Digital Synergies 4:
Choosing and Using Content Management Systems

NMK seminar report from June 2001. By Tom Campbell

Speakers: Stephen Jeffery-Poulter, James Ramsay, Tim Ball, Anthony Lilley.

In this evening seminar, a panel of experienced interactive media and television producers discussed the role of content management systems in the cross-platform production process, and how content-management issues affect independent production companies and individual producers.

Stephen Jeffery-Poulter began the evening with a lucid introduction to the subject, in which he defined content management as a set of tasks and processes for storing, managing and publishing on any digital platform all forms of digital assets throughout their lifecycle from creation to archive.

Content Management Systems (CMS) which can provide these kinds of capabilities offer production teams ways for streamlining project processes, reducing inefficient duplication and costs, while at the same time enhancing their creative opportunities and freedoms. However, Stephen made the point that these advantages were only possible if the CMS could be easily integrated into the production process in a manner which every member of the team would feel comfortable with. For this to work, a CMS must have many of the following characteristics:

• An intuitive interface design, which any member of the team can quickly grasp.
• Fast and simple access and retrieval functionality, with multiple navigation routes and an effective search facility.
• Flexible templates: the system must not be allowed to constrain the look and feel of the media product too severely. Here, a WYSIWYG system is generally preferable.
• Adaptable Authorisation Paradigms: many people will be using the same system, so there must be some differential in authorisation for different members of the team.
• Scalability: projects can grow incredibly rapidly and a system must be sufficiently scalable to handle an unexpectedly large amount of digital content.
• Speed: the system must allow the production team to store and access material as quickly as possible.

James Ramsay, Vice-President of Programming and Content at Channel Health drew on his current position, as well as previous experiences at MTV Europe and CanalWeb, to re-affirm what Stephen had said. In particular, James stressed the challenges he has encountered with continually changing technologies and platforms, making it difficult to ensure that a production team was using the optimal solution at any one time. This was compounded by a lack of standards and common technical vocabulary for the various media sectors – the same words have different meanings and contexts attached to them, and even the term ‘content management system’ meant different things to different people.

Finally, James warned the audience that despite what technology suppliers might say, the perfect all-round content management system has still to be developed, and unless you were willing to pay extremely large sums of money (up to £200,000 in some cases) for a high-end solution, you should take a pragmatic and short-term view to meeting your production needs.

Tim Ball from Flashback TV and Anthony Lilley from interactive agency Magic Lantern described their experiences in jointly constructing ResearchSpace (www.researchspace.co.uk), an online content management system which was developed in partnership by the two companies, with support from the Lumiere project, specifically for the needs of TV producers. ResearchSpace allows members of a production team to gather together all of the research documents and files, including text, graphics, video and audio, produced in the course of a project, making them available to every member of the team. These files can then be prepared for distribution across a range of platforms, such as the web, WAP or interactive TV.

ResearchSpace meets the objectives set out by Stephen and James earlier: it is easy to use and provides a cheap and pragmatic solution to the problem of managing digital content. In the course of using the system, Tim and Anthony have found two important benefits from capturing and storing digital media:

• It improves processes in TV production, enabling every member of the team to stay in direct contact with the project and its content.
• Interactive media projects cannot afford a major re-build. By using ResearchSpace, the content is in an appropriate format and easily accessible to those producers working on related interactive projects. A good example of this was provided by the History Quest website, which was produced by Magic Lantern in collaboration with Flashback, who had developed much of the original content for the TV production.

All of the panellists urged the audience to establish processes for the efficient and comprehensive capturing of content. As more and more interactive platforms proliferate, it can be a very cost-effective way for TV companies to exploit the new opportunities and re-purpose their content for new media. This can best be achieved if everyone on the production team is involved in the development of the CMS from the start, so that a system is adopted which everyone is comfortable with and will be used naturally.

Speakers Profile

Anthony Lilley, Magic Lantern
Anthony Lilley is Managing Director of Magic Lantern Productions, a London-based digital media company specialising in content and knowledge management. He has been actively involved in TV and corporate video production, while developing the company’s specialism in interactive TV, internet and database-driven content. Anthony is chairman of the PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) Digital Policy Group and Co-Chair of the UK Interactive Forum as well as a judge of the BAFTA Interactive Awards.

Tim Ball, Flashback Television
Tim began his career in independent local radio, and subsequently worked on pop promos and television drama. After stints as a Producer at Hawkshead and then Head of Programming at Television Education Network he joined Flashback in1998. He now manages the company’s substantial production output including Nigella Bites 2, Don Roaming, Battle Stations, and the Hot Seat. He sits on PACT’s Digital Strategy Committee, heads up Flashback’s strategic alliance with interactive specialist Magic Lantern and is currently overseeing the production of History Quest, a website for 4 Learning.

James Ramsay, Vice-President Programming and Content, Channel Health
James Ramsay is VP, Programming and Content, at Channel Health, with responsibility for developing streamlined editorial, production and programming processes across a range of media. He has over ten years' experience in television, and has worked for companies including CanalWeb, Universal Studios Networks and MTV Europe. Channel Health is the UK's first health and well-being channel, offering integrated content across both the digital broadcast medium and the net.

Sponsored by:

www.theknowledgeonline.com

Presented in association with:

www.pact.co.uk

Digital Synergies is a programme of events examining commercial and creative collaborations between new media and TV practitioners involved in the development, funding and production of cross-platform media projects. The series is produced by NMK and interactive content consultant Stephen Jeffery-Poulter, in association with PACT (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television).