LIVE 8: WORLDWIDE, HOW DID THEY DO IT?

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — Media Evolutions, live production content creator and show management leader delivered the Saturday July 2nd worldwide Live 8 shows by building all content, graphical elements and providing show control for the shows and their international television and online broadcasts, in hopes that their work will assist in the generation of persuasion with the G8 nations leaders during the G8 Summit in Scotland on July 6-11.

Each show had been produced and broadcast at six hours in length, from each location globally. Packed with global supporters including performances and introductions by internationally known celebrities for the End to World Poverty Cause. At the forefront of the show, Media Evolutions developed and designed content and graphical elements to be displayed on the LED screens placed on the Philadelphia Stage behind the performers. With the live portion in place, Media Evolutions then Produced the Broadcast Graphic Package from Philly to the World for ABC, sponsored by AOL. The US show was produced by associates Tim Sexton, Kevin Wall, Harvey Goldsmith, Ken Erlick, and Greg Sills with Chloe Productions for the live international show broadcast. Bruce Gowers Directed the US show and the international ABC broadcast, with Steven Fatone assisting with screen-to-stage direction.

Media Evolutions produced all graphic work within 8 days from concept, design to execution. The Broadcast Package was created within the in-house studio located in Orlando, Florida. As the show approached, Media Evolutions’ crew built the mobile studio on location in Philadelphia to service the Production, i.e. further changes to the Broadcast Package, synchronize all aspects of the US show and to provide additional onsite post and formatting services. As Media Evolutions provided content creation, and screen formatting for the live portion, they also provided the Green System, their own custom playback system consisting of 2 Green Video Servers [APPLE products]. Both the Green system and the Maxedia, provided by Martin, fed custom transitions, which fluidly moved from piece to piece within the 3 stage screens and 3 Ben Franklin Parkway screens. The Green played back all content pertaining to the African Live 8 theme and all sponsor content that went directly to the screen. All displayed content created during the performances was made custom for each artist. As Media Evolutions has worked with several of the Live 8 shows artists in prior productions, they had an idea of the look and feel for content with each unique performance. Steven Wallis and Kevin Richard, both of Media Evolutions and Mathias Heldeberck, with Martin, created imagery under the direction of Mark Argenti and Ian McDaniel of Media Evolutions. Once the playback system was in place, Ian McDaniel and Mark Argenti managed the feed in que from the Green and Mathias Heldeberck managed the content fed from Martin’s Maxedia. The production communication between the abc network mobile unit to the Media Evolutions mobile studio was then coordinated and managed by Steven Fatone. In creation, Steven Wallis, a Media Evolutions Imagery Creator, created and compiled all needed pre-shot footage, which included clips from Hommage a Noir - an African based film by Ralf Schmerberg, produced by David Beal, Islandlife.com, and Trigger Happy Productions. While building all graphical elements, Media Evolutions designer, Kevin Richard noted “the cause calls for imagery that would enhance the performances and the crowds overall experience”.


About Live 8

Live 8 Organizer, Sir Bob Geldof promised to deliver “the greatest concert ever.” Crowd estimates taken at Live 8 venues indicated more than 700,000 people attended the shows. Live 8 has called for debt cancellation, more aid and trade justice for the world’s poorest people. The event has been viewed globally by billions of people, held in 12 cities globally: London’s Hyde Park, Paris, Edinburgh, Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, Barrie, Tokyo, Johannesburg, and Moscow. AOL reports more than 175,000 simultaneous video streams were registered – over a third greater than the previous biggest online video event. More than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks. AOL programming senior vice president Bill Wilson described Live 8 as ‘’the biggest online event in history’’ and said the initiative ‘’sets the bar for the future in terms of scope and reach.’’ More than 5 million viewers logged in to its AOLmusic.com site, which streamed the live concerts in London, Philadelphia, Paris, Rome, Berlin and Toronto.

The Live Performance aspect of the Live 8 shows held some surprising moments. The most compelling would have to be the reunification of Pink Floyd starring the original line up with Roger Waters who haven't played together since their ground breaking record 'The Wall'. As with most bands of legendary status it was evident that the chemistry between the players has remained untainted by the years of bad blood that has plagued the relationship between Waters and Gilmore. It was as if no time had passed since their last performance as they played a blistering four-song set that was as magnificent as the legacy of legendary albums left in the wake of controversy since the band's split in '81.

Paul McCartney joined U2 onstage for a riveting performance in which doves were released for a 'Beautiful Day' creating an awe-inspiring moment that was very emotional. As usual U2 gave an exemplary performance as Bono conveyed the importance of the Live 8 shows and political agenda behind the event.

Among the greatest moments of the evening was The Who's blistering rendition of 'Who Are You?' Even with absence of Entwistle and Moon, Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend have once again defied the rigors of age proving that even in their late 50s they can be as devastating as ever.

Neil Young who just recovered from an aneurism closed the show in Canada with a star studded cavalcade of artists who joined him for a searing rendition of 'Keep On Rockin' In The Free World'. An appropriate way to close the show and send a message to all of us in the G8 that world poverty can no longer be tolerated and that our world leaders especially George W. Bush and Paul Martin have an obligation to start thinking globally and resolve the misery that more than two thirds of the world are forced to contend with on a daily basis.
Look for possible Live 8 rebroadcast within major networks.


About Media Evolutions

Media Evolutions’ conceives designs, builds and manages visual imagery and content through digital, video and film production. Media Evolutions is also the developer for the “Green” system, which provides playback and show control management. Recent projects include content creation and playback through the use of 3D imaging, 2D compositing, editing, and show control for both the Will Smith & WalMart Broadcast 2005 and the Ozzfest Tour 2005.

Press images are available at h t t p : / / w w w . m e d i a e v o l u t i o n s . c o m / S t u f f . h t m . Click on the link “Pictures for press”. The username is “press” and the Password is “pics”.

For more information, phone Tracie Lynn Tucker at 407.888.3557 or visit the website at w w w . M e d i a E v o l u t i o n s . c o m .

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