MPTS welcomes record attendance of 8,000

The Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS) welcomed its biggest audience yet, with 8,000 visitors coming through the doors of Olympia London during the two days of the event last week (11-12 May).

MPTS 2022 showcased 230 exhibitors and more than 130 live sessions, with 250 hours of free content across eight theatres. 330 speakers took part in the show.

MPTS acquired London industry trade show BVE in late 2019, and there then followed two years where the show wasn’t able to take place as a physical event due to Covid restrictions. During this time, MPTS focused on developing its tech sector footprint and is now the UK’s largest broadcast show bringing the creative and technical industries together.

As part of its drive to cater to a wider audience, this year’s show also added a Virtual Production Theatre, in partnership with Pixotope, to address the sizable increase in the use of VR/AR/MR in the last few years.

Another highlight was the Technology Theatre, in partnership with Ross Video and supported by SMPTE, that housed discussions covering 5G, AI/ML, cloud, future tech investment, and the Metaverse. There was also a dedicated Mojofest zone with a seminar programme developed specifically for mobile content creators.

Visitors were also able to visit interactive exhibitions and seminar programmes covering all aspects of broadcast, content creation and technology including audio, remote production, lighting, post-production, sports production and broadcasting, training, production and post-production.

Louis Theroux delivered the Headline Keynote Address, speaking about his extensive career in immersive documentary production. Other notable speakers who put the spotlight on diversity and inclusion in the industry included Ade Adepitan, Adam Deacon, John Partridge, Fenton Bailey and Kitty Scott-Claus.

Commenting on the show’s return after a two-year absence, Tom Crocker, business development manager – new workflows, Ross Video, said: “It’s the best show I’ve been to in London for a very long time – it feels completely normal. We’ve been able to have some really good conversations, and from a post-pandemic perspective, I think local trade shows like MPTS are really coming into their own.”

Rebecca Newton, senior communications manager, Blackmagic Design, added: “For us, this show is all about the customers. We had a lot of interest, particularly from those using the Resolve product, and our workshops generated a lot of interest. We were well represented across the spectrum of content seminars and had some great speakers who helped to tell our story.”

Bethany Lenehan, content services coordinator, and Hayley O’Tool, content services supervisor, both at ITV Content Services said the event was inspirational.

Michael Accardi, director, CueScript, added: “We expected a good show, but we didn’t expect that it would be this good. Everyone was serious about business, and it was fantastic to see people again.”

Charlotte Wheeler, event director, Media Production & Technology Show, said: “After a very long two years away, the team and I were delighted to welcome so many industry professionals through the doors of Olympia once again. The support that the show received from the community was outstanding and we feel that MPTS is now firmly marked in the industry event calendar moving forward. We had a phenomenal rebook into 2023 already, and we are absolutely thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive reception that this year’s edition has received. Bring on MPTS 2023.”