We’re proud to announce that BMT, has officially achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2022 for its Information Security Management System (ISMS) – the internationally recognised standard for information security, following a successful Stage 1 and Stage 2 audit by Certified Quality Systems (CQS), an independent certification body. The certification covers our products/services, locations, teams, cloud infrastructure.

This milestone marks BMT’s commitment to the continuous refinement of how we manage and protect data. The certification reflects the work done to embed robust security practices across our systems, services and culture – so we can continue building trusted digital experiences for our clients.

Achieving certification involved an external audit, alongside internal planning, refining and testing. This achievement would not have been possible without the commitment and cooperation of colleagues across the whole of BMT, on personal reflection it has been a pleasure to lead on this project, alongside Ben Jefferson, Chief Technical Officer, Emma Perry, Director of BMT and we look forward to continue working with CQS.

So, what’s next?

ISO 27001 is just one part of our long-term commitment to continue to build technology solutions that serve the creative industries — safely, responsibly, and with information security at its core.

Want to find out how BMT products can support your work, get in touch to learn more and book a demo.

BMT (BAFTA Media Technology) is the software research and development arm of BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

Each year, the BMT Client Summit brings our clients together to share insights, celebrate achievements and shape the future of our products. This year, representatives from the British Film Institute, British Arrows, Focal International, Ivors Academy, The Royal Television Society, BAFTA albert and BAFTA, joined us for a day of conversation, connection and collaboration.

The summit opened with Emma Perry, Director of BMT, presenting a preview of what’s to come on the BMT roadmap for 2025/26 and a look at our progress since last year’s summit. Highlights included:

• The Nucleus Admin Redesign
• Refining accessibility features on our Events system
• White labelling of our Events system, to enable clients to add their own logo, branding and personalised comms

During the day, a number of our clients showcased how they’re using Nucleus to support their projects and streamline workflows. Such sessions came from BFI, who shared how they use Nucleus for their Diversity Standards initiative (read more about the standards here) and BAFTA albert, who shared how Nucleus now powers their Sustainable Suppliers Directory. (Read more about the directory here.)

Alongside reflections, the summit focused on forward-facing ideas, including BMT’s exploratory development using AI within our products. Whilst BMT prides itself on being at the forefront of innovation, we as a company continue to value and celebrate human ingenuity and creativity. Any use of AI in BMT’s products suite is pursued ethically and with the sole aim of enhancing operational efficiency – never to replace human creativity. This included a presentation from Elisabetta Mezzaro, Client Support Lead & Junior Product Manager and Bella Grimwade, Client Support Executive on the following:

• Automated entry checking – helping save time while maintaining quality
• AI Assistant – designed to support viewers and voters with troubleshooting

Breakout groups gave everyone the opportunity to collaborate more closely, identifying new workflows Nucleus could support and suggesting areas where automation might help. These conversations were thoughtful and future-focused – with clients offering direct input on what they’d like to see next from us.

We closed the day by gathering feedback on potential features for future releases of Nucleus. These ideas will feed directly into our ongoing development roadmap and help ensure our work continues to meet real-world needs.

As we move forward, BMT remains focused on building tools that are not only innovative but grounded in purpose – making everyday work easier, while keeping people at the heart of everything we do.

Photography courtesy of BAFTA / Millie Turner.

The BMT Client Summit 2025 was produced by James Cordell and held at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on Monday 30 June.

Accessibility plays a pivotal part in empowering everyone to participate fully in the screen sector, both on and off screen. To enable studios and post-production facilities to efficiently review the accessibility of their spaces, CDN and TAP have partnered up to launch a new initiative using Nucleus, BMT’s end-to-end workflow management system.

This new online hub brings together studio and post-production facility providers, enabling individuals, production companies and broadcasters to check whether these spaces have completed a self-review of their accessibility. Nucleus powers the whole process – making it easy for facility providers to manage submissions, track completion, and create a standardised PDF certificate of accessibility features that can be uploaded to their website.

BMT developed Nucleus to support a wide range of awards, application and bursary workflows; now it’s being used to help industry professionals make more informed decisions about the spaces they choose to work in – a stepping stone for the ambition of TAP’s members to work only with studios and post-production facilities that have conducted a self-review of the accessibility of their spaces.

Emma Perry, Director of BMT, said: “We at BMT, are proud to be supporting the launch of this initiative via Nucleus, supporting the drive towards a more inclusive and accessible screen industry.”

You can read more about the initiative on the CDN website.

Want to find out how Nucleus can support your work, get in touch to learn more and book a demo.

BMT (BAFTA Media Technology) is the software research and development arm of BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

Managing awards and initiatives should be seamless, efficient, and enjoyable. That’s why we’ve given Nucleus a major redesign, focusing on enhancing the admin user experience. Our latest update brings a completely fresh interface designed to make navigating and managing your workflows easier than ever.

We’ve refined the layout, improved navigation, and introduced a more intuitive structure to streamline daily tasks. Whether you’re processing applications, managing payments, or coordinating viewing rounds, the new interface is designed to work with you, not against you.

We listened to feedback from our users and recognised that while Nucleus remained a powerful tool, the admin experience needed an overhaul. The result? A sleeker, more user-friendly design that enhances usability and efficiency. This update ensures that both new and long-standing clients can effortlessly harness the full potential of Nucleus.

If you’re already using Nucleus, you’ll notice an immediate improvement in how smoothly tasks flow. If you’re considering adopting an awards or grants management platform, there’s never been a better time to explore how Nucleus can support your work.

The BMT family would like to acknowledge and thank everyone involved in this project for their hard work, including David Lortal, Muhammad Qasim, Sergio Escudero, Stephen Griffin, Ben Jefferson, Andrew Wilson, Elisabetta Mezzaro, Ezgi Aygan, Bella Grimwade.

Ready to experience the upgrade? Log in to see the new design in action or click here to get in touch for a demo.

BMT (BAFTA Media Technology) is the software research and development arm of BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

The film and TV industry is increasingly looking for ways to adopt sustainable practices. To support this shift, Nucleus is now being used to create a directory of sustainable suppliers that productions can easily access, the BAFTA albert Suppliers Directory.

The directory allows any production to look up verified suppliers committed to sustainable practices, streamlining the process of making eco-conscious choices. Suppliers can apply to be included in the directory, ensuring that the listings remain comprehensive and up to date. The current applications close on Friday 21st March 2025.

With Nucleus already known for its robust awards and initiatives management capabilities, this extension highlights its adaptability to industry needs. By facilitating access to sustainable resources, Nucleus is helping productions reduce their environmental impact while maintaining efficiency.

If you’d like to see Nucleus in action, you can click here to book a demo via the BMT website.

BMT (BAFTA Media Technology) is the software research and development arm of BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

The driving goal behind the new BMT website was to create a site that made finding the right software solution as easy as possible, because finding the right technology shouldn’t be a hassle.

Whether you’re a long-time client or discovering BMT for the first time, the new site is designed with you in mind, featuring dedicated pages for each product to offer a more streamlined view of the software solutions that BMT offers across Awards, Initiatives, Events and Sustainability, including:

• Nucleus
• Events
• Electron & High-Speed Transcoding
• Carbon Calculator Toolkit
• Cloud Studio
• Viewing Site & Screener Hub

Where possible, BMT are always delighted to hear feedback and the same goes for the new website. For any questions or to book a demo, the new contact form, located on the Contact Us page, is designed for direct and easy contact with the BMT team.

Looking forwards, BMT will continue to optimise its existing suite of products with new features, improvements and systems, alongside exploring proof of concepts, including the responsible use of AI. To stay up to date with the latest news from BMT we now have a dedicated News page on the BMT website, in addition to the BMT LinkedIn page.

On personal reflection, I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to project manage the new BMT website and would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone in the BMT family who contributed to the new website, in particular Stephen Griffin, Ben Jefferson, Emma Perry, David Lortal, Muhammad Qasim, Isabel Spence, .

If you’re looking for software solutions for your Awards, Initiatives, Events or Sustainability needs, visit us now at bmt.bafta.org and take a tour yourself.

BMT (BAFTA Media Technology) is the software research and development arm of BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

Structured around BMT’s end-to-end awards management system, BAFTA Nucleus, the Nucleus Client Summit is an annual gathering for BMT’s clients to make connections with other Nucleus users, compare learnings and collaborate on ideas to feed into the Nucleus roadmap and learn a bit more about the rest of BMT’s software suite.

Among the attendees were representatives from British Film Institute, British Arrows, FOCAL International and The Royal Television Society.

The day opened with Emma Perry , Director of BMT, reflecting on the last year. During 2023, 42K entries/applications were submitted via Nucleus and we were delighted to roll out key features to further refine the awards and initiatives management process:

• Entry sharing and address book for entrant users
• Jury voting and judging features for judging users
• Custom reporting for admin users

An overview of the Nucleus roadmap for 2024 was given, with automation and public voting among the features commissioned for development. An interactive session followed where attendees were invited to discuss potential features for 2025.

In addition to Nucleus, attendees were also provided introductory sessions to BMT’s end-to-end event management system, BAFTA Events, and cloud video-streaming solution for branded and non-branded virtual / hybrid events, BAFTA Cloud Studio. Both systems achieved significant milestones in 2023 including:

• 774 events and 69K tickets distributed across the UK & US, via BAFTA Events
• 70K views on BAFTA Cloud Studio-supported content across YouTube, Zoom and in-person

While BAFTA Events already provides a fully accessible and customisable booking interface, the addition of an accessible seating workflow was noted in the Events roadmap, as part of BMT’s focus on accessibility. In the Cloud Studio session, Ryan Coney , AV Technician and Software Support noted the following features were in development for Cloud Studio:

• 4K video conferencing
• Vision mixing
• Line cut

Rounding the day off, three workshops were led separately by:

• Ben Jefferson , Chief Technical Officer, on proof of concepts using AI within Nucleus including assisting with entry checking and automated categorisation
• David Lortal , Product Manager, on automation
• Elisabetta Mezzaro , Customer Support Executive, and Emma Perry, Director of BMT, on the Nucleus Admin Interface and admin workflows

The Nucleus Client Summit 2024 was held at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly on Monday 20 May.

BMT (BAFTA Media Technology) is the software research and development arm of BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

In the dynamic landscape of digital solutions, the redesign of the BAFTA Events platform stands as a testament to the power of vision, collaboration, and technical know-how. This article shares insights from this journey, reflecting on the challenges overcome and the innovative outcomes achieved, while also illustrating BMT’s commitment to excellence and innovation.

Collaboration as the cornerstone

A pivotal aspect of the redesign was the collaboration between designers, developers, and stakeholders. This dynamic interaction was crucial in ensuring that the redesign not only addressed aesthetic concerns but also enhanced functionality, accessibility, and responsiveness. By integrating feedback from all parties, we were able to identify and implement features that significantly improved user experience, such as advanced ticketing workflows and a more intuitive admin interface.

The genesis of transformation

The inception of the BAFTA Events redesign project was marked by a need for evolution. Originally launched in 2020, the platform aimed to support BAFTA’s extensive events calendar, including ticket sales, member events and fundraising initiatives. However, as the digital environment and user expectations evolved, so too did the necessity for a platform that was more user-friendly and adaptable to the changing landscape. The project demanded not just a facelift but a rethinking of how the platform served its users – admin and audience alike. It required balancing the legacy of BAFTA’s brand with the forward-thinking approach that defines BMT. This balance was achieved through extensive stakeholder engagement, user feedback analysis, and a deep dive into the intricacies of the existing system to identify opportunities for improvement.

Navigating the path to white labelling

One of the redesign’s significant milestones was preparing the platform for white labelling, thereby extending its utility beyond BAFTA to other organisations facing similar challenges. This expansion not only demonstrates BMT’s capabilities in delivering versatile digital solutions but also underscores our commitment to supporting the broader industry.

Training, testing, and launching with precision

A critical phase in the project was preparing the stakeholders and admins for the transition. Through comprehensive training sessions and feedback mechanisms, we ensured that the transition was as smooth as possible. The launch plan was meticulously crafted to minimize downtime and ensure a seamless user experience from the moment the new design went live.

The outcome is a modern, fully accessible platform that not only meets the current needs of BAFTA and its users but also sets the stage for future growth. The redesign has significantly enhanced the user experience and streamlined workflows, introducing a deep level of flexibility for easy adaptation to emerging requirements. Notably, we’ve integrated standout features such as:

• A curated events leader section
• Clearer event and accessibility information
• Improved filtering capabilities
• Event tagging
• Enhanced ticket selection
• Visual messaging for sold-out events

A clearer payment process

As we look to the future, we are excited about introducing a new accessible booking workflow. This innovation will allow bookers to flag their accessibility requirements and select relevant seats directly through the booking process, eliminating the need to contact the venue separately. Additionally, the implementation of a newsletter registration option is set to significantly improve engagement with bookers, further enriching the BAFTA Events experience.
As we forge ahead, the potential is to further refine and expand the platform’s capabilities. These upcoming features underscore our ongoing commitment to inclusivity and accessible user experience, ensuring the BAFTA Events platform continues to serve and exceed the evolving needs of BAFTA and its diverse community.

A testament to BMT’s vision

This project stands as a testament to BMT’s dedication to delivering high-quality, innovative solutions that effectively address the complexities and challenges of the real world. As we celebrate this success, we extend an invitation to organisations embarking on similar digital transformation journeys. BMT is pleased to continue to offer its expertise and insights externally for those who might benefit from it.

BMT (BAFTA Media Technology) is the software research and development arm of BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

Background

The Games Awards are unique within BAFTA because awards judging involves playing the games instead of watching video content. Where video content is supplied as supporting material alongside written statements, images and documents by entrants, the key component for the Games Awards is the distribution of codes to members and highlighting the bundles where the games are available for members to review. What does a VOD (Video on Demand) service look like when it doesn’t supply any video?

BAFTA View was designed as a VOD service, exclusively used by BAFTA members to review content entered into BAFTA’s Awards; the platform launched in 2021 for the Film Awards. One of the key development aims for 2022 was to update the platform to support BAFTA’s Games, Television and Television Craft Awards. BAFTA had been hosting and streaming television programmes for over 10 years and supplying game codes to members for eight years. However, the previous system design was outdated and could no longer support the larger metadata sets and assets now required for the judging processes. BAFTA View was designed to be content-rich, with API links between Nucleus (BAFTA’s Awards management system) pulling in entry data and assets. It is also integrated with our Voting Site, which holds user data, so it seemed like an obvious next step to develop BAFTA View to support more workflows.

The key issue was attracting Games Awards voters to log into the platform when the core asset being judged lives outside of the BAFTA View ecosystem; the game. The awards team have overcome this challenge by supplying a wealth of additional content that acts as a companion piece for the games. They have used the full range of functionality available to them to encourage members to use BAFTA View as the gateway to reviewing entries. They can make notes, mark games as played and use the filters to track and review all of the entries. The assets supplied by the entrants when populated on BAFTA View make the site look visually stunning, enhancing the slick user interface (UI) designs, which entice the members to return time after time. This is evident in the screenshots below.

How did we do it?

The key challenge of this project was to support additional content types and additional awards workflows within the existing system architecture without an extensive rewriting of the code. This was achievable due to early pre-planning during the initial development phases.

While the designers worked on incorporating the new features into the existing designs, we broke down the different components for each award and listed them in a grid to determine the crossover. From the grid, it was evident that the requirements could be broken down into five component categories. These categories could be turned into controls that admin users could switch on or off on a per award basis:

• has video
• has category page
• has primary judging media
• has runtime sorting
• has download button

Within these controls, we could specify all of the unique parameters required. We took a decision to build the controls into the existing dashboard of the Voting site. Admins have full control over setting up BAFTA View for each different award but without us having to build a new mapping control page in BAFTA View. This reduced cost and time.

Particular requirements for Games UX

To simplify the process for members, some games can be added to bundles, such as Steam, which means that members need to only claim one code and the game is added by the entrants to the bundles. We wanted to reflect this in the BAFTA View UI so that entrants who provided individual codes were not at an advantage. A much-needed solution was to create a bundle section that appears in the same UI as the game code. This is illustrated in the example below.

Feedback

The launch of the UI for the Games Awards has been well received:

“The new BAFTA view has been streamlined into a system that makes accessing content simple and intuitive. Being able to filter by dates, game systems and category is perfect for what we needed when assessing games.” – BAFTA Member

“BAFTA View has a modern design that collates all the information related to each title, which makes it much easier to track and record my impressions on entered games.” – BAFTA Member

“The revised BAFTA View is not only visually appealing, but also provides practical features that help to track status of entries. We particularly appreciate the ability to add games played alongside annotated notes, previously we had to cross reference a separate spreadsheet. Now this is conveniently all in one place!” – BAFTA Member

By the end of 2023, all BAFTA awards viewing will take place on BAFTA View, which is a huge technical achievement for a small in-house development team. We are immensely proud of the work that we have delivered, which brings benefits to BAFTA members and highlights the creative work that went into each entry, allowing the games, films and television programmes to be viewed in their best light.

BMT (BAFTA Media Technology) is the software research and development arm of BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts).

Background

BAFTA View is a VOD service, exclusively used by BAFTA members, to review film content entered into the BAFTA Awards. Before the EE BAFTA Film Awards 2020, distributors sent DVD screeners directly to members, which had a net cost of up to £50k per film. We had a challenge – DVDs were fast becoming obsolete and we wanted to level the playing field for film-makers with smaller budgets.

BAFTA had been hosting and streaming television entries for over 10 years for BAFTA’s annual Television Awards, however, the security requirements needed by the studios for pre-release content had been a sticking point for BAFTA hosting feature films. This issue was solved in 2019, when Screener Hub, an API integration platform, was built by BAFTA Media Technology. Screener Hub is middleware which enables studios to host films on the platform of their choice, whether their own or a third party – as long as it has been integrated via API). This ensures their security requirements are covered and that studios and distributors retain ownership of their assets. The film is then streamed to pre-authenticated BAFTA members from within BAFTA’s software architecture.

Screener Hub was an instant success, as it addressed the concerns of the studios and enabled access for members to entries online all in one place. Before this, members had been emailed links and passwords within hundreds of emails throughout the season.

Against a backdrop of limited cinema screenings in 2020, due to Covid-19, the service provided a solid base for members to watch film entries. With Screener Hub, the biggest missing piece of the puzzle was a sophisticated VOD front end where all the video content and entry metadata could be listed together to replace the existing viewing workflows.

During the development of Screener Hub, the decision was made to build a new front end for Film Awards viewing and was named BAFTA View. UI Centric, an external design agency, were commissioned to design a front end VOD platform, which would look modern, represent BAFTA and be flexible enough to support the complex workflows required by the awards judging process. Our task was to turn the designs into a successful platform for Film Awards viewing due to open in September 2021.

The Process

The complexities of delivering such a project are significant. We had some beautiful and feature-heavy designs, which were great, but they didn’t always consider the technical challenge of importing the huge amounts of metadata and digital assets now collected in BAFTA Nucleus – the awards management system also built and managed by BAFTA Media Technology – which needed displaying on the BAFTA View front end.

Commercial VODs can control their voice, BAFTA needs to display what the entrant has supplied. Taking this into consideration, our first challenge was to see how the designs translated into reality. Did they match awards processes? Could we display data in the format stipulated in the designs? For stakeholders and members, it is very easy to request a feature; the designers can consider the User Interface and create beautiful designs for that feature. It’s a different question to deliver this in code.

To illustrate the complexity of integrated systems, we’ve included a system diagram. The relationship between each of these systems had an effect on the final implementation of BAFTA View.

Our approach was to deliver a clean site with a basic level of features to start with. We wanted to conduct in-depth user research after the site had been used for a whole awards season. Our previous experience had shown that once users access the site their requests change. And this proved to be the case.

Development

The challenge was to build a fully responsive, fully accessible mobile-, TV- and desktop-friendly web application, which would adapt depending on the number of awards, categories and entries available to view at any one time. And one that would be adopted by BAFTA members.

The Result

We are immensely proud of BAFTA View and the huge amount of technical work carried out by our then small team on a short timeframe. Feedback, which was largely positive, with 98% of members using BAFTA View by viewing for the EE Film Awards 2022, highlighted areas of improvement. We have responded each year with further iterations, delivering improvements year on year. For viewing for the EE Film Awards 2023 (which begins in October 2022), we also delivered an app version supported on 4K Fire TV Sticks.

By 2023, most of BAFTA’s Awards will use BAFTA View, including Games, Television and Television Craft.

BMT (BAFTA Media Technology) is the software research and development arm of BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts).