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COMPANY FOCUS: DERWEN
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Part of the Barcud-Derwen group, Derwen is a post-production house based in Whitchurch, Cardiff. It enjoys an established track record of award-winning work for broadcast, film, and new media production. The company employs nearly thirty staff with fourteen full time editors. Derwen also employs award-winning camera crew and is recognised as a leading independent sports graphics company. Current services include Avid offline editing, Symphony and Smoke online editing in both HD and SD environments.
Derwen merged with Barcud in 1997 to form Barcud Derwen, the largest television company outside London. The group has expanded dramatically since then and is now run as twelve divisions.
http://www.barcud-derwen.co.uk/
Rhys Bevan is Managing Director at Derwen, now 6 months in the job after leaving BBC Wales as events/production manager.
What is the nature of your business?
Post production (HD&SD), specialist PSC crews and sports graphics
How long has your company been in operation? How many people are employed there?
We've been going for 18 years and now have thirty full time staff, including editors, technical support staff, camera operators, sound engineers and an engineering team.
What makes your company different from the competition? How do you maintain your edge?
We employ 14 full time editors and our clients come to us mainly as they enjoy working with them - and we have always been at the forefront of technology, investing early in a HD suite. They work on excellent kit - Discreet Smoke High Definition (HD), Digital linear online suite, 2 AVID Symphony and 11 AVID Media Composer suites each with more storage than you'll ever need. All edit suites are linked to a central server that enables us to share data such as graphics, stills and digital 'rostrum camera' effects
What has been your biggest job so far?
Young Dracula (BBC Network)
How has the nature of your business changed over the years?
Development of HD technology
How close do you work with the other companies in the Barcud Derwen group?
All companies within the group work very closely and assist with each other's challenges, be it technical or workflow.
What benefits have you seen from working within a larger group?
The benefit for clients is that they have access to a wealth of knowledge, expertise and equipment. Also from a workflow point of view, we can film it (OB or PSC / HD or SD), edit it and, via Picardy & Safon, our communication/PR & Events arm, we can actually assist with the production team's arrangements!
In your time trading, what have been the most significant industry changes you have witnessed?
Non-linear editing
What potential industry developments of the next 12-24 months are of most concern to you, in terms of the company?
The development of the workflow process
On a five-year plan for the company, what would be the most important headings?
1 Ensuring you’re fed with work
2 Working closer with production and their needs
3 Investment in training and people
4 Investment in new kit
5 Meeting industry standards and trends
What does technology mean to the business?
Technology is as important as the people who use it, therefore it’s our lifeline
What is the single most important piece of advice you would offer to someone starting up in your line of business today?
Investment is central to success
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