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Since I last wrote on the back in March of this year,Ìýhas had a busy time of itÌýat its new base here in Elstree. Now at the end of 2013, I wanted to use this post to explain what we've been up to, give someÌýinsight into how we've made our migration out of Television Centre work and take a peek into plans for ourÌýreturn.Ìý

But first, an explanation of what ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Studios and Post Production is and does:

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ S&PP is a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳-owned commercial company, providing facilities to make programmes and manage media. Very simply weÌýoperate studios - 'the boxes' - where TV programmes are made. We carry out post production, making sure the content 'comes together' in the right way. Our alsoÌýdo quality checking and prepare and deliver content for transmission or distribution. Very often programmes have another life after broadcast and they also takeÌýmaterial from deep in a broadcaster's archive and help re-purpose it for a future digital life.ÌýIn short, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ S&PP is involved in nearly all of the TV production process - following the entire lifecycle of the media asset, from creation to archive.

Working with independent media companies and other broadcasters

As well as providing studios and post production for some of the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳’s flagship shows such as , and , we also work with a range of independent production companies making programmes for other broadcasters – for example CPL Production’s for Sky and ITV’s - and with content owners – like , helping them preserve and maximise the value of their material.

We'reÌýbasedÌýat ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Elstree, where we help make EastEnders and have our Elstree Studio D (larger than Studio 1 at Television Centre), and at Elstree Film & TV Studios, where we've worked hand in hand with Hertsmere Council, who own the business, to transform the site.ÌýWe’re also in Bristol at The Bottle Yard Studios, where we help Endemol make for Channel 4 and our Digital Media Services team are in South Ruislip in West London. This blog focuses on what we’ve been up to at Elstree.ÌýÌý

Working hard to make something brilliant

At Elstree, there's a real sense that we're at the heart of making television: there is an air of glamour about the placeÌýwith EastEnders recording 50 weeks of the year, plus a constant stream of other shows in production. [At the time of penning this post, C³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s is shooting its Christmas special in the same studio episodes of That Puppet Game Show was recorded, (pictured above) is in Stage 8, is in Stage 9 (pictured below) and Strictly is in the George Lucas Stage].

In November when the live Children in Need show came from ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Elstree the whole site came alive: there was aÌýhuge buzz, lots of creativity, lots of celebrities, lots of concerts, lots of humour and lots of teams workingÌýtogether to really pull the whole thing off. For me, that is the reality of television: lots ofÌýpeople coming together and working hard to make something brilliant. ÌýÌý

Migrating to Elstree and transforming the site

Even though we were of course sad to leave Television Centre back in March (we've already startedÌýplanning our return to the site in 2015), what ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Studios and Post Production has achieved on theÌýElstree site is impressive.ÌýWorking closely with Hertsmere council, we've turned two medium size stages into professional TV studios with laser-levelled floors and purpose built galleries, we've installed production galleries alongside the supersize George Lucas Stages and refurbished all the dressing rooms, green rooms, make up and wardrobe areas.ÌýWe've really made it work for creating television here, bringing big shows previouslyÌýproduced at Television Centre and transferring them to an entirely different site and in many cases,Ìýimproving facilities for production teams. And what'sÌýinspiringÌýfor me is that every day of every week IÌýsee this site come more alive and be more energised because we're here doing what we do.Ìý

Over the next few weeks, you'll be able to read in more detail about what we've done at Elstree and howÌýwe're preparing for our return to Television Centre from Technical Development Manager Danny Popkin. But in this post I wanted to introduce how we've made the moveÌýto Elstree work.Ìý

The project for 'migrating' to Elstree started a year ago. Moving a business that had been in Television Centre for 30 years was a massive undertaking and it wasn't until quite late on that we knew the details of when and how we were going toÌýmove. The move happened while we were still operating TVC studios and doing big shows like Strictly, Later with Jools Holland and Goodbye Television Centre right up to the last minute. The organisation was also going throughÌýa restructure (necessitated by leaving TVC) so there was a lot going on.Ìý

So, in setting up services here at Elstree there was a large degree of pragmatism. PeopleÌýcame together and said to one another, 'this is where we are: a lot of us are sad to be leaving TelevisionÌýCentre for a bit but we're up for the challenge of Elstree; we're up for creating something really goodÌýhere.ÌýAnd that is reflected in our solutions: the way some of the technology has beenÌýrefurbished and repurposed; how equipment originally installed at Television Centre has been moved toÌýElstree and used with other existing equipment and made to work at a new location. And it's not just whatÌýyou see in the studio, it’s what you see 'at the back' - wiring, technology and facilities.ÌýIt was an extremely complex thing to deliver and is testament to the creativity and ingenuity ofÌýthe teams that work at ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ S&PP. They're passionate about what they do. And that work was completed on timeÌýand on budget too.

Ìý

Making Strictly in Elstree

From day one of the migration planning phase we were thinking about Strictly Come Dancing. It's one of those productionsÌýwe've had the privilege to work on for many years. It galvanises everyone within ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ S&PP. So front of mindÌýwas the need to really deliver for the Strictly production. Strictly is not a programme where you wantÌýthere to be any risks taken at all. As well as making the stage look wonderful for the cameras, we alsoÌýhad to consider all the backstage facilities and the technical provision for production teams. There'sÌýbeen a huge amount of planning which has gone into that to make sure that all of those elements are inÌýplace. We spent some time with members of the Strictly production team in the last few weeks of the 2013Ìýrun. You can see what Executive Producer Louise Rainbow and Lighting Director Mark Kenyon made of their Elstree experience in the video below.

Many of these considerations are the kind of thing TV audiences wouldn't necessarily see or think aboutÌýwhen they watch the programme, like the state of the dressing rooms or creating TV galleriesÌýfor what is now the largest studio in Europe with permanent TV galleries. But they are crucial to a well-run show and a quality end product.ÌýWe were constantly thinking, 'how can we make this sing' in termsÌýof production facilities? Being at Elstree Film & TV Studios gave us an opportunity to thinkÌýabout how we could offer the very best facilities and when Strictly is on there's a palpable sense ofÌývibrancy and an energy there now. I really do think that since we've been here we've brought something toÌýthe site working very collaboratively with the other organisations based here.Ìý

Returning to Television Centre in 2015

Beyond 2013 and 2014, we are returning to Television Centre. Planning is already underway and we're getting excitedÌýabout what the refurbished site is going to be like. It will, of course, be very different from how we leftÌýit. It will be a multi-use site which in itself brings opportunities and challenges in equal measure.ÌýWe started the planning work on this months ago, working very collaborativelyÌýwith the new owners Stanhope, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ÌýWorldwide to ensure what we go back to is going to be fantastic.Ìý

, we'll be going back to Studios 1, 2 and 3, but what we're having to do isÌýcompletely re-imagine how that section of Television Centre is going to work. Before we had a broaderÌýfootprint across the entire site. Now, everything isÌýgoing to be part of our 'zone' - all the areas aroundÌýthose studios. So we're having to spend a lot of time thinking about how we can optimise those areas ofÌýthe building to include dressing rooms, production offices, TV galleries and audience areas, all the timeÌýmaking sure there's a real sense of 'flow' on the site. Most importantly we want to make sure that whenÌýpeople come back they feel they're returning to something great rather than coming back to somethingÌýwhere we've just closed the door and opened it again. It's also an opportunity to really take forward theÌýTelevision Centre site. We'll be putting new technical equipment into the galleries andÌýalso refurbishing a lot of the other 'ancillary' production areas.

The galleries will be upgraded: right now we're thinking about what the future TV standards are going toÌýbe and how we can create facilities with that flexibility for the future. You should see very flexible,Ìýconfigurable galleries bringing together existing equipment we already have and supplementing that withÌýnew technology.Ìý

An inspiring place to work

Even when the studios are quiet or there aren’t high-profile shows being made, there’s an air of excitement along my route into the office, down the corridor which lines the many studios here.

It’s then I see all the pictures on the wall of all the films and TV programmes that have been made here – the heritage of Elstree. A place associated with the greats of both media. For me, thatÌýbrings a little glamour to my day.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Studios and Post Production is a fantastic company staffed by a group of people with huge energy and aÌýreal 'can-do' attitude, who have grown up with the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ and care passionately about all our customers. I feel privileged to workÌýwith people who really care about what they do. That is really inspiring.

is CEO, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Studios and Post ProductionÌýÌý

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