Marvin Humes , Emma Bunton and Roman Kemp
Working for freedom
Leading event professionals , suppliers and artists took time out from busy schedules to create the Concert For Ukraine at remarkably short notice . The two-hour televised show raised £ 13.4m in a single day . Its initiator , Guy Freeman , discusses the remarkable collective effort involved
Words : Christopher Barrett
Watching the horror unfold in Ukraine , Guy Freeman , MD of the production company Livewire Pictures , felt compelled to try to do something to alleviate the suffering . On 3 March he began making phone calls , by midnight on 29 March £ 13.4m had been raised .
Broadcast on ITV and STV , the Concert For Ukraine featured performances from artists including Ed Sheeran , Camila Cabello , Paloma Faith , Snow Patrol , Emeli Sandé , Manic Street Preachers and Nile Rodgers & Chic . The generosity of the show ’ s 3.6 million viewers resulted in a huge contribution toward the Disasters Emergency Committee ’ s ( DEC ) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal .
Freeman may have got the ball rolling but he says it was very much a collaborative effort , with 87 event specialists and supply companies ( see pages 16,17 ) contributing their time and resources for free .
Among the first people who helped get the show up and running were production director Chris Vaughan , NEC Group venue sales manager Ben Sharman and Live Nation Executive president of international touring Phil Bowdery . Says Freeman , “ Having done benefit concerts for television , such as the One Love Manchester event , I knew there was that power to reach an audience on TV through music . I raised the idea with Phil Bowdery and asked if he was aware of any Ukraine fundraising concerts . He said , ‘ There ’ s a few little things but nothing that is going to be broadcast level ’.
“ I then spoke to Chris Vaughan , who is an amazing tour production director for artists including Take That and Adele . He offered to help even though he ’ s incredibly busy . The next thing was to find a venue . I contacted a couple and the first to reply was the NEC Group . I described what we were looking to do and that we wanted somewhere at minimal or zero cost , which I was aware
Guy Freeman
was a big ask , but Ben Sharman came back the next day with an available date .”
Talent show With ITV also on board , Freeman approached the DEC , which proved understandably enthusiastic . Everything was coming together at a breakneck pace aside from one major ingredient : artists .
“ All those things turned positive very quickly but we hadn ’ t approached any artists – which was slightly terrifying ,” says Freeman . “ My view was that you can ’ t go to an artist and say ,
18