comes up with an idea that may be more expensive but more sustainable than others that might be the route that we choose to go down .”
The opening ceremony will take place in front of 30,000 spectators in Birmingham ’ s Alexander Stadium , and an estimated worldwide TV audience of 1.5 billion people . Beestone says that the event ’ s budget is in the tens of millions of pounds , but the formation of the joint venture will mean it can be spent as efficiently as possible .
“ The budget is not as big as the London Olympics , but it is still a large amount of Government money and there is a responsibility to spend it responsibly . That is what we see the JV as being able to do in a really smart way ,” he says .
Pizey adds : “ It is really easy to make big expensive mistakes when you have unaligned parties working together – people going down paths that others slam the breaks on , for whatever reason . I have seen so much money wasted in that way .”
While the JV is expected to bring efficiencies , Beestone says the impact of Covid-19 will lead to far more flexibility and cost savings in the way the teams work on the Commonwealth Games ceremonies .
“ The single biggest change since the London Olympics a decade ago is you no longer have to amass hundreds of people in the location you are making the show at and have them all sat there from 7am to 7pm for three years prior to the event .
“ We are able to access and share information with experts all around the world and the impact of Covid has illustrated the ability to connect with people and meet with people remotely . That flexibility with our team enables us to precure talent for shorter periods of time for much more focused roles with a reduced commitment .”
Pizey says that not only has professional camera technology moved on enormously in the past decade but smart phone cameras can now play a role in the production : “ The ability to take an iPhone and create 4K content for a show that is going to be broadcast is a gamechanger , it means athletes can create their own footage in whatever country they are in . That kind of content would have been hugely expensive in the past .” From a stage production perspective , Beestone says that advances in Set Electrics mean spectacular results can be achieved far more efficiently than the past : “ It means you can much more easily provide really interesting effects physically built into the staging .
“ These shows don ’ t come along regularly but they are incredibly important in terms of showcasing what the events industry is cable of doing , especially at a time when the creative industry is fighting for its survival .”
Done + Dusted produce large-scale live events , like U2 ’ s performance in Paris
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