Where do you hail from and where do you reside?
I live in beautiful Nevada City, California, the sister town to Grass Valley, where AJA is based and manufactures its technology. AJA develops a range of video interface and conversion technologies, digital video recording solutions, and colour management, streaming, and remote production tools that broadcast, production and post, streaming, and AV professionals deploy across the globe. Our gear is often used to support live concerts, sporting events, corporate launches and training, houses or worship, universities and schools, and more.
How did you get into AV?
I began my career in media, working on movies and TV shows in Los Angeles, California. Much of my family was in the film business, so it was a natural progression. I then moved to San Francisco, California, in the late 80s and got into AV equipment sales, which I really enjoyed. That path eventually led me to AJA, where I’ve been for over 20 years!
What do you do for kicks in your spare time? Any favourite sports teams or pastimes?
I am an avid mountain biker, and lucky for me, the area where. I live is a mountain biker’s paradise. We have so many incredible trails.
How do you feel the AV industry has fared post-Covid and with today’s crises and supply issues?
The supply chain challenges we faced at the end of the pandemic have passed, and we are back to shipping our products as expected. Looking to the future, we feel the AV market still has lots of room for growth and are committed to continuing to create compelling products for this critical market.
Our team has a tonne of exciting new products and technologies in the works that we can’t wait to share at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam this fall. If you’ll be there, visit us in hall 7, stand B19.
What are your thoughts on its future, including potential pinch points?
Some of the biggest challenges facing the AV industry lie outside of its control, such as geopolitical uncertainties. Navigating these potential roadblocks will prove a challenge for this industry, among many others, in the coming year.
Then, there are the more industry-specific challenges, such as navigating the continued transition to AV over IP. We’re following this trend closely and working to develop bridge solutions that let AV professionals make the most out of their legacy baseband solutions while also taking advantage of the benefits IP provides.
Increasing experimentation with higher resolution, high dynamic range (HDR) workflows in the AV space points toward a brighter future (pun intended), but at the same time, introduces new bottlenecks for AV teams. Audiences have become so used to high-quality entertainment content that they now expect a similar quality across all video content they encounter, whether a virtual lecture, concert stream, or online religious service. More AV teams are exploring 4K and 8K and HDR workflows in the space, which will ultimately improve the audience experience but also introduce new bottlenecks. The team at AJA is working behind the scenes to build solutions that can help alleviate some of these pain points as more AV teams embrace these pipelines.
How’s business at AJA?
Business is excellent and growing, even 30 years after our founding. We’re hiring and expanding to support this continuing growth. We have an incredible product roadmap that we are diligently creating, which you’ll learn more about as IBC edges closer.
