Hardware is still an emphasis - Supershooter 11 is new, and REMI-based 65 is in the works - but software and, of course, AI are a major focus
For nearly 20 years, Mike Werteen has been a linchpin at NEP Group. Currently president, NEP Americas and global chief commercial officer, he is also at the center of plenty of global trends in the remote-production business as well as some of the challenges. He recently spent some time with SVG to discuss the evolution of NEP Group, challenges like the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, and much more.
What's the mood like out there, business-wise, with everything going on?
There's a lot of focus on how to do things in the most cost-effective way and how we get aligned with that while still spending a significant amount of capital on certain things. It's always an interesting conversation. That's kind of the starting point.
NEP Americas' Mike Werteen: We like having that broad portfolio. [But] being that broad means we have to be the best at every single one of those offerings. The other thing on my mind is the bellwether of U.S. sports and how a lot of people look at it globally, too. What the NFL is doing is amazing to watch: a couple of games were taken away from ESPN, and there's a lot of discussion about what's going to happen with those. As an international company, we're very focused on how we deliver wherever events go, whether that's Australia, Europe, or anywhere else. The globalization of sports is something I feel good about in terms of where we fall in the industry, and there are also a lot of discussions about how clients can have the same [production] experience they're accustomed to in the U.S. when they take their content to other parts of the world.
The other thing that's very top of mind for us right now is the conflict in the Middle East. We have a lot of employees over there, and it comes up on every call. We need to make sure that, as productions get modified, we're taking care of our people. We had a situation with the flag-football event that was going to happen in the Middle East and got moved to Los Angeles. Working through that kind of change takes real coordination. We have a daily call where we discuss the safety of our employees in the region, what we're going to do with our assets when events are in limbo. A lot of clients are saying, We may be doing this show, we may not be doing this show. Managing all of that is constantly top of mind.
But beyond that, we're just incredibly busy. The way this year started - Super Bowl, the Olympics, NBA All-Star Weekend, preparing for the World Cup - and now we've just taken on the hosting role for the U.S. Tennis Open starting this year. All of those are important and fabulous events, but they're on top of all the other business we're doing. It's just about making sure you're taking care of all of it.
Let's talk about Supershooter 11 and Supershooter 65. What do they mean to NEP, and how do they reflect broader trends in the business?
Before we get into those specific units, I think it's worth touching on the philosophy behind them. This organization, especially in the U.S., was built largely through acquisition: Mira Mobile, NCP, Corplex, and others. That was the right strategy at the time. But now we're very focused on building out the solutions that our clients have told us they want.
Right now, we're committed to building three trucks a year, and they fall into different categories. There will always be some large, highly customized units, and we're delivering one for WWE later this year, built to their specific needs. But we're also going to keep investing in the workhorse solutions that are flexible, scalable, TFC-driven: trucks like Supershooter 8, 9, 10, and then 11, which we just launched. The first show out of the gate for Supershooter 11 was the Masters, and plans for Supershooter 12 and Supershooter 13 are already in motion. And Supershooter 65 represents our REMI-solution category - a different scale and approach.
NEP Supershooter 11's main control room For every truck in the existing fleet, we run a significant analysis across three buckets: what are we building new, what are we upgrading, and what do we decommission? As we're building up, there are going to be some trucks we're retiring as well.
The philosophy also extends to hybrid configurations. We deployed a workhorse truck augmented by an additional PCR driven by the truck's own infrastructure - we first showcased that at the Ryder Cup - and a similar solution will be provided for Turner at NASCAR this year.
On the software-defined future, there's a lot of discussion about who wins and whether big hardware commitments become a thing of the past. How do you see that playing out?
For me, that question has to be answered in time frames. The onsite hardware footprint for premier shows I just don't see going away anytime in the near future, especially in the U.S. In other parts of the world, that's a different answer.
That's why I like the fact that, as we develop our philosophy, there's going to be a commitment to the hardware solution today alongside a clear migration path toward software. I don't believe the adoption is going to be universal. I think it's going to depend on geography, type of show, and the client's comfort level with on-premises solutions.
That said, there absolutely will be components of NEP Platform integrated into the hardware solutions we build. It's going to be a migration. And there are plenty of clients who understand the advantages of a software solution and are ambitious about exploring it. It feels like very individualized conversations right now.
The other thing I'd add is that, as we build out alternatives, they&
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Hardware is still an emphasis - Supershooter 11 is new, and REMI-based 65 is in the works - but software and, of course, AI are a major focus
