Media Production and Technology Show (MPTS) debrief - most of the team attended the show over the two days last week. I’ve asked everyone to share their thoughts on the event, so stay tuned and read on.
“My time at MPTS this year was very audio focused. Some great talks from sound designers and engineers about fragmentation in the industry and how sound is an unsung hero in video productions and not often budgeted for. Consensus was that clients and producers should begin the sound discussions in pre-prod and not leave it until the last minute.
New AI tools are helping experts clean up bad audio allowing them to spend more time on creativity. But those skills that inform these tools can’t be forgotten!
Interestingly though, in the podcasting world, Calum Goddard-Mocklow believes we’re in an ‘anti-production’ era where creators are embracing the low-fi as audiences respond more to grounded, haphazard outputs. Having the best equipment doesn’t make your podcast great, the personalities do.
My favourite quote came from Ben Barker (Warfare, 127 Hours) during the Sound Design Round Table. When asked what style meant to him, he said: “Style is detail.” And I love that sentiment. It’s everything that’s been chosen to be heard in a scene where we could simply be shown everything.”
“This year’s MPTS was an incredibly insightful experience, with a wide range of talks. The first session I attended focused on building a creator ecosystem for long-term value in partnership with LADbible Group, which explored how creators can build strong personal brands and capture audience attention from the very first impression whether that’s through a thumbnail, title, or identity.
Another fascinating talk centred around AI voices and the growing role of AI in modern creativity, reinforcing the idea that AI is no longer optional within the industry but something creatives need to embrace to stay ahead.
Another session was on growth, reach, and impact in content creation, it highlighted the importance of strong hooks within the first three seconds, consistent posting, and having a clear structure behind every piece of content. It also encouraged individuals not to become overly attached to individual posts if they underperform, but instead to continue experimenting and evolving.
“Five Reasons Your Podcast Sounds Shit,” explored the differences between podcasts and vodcasts, audience behaviour, and the importance of prioritising quality over quantity when creating cutdowns and edits.
Overall, the talks were very super insightful and offered valuable insights and plenty of ideas that can be applied to future content and social strategies at BearJam which I will be implementing.”
“One of the first sessions I caught at MPTS was in the Keynote Theatre, chaired by Chris Curtis from Broadcast, with Tom Garton and Louise Kentleton from Wonderhood Studios alongside Channel 5's Guy Davies and Paul Testar. All involved in the drama centred on Huw Edwards.
The question that kept surfacing was a simple one: why drama? Why not a documentary? The answer wasn't about spectacle. It was about emotional access. The story had been extensively covered in the press, but what journalism couldn't fully render was the texture of the relationships involved and the power dynamic, the vulnerability, the context that never made it into a headline. Drama can fill those gaps, but only when the journalism underneath it is rigorous. Every dramatised scene was grounded in source material: texts, court records, testimony from people directly involved. That discipline is what separates responsible factual drama from something that's just trading on notoriety.
The other clear takeaway was around duty of care, operating on a "no alarms, no surprises" principle with the real people at the centre of the story. Harder to maintain than it sounds, and worth hearing articulated properly”
The New Era of AI-Driven Workflows
1. A New Way to Work
The combination of your career experience and AI is completely changing job titles and work culture. It’s no longer just about doing the work; it’s about how you use your expertise to lead these new tools.
2. Human Touch is Still Key
Even with AI video tools, having a human in charge of the video and sound (SFX) is still the most reliable way to get a great result. AI helps, but the "human eye" and "human ear" make it professional.
3. System Before Design
The biggest lesson is to build a system before you start designing. * Personal Database: Collect your own information and tools.
4. Faster Production with Pre-Visuals
You can scale your work by using AI to create a "pre-visual" system. This shows everyone exactly what the final shot will look like before you even start. This saves a huge amount of time on set because there is no guesswork.
5. Pro Solutions for Clients
The Bottom Line:
Because of AI, your "rough version" is now much closer to the final version than it ever was before. This helps you work faster, keep data private, and deliver high-end results that impress your clients.
"All of the motion design talks were ticketed this year so I spent most of my time focused on the AI talks. Lots of good ideas and while it’s been said before, my key take-away was that human input is more important than ever, that automation and artificial content is no good without human creativity.
The first talk I went to focused on the AI shift and where the media industry is headed next. It was an interesting look at the flaws of it all, as well as whether we can be positive about the future. One especially interesting outtake was about the concerns over diversity in AI generated imagery and how it ‘averages everyone out’.
My last highlight was from the talk on the art of ‘prompting’ - how to talk to LLMs. Some really interesting and powerful examples of how these tools can be used by using the right language. It again highlighted that the key to success in AI is to maintain the human input throughout the process, that even people who use these technologies consistently are not relying solely on AI output.
They also highlighted really interesting flaws in these systems and how AI can be manipulated to say things it shouldn't! All very interesting."
"The highlight for me was a talk entitled Open to Work: Reinventing Skills for a Changing Industry, which I not only enjoyed from a personal point of view, but also as a producer. It’s really important to see the broader landscape of the industry and what are the needs, challenges, concerns and opportunities for those who I’m booking on our shoots. Coming from a place of understanding for every single person who touches your project is strength and in my experience, helps the inevitable bumps along the way smooth out wayyyy quicker! It was a great talk and acknowledged the tough place we are all in with the quick evolution of AI, the content & creator space, social media, etc. I loved the emphasis on how crucial it is to keep growing - take classes, shadow a friend, learn a new skill. The more strings to your bow, the more value you add and the more freedom you have to be creative in whatever new space you’re in."