BBC Studios is a global media company that creates and distributes world-class content driven by public service values. Its ambition is to be the home of the most powerful, entertaining and inspiring stories for people all around the world.
The BBC Studios’ Global Media & Streaming team is working with 7fivefive to embrace a cloud-first approach to post-production, creating a more flexible and scalable way for its creative teams to collaborate across different locations and time zones. The partnership has guided this digital transformation since 2020.
7fivefive has delivered the remote editing backbone that supports content-based workflows. With its extensive cloud expertise underpinning post-production processes, enabling creative teams to manage resources efficiently. To help realise BBC Studios’ cloud-first vision, 7fivefive is also working in tandem with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the selected cloud provider.
The Challenge
For BBC Studios’ Global Media & Streaming creative teams, the infrastructure needed to support a range of specialist workflows, from editing and graphics to colour grading, compliance, and branding. It also needed to provide the flexibility to respond to changing requirements while maintaining performance and efficiency.
With teams collaborating across different time zones, resources needed to be accessible when and where they were required. At the same time, BBC Studios needed greater visibility and control over resource allocation and costs, without compromising on creative quality or operational goals.
Throughout the project 7fivefive has provided strategic consultation, designing and implementing solutions that maximise responsiveness and reduce overheads. The approach is designed to give creative teams the technology, insights, and support they need to power a cloud-first post-production infrastructure.
The Solution
As the media industry shifts to the cloud, BBC Studios has embraced a framework that ensures the speed, flexibility, and cost effectiveness of its post-production operations over the long-term.
The system is designed to dynamically scale active resources, with automated controls that enhance productivity. Virtual workstations can be provisioned and optimised based on real-time requirements, empowering users to self-serve without compromising on performance. Different teams can receive customised resources that are best suited to specific creative tasks, across editing, graphics, colour grading, compliance, and branding.
The latest phase of the project harnesses the capabilities of Adobe and AWS within a unified cloud environment. Regional departments can seamlessly transition between projects, access secure content from anywhere, manage allocation, and act on data-driven insights. Predictive cost metrics and automated budget management are based on detailed analytics. This ensures that business objectives are met without compromising on creative quality or operational goals.
Together, these capabilities provide BBC Studios with a flexible cloud infrastructure that can evolve alongside its creative teams and the wider media industry. For 7fivefive, the focus is on enabling creative teams to focus on the task at hand, whilst the complexity of integrated cloud resources is handled via an intuitive interface. The shared commitment to innovation ensures that BBC Studios is well-equipped for the challenges of tomorrow’s content landscape.
Emma Ellis, Creative Services Technology Manager
Global Technology at BBC Studios
“7fivefive’s cloud expertise and practical insight has been key in helping us modernise our creative technology stack and post-production workflows, allowing us to implement meaningful optimisations with confidence and efficiency. These enhancements have increased flexibility across our creative teams, allowing seamless access to remote editing resources and global media content from anywhere. This shift has not only introduced additional operational efficiencies, but has ensured we can continue delivering high-quality, engaging content to our audiences worldwide.”
Adam Jakubowski, VP of Technical Operations
Global Technology at BBC Studios
“The collaboration with 7fivefive has played a key role in our cloud trajectory. We have scaled virtual post-production workflows over the past 5 years, and adaptive resource allocation continues to provide significant cost and workflow efficiency gains. The flexibility of this solution means we can respond to evolving business and industry needs and enhance the autonomy and agility of our creative teams.”