1 Council of the European Union General Secretariat Finance Directorate Procurement Coordination Unit Annex II - Technical specifications CALL FOR TENDERS: UCA 037/16 RESTRICTED PROCEDURE PROVISION OF AUDIOVISUAL SERVICES TO THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION/ EUROPEAN COUNCIL JULY 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. General overview ................................................................................................................ 4 1.1 Communication with the Contractor ...................................................................................... 5 1.2 Timeline for the set-up of the contract .................................................................................. 7 1.3 Costs and invoicing.................................................................................................................. 7 1.4 Service continuity planning ..................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Mobilisation of staff on short notice ...................................................................................... 8 1.6 Working language of the contract .......................................................................................... 8 2. Operation of daily audiovisual services .............................................................................. 8 2.1 Host TV services "on-site" ....................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 Council meetings at ministerial level .............................................................................. 9 2.1.2 Host TV services for other types of events ................................................................... 11 2.2 Video coverage of EU personalities "off-site" ....................................................................... 11 2.3 Production of short video stories and other thematic productions ..................................... 12 2.4 Operation of Council/European Council video production facilities .................................... 12 2.4.1 Operation of the TV, radio studio and other video production facilities ..................... 12 2.4.2 Setup of a mobile TV studio (occasionally) ................................................................... 13 3. Host TV services for European Council meetings and other high-level events ............... 13 4. List of Scenarios ............................................................................................................... 14 4.1 Scenario 1 - A busy day at the Council .................................................................................. 14 4.1.1 List of events: ................................................................................................................ 14 4.1.2 Description of the events: ............................................................................................. 15 4.1.3 Staff ............................................................................................................................... 18 4.2 Scenario 2 - Audiovisual coverage of a trip of the President of the European Council ........ 19 4.2.1 Outline of the programme of the President of the European Council and his delegation: .................................................................................................................................... 19 4.2.2 Technical specifications for shooting and transmission ............................................... 20 4.2.3 Description of the President's trip and requested coverage ........................................ 20 4.3 Scenario 3 - Production of a short video story ..................................................................... 23 4.4 Scenario 4 - Operation of a multicamera TV studio .............................................................. 25 4.5 Scenario 5 - Host broadcaster for a 2-day European Council meeting in Brussels, Europa building ............................................................................................................................................. 25 4.5.1 Description of the event ............................................................................................... 26 4.5.2 Staff required ................................................................................................................ 28 4.5.3 Description of OB VAN minimum technical requirements ........................................... 29 UCA 037/16 Page 2 of 30 List of Technical annexes Technical annex A - Description of the Council's audiovisual facilities and equipment (part 1) & Overview of the current video post production workflow (part 2) Technical annex B - Typical workflow for the coverage of a Ministerial meeting at the Council Technical annex C - Typical workflow for the coverage of a European Council meeting (summit of EU leaders) Technical annex D - Description of staff profiles to be provided by the Contractor Technical annex E - Map of the position of the OB VAN Technical annex F - Minimum requirements checklist UCA 037/16 Page 3 of 30 1. GENERAL OVERVIEW Under these tender specifications, the Contractor will provide a broad spectrum of audiovisual services. These tasks may relate either to the coverage of summits and other high-level events or the operation of daily audiovisual services. For all these actions, the Contractor will provide hands-on, immediate assistance to the Media Operations/Audiovisual sector of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union (hereafter referred to as "the GSC" or the "Contracting Authority") when requests arise, and will ensure that there is a constant and coherent line of communication with the GSC. The Contractor must provide the appropriate staff and equipment to assist in the smooth execution of the audiovisual workflow at the GSC. In particular, the Contractor will perform the following tasks: - planning and coordination - electronic newsgathering (ENG) - operation of remote-controlled cameras - live coverage of major events (e.g. European Council) with OB VAN and feed distribution - video transmission via fibre-optics, satellite, FTP, streaming or other means - cabling and patching - TV and radio studio operation - Master Control Room (MCR) operation - video ingest/acquisition - video editing - video post-production - compressions in various formats, uploads on various web platforms and publishing - video archive management - operation of the audiovisual equipment of the GSC - production of institutional and social media videos, clips, documentaries, multimedia presentations, web documentaries, web portfolios and other types of audiovisual and multimedia content including Virtual reality immersive videos (360°) - social media publishing - audiovisual media monitoring Most of the work will be performed on the GSC premises (Brussels: Justus Lipsius building, Lex building, Europa building and European Convention Center Luxembourg), but the Contractor will also be requested to provide some of the services from an external base, be it the premises of the Contractor (in case of complex editing projects), or any other base (in case of official trips of EU personalities, including the President of the European Council, or Council events; these visits and events may take place inside or outside the European Union), depending on the events to be covered. The Contractor will be expected to provide a limited number of staff profiles (currently 10 - this number is indicative) on a full time basis, to work on the Council premises, in the newsroom of the Justus Lipsius building. The GSC will provide workspace and workstations (PC) for the Contractor's full time staff (10 workstations). UCA 037/16 Page 4 of 30 The Contractor must ensure that its staff is equipped with smartphones with adequate communication packages. The Contracting Authority can decide at any moment to reduce or increase the number of full time staff requested from the Contractor, with a 1 month notice. The holiday planning (and planning of other foreseeable absences) of the Contractor's full time staff must be managed by the Contractor's production coordinator and aligned with the GSC's service needs. All such planned absences must be communicated to the GSC at least 2 weeks in advance and they are subject to prior approval by the GSC. All other non full time staff members required by the Contracting Authority will be mobilised according to the planning as described in point 1.1 below. Subcontracting is allowed under this contract in accordance with the conditions set out under article II.10 of the framework contract. ► See Technical annex A: Description of the Council's audiovisual facilities and equipment 1.1 Communication with the Contractor (M)#1 - Minimum requirement n°1 The Contractor must appoint a contract manager as a main point of contact for general contract management. The contract manager will act as the main interface with the GSC and ensure that the contract is implemented and executed in a professional manner in accordance with all contractual provisions. The person ensuring this role must be reachable 24/7 within the hour. This profile cannot be invoiced to the Contracting Authority. The Contractor must appoint a production coordinator. The production coordinator must be present full time on the GSC premises. He/she is responsible for the effective performance of operational services provided to the GSC, and the main daily contact point between the GSC and the Contractor, reachable at all times 24/7 for immediate