Channel 4
Inclusion Festival 2021 & 2022
We were brought back for the second year of Channel 4’s Inclusion Festival which gathered the British TV industry and beyond with an interest in inclusivity for a day of insights, ideas and lessons learned, to inspire collaboration in broadcast and digital media and accelerate the conversation around inclusion and diversity.
Live streamed to a microsite that felt like an extension of the Channel 4 website, we built the bespoke platform to their exact style and branding as well as managed the production for all the live and pre-recorded elements. We also enabled subtitles and BSL translation to ensure that the event was accessible to all audiences.
Objectives.
For the second year in a row, Channel 4 took their Inclusion Festival virtual with us for a full day of interviews, sneak peeks and panel discussions about inclusivity in the entertainment industry. They needed a bespoke microsite to host the festival with a live stage, agenda, speakers page and embedded on-demand videos.
What we did.
We gathered together a wide range of high profile and diverse speakers and made sure to accommodate any special requirement they had. We delivered high quality accessability options available in real time, including live subtitles, British Sign Language captions, and text for accessibility (white on black). The quality of the content was very high and covered a wide range of key issues, diverse voices.
We produced all content, liaising with the Channel 4 Inclusivity team to build a strong editorial approach. We pre-recorded key interviews with the heads of each major channel and shot 4 major panel discussion (two keynotes and two performances) in a variety of environments and studios while producing a consistent look and feel for the event. We guided the look and feel of the set while Channel 4 supplied the creative. We ensured it all came together with a mix of live streams and on-demand content that were aesthetically consistent.
The festival was a logistically complex event from a production and accesabilty point of view, with multiple cameras, crew and live accessibility elements.
the 2021 inclusivity festival.
With host and presenter Zeze Millz, Channel 4 wanted their festival to offer a full day of content with In person discussions and virtual guests, celebrating diverse panels about media, challenges within the entertainment and advertising industry. The event focused on the struggles this community faced entering the industry, and celebrating how far industries and Channel 4 have come, along with speakers from other media companies including BBC and ITV.
The event required a fully branded bespoke online platform with a registration page, agenda and live stream channel which would become on-demand immediately after the event finished.
Objectives.
For the second year in a row, Channel 4 took their Inclusion Festival virtual with us for a full day of interviews, sneak peeks and panel discussions about inclusivity in the entertainment industry. They needed a bespoke microsite to host the festival with a live stage, agenda, speakers page and embedded on-demand videos.
What we did.
We designed and developed the bespoke online platform for the event using our EckoEnterprise software, adhering to their brand guidelines and focusing on ways to make the platform the most accessible, such as making the background colour dark, with white text, which is easier to read for those with visual impairments. We produced and managed the live stream, mixing the live content with pre-recorded content. The event comprised over 10 segments with breaks and live presenters introducing each segment. The most challenging aspect was organising everything needed in less than 8 weeks, which included sourcing a venue that adhered to rigorous accessibility requirements, managing the run of show, organising the set dressing and providing the website design and development. More than 10 crew were on-site with a mix of remote and physical venue streaming involved.
Accessibility was at the core of this broadcast, both as a topic and practically. In sourcing the venues, we needed to ensure there was access for everyone, particularly people with physical disabilities who would be required to enter from back entrances or awkward lifts. We set up audio description for the live webcast as well as having a live BSL signer for the stream. We provided BSL and subtitles on the stream as well as audio description, and when users registered online, there was also an option for them to write in free form text more Information about their requirements, so we could meet any additional needs ahead of the webcast.
the results.
Channel 4 was very pleased with the event’s results and the accessibility of the webcast and venue. The online audience tuned in from over 19 countries and there were over 1,300 registrations for the event.
1,300
registrations
2 hr 15 min
average viewing time