Case Study: PBS achieves a virtual film festival experience with Amazon Web Services

PBS Innovation Team leverages AWS to take 10th Annual PBS Short Film Festival virtual

PBS wanted to make its annual Short Film Festival accessible in a new, virtual format during the pandemic, when in-person screenings were no longer practical. Working with Amazon Web Services, PBS used AWS Media Services, Amazon S3, Amazon CloudFront, and other AWS tools to create “Screen on the Green,” an immersive WebXR experience that could be viewed on compatible headsets or in a browser.

Amazon Web Services helped PBS build and deliver a synchronized virtual cinema with live linear streaming, scalable video distribution, and real-time user interaction. Using AWS Elemental MediaConvert and MediaTailor, plus Amazon ECS and Amazon ElastiCache for Redis, PBS launched a smooth experience for up to 300 participants at a time, giving independent filmmakers a wider audience and enabling PBS to prototype future innovations more quickly and cost-effectively.

PBS

Mikey Centrella

Director of Product Management, Digital Innovation Team