Live Production

Engaging in stories as they happen.

Live Production is about more than commanding an army of technicians, checking audio feeds, and directing talent though the “show flow.” These are crucial parts of the process, sure, but live production is really about the right-here, right-now unfolding of your story before an audience’s eyes. With over two decades of live production experience, Spark Media’s team of producers and technicians have created live programming in multiple locations around the world, enabling our clients to share their stories in the most personal way possible: directly to their audience, in real-time.

Examples of Spark Media’s Live Production Work:

Globe-athon to End Women’s Cancers

It started with a simple idea. What if women’s cancer advocates across the world came together in one major awareness push to spread the word about below-the-belt cancers?  That question has led to a global phenomenon – with 88 countries participating through walks, marches, dances and lectures!  Since the beginning, Spark Media has worked hand-in-hand with the Globe-athon in their efforts to unify the global fight to end cancer, including the organization’s live events.  In 2015, the Globe-athon’s live event ambitions reached new heights, each with their own unique set of challenges – which is what we thrive on here at Spark.

First, we filmed and streamed live (via YouTube and Periscope) an interfaith service at the famous House of the Lord Church in Brooklyn.  It was an evening of solidarity and prayer with all faiths, and included speeches, dance routines, and performances from both a choir and the rock doc band N.E.D. The following day, our live production team raced to Manhattan to film the Globe-athon’s symposium at the United Nations, which focused on the eradication of cervical cancer, specifically in underdeveloped countries where rates of this preventable disease are on the rise.  We filmed the symposium and conducted floor interviews with some of the leading doctors and awareness advocates in the world – all gathered in one place to discuss the obstacles they face in their counties and to share best practices.

As a finale, the Globe-athon participated in the West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA) Parade on Labor Day – one of the largest events in the country that regularly brings 2 to 3 million people to Brooklyn every year.  Following Globe-athon’s custom float, over a thousand dancers, survivors, doctors and medical students marched down Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway, led by the Queen of Soca, Alison Hinds. From choreographing the dance routines, to assembling a seven camera crew to cover the parade, to streaming inspiring moments live via Periscope, Spark was intimately involved in every aspect of the production, using all the tools at our disposal to reach the widest possible audience and spread the word about “taking care down there.”

Inter-American Development Bank Annual Meetings

It’s amazing what can arise from small beginnings. For 16 years, Spark Media produced the media components for IDB Annual Meetings. What began as a simple reporting gig on the signing of financial agreements between the Inter-American Development Bank and Latin American nations unfurled into a multi-national, multi-platform, state-of-the-art live production with thousands of participants. Every year, the challenge—and the thrill—was to expand the reach of IDB’s story beyond what it was before. How do we tell it differently? Tell it better? Reach a wider audience? As technology advanced, we pushed the envelope, introducing two-way satellite transmissions, live streaming 24-hour coverage, interactive apps with gaming features, interactive programming, Google Hangouts—continually adding new layers to the IDB story and strengthening their audience from a few thousand on-site attendees to the global millions who could tune in from their computers anywhere in the world. Innovative storytelling, tech-savvy strategies, greater reach…all part of the trailblazing we thrive on at Spark.