Ten years ago this week, Amazon Web Services announced the acquisition of Elemental Technologies, a pioneer in video processing technology. Founded in Portland, Ore. by Sam Blackman, Jesse Rosenzweig, and Brian Lewis in 2006, Elemental had already established its role as an influential player in the rapidly growing video streaming market.

Elemental was instrumental in accelerating live and on-demand video processing using GPU-based appliances, and in 2014 launched Elemental Delta, a video delivery platform providing next-generation TV services.

Brought into the AWS fold a year later, Elemental began its evolution as a cloud-based video processing company. In 2017, AWS Elemental Media Services was launched, introducing a purpose-built suite of tools that changed the way media companies create, produce, monetize, and deliver content. Originally comprised of AWS Elemental MediaConvert, MediaLive, MediaPackage, MediaStore, and MediaTailor, the services were expanded with the release of MediaConnect in 2018.

Since then, AWS Elemental Media Services has played an important role in tackling some of streaming’s biggest challenges, including an NFL Christmas doubleheader in 2024 livestreamed on Netflix to 65 million United States (U.S.) viewers tuning in for at least one minute of action. It also helped Tubi deliver the most-streamed Super Bowl in history, to a peak audience of 15.5 million, and helped NBCUniversal insert personalized advertisements across 5,000 hours of Paris Olympics content on Peacock also in 2024.

In 2017, AWS made history when it hosted a live chat from the International Space Station during the NAB Show using Elemental's technology to produce the first-ever live 4K video stream from space.

Manish Rao, who joined the company as GM of AWS Elemental in 2024, spoke with TV Tech about his evolving relationship with AWS Elemental, which began years before.

“I was running all of the video technologies for Prime Video for about seven years, so I worked very closely with the Elemental team in building a lot of these products, because Prime Video is always the first tester, first reference customer,” he said. “So I've been working with Elemental through the evolution of their cloud journey. Prior to the acquisition, Elemental was primarily an on-prem hardware video processing platform.”

New products or services rolled out over the past decade include MediaConvert, which processes video files to prepare high-quality on-demand content, MediaLive, which encodes high-quality live video for broadcast and streaming, while MediaPackage prepares and protects content. MediaStore stores and originates video assets, MediaTailor creates and monetizes personalized linear channels with dynamic ad insertion, while MediaConnect transports live video reliably and securely. Quality-defined variable bitrate (QVBR) encoding, a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award winning feature, was introduced in 2018 to help customers save on storage and distribution costs while increasing video quality.

Automated adaptive bit rate (ABR) configuration was added to MediaConvert in 2020 to pick ideal renditions for the ABR configuration of video. Soon after, AWS Elemental Link, a device that simplified cloud connectivity via linking live video sources to MediaLive was released with a UHD version to follow. Also launched in 2020, AWS Cloud Digital Interface (AWS CDI), helped spur the growth of live cloud-based production by providing network technology for reliably transporting uncompressed live video between applications in the cloud.

In 2017, the company suffered a tragic loss with the untimely passing of Sam Blackman. Although he wasn’t with Elemental at the time, Manish met Sam several times prior to joining AWS Elemental and remembers him for his dedication and enthusiasm.

“Sam was very down to earth,” he said. Reflecting on the first time he met Sam, ”I arrived early at an executive briefing conference, and Sam was already there, and he spoke about his family and Portland. He was a very charismatic person, and very in tune with what was going on in the market.”

Manish says that the changes in the streaming market and AWS Elemental’s technological milestones over the past decade have positioned AWS Elemental to thrive in the years ahead.

“The media industry is undergoing a generational shift from broadcast to streaming; I think, over the last two years, streaming has outgrown terrestrial broadcast,” he said. “And so our customers are looking to us to develop new products to make that transformation a lot easier. And with Gen AI coming into the landscape, I think customers are looking to us to both Elemental and AWS to help them through deliver better new viewing experiences to the Gen Z audience, increase audience reach globally, optimize costs through workflow automation and improve ad revenue.”

As part of the ten-year anniversary celebration, AWS will showcase a timeline of Elemental history at Stand 5.C90 during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam. AWS Elemental experts will also be on hand to answer questions in the Builder zone.

I remember when I first met Sam Blackman, founder of AWS Elemental. It was at an NAB Show press conference in 2010, their first big industry show. To say that the company exploded onto the media technology scene is an understatement—AWS Elemental seemed to come out of nowhere and quickly made its presence known. Over the years it launched a number of products that revolutionized video processing and helped bring the power of transcoding to an ever larger array of services. AWS Elemental’s rise mirrored the rise of OTT and helped democratize video streaming. Every NAB seemed to bring a new benchmark to its success in the industry.

Dan Marshall (L), vice president of sales, and Sam Blackman, CEO & Chairman of Elemental Technologies, accept the TV Technology Mario Award for the Elemental Live Streaming Processor at the 2010 NAB Show.

By now, we know the history behind its success, that it was launched by three former Pixelworks engineers, Jesse Rosenzweig, Brian Lewis and Sam Blackman in 2006. Its meteoric rise caught the attention of Amazon, which acquired the company in 2015 for $296 million. At the time, Amazon Prime was a fledgling player in the OTT space competing against the likes of Hulu and Netflix; AWS Elemental helped bring Amazon Prime to the forefront.

Sam was a gentleman and a true visionary; as one of his colleagues mentioned in his passing, “He was the most inspiring mentor and leader for whom I have ever worked.” He always found time to share his enthusiasm and passion for the industry to everyone he met and this was a common theme among his associates with whom I spoke with after his passing. He also “had a sense of wonder,” according to one friend who I spoke with this week. Another colleague of mine commented that “he was like a kid,” when she watched him introduce the International Space Station live 4K broadcast at the 2017 NAB Show.

Sam’s qualities as a leader went far beyond the corporate world; he was also very much involved in the Portland, Ore. community. I was struck by how the city of Portland reacted to the news of his passing; AWS Elemental was a rising star not only in our industry, but in the community as well. Sam also helped launch one of the most successful charity events in our industry, the 4K 4Charity Fun Run, which takes place three times a year: IBC, NAB and in Portland Ore. in the fall. Since its launch in 2014, the event has raised more than $450,000 and attracted more than 4,000 participants. The IBC run will kick off at 7:30 AM on Saturday Sept. 16 at AmstelPark in Amsterdam for Sam. To register or donate, visit http://4k4charity.com/. Even if you don’t plan to run, you can remember Sam by attending the event, which will be preceded by a moment of silence.

One of the most important factors behind becoming a successful company is the ability of its leaders to hire the best people; AWS Elemental didn’t come to be what it is today without a talented workforce and its future is as solid as ever. That success, along with a proactive community spirit will be among Sam’s foremost legacies. 

The Blackman family has asked that donations be made in lieu of flowers to three organizations that cover the areas he was most focused on giving back – hunger, the environment, education.

Oregon Food Bank 

Forest Park Conservancy

Rosemary Anderson High School

PORTLAND, ORE.—TV Technologyis saddened to report the untimely passing of AWS Elemental CEO Sam Blackman at the age of 41.

Sam Blackman

After founding Elemental Technologies in 2006 with Brian Lewis and Jesse Rosenzweig, Blackman led the company from a tiny start-up to one of Portland’s major employers before selling it to Amazon in 2015 for $296 million. He stayed on as CEO.

It is reported that Blackman suffered a cardiac arrest over the weekend.

An AWS Elemental spokesperson said: “AWS Elemental has lost a passionate, visionary and humble leader and the world has lost an inspiring human being dedicated to community.

“Sam’s spirit will always be at the core of what we do. Sam loved his work, but his greatest love was for his wife and children. Our thoughts are with his family and all those he touched on his journey.”

A statement from Blackman’s family read: “Sam died peacefully yesterday surrounded by his loved ones. In his private life, he cherished his family, and in his public life he cherished his community and the business he founded, Elemental Technologies.

“He was a passionate advocate for community service who rallied so many towards a greater good for the environment, hunger, education and inclusion. We are thankful to all those who have shared their thoughts and prayers for Sam. We ask that you respect our privacy during this time of grief.”

Prior to the creation of Elemental, Blackman designed integrated circuit products for Pixelworks. He also held engineering positions at Silicon Graphics and Intel Corporation.

He leaves behind a wife and two young sons.

The Blackman family has asked that donations be made in lieu of flowers to three areas Blackman gave back to, the Oregon Food Bank, Forest Park Conservancy and Rosemary Anderson High School.