients’ successes, with projects we’ve supported on the shortlist in most of the categories.

Gravity Media was proud to be a sponsor for the third year running, and Gravity Media was there in force entertaining a number of guests from ATP Media, Amazon, Maidstone Studios and Premiership Rugby. We were also delighted to see I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! nominated for Best Entertainment Programme.

It was a great night for all concerned and a massive congratulations to all of the nominees and winners at the Broadcast Awards 2020!

Following a the successful installation of several Avid Media Composer Nitris DX suites at BBC Bristol for Winterwatch, preparation has now begun for the 2020 location record. Later on this month, The Gravity Media team will be installing further Avid Media Composer suites and an expansive EVS integration rig at the live location in the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland.

Presenters Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Gillian Burke will be heading back to the highlands at the end of January for another round of their high-profile nature show, live streaming winter wildlife at its chilly best on BBC Two and iPlayer.

We are saddened by the unfolding news of Australia’s bushfires and our thoughts are with those affected.

On the afternoon of Tuesday 7 January, the Gravity Media Production Centre in Artarmon Sydney received a last-minute call to complete a Live Cross for ITV Good Morning Britain.

The Flaxman family joined Good Morning Britain at the ITV Studios in London live from Sydney after they were dramatically saved from the current bushfires that surrounded them. 

The family were holidaying in a popular tourist spot as the couple and their four young children narrowly escaped a raging inferno being rescued by Brett Cripps, a man nearby on his boat in New South Wales.

The crew at The Production Centre, Artarmon put the Live Cross together in quick time.

London, 25 November 2019 – The Royal Television Society (RTS), Britain’s leading forum for television and related media, announced the winners of its 2019 Craft & Design Awards, sponsored by Gravity Media, at a prestigious ceremony held this evening at the London Hilton, Park Lane. The awards ceremony was hosted by political comedian Ahir Shah.

The RTS Craft & Design Awards celebrate excellence in broadcast television and aim to recognise the huge variety of skills and processes involved in programme production. They span across 30 categories in total, and this year Chernobyl led the way with six wins across Costume Design – Drama, Make Up Design – Drama, Music – Original Score, Photography – Drama & Comedy, Production Design – Drama and Sound – Drama categories. The Lifetime Achievement award was presented to Mike McCarthy, who has an incredible ongoing career, from working as staff at the BBC at the dawn of Television Centre’s construction, to many years since as an incredibly popular freelancer, witnessing, and surviving, many changes within the industry. Sky Adsmart won the RTS Special Award, the service was recognised because of the ground- breaking work they are doing not only here in the UK but leading the way globally.

Chair of the Craft & Design Awards, Lee Connolly said: “We are constantly inspired and impressed with the incredible talent on display in our industry, and we are proud to honour the crafts people who make these shows possible – dedicating their time, energy and creativity to make some of the most impactful programming of the past year.”

Please see below the full list of winners and nominees, as well as the jury’s comments on each winner:

Costume Design – Drama 

WINNER – Odile Dicks-Mireaux Chernobyl Sister / The Mighty Mint & Word Games for Sky Atlantic & HBO 

The winning programme was unforgettable in its unflinching attention to detail and perfect characterization, a total immersive, cinematic experience. We felt as an audience that everything worn had come out of 1980s Belarus, Ukraine and Moscow. It was totally cohesive and the collaboration between departments quite extraordinary, with perfect attention to detail, heightening the sense of terror and horrifying reality.

Nominees:

Costume Design – Entertainment & Non Drama

WINNER – Sam Perry Don’t Forget the Driver Sister / Hootenanny for BBC Two

The winning design created characters that were believable, realistic and appealing, without falling into the trap of caricature. Wonderful attention to detail and subtlety was developed throughout the series.

Nominees:

Design – Programme Content Sequences

WINNER – Studio AKA, Steve Small, Nikki Kefford, Artworking & Animation Team

Black Earth Rising Forgiving Earth for BBC Two 

Striking, emotive and artistically ambitious these beautifully designed and executed animations are impactful and moving. They are devastatingly effective, conveying upsetting events in a sensitive and beautiful way. They successfully combine different source materials into one coherent and consistent yet very unique style.

Nominees:

Design – Titles

WINNER – Matt Willey Killing Eve Sid Gentle Films and BBC America for BBC One

In this Netflix age of ‘skip intro’ this sequence redefines programme titles. A clever idea beautifully executed, with bold typography and punchy colours, perfectly reflecting the chilling nature of the programme. It sustains repeated viewing and leaves the viewer wanting more.

Nominees:

Design – Trails & Packaging

WINNER – BBC Sport, BBC Creative & Park Pictures FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 BBC Sport, BBC Creative & Park Pictures for BBC Sport

The media had a job to do to elevate the platform of women’s football, for the FIFA 2019 Women’s World Cup, and this campaign hit the message firmly on the head. Gutsy, modern, dynamic and, most importantly, memorable this well thought out campaign unapologetically placed women’s football centre stage.

Nominees:

Director – Comedy Drama/Situation Comedy

WINNER – Nida Manzoor Enterprice Fudge Park Productions for BBC Three

The jury were hugely impressed by the innovative and unapologetic approach taken by this entry. Mining comedy from small moments and real environments, its limited budget did not hold it back from achieving a truly distinct and memorable style.

Nominees:

Director – Documentary/Factual & Non Drama

WINNER – Wendie Ottewill David Harewood: Psychosis and Me Films Of Record for BBC Two

An invisible subject matter made visible in a powerful and emotionally engaging film which clearly evidenced sensitive and brave directing skills.

Nominees:

Director – Drama

WINNER – Shane Meadows The Virtues Warp Films for Channel 4

A different league! Said the Jury. It felt completely real and was head and shoulders above anything else.

Nominees:

Director – Multicamera

WINNER – Bridget Caldwell The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance BBC Studios for BBC One

The jury thought the very sympathetic direction wonderfully captured all the action to bring the audience a mesmorising experience. This was clearly extensively planned with nice refreshing camera moves expertly choreographed and overall well executed.

Nominees:

Editing – Documentary/Factual

WINNER – Claire Guillon Egon Schiele: Dangerous Desires BBC Studios PQP for BBC Two

Innovative and brave. The breath-taking & wonderfully anarchic style of editing brought a 100 Year Old Subject instantaneously and convincingly into the 21st century. The heady mix of juxtaposed dancing and art images with talking heads and dramatic interludes, was immediately engaging and articulated a brilliant reconstruction of a wayward life with élan. The editing displayed the real additional contribution that an exceptional editor can add to a director’s vision.

Nominees:

Editing – Drama

WINNER – Matthew Gray The Virtues Warp Films and Big Arty Productions for Channel 4

The jury admired the emotional power of the piece. At times it was hard to watch, for all the right reasons. It had great impact on the viewer. Much of this emotional effect the jury felt could be attributed to the editing. They particularly admired the use of flashback material at just the right points to hint at the reasons for the lead character’s actions. A superb, memorable piece of work.

Nominees:

Editing – Entertainment and Comedy

WINNER – Simon Whitcomb & Christine Pancott The Heist Shine TV for Sky One

The suspense and tempo of this fast-paced multi-camera reality sequence was a visual assault on the senses. A technically challenging edit with its numerous narrative arcs of multi-layered storytelling, action and jeopardy all creatively balanced to create a fast- paced thriller. The smooth yet complex weaving of all the strands together, lifted the editing talents above its contemporaries, demonstrating it to be the model of how to do this sort of thing without putting a step wrong.

Nominees:

Editing – Sport

WINNER – Lukas Musil & David Snowdon UEFA Champions League Final – Official Film IMG Media for UEFA / BT Sport

The jury described this as great story-telling, classy, clever, ambitious and with brilliant shot selection.

Nominees:

Effects

WINNER – One Of Us The OA: Part II Plan B Entertainment for Netflix

The originality of thought, the attention to detail and the design aesthetic that went into the production of all the on-screen effects was hugely impressive.

Nominees:

Lighting for Multicamera 

WINNER – Tim Routledge Stormzy – Glastonbury Taw Box for BBC

Watching this felt like a true piece of art being crafted. The boldness of creative choices created a very special performance.

Nominees:

Make Up Design – Drama

WINNER – Daniel Parker Chernobyl Sister / The Mighty Mint & Word Games for Sky Atlantic & HBO

The best make up design was awarded to the programme, which was so painstakingly crafted, recreating appalling scenes of absolute horror and decay, without ever being gratuitous. Using a slight of hand and subtlety that sensitively portrayed the devastating tragedy. The work exhibited huge amounts of challenges, research and wonderful characterisation both before and after the disaster.

Nominees:

Make Up Design – Entertainment & Non Drama 

WINNER – Lisa Armstrong Strictly Come Dancing BBC Studios for BBC One

The winner had created characters and transformations that were daring and exciting. Consistently impressing audiences and fans, never failing to entertain and constantly exhibiting an amazingly, varied array of skills and techniques. 

Nominees:

Multicamera Work

WINNER – Giuseppe Bianchi Master of Photography Ballandi & Sky Arts Production Hub for Sky Arts 

The jury felt the multicamera work and planning brought life to the subject matter. A very considered craft in how to achieve the stylised look.

Nominees:

Multicamera Work – Sport

WINNER – Rhys Edwards, Matt Roberts & Laura McManamon SailGP Whisper & BT Sport

Technically brilliant to see something of this scale delivered so well. Made the event enthralling to watch and exciting to follow.

Nominees:

Music – Original Score 

WINNER – Hildur Gudnadottir Chernobyl Sister / The Mighty Mint & Word Games for Sky Atlantic & HBO

A unanimous verdict, the jury felt the winning score was utterly unique, totally integral to the drama and, as a result, completely terrifying. The juxtaposition of textures that underscored the drama against the simple beauty of the Russian choir accompanying the closing montage demonstrated extraordinary imagination, versality and depth of understanding on the part of the composer.

Nominees:

Music – Original Title 

WINNER – Samuel Sim The Bay Tall Story Pictures for ITV

Haunting, unsettling and atmospheric, this beautiful theme lent an ominous quality to the opening montage. The music somehow exaggerated the colours within the visuals and within seconds you knew something bad was going to happen. The music gave a Nordic Noir feel to Morecambe. 

Nominees:

Photography – Documentary/Factual & Non Drama 

WINNER – Daniel Dewsbury, Stuart Bernard & Jonny Ashton The Mighty Redcar 72 Films for BBC Two

Capturing everyday life in a northern town, the strikingly executed photography subverts expectations by giving the town and its characters an evocative cinematic flair.

Nominees:

Photography – Drama & Comedy 

WINNER – Jakob Ihre Chernobyl Sister / The Mighty Mint & Word Games for Sky Atlantic & HBO

The panel were unanimous in their opinion that the cinematographer had done great service to the drama with their revolutionary approach to lenses and filming techniques that made this drama immediate, powerful and totally authentic.

Nominees:

Picture Enhancement 

WINNER – Matt Brown Brassic Calamity Films for Sky 

Working within a modest budget and without having any previous experience of delivering in the broadcasters chosen format of HDR (High Dynamic Range). The picture enhancement was a masterclass in measured grading, using multiple layers applied on a shot by shot basis to create moody, yet bold scenes, that popped with colour. 

Nominees:

Production Design – Drama 

WINNER – Luke Hull Chernobyl Sister / The Mighty Mint & Word Games for Sky Atlantic & HBO

Rich, realistic, beautiful and horrible all at the same time. Astonishing research that was real, sensitive and with unmatched passion for design.

Nominees: 

Production Design – Entertainment & Non Drama 

WINNER – Dominic Tolfts Michael McIntyre’s Big Show Hungry McBear for BBC One

The jury were blown away by the intricate set changes and impressed by the versatility of the production design.

Nominees:

Sound – Drama 

WINNER – Stefan Henrix, Joe Beal, Harry Barnes & Michael Maroussas Chernobyl Sister / The Mighty Mint & Word Games for Sky Atlantic & HBO

Excellent dynamic range that left space where needed. Original use of sound design and effects that work seamlessly with the score. Beautifully authentic foley recordings and crystal-clear dialogues, often recorded in difficult sonic locations. 

Nominees:

Sound – Entertainment & Non Drama 

WINNER – Greg Gettens, Kim Tae Hak, Chad Orororo & Andy Paddon Married To A Paedophile Brinkworth Films for Channel 4

So brilliantly executed, that anyone tuning in halfway through could be forgiven for not realising that the original audio had been resynced to the actors miming. A incredible technical feat that would require great time and skill in both production and post.

Nominees:

RTS Special Award 

WINNER – Sky Adsmart 

Over the course of TV history there have been many significant technological milestones, but very few led by an advertising development. From Gibbs SR toothpaste, the first ever TV commercial, TV ads have retained their unrivalled position in marketing, one that we are reminded of more than ever this time of year. ‘As Seen on TV’ became seen as a stamp of approval and trust – that you were big enough to be able to afford to advertise on TV. TV was the reserve of the big spenders and was too expensive, broad and wasteful for everyone else.

But what was originally planned as a project to deliver relevant promos, evolved into a 7 year, £100m project that fundamentally changed TV advertising for good.

In 2014 Sky launched its addressable TV platform – and in the last 5 years has gone-on to transform who and how TV advertising can be used. A major technical achievement able to seamlessly, with frame by frame accuracy, replace ads in live linear content across millions of homes simultaneously based of almost unlimited audience and location attributes. Effectively turning set-top- boxes into local ad servers, this massively complex project would level the playing-field without anyone really noticing.

Addressable TV has democratised the advertising landscape. This year Sky released the collective findings from nearly 20,000 campaigns – from reducing channel switching in ad breaks by nearly half, increasing ad engagement & enjoyment by a third, and with 70% of brands using the platform ‘new to TV’ it’s delivered on its promise to make TV advertising available to businesses of all shapes and sizes. And attracting new money into TV the virtuous circle of investment means more money into producing world class UK content and shows.

Not only Is this ground-breaking in the UK but leading the way globally – Comcast, Sky’s new owner have now adopted the AdSmart brand and it’s recently been announced both Channel 4 and BBC will be using the technology too.

This years’ RTS Special Award goes to Sky Adsmart.

Lifetime Achievement Award

WINNER – Mike McCarthy 

The winner of this year’s Lifetime Achievement award has an incredible ongoing career, from working as staff at the BBC at the dawn of Television Centre’s construction, to many years since as an incredibly popular freelancer, witnessing, and surviving, many changes within the industry.

It is a career that has spanned 6 decades, the list of incredible shows he has helped bring to life is endless and many of you in this room will have worked with him, I guarantee all of you will have seen his work. 

When we asked for a few lines from some of the people he has worked with, we were inundated. So much praise for his professionalism, for his willingness to make things work with the minimum fuss. They say He’s the best of the best, an absolute legend, the ultimate professional the Peter Pan of Sound Designers, and to this day, thankfully, he still has a hand on the sound of Saturday Night Television.

For further information please contact:

rts@ddapr.com

+44 20 7932 9800

London, 7 November 2019 – The Royal Television Society (RTS), Britain’s leading forum for television and related media, has shortlisted the nominations for its 2019 Craft & Design Awards, sponsored by Gravity Media. Chernobyl leads the way with seven nominations, followed by Don’t Forget the Driver, Killing Eve and The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance all receiving nominations across three categories.

The prestigious awards will be presented at a ceremony hosted by political comedian Ahir Shah on Monday 25th November at the London Hilton, Park Lane. The RTS Craft & Design Awards celebrate excellence in broadcast television and aim to recognise the huge variety of skills and processes involved in programme production across 30 categories ranging from Make Up Design: Drama to Director: Multicamera, with the RTS Special Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award being given at the discretion of the RTS. 

Chair of the Craft & Design Awards, Lee Connolly said: “We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone on the 25th to celebrate the fantastic television we have witnessed on our screens this year, not just here in the UK, but internationally.”

The full list of nominations are as follows:

Costume Design – Drama

Costume Design – Entertainment & Non Drama

Design – Programme Content Sequences

Design – Titles

Design – Trails & Packaging

Director – Comedy Drama/Situation Comedy

Director – Documentary/Factual & Non Drama

Director – Drama

Director – Multicamera

Editing – Documentary/Factual

Editing – Drama

Editing – Entertainment and Comedy

Editing – Sport

Effects

Lighting for Multicamera

Make Up Design – Drama

Make Up Design – Entertainment & Non Drama

Multicamera Work

Multicamera Work – Sport

Music – Original Score

Music – Original Title

Photography – Documentary/Factual & Non Drama

Photography – Drama & Comedy

Picture Enhancement

Production Design – Drama

Production Design – Entertainment & Non Drama

Sound – Drama

Sound – Entertainment & Non Drama

A soldier’s conviction for a murder in Afghanistan is overturned because of flawed video evidence, but then damning CCTV footage from a night out in London sees him fighting for his freedom once again. That’s the plot of BBC One’s new six-part blockbuster, The Capture, which is airing every Tuesday at 9pm from 3 September.

The Capture is written and directed by Bafta Award-winning filmmaker Ben Chanan, and is made for BBC One by Heyday Television and NBCUniversal International Studios. HyperActive Broadcast provided all Avid Media Composer systems to the production team.

The Dark Crystal is a Netflix Original sci-fi/fantasy series that sees a group of brave Gelfling unite on a quest to save their world from power-hungry overlords hell-bent on draining life from the planet Thra. So yep, definitely sci-fi/fantasy.  

A collaboration between Netflix and The Jim Henson Company, the show is a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal. The world of Thra explored by the series was created for the original film.

Post Production Supervisor Karen Payne (Star Wars: Rogue One;X-Men: First Class) brought the show’s production team to Frith Street, where they set up shop in our first floor cutting rooms for a number of weeks. Originally scheduled to complete in March, the team extended their stay until the end of July, thanks to highly complex Visual Effects work. The team also hired further Avid Pro Tools equipment to provide additional dialogue record.

Available to watch on Netflix, the series debuted on 30 August to universal acclaim from fans and critics alike, securing an 8.8 score on IMDB.

HyperActive has been helping CTV Outside Broadcasts with its coverage of the Cheltenham Literature Festival for Sky Arts, supplying an Avid and EVS integration rig and support package.

The Cheltenham festival is every literature lover’s dream. Held for 10 days each autumn, the literary festival showcases hundreds of the world’s finest writers, actors, poets and scribes, who flock to Gloucestershire to celebrate the written word.

Established in 1949, The Cheltenham Literature Festival is one of oldest literary events in the world, which for 2019 boasted a programme of nearly 500 debates, interviews and workshops.