A Common Goal
Birmingham Ceremonies Ltd , a new joint venture formed by GBA ( Gary Beestone Associates ) and Done + Dusted to deliver the opening and closing ceremonies of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games , was announced last month . Access meets the key figures involved to discuss their plans and the opportunities the projects present for supply chain contractors
Words : Christopher Barrett
Not only is the team behind the recently-formed Birmingham Ceremonies focused on delivering the events that bookend Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in a streamlined , cost-efficient and cohesive manner , the management team at GBA and Done + Dusted say they are determined to set a new creative standard for opening and closing ceremonies .
“ You don ’ t get many chances to work on big ceremonies like these in your own country . I am 59 and this is probably going to be the last one I do – the other one was in 2012 ,” says Simon Pizey , founder and CEO of Done + Dusted . “ We want this to move
the whole event genre forward – for it to be the show that becomes the reference point for events such as these for the next decade .”
Television production and event staging company Done + Dusted produce large-scale live events and live broadcasts globally . Among its recent projects was a hybrid version of the
BAFTA Awards and Tik Tok ’ s UEFA Euro 2020 Live with Ed Sheeran ; a one-hour live show at Ipswich Town Football Club that broke the record for the biggest live music performance on TikTok with more that 5.5 million unique viewers watching the global live stream .
GBA director Zoë Snow is the executive producer of Birmingham Ceremonies . She will work alongside a diverse creative team that includes fellow executive producer Steven Knight , the creator of Birminghambased hit TV series Peaky Blinders , broadcast director Done + Dusted ’ s Hamish Hamilton , Birmingham writer Maeve Clarke , local musician
“ These shows don ’ t come along very regularly but they are incredibly important in terms of showcasing what the events industry is cable of doing .”
and rapper Joshua ‘ RTKal ’ Holness , and artistic director Iqbal Khan .
Misty Buckley is the project ’ s production designer . She was recently nominated for a BAFTA Award for Stormzy ’ s performance at Glastonbury Festival and has worked on events including the London 2012 Paralympic Closing Ceremony .
The London 2012 Opening Ceremony
Another key figure in Birmingham Ceremonies is Gary Beestone , the man behind GBA – a company of producers , project directors and production managers for events . His work involves being a long-serving international technical director of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child touring show .
A common goal “ The Birmingham Commonwealth Games creative team has been appointed by the organising committee and , as the production company , Birmingham Ceremonies is delivering that vision ,” he says . “ That requires a great deal of working with the creative team , and that is why a combined approach with a broadcast
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