NEW YORK CITY – The Gannet Company’s first ever upfront, dubbed GannettFront 2013, marked the first time that the parent company of USA Today showcased all of Gannett’s brands to advertisers and media in a TV show-style presentation. TBA Global, tasked with producing the event, selected WorldStage for lighting and video support.
More details from WorldStage (http://www.worldstage.com):
NEW YORK – When TBA Global was tasked with producing the Gannett Company’s first-ever upfront it selected WorldStage to provide AV and lighting support for the event at the AXA Equitable Building in Manhattan.
GannettFront 2013 marked the first time that the parent company of USA Today showcased all of Gannett’s brands to advertisers and media in a TV show-style presentation hosted by comedian Andrew Kennedy.
“The show was a little unique – Gannett is not the usual company for a typical upfront,” says Dave Longwill, vice president of production at TBA Global. “Gannett has television components and other news outlets, and they wanted to come up with a unique format to display their brands. So they asked us to create a TV talk show environment with interviews, one-on-ones, video interstitials and a Live remote feed from their Phoenix affiliate.”
TBA Global has selected WorldStage for various events over the years so “it made perfect sense” for WorldStage to support Gannett’s upfront debut, he adds. “We had four and a half weeks to take the show from a concept to a live upfront event, and everything worked out like clockwork.”
TBA Global’s design team created three styles of vignette sets with a large multimedia center screen and lots of plasma displays. “We had an aggressive one-day load in with the upfront scheduled for the next morning,” says WorldStage’s Michael May. “There were three cameras, one of them on a hydraulic pedestal. Multiple video feeds to audience monitors, the projection screen and on-stage scenic monitors were handled by our WorldStage flypack with Panasonic 450 switcher.”
WorldStage integrated its TV broadcast lighting package into the house theatrical lighting package for lighting designer Martin Graves. “We chose lighting instruments that had the feel of a live TV studio,” May explains. “We also supported the reception area with audio and lighting.”
“The WorldStage team did a great job,” says Dave Longwill. “They really know New York and the venues and were able to adapt easily to on-site changes. Everything was very efficient; the cues and deployment were great. The lighting package had a real rich TV studio look and feel. It all made for a very successful show.”
At WorldStage, Terry Jackson is vice president, director of lighting; Sarah Ibrahim project manager; Freddie Liberatore EIC; and Andrew Guberman audio support.
