Emerging from a darkened room.....

Have been hiberating for a few days. The floor in the office here in The Netherlands is covered with twelve piles of DVDs and scripts. That's because I'm one of the judges for this year's Association for International Broadcasting Media Excellence Awards. But, because I am also producing the awards presentation, I have had a chance to see entries in all the categories. Although I am sworn to secrecy until the awards dinner in London November 20th, I can say I am very impressed with the growing standard of entries from the new stations in the international broadcasting biz. Very refreshing to hear (and see) some very clever ideas being put into practice.

It is a challenging task trying to bring all these different formats together, but at the same time I feel I am helping to change the image of award ceremonies in general. This one is focussed on being a great get together of content professionals, at the end of which they hand out some appreciations of a job well done. Many of the ones in the US have turned into a cash cow for the organisers where questions are asked if you don't win. I am glad to say this is different. Er, enough gossip, so it is back to the editing suite. Have been experimenting with the new Sony Vegas Video 8 and very impressed at the new features. You can be creative, fast and that's important when the awards are just over two weeks away.