Terrific to be back at USC live, supporting the 2022 graduation. We've done this virtually for the last two years, and although we certainly livestreamed everything, we were there with the 70,000 other folks celebrating the epic accomplishment of about 19,000 students. We did LED screens and cameras and lighting and rigging, etc. We used the silly-simple, but extremely effective, Marching Order software to get the names of thousands of kids up on screens as they walked across the stages to collect their diplomas. Bittersweet, as my second and last kid also graduated from college this year.
¡Felicidades a todos!
We were all so excited and frankly surprised when our keynote speaker for GLAAD in New York didn't cancel. The producers booked Karine Jean-Pierre to speak, which would have been inspiring. However, 5 days before our event, Karine was named the new White House Press Secretary. Amazing! We would have given her a pass if she had to back out of our event, but she didn't! So lucky to be working with Germansky Communications to pull off these big events in both LA and NY. We did all LED, cameras, playback, lighting and broadcast truck. Thanks for the great gig, Eric!
What can we say? Life is back to somewhat-normal with a load of Oscar gigs. People just wanna party. And slap each other. We're available for any and all. Way too many gigs to list, but always great to be working on the Governors Ball, and this year the Governors Awards for the first time. Let's honor each other!!
Man, The Vibe is Back! Not only are the big gigs back, our town is back! We Love LA! Super Bowl ignited an energy that I haven't felt here since COVID came to visit. The streets were jumpin', the gigs we rockin' and the Rams won! Lots of big SB events with big acts performing for small crowds - Bieber, Drake, Foreigner, Beach Boys, etc., a nice LACC/NFL Experience exhibit for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, several fashion shows, and lots of great indie bands touring through town like The Beths and Samia and Clem Snide. And of course file under "when it rains, it pours"; we had a huge week-long shoot in our studio for Mazda. BRING IT!
Had the opportunity to work with YLS once again on the NFR rodeo in Las Vegas. Quite literally this is the Super Bowl of rodeos. I checked in with the client to say I was gonna jump on a plane and come up for the day to hang at the gig, and the client laughed at me. "Can you jump on a plane and poke your head in to the Super Bowl for the day? Well this is an even tougher ticket to get!" Ok, point made! Big time baby – I need to hang with the Vaqueros a bit more. Sadly this video doesn't show it, but besides lighting and effects, we provided a full LED stage that flew in and out between cow-roping. Sweet rig. Giddy Up!
This week we worked with David Rodgers at an iconic venue, with a world-class fashion designer, celebrating the best band ever, with some Disney thrown in for flavor. Stella McCartney launched a new fashion capsule collection called 'The Beatles: Get Back', to celebrate her dad's new documentary on Disney+. The event took place at Henson Studios, which is the old A&M studio where records by Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, Supertramp, The Police, Van Morrison, the Carpenters, Alice in Chains and so many more were recorded. This is the studio where We Are The World was recorded and that classic video was shot. Pre A&M, the studio belonged to Charlie Chaplin who shot most of his movies there. Just a whole lotta Hollywood in one quick night. That's what we're here for!
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett partnered with URW/Westfield to release their new record with a live concert that was streamed to Westfield properties all over the world. Invited guests were able to watch the show at 20 locations including London, Los Angeles, Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, Vienna, Netherlands, Prague and Warsaw. We supported creative agency Amplify in the pre-shoot, then of course our beloved URW client for the live event. Yes of course I should have chosen a Gaga/Tony number for the video, but it's a rainy Monday in LA and I'm seriously missing my daughter at school, and she and I saw Gaga do this tune live many years ago. Thanks for indulging me.
Designers, production companies and engineers nationwide competed to build a unique and significant structure, out of fresh cans of food. Westfield URW sponsored this event in its centers all over the country. No tape or glue can be used to stack cans. After the competition, all food is donated to local food banks. This event put 85,000 lbs. of food in local food banks. And we took runner-up in Westfield voting! Irma Hardjakusuma designed our "Hive" as a sculpture dedicated to diversity and inclusion. Six legs of various colors twist and turn to join together as one. Our own Dave Olsen who runs the venue at Westfield for ShowPro, supported and even helped install over night! Great concept, great charity. So happy to be included.
This was a great one – 10 million+ views on this live broadcast from our studio. Barb and Ben from the TV Academy selected our studio to do this live, international broadcast. Ian from The Switch did all top line production and signal transport. There were Sat trucks in NY and a Battery truck parked in our loading dock to ensure that nothing would fail, even if LADWP hiccuped or the World Wide Internets failed. Such gorgeous graphics - they matched the live look of our studio (or other way around, I guess I should say!). Only 15 minutes long, but it was 15 minutes that had to be perfect. Check mark on that one. So grateful to be included in such a high profile event.
This is another one that is heavily NDA-ed, but wanted to show y'all some of the XR work we have been doing. Viacom did their up-fronts this year virtually, but they went big! We provided lighting and video playback and effects, and were paired with The Famous Group, who took care of a lot of the XR bits, camera tracking, etc. These rigs are always impressive!
This is our second gig working for TikTok and Crown and Conquer (our heroes who bring this work to us!). Such a shame that we have to have events reminding folk not to hate. Not gonna totally go there but we're continuing to pay the price for four years of hate coming from the top. Seeing the toll this is all taking on young folk is heartbreaking. Time to turn this thing around and just live and love and respect each other. Even if it's just a little.