With MediaPro a few times, and the team we had out with us in Riyadh were excellent,” Jenkins stated. “They were flexible and proactive in getting the equipment we wanted at short notice.” Awad added: “MediaPro is a supplier that gives you comfort. The team was always available, and any changes were actioned with the minimum amount of headache.” Discussing the supply, MediaPro International’s COO, Shaam Pudaruth, recalled the early stages of the project. “It was still a work in progress when we got involved,” he recalled. “We were given an understanding of the creative concept, and after multiple technical discussions with TIME Entertainment and ALM, we put together a workable solution that fit the budget and the creative requirements.”
A key aspect of the technical solution was the Panasonic PT-RZ34K projector, which displayed the video content and, according to Pudaruth, “gave life to the whole show”. A total of 18 of the fixtures were provided, with six used to cover the floor area, eight covering the ramps, and a further four on the bridge and sails – all equipped with ET-D75LE20 zoom lenses. Content was managed through two disguise vx 4 media servers, with Lightware HDMI matrix switcher and Rosendahl Nanosyncs HD video sync generator. The lighting inventory featured several Ayrton fixtures, including 80 Perseo Profile, 100 Perseo Beam, and 20 MagicPanel FX, as well as 40 GLP impression X5, 30 LED blinders, and four Robe Robin BMFL FollowSpot LTs, all controlled by two ETC High End Systems Hog 4 consoles. Atmospherics came in the form of MDG ATMe Haze Generators as well as Antari Ice Fog packages and AF3 fans.
MediaPro also supplied and L-Acoustics sound system including flown KARA II loudspeakers, X15 HiQ monitors, and KS28 subs, as well as 5XT loudspeakers ground stacked for fill. A DiGiCo Quantum 338 was the console of choice, with QLab software used for playback. Shure Axient Digital Wireless was deployed to handle RF, with a range of microphones from Shure and DPA utilised. A Shure PSM 1000 IEM package was also deployed, while a Clear-Com Eclipse HX Digital Matrix system handled communications. With MediaPro also handling all the trussing and rigging elements of the production, Pudaruth recalled the challenge posed by the variable weight-loading capacities and availability of hanging points in the venue.
“The AVL plots had to be revised a few times, which was all done on the go,” he revealed. “The main planning required was for offloading our kit and rigging the truss.” Inside the venue, the MediaPro team did all the central rigging and got the truss to working height in a single day. “We were informed that there would be a multiple height stage, so the staging would need to occupy the centre area,” Pudaruth explained. “Due to the age of the building and the lack of lighting on the gantry, we identified all the points in CAD, then followed the drawing.
Once we had overcome the initial challenges, the load-in was smooth and the show went exactly as planned.” ‘Value and elegance’ Having been in communication with TIME Entertainment for quite some time, ShowTex Middle East provided draping for the venue. “The brief from TIME Entertainment was very detailed, stating size, quantity and hang points for each area,” commented Romeo Sale, Regional Sales Manager of KSA/Qatar, ShowTex Middle East. “We provided our Black Molton masking drape as well as our aluminium tracks on specific areas.” The delivery timeline was the biggest challenge. “It was shorter than what we normally work with,” he admitted. “However, close coordination with TIME Entertainment and the fast action of our production, logistics, and installation team, we were able to deliver within the required timeframe.”
Looking back on the project, the Regional Sales Manager was pleased with the efficacy of what he described as “the simplest yet most impactful supply” of black masking drapes and aluminium tracks. “We are happy with the project overall,” he said. “We were able to add value and elegance to the venue and the entire event.” ‘It must be seamless’ With the production broadcasted to over 100 TV channels worldwide and streamed on various online platforms, the live broadcast element, handled by Seven Production, added another layer of complexity to proceedings.
“We delivered the Opening Ceremony as well as all the sports action over the 10 days of the competition, taking place in five different venues,” commented Seven Production’s Business Development Director, Pedro Rosa, detailing the company’s process. “In the briefing we received the usual vital information about accreditation, camera plans, programming, streaming, commentary, the TV Production plan, and the different competitions. There was a lot of information to consider but the organisation was fantastic.”
The Seven Production team deployed five OB vans to cover all five venues, each equipped with 10 cameras, two jibs, two super slomo, wireless cameras, and two ES Broadcast EVS XT4K four-channel production servers. “We had one OB van as a host broadcast feeding over 100 TV channels all over the world with two feeds,” Rosa noted.
“We also had 15 TVU streaming servers with cameras streaming each sport directly on YouTube, with streaming servers for both world feeds also available on YouTube.” A large quantity of fibre stage boxes was used to send and receive signals from the venue to the OB truck and vice versa. “We had around 20km of SMPTE fibre cables on site,” Rosa revealed, adding that the company also did all the programming and camera planning for the event. “With our large presence in KSA, mainly in Riyadh, it was easy to have all our resources ready for action,” he added. According to Rosa, preparation was key to the success of this project. “We tend to do a lot of prep work so we can hit the ground running from the moment we arrive on site,” he commented. “The goal is to minimise the time we spend on site so we can be as competitive commercially as possible.
To do this, we conduct site visits and have operational meetings with the client, allowing our team to have their work planned perfectly – once we’re on-site, it must be absolutely seamless.”
With a crew of more than 120 people including a director and a large part of the creative team that travelled from Europe, communication and logistical challenges combined with the sheer size of the production and technical complexity of a live event with worldwide viewers, following different competitions happening in parallel.
“We faced these challenges naturally based on the belief that we have a great team with a huge amount of experience in this type of work,” Rosa said, reflecting on the feat. “We are proud to say that we did a good job, and the client was happy,” he concluded. “We are also pleased that this production was all delivered in-house, with Seven Production’s own equipment, all while other projects were taking place at the same time in other locations across the Middle East.” “We wanted to do something a bit different than the other ceremonies happening in the country.
It was a very story-driven production,” stated TIME Entertainment’s Awad, reflecting on the achievement. “You can put together a show in 45 days but doing that and staying true to your creative intentions and what you committed to is where the real challenge lies. We didn’t want to take shortcuts to make it happen – we wanted to make sure we were creating something unique that could be appreciated by people of any age and any nationality
