What makes a successful team? Our Audio Description Lead shares insights into an award-winning team’s daily work

Marie Campbell, AD Excellence Lead, Red Bee Media 

Red Bee Media’s Audio Description team was shortlisted for the RNIB See Differently Awards 2024, in the Team of the Year category. The awards highlight the exceptional work of the individuals, teams, and companies in the sight-loss sector. 

It’s been a bumper, ground-breaking year for Red Bee Media’s Audio Description team and for accessibility in general in the UK. Not only did we win an international EGA Hermes Award for the Best AD For A Series for our live AD on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, but we were also a national finalist in the RNIB’s See Differently Award for Team Of The Year. The Hermes recognises excellence in audio described content, while the RNIB award recognises the people who make a meaningful impact in the lives of blind and partially sighted people. To have these two prestigious honours in one year, recognising both our team and the work they do, feels incredibly special. 

From the outside, the life of an audio describer might seem solitary: writing and voicing scripts requires peace to concentrate and quiet to record. And we often work from soundproofed (and sometimes dark!) rooms in our offices or studios. But to do what we do well requires connection and collaboration – the two key ingredients that make up our fantastic AD team.   

The work we do is hugely varied.  In any given week, we might be describing a film or drama, followed by a sports documentary, and then a kids’ TV or reality show. We might not always be familiar with the subject matter or the programme. That means we all have to be great generalists (we’re GREAT at pub quizzes!) but we also have to share information effectively. When we’re not sure how to describe something, we rely on each other to help out. Our internal Teams chat is a hotbed of questions and screengrabs – “What is this?!” – followed by helpful suggestions, and the odd joke. 

There are also people with enormous expertise in particular areas, and who share their knowledge with the rest of the team. When we were asked to AD a whopping 650 episodes of the Doctor Who archive as part of this well-loved show’s 60th Anniversary celebrations, we scrambled a crack team of in-house “Whovians”, scripters who understood and loved the lore of the show, who would give the AD the care and attention needed to make the drama accessible to a blind and partially sighted audience.  

This year, our AD team also pioneered live audio description in the UK and made a little bit of TV history in the process. By providing live AD on Strictly, we made one of the most popular shows in the country accessible every weekend of its three-month run for the first time, meaning the audience could enjoy the dances and sparkle at the same time as everyone else. It was a huge Red Bee team effort to get this new service off the ground, but it was a particularly challenging and exciting undertaking for our live audio describers, Georgina and Pauline, who gave up all their weekends between September and December to provide the service. That’s true dedication. 

For me, these nominations should have come as no surprise. I’ve worked in, and with, this team for over 20 years, as an Audio Describer, then Trainer and now Excellence Lead. I know not only how dedicated they all are but also the quality of the work they produce. And it’s not just the audio describers: at the heart of our operation is a brilliant team of AD assistants and managers. 

When talking about the AD team, what I really want to do is tell you all about them as individuals: how Dave loves a bad pun,  Alicia is an amazing dressmaker, how one of our scripters is about to become a dad for the first time, and how generally there is TOO much footy chat. They’re all there, with their own stories, while telling the stories of the content they describe. I’m genuinely bursting with pride to be part of this team, this accessibility tribe, and I look forward to working with them every single day; this year and every year.