The Tyrell Horizon – 20 Years in the making

The Tyrell Horizon – 20 Years in the making

 

brayannw

 

The fourth quarter of the year has always been an important time of the year for me. Not only are we reviewing the business’s strategies, targets and goals of the current year but it is also the time when we start planning for the coming 12 months, where we shape the company dependant on the horizon as we see it.

 

Next year, 2020 will be my 20th year at the helm of Tyrell. I know, I can hear the hecklers too shouting “it’s time to move on”. But for the first time in 5 years, the perfect storm is brewing. With those clouds that we’ve been watching from afar almost upon us. So, the geek in me needs to hang around to witness how it’s all going to play out and ensure Tyrell is a part of it.

 

So why all the excitement? Well, we are witnessing continued democratisation of camera capture devices. The cloud or the supernova (cloud explosion) advantage is directly over the media and entertainment industry, waiting for us all to flick the switch to digitise all our content, workflows and knowledge.  But the most crucial part in our eyes is the consumer demand for high quality content. This has introduced new players along with new money being delivered by the new entrants- FAANG in shorthand (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google). All helped along by the success of the epic Game of Thrones! (Tyrell Datapoint: Tyrell supplied and supported the GOT post team in Belfast for the entire production).

 

What does this mean for us in Tyrell? We of course wish to remain in the central position as the friendly human interface between manufacturers and customers. We take our title of value-added reseller very seriously. We put the same emphasis on companies that supply us the technology as we do the customers we supply to. Because if it was to go wrong or if a client was to have a system failure, we all need to be on the same page without any ambiguity of what needs to happen to get the show back on the road.

 

The consistent theme in the past six months at Tyrell has not been how much or how many. It has been “is it really possible to do it like that”. One thing is for sure, the current technology infrastructure behind the companies that create content is going to dramatically change for the better and we can guarantee it is going to get more complicated. Dare I say it, the technology is going to go deeper, beyond the average broadcasts engineer’s capacity. Not only will the language change but the risks of not approaching it properly will be greater. We’ve all heard the stories of the early adopters getting burnt with the allure of “all you can eat cloud”.

 

The challenge for us at Tyrell, is to try to balance ourselves between the manufacturer’s technology innovations and the needs of the creative market. It seems the entire world is committed to using video content to get their message to their tribe. We can mark 2007 as the tipping point of this, when the Apple iPhone was introduced. As Moore’s Law continues to advance at the same pace since 1970 and as the world continues to connect itself, our belief is that we are at the edge of another tipping pointing. Where we will become the consultants, custodians for content companies that simply want to get their message, programme or content out to their audiences.

 

I still believe in a world where every major brand aspires to fuel and fund their own video channel, be it daily, weekly etc…. We’re just lacking the vision and bravery of brands appointing Creative Directors and Producers to define that message.

 

Well look, that’s how we see it. If you’re on that same page, be sure to say hello.

 

FYI, there are already rumours of a 20th Anniversary next November. So please clear your diaries for the blow out in a city near you.