Posted: 09/10/2015
I am privileged to have touched the actual piece of paper, typed on which (with hand written corrections) was Churchill’s immortal speech: “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”. This particularly resonated as my RAF pilot Grandfather was killed in action in that war.
As a pioneer, Forbidden has also taken on seemingly impossible battles, winning through determination and force of will.
I am relentless in creating opportunities. Through technology, through contacts, through financing. In Aziz Musa, our new CEO, I have now found a counterpart, equally determined and single minded, to exploit these opportunities to the utmost.
It is fair to say that Forbidden has been a bit ahead of the curve. Eleven years after our first commercial sales, Forbidden’s Forscene has just won an industry innovation award.
Millions of people have now seen TV programmes created using Forbidden’s platform. Professional clients regularly edit Sports events in Forscene, publishing digital media directly to web and mobile.
Our eva video social network, with its uniquely honest take on life, has grown rapidly in a short time; views of my own videos passed 28,000 in eight weeks (this took maybe eight years on YouTube). The next application of the platform is Captevate, bringing elegant online editing to the mass market.
A string of stunning technical achievements has attracted attention from major global companies, including product integrations with Sony, Google and Microsoft. We are having friendly discussions with others of similar stature.
The market’s move to the cloud has transformed Forbidden’s thinking. No longer a pure technology play, we are leveraging our global video platform into a handful of carefully chosen and diverse markets.
Stepping up to Chairman allows me to focus on technological excellence, while Aziz is totally committed to commercialising our opportunities.
To quote again Sir Winston Churchill: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But is is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Blackbird is best-of-breed
Jon Hanford - Group CTO, Deltatre