It kinda cracks me up that so many of us nerds that studied music/theater/tech in high school/college/life are so clueless about sports. But that doesn't keep us from rocking HARD with our Portland faves Kamp Grizzly, supporting Adidas. We did sound, lighting, interactive video, projection and staging for four events in 4 cities this month. LA was football, Tampa was baseball, Ft. Lauderdale was volleyball and Chicago was soccer. The mad creative hits keep coming from Kamp, and we're there turning their ideas in to technical reality. These gigs are so fun because it's mostly young kids who excel in a particular sport, and wear their dreams on their sleeves. Remember those days? Well thanks to our rad client, we get to live it and focus on some of the cool shit that is happening in the world today. That's officially a good gig, right?
I know Bleachers and I know Echosmith, but I have to admit it took the intergoogle to fill me in on Tyler Posey, the Teen Wolf phenom hosting both of our big Comic-Con shows this year. The first one was Friday night with the great Adam Stewart and MTV. We got invited to the big show this year. This is the Fandom Fest behind Petco Park doing what MTV does best – ROCK. Wicked rig as you can see. We did lighting and LED blades and content for Bleachers and Echosmith. We're so lucky, man. Then, it moves inside to the convention center floor where, once again, we are graced with loyal and loving clients Jordanah, who let us collaborate on a sweet booth. The sweetest booth there, from what I heard. Tyler and other big shots were on hand to sign posters and meet and greet inside the LED/Versatube/Flat Screen/automated lighting fortress that is the Fox booth. Enough said - Oh, and this Bleachers song makes me so happy. Hope it does you, too.
So some of you might be bored talking about licensing Nickelodeon products and properties. But I find it fascinating. Finding places to do business in the new digital economy is super creative as far as I’m concerned. Those who have friends and kids in college are learning that marketing and entrepreneurialism and business itself ain't what it used to be. It’s not innovation within an industry, it’s about exploding that industry and starting from scratch. We were invited to support the Nick Licensing show in Las Vegas the other day, and we got to build a sweet rig with savant-level production designer Chris Goldsmith. It's so great when the production itself tells a story. Telling a story and keeping people from falling asleep at morning sessions after debauchery in Vegas the night before is what it’s all about! Someone’s kid needs to disrupt the hangover-cure industry. That’ll make Uber seem like nuthin!
Oh yes, awards season is evergreen in our fun town. They can worry about fake news and bad optics and special prosecutors until their heart's content on the other coast. We live in the REAL world. Movie stars and Rappers and DJs that make a half a mil to show up and spin records, baby. And when we say stupid shit publicly, it's expected! OK - maybe DC is catching up to us on that front... Adam Stewart and Michelle Concepcion designed a madhouse of fun at the Shrine Auditorium. Steve Aoki was spinning records and models were spinning in the air on pixie-dust moon props. We did sound and lights and video and it was awesome!
Just finished a 5 day high tech TV Dinner – Lots of different stuff mixed up in to one nutty week. Not sure why, but sensory overload was the theme for the 4/20 week. We love these gigs - They define the classic concept of More-is-More. We supported a new TV series, a gaming competition, a gala for the west coast's premier classical conservatory and even a corporate industrial for a trucking company. Heck Yeah - ShowPro's Burnt Offerings. Massive respect to the staff and crew for powering through another long, hard run. Always.
We just got through another successful awards show season in LA, and man are our arms tired. We never get bored with this stuff - we are so appreciative of our clients who come back to us year after year to help out with the big ones. This was a gorgeous room that Cheryl and Andrea and the rest of the Sequoia team put together, to celebrate Hollywood's most celebrated. Sequoia has been doing this event for 20 years or so, and every year looks completely original. Tough task indeed. We provided lighting with the lighting design by Matt Levesque as well as audio for an all star band. Fun!
GIRLBOSSES RULE What a great gig - The Gathery from NYC included us in their 2017 #girlboss Rally in DTLA. #girlboss began as Sophia Amoruso's autobiography and is now an epic, unique culture. The book inspired a website which attracted legions which greenlit a new show on Netflix. The girlboss rally was a curated gathering of 500 women (and some men) to engage with over 50 presenters, and each other, to talk about everything there is to talk about. The vibe was amazing - Just thrilling, honestly - so exciting to see so many forward-thinking, positive people in an age of sideways thinking noise. Positivity RULES #girlboss RULES!
The Adidas/Kamp Grizzly collaboration moves in to the new year... Kamp continues to challenge us to do new stuff. Here's a good one - This is a clear LCD display that guests stand behind, then graphics roll up on the screen, then we shoot the performance and immediately send the guests a gif to their phones to drop on their Instagram pages. Huge props to Vartan and Hayk and Matt at VT for the sweet programming and fun hang in NYC with sunny, 50 degree weather! Got out of Terminal 4 at JFK mere hours before the beginning of the end of the world.
We're in a New York state of mind this week. Our Rad friends at Kamp Grizzly invited us out to the city to support them on two Adidas activations. The first one was a project in DUMBO (Brooklyn for those of us who had to look up dumbo) - Kamp built a giant set wall under the Manhattan Bridge and we did an interactive projection piece on that. And today we're at a high school in The Bronx where we installed an interactive LED floor for kids to compete upon. Respect to the ardent and committed ShowPro crew who travelled on Thanksgiving Day to rock this one.
I liked this one last night - Mostly because it reminds me that our world will never crumble when each New Year brings a new awards show. This one celebrates excellence in Chinese-American co-production of film and television. It's all about investment and sharing talent and not putting massive tariffs on non-Americans that we are scared of. Sounds good to me. Love our faves Sequoia for including us in so many interesting projects. And yes, I'll admit it, I just got turned on to this 90s song from American Football that I was dying to include somewhere. Expect to hear it again and maybe this month because we have a ton of amazing gigs in November. Massive gratitude for everything...
We had a fun one in San Fransisco with Pandora this week. Alison and Nicole invited us up to support an Analysts meeting in a beautiful but production-challenged room. Chris G. and the team managed to get a pretty big look out of a low ceiling venue with pillars that potentially blocked sight lines. Sometimes I'm as excited about a gig that overcomes technical challenges as I am by the ones that are fun-house spectacles. Sometimes. Great for us to support emerging integrated marketing analysis and new tech companies that are all about music. Who wouldn't agree with that? Favorite Pandora station right now - Kings of Leon. KOL is OK, but the bands that support the station are perfect.