BU declared HD ready

2 May 2008

Actor Martin Clunes, BU Vice-Chancellor Paul Curran, and ITN reporter and news anchor Mark Austin in the new HD television studio

New TV studio takes centre stage during ‘High Definition Celebration’.

Two of Britain’s leading TV personalities have officially opened our new multi-million pound media studio.

As he cut the ribbon during the ‘High Definition Celebration’, ITN reporter and news anchor Mark Austin declared that he’d not seen better facilities anywhere else in the country.

Austin was joined by actor Martin Clunes, star of TV’s ‘Doc Martin’ series, who shared his admiration for the quality of the studio.

The new studio and control rooms give our world-renowned Media School the first campus-based Sony HD facility in the UK. Thanks to a partnership agreement with Sony, the studio provides our students and staff with an exceptional opportunity to use the latest equipment for High Definition media production.

“I would encourage students to take full advantage of this marvellous studio,” said Austin, one of the country’s top correspondents and news anchors.

BU is declared HD ready by Martin Clunes; Mark Austin; Sean Perry, Endemol; Professor Paul Curran, BU Vice-Chancellor; Stephen Jukes, Dean of the BU Media School and Matt Perman of Sony Professional Solutions Europe.

BU staff, industry members and celebrities attended the HD Studio's opening

“The facility is second to none,” he continued. “Bournemouth University has created quite a canny arrangement with Sony; you should be very proud of what you have achieved.”

Matt Perman, Head of UK Finance for Sony Professional Solutions Europe, echoed Austin’s comments adding that his company was “very excited by the opportunity to join in the celebrations and to be working closely with BU.”

Sean Perry of Endemol, one of Britain’s largest TV production companies, shared the spotlight by honouring students with scholarships sponsored by the company. Amber Yeshpaul, Oluwafunmilade Obembe and Tejumade Oluokun are all studying for a BA (Hons) in Television Production.

As part of BU’s ‘High Definition Celebration’, both Austin and Clunes shared their career experiences during separate master classes with live audiences. Our students and staff displayed their own skills during a live afternoon show based in the studio using additional remote locations nearby.

The half-hour episode of ‘Life’s a Pitch’ gave students a chance to present ideas for new TV programmes to a panel of experts during the ‘Dragon’s Den’ style show.

Martin Clunes Audio Clips: