Ajabbi Media Unit

Mike's Notes

I have recently been attending film industry training workshops.

Resources

• https://script-to-screen.co.nz/dunedin-2-day-workshop-claire-dobbin/
• https://albafilm.com.ua/Claire.html
• http://www.redworks.co.nz/
• https://www.blog.ajabbi.com/p/pipi.html
• https://research.ajabbi.com/eng/9/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos:_A_Personal_Voyage
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-agent_system

Repository

• Home > Handbook > Ajabbi > Media Unit > Strategy

Last Updated

02/04/2025

Ajabbi Media Unit

By: Mike Peters
14/03/2025

Mike is the inventor and architect of Pipi and the founder of Ajabbi.

The recent 2-day script workshop by Script Editor, Claire Dobbin, in Dunedin was excellent, and I learned I shouldn't be a scriptwriter, which is important for me to know.

I previously made over 40 short-form natural history docos in Christchurch before the earthquake (my roles varied over time and included producer/director/art dept/camera/editor).

Pipi

I was NZERN's founder, National President, and architect years ago. I led the team that built Pipi 4, a national platform to support community-led ecological restoration. It had its own small server farm. Pipi 4 was highly successful in New Zealand but was 100% dependent on government funding. It eventually died during the Christchurch earthquakes.

Since then, I have been rebuilding Pipi to be used again. 

It has been through multiple versions, as significant challenges were solved, and the internal architecture has become entirely novel.

It uses multi-agent machine learning, and is much faster, more powerful, and more useful for other industries to make it financially viable. It is optimised for large systems that might have the equivalent of more than 100,000 web pages or hundreds of workspace screens.

Pipi 9 is cloud software that makes building billion-dollar enterprise systems easier, faster, and on budget. It is focused on massive, socially beneficial systems like health. It is funded by donations and bootstrapping, not investors.

Start-up

I have undergone various start-up programs to get my head in the right space, run experiments, and make better decisions. I wish I had understood these things back in the early 2000s. The most helpful reading resources are Steve Blank, Strategizer, IT Revolution, PostHog, A Smart Bear, and Kromatic.

CreativeHQ, NZTE and Startup Aotearoa have been great for talking things over.

Ajabbi

Ajabbi has been established to own Pipi, and any surplus income will go to a non-profit foundation to support users, provide open-source SaaS applications and fund research.

Starting with video

As a visual thinker, talking is much easier than writing, so to support users, make online bookings for "office hours" available. Set up an area with good sound and lighting that looks OK on video. I must replace most of my film gear with more useful modern equipment. Access to great equipment is no longer a barrier these days.

The new battery-powered LED panels are fantastic.

Media Unit

If Ajabbi goes well, I intend to eventually set up an entirely self-funded paid media unit as part of Ajabbi Research to provide supporting written and video content. The unit will start slowly, building capacity as needed and resources allow. Eventually, it will also publish books.

• Recording straightforward YouTube content, explaining and demonstrating how to use the software.
• Then, interviews with authors and scientists can be filmed.
• Later, filming historical reenactments similar to the ones in Cosmos by Carl Sagan.
• Starting with a contractor to make the initial content.
• Then, as income and audience grow, the capability is moved in-house.
• All content will be freely available for maximum reuse.

Other people will be writing, producing, directing, presenting/acting or crewing, though hopefully, I will get to help somewhere. My favourite jobs are related to the art department, including set building and miniatures.