We build the systems behind media.
left blank co. is a custom software practice for media companies, based in Minneapolis with worldwide reach. We build the pipelines that turn raw capture into something you can find, reuse, and trust — media lakes, ETL and batch processing, search, and archival. We apply the same discipline, smaller and faster, to interactive installations: live experiences with a pipeline under the hood.
media lakes · etl + batch processing · search + archival · interactive installations
What We Do
Two things, done well.
Custom software for media companies — and for the teams that build live experiences.
Media engineering
Custom pipelines for organizations that produce, store, and reuse media. We design and build the infrastructure that moves audio and video from capture to audience — and keeps it findable years later.
- media lakes and storage that fit the tools your team already uses
- etl + batch processing: transcoding, transcription, normalization, derivatives
- search, metadata, and archival shaped around how people actually look for things
- a foundation solid enough to put fingerprinting, ml, and llms on top of
Interactive installations
A live experience is the same pipeline on a tighter deadline: capture, process, and deliver in real time, unattended, in front of a crowd. We build them end-to-end — one team, from hardware to delivery.
- real-time capture, graphics, and compositing — unreal, camera rigs, dmx lighting
- kiosks and operator interfaces simple enough for field staff to run all day
- delivery pipelines that put content in people’s hands without anyone touching a file
- systems that tour, keep themselves up, and can be monitored from anywhere
Selected Work
Work we’re proud of.
From the media lake to the front of the line.
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Rockstar Energy — XR Video Booth
A real-time pipeline, from capture to delivery. We built a touring XR studio inside a shipping container for Rockstar Energy’s activation at a premier skate competition: cinematic camera capture, real-time Unreal Engine compositing, synchronized DMX lighting, a kiosk for field staff, and an automated pipeline that puts each participant’s clip in their hands.
Read the full case study →50+ participants/hour87% opted to receive their clip60% click-through on delivered videos -
NPR — Audio Production and Archival Workflows
A multi-year engagement building the pipelines behind a national audio publisher, supporting multiple teams across the organization: transcription and transcoding at volume, a media lake and archival system, and search — alongside experimental work in audio fingerprinting and LLM-based exploration of the catalog.
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Live Nation — Festival Mobile Apps
Live event software: the mapping, lineup, and AR features for Live Nation’s festival apps — from the mobile client through the admin interface to the backend and infrastructure. Supported events including Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.
About
A small, focused practice.
Led by Brandon Johnson, based in Minneapolis.
Brandon started the practice in 2018 after three years as a research engineer at space150, where he developed a love for fast-paced, high-quality, client service work and shipped his first React Native apps. He studied journalism and computer science at the University of Minnesota — a combination that still shapes his work to this day.
Contact
Get in touch.
Typically booked a few months out; always happy to meet.
Building a media lake? An archive your team can actually search? An installation that has to run all day? If it’s in the pipeline of media — and it doesn’t fit an off-the-shelf product — we’d love to hear about it.