TikTok videos. Instagram Reels. Live-streamed concerts and sporting events. Non-scripted programming. Ten years ago, who could have predicted these would be some of the most popular digital content formats today? Before COVID-19 and the acceleration of smartphone-driven content, media and video were on an upwards trajectory for big-budget film and television (for example, HBO's Game of Thrones and the Marvel Cinematic Universe). Sunil Mudholkar, vice president of product management at EditShare, remembers those days well.
"If you look historically at where EditShare has been in the market, production, and post-production was a huge part of our business," he says.
EditShare has been developing collaborative storage and media asset management solutions for creators since 2004, serving a global customer base across industries including sports, news, houses of worship, film, television, and, more recently, corporate enterprise entities taking media production in-house.
Adapting to the needs of creators, particularly in the last decade, requires constant innovation and ongoing inquiry into digital content's changing landscape.
Customer empathy is a core value at EditShare, which Mudholkar embodies with a deep understanding of the challenges faced by media industries. Pauses in production, COVID-19 restrictions, and a seemingly bottomless appetite for faster, higher-quality video have changed the content and methods audiences use to consume their media.
Below, Mudholkar provides insight into where he sees the most significant changes in digital content today.
Scripted film & television goes quiet; non-scripted steps in
It's been an active year for production events that have paused scripted film and television sets. Looking back at how the industry responded during the COVID-19 shutdowns, non-scripted programming kept audiences watching.
The trend continues. Documentaries, "reality" television, and live concerts dominate major streaming platforms. Social media consumption behavior has upped the requirements of promoting new content.
"Our customers in the entertainment space are creating, for example, ten different trailers for TikTok or five different two-minute Stories for Instagram," Mudholkar says. "They're advertising in so many different ways, to the point where it's not just about creating the content itself, but also figuring out the myriad ways to promote, pitch, and sell it, and engage with an audience."
Sporting events take on more angles for more channels
"Sports teams and sports rights are becoming increasingly expensive," Mudholkar says. "As those rights become more valuable, so does the quality of production that goes along with it."
Alongside rising costs in sports productions, smartphone manufacturers are releasing devices with camera capabilities that would have competed with professional-grade videography equipment ten years ago.
"Video formats are getting faster and more rich," Mudholkar says. "The amount of media that our customers are generating is huge."
To maximize reach and monetization, sport event producers, such as for the Super Bowl LV, must create content to suit a broader range of channels, including โsnack-sized videoโ for different social platforms and live stream events. For this particular Superbowl, there were 120+ cameras poised to capture every moment.
"There were cameras built into the pylons on the goal lines, cameras built into the referee's uniform, cameras going around the stadium," says Mudholkar.
EditShare customers are empowered to capture and store media efficiently, streamlining collaboration. These creators are working with more files, so it's crucial to identify, compile, and edit material fast.
Enterprise customers move production in-house
The new generation of the professional workforce is smartphone-equipped and media-savvy, so much so that Mudholkar is noticing enterprise customers bringing their internal media needs in-house.
"These customers are building their internal creative teams," he says. "We're seeing growth in that space because traditionally, this work was done outside the company by an ad agency."
As the shape of enterprise workforces evolves, EditShare is there to help. By partnering with HPE OEM Solutions, Mudholkar and his team offer a branded trust signal many enterprise customers seek.
"The piece that HPE OEM brings, in partnership with our software capabilities, is that the brand is immediately recognizable to IT teams," he says. "And the hardware performance that comes with HPE OEM gives us a competitive edge that we didn't have before."
With HPE OEM supplying hardware, EditShare can increase focus on responding to new and emerging trends in media with solutions that make it easier for creative storytellers to collaborate, pivot, and bring their ideas to life.
Nabanita Maji
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
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