NAB’s “The Last of Us” panel with THR’s Carolyn Giardina, Craig Mazin, Xenia Sereda, Timothy Goode, Emily Mendes and Alex Wang.
Courtesy of the 2023 NAB Show
An estimated 65,000 people attended the 2023 National Broadcasting Corporation show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, according to show organizers.
After the NAB returned to in-person events with 52,468 delegates in 2022, attendance numbers showed a notable increase, but the last pre-lockdown attendance was 91,000 in 2019. It was still well below the show.
Artificial Intelligence was arguably the hottest topic this year, as NAB celebrated its 100th anniversary. As the possibilities of AI evolve rapidly, AI is clearly a topic that continues to cause significant anxiety and presents surprising potential opportunities.
In general, this year was not a year of revolution on the exhibition floor, but a year of evolution. From a technical perspective, there were many new and evolving tools for all kinds of cloud-based remote workflows. There’s still a lot to figure out before the promise of virtual production is fully realized, but attendees will be able to roam across a vast exhibition hall where 1,200 companies showcase their latest technology, and at least one LED could not see wall or related demonstrations.
NAB accelerated the rollout of next-generation TVs and put sustainability in the spotlight with the launch of the Excellence in Sustainability Awards program. Meanwhile, participation from Hollywood brought the event beyond broadcast. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights and biggest trends of the week.
artificial intelligence
At NAB, AI was rampant from conference sessions to the exhibit floor. “This is an area where NAB is absolutely active,” said Curtis LeGeyt, NAB’s president and CEO, in a presentation on the state of the industry about the potential dangers and benefits of the technology. I gave my opinion. “It’s amazing how quickly AI’s relevance to our economy as a whole has grown, especially since we’re in this room, the broadcast industry, from a vague concept to a reality. rice field.”
LeGeyt cautioned about some concerns he has for local broadcasters where AI is involved. [uses] A platform for accessing TV and radio broadcast content. …in our view, they cannot be fairly rewarded for our content, even though we generate huge amounts of traffic on their site. He argued that there should be a law to “put some guardrails” on it, especially when “AI could put it into overdrive.”
He warned of the extra care needed to determine what is real and what is AI, as well as the care needed in protecting one’s likeness. He balanced these caveats with a discussion of potential opportunities, such as the ability to speed up research on “resource-constrained local stations.”
Imax, making its first appearance as an exhibitor at NAB this year, was one of many companies to showcase AI-driven technology on the show floor. The company demonstrated current and prototype technology from tech startup SSIMWAVE, which he acquired for $21 million in 2022. It includes AI-driven tools aimed at optimizing bandwidth and image quality, and could potentially be used with the company’s Imax Enhanced streaming format.
Other such exhibitors included Adobe, which showed a new beta version of Premiere Pro, which includes AI-driven text-based editing tools developed to analyze and transcribe clips.
content is king
HBO series session Last of Us a conversation with Ted Russo‘s Brett Goldstein drew a standing room crowd to the main stage of the NAB show. Meanwhile, the American Society of Cinematographers and the talented American Film Editors held master class sessions on weekdays.
Writer, Producer, and Actor Goldstein — Nickname Ted Russo Footballer Roy Kent — Introduced in Freewheeling Conversations with Buddies Ted Russo Author Ashley Nicole Black.
“Just an actor’s life, with all due respect to actors, they’re insane. I don’t understand why they live like that,” he asked about working as both a writer and an actor. “It’s fucking mental. Your life is a lottery ticket. Every day you wait for the magic phone to ring, but you have no control over it. …I just say, ‘I don’t have a good script.'” I didn’t want to be an actor sitting there saying, You have to write something yourself and then you can’t complain.
He also talked about why collaboration makes the writer room work.team description contraction and Ted Russo “Some of the smartest people in the world in this fucking room,” he said. Allowing this process of everyone participating and accepting this and accepting that would be a 100% better show. ”
ACE announcement Last of Usmeanwhile, showrunner and executive producer Craig Mazin teased that the series would be extended beyond its announced season two, leading to cheers from the crowd. Joining editors Timothy Good and Emily Mendez, VFX supervisor Alex Wang, and sound supervisor Michael J. Benavente for a behind-the-scenes look at the production.
virtual production Tron: Ares
There was no shortage of exhibitors demonstrating technology and workflows in the evolving field of virtual production. There were potential uses ranging from advertisements and serials to feature films.
“For me, virtual production is a wonderful tool for bringing stories to life, but like all tools that need to be applied properly to get the most out of it,” said the two-time Oscar nominee. Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth (Social network, woman with dragon tattoo). He is currently an advisor to his SISU developing the robotic arm demoed as part of NAB’s virtual production pipeline.
Cronenweth reports his next project is for Disney Tron: Ares It stars Jared Leto (Joachim Røning is set to direct for a 2025 release), and he’s eyeing virtual production. “As you can imagine a sci-fi movie like this, we embellish all the technology available to bring it to life, including virtual production. I look forward to fulfilling it.”
next generation tv
NAB used its annual conference to promote the voluntary deployment of the next generation of digital television known as ATSC 3.0. ATSC 3.0 is based on Internet Protocol and may include new features such as free live broadcasts to mobile devices. We still have a long way to go before a change of this magnitude will materialize.
At NAB, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel launched the Future of Television Initiative, a public-private partnership among stakeholders to support the transition to ATSC 3.0.
“U.S. broadcasters have served 26 new next-generation TV markets, reaching 66 by the end of 2022,” reported ATSC President Madeleine Noland. “We look forward to the next year of continued expansion and sales of new consumer receivers across the United States.”
