Festive Event Management

Subject Code: CEM4103

Lecture 7

Developed & Presented by :Roy Ying

Manpower, talent & stage management for festivals

Note: Pictures used in thispower point file is for academicPurpose only

Agenda

• Process in identifying festive performing participants – The Beijing Olympic Example

• Role of a production manager

• Casting, audition, and rehearsals

• Planning talent workshop

• Manpower resource planning

• Stage management

Beijing Olympics Opening

The Production (4 acts)

How was it born?

The creative team

• BOCOG* started soliciting programs worldwide for the Opening Ceremony in 2005. In 2006, 13 winning proposals started on their second round of competition. Based on the final results, a five-member directors' group was appointed from the three best teams. Zhang Yimou was chosen as artistic director.

Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games

(北京奥组委)

Creating artistic harmony

• The concept of a "painting scroll" emerged and most of the original program ideas unfolded around it, forming the artistic concept of "displaying the world on a small square," demonstrating the progress of blending Chinese culture with world culture.

One World One Dream

• All members of the creative team believed that the Earth should appear in the Opening Ceremony, which thus conformed to the slogan "One World One Dream." Chinese painting was also one of the elements that the creative team emphasized. The concept of paper could combine perfectly with Chinese paintings and thus become the master link that ran through the performances of the Opening Ceremony.

Two parts to make the whole

By the end of April 2007, the creative team finally decided to divide the artistic performances into two parts:

• the first half, "Brilliant Civilization," would highlight the past 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, and

• the second half, "Glorious Era," would exhibit the great achievements and the new look of modern China, portraying the Chinese nation's dream of building harmoniously with the people of the world.

Two parts to make the whole

• On this stage, "moveable type printing," "Confucius' 3,000 disciples," "The Analects of Confucius," "Zheng He's ocean voyages" and "Chinese ritual music" would all be showcased, depicting a weighty painting of the flow of Chinese civilization.

• The long scroll would also incorporate China's more recent achievements, including the "Bird's Nest."

29th Olympiad - 29 footprints

• The creative team worked out a design that combined a display of the Olympic ringswith "footprints of fireworks." 29 colossal "footprints," representing the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, would make their way into the stadium with the last "footprint" exploding in the air over the Bird's Nest.

From creation to production• Highly skilled performers had

to work through aches and pains to fulfill the requirements of dancing on the abstract backgrounds; this is especially true for the 60 artists that were chosen to surround the model Earth. During training, they were required to run, jump and somersault with their bodies leaning in fantastically different angles.

Keys to identifying festive performing participants

• Event’s brand in attracting talented directors and performing artists

• A well designed theme

• A well organized festive event structure

• Budget is important, but it’s secondary

Casting, audition, and rehearsals

• Training centre or even academy is often required. In the case of Beijing Olympics, there was the BOCOG Ceremony Operation Centre

Special Talent

• BOCOG had to host a competition to solicit “children’s smile”

Rehearsals up to 1 year aheadWith a massive crew of over 15,000 cast members,rehearsals had to take place in different venues:

• Choreography, • Costume, • Décor,• Scenery, • Lights, • Sound, • Fireworks

As a key process of the production stage, the rehearsal of the program started in August at a designated place in Beijing's suburbs.

Planning talent workshop

• While choreographers will train their cast members, it’s important for everyone to know the theme and the full picture of the ceremony through workshops and briefings

Manpower resource planning

• For festive events, it’s not financially feasible to pay for every performer

• 15,000 performers

• World class artists and celebrities

• Top notch production crew

If you can’t pay $, you pay face

Consultant to Opening Ceremony Appointment of Artistic Director

BOCOG started public solicitation of the creative schemes for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in March 2005. After 3 rounds of evaluation out of 409 submissions, the team headed by Zhang Yimou was selected.

Or….vanity

Or…. national pride

Municipal government support

• With 15,000 crew, the government needs to support in:

– Venue

– Accommodation

– Training facilities

– Food

– Transportation

The role of a Production Manager

Production Work Allocation

• Venue spaces

• Sound and music

• Costume

• Stage management

• Lighting and special effects

• Set and props

• Acting and directing

• Script writing and creating scenes

Stage Management

7 Objectives in Production Meeting

• Define your vision. What is the primary message you want your audience to take away?

• Set a date for rehearsal. Invite stage manager, AV production, props designer, costumer, technical director and music director (if applicable)

7 Objectives in Production Meeting

• Get to know your crew and cast members

• Develop communication channels with your crew and cast members with an agreed schedule of rehearsals and performance deadlines

• Brief the crew of the overall concept of the festival event with your vision

7 Objectives in Production Meeting

• Convey expectation to each crew member (i.e., lighting scheme, color and style of costumes, major props, scene changes, mood, music and F&B)

• Budget discussion

Audition Requirements

• Create a comfortable setting for cast members

• Copies of scripts

• Fact sheets

• Photographers

• Cameramen

• Facilities in order (i.e., air-con, lighting, F&B, waiting room, WC)

Rehearsals

Festive Exhibitions

How an exhibition is born?

“HKTDC Exhibition Video”

7 steps in an effective trade fair

Step 1: Securing a booth

• Most good exhibitions have long waiting list. It’s not easy to get a booth

• HKTDC has a point system based on:– Application history

– Quality of products and designs

– Awards

– Production quality assurance certifications

– Branding effort (i.e., not just OEM)

– Relationship with HKTDC

7 steps in an effective trade fair

Step 2: Know what you want to sell and produce the marketing collaterals (i.e., a flyer, a brochure or a CD)

7 steps in an effective trade fair

Step 3: Develop a sales presentation and look for opportunities to reach clients

7 steps in an effective trade fair

Step 4: Pre-event marketing

• Database sourcing for direct marketing

• Onsite promotional platform bookings

• Advertising planning

• Pre-arranged sales meetings

• Staff recruitment and training

7 steps in an effective trade fair

Step 5: Pre-event PR

• Publicity event planning for media

– Awards competition

– Fashion show or parade

– Seminar

– Book signing

– Special occassion ceremony

How to get into this?

7 steps in an effective trade fair

Step 6: Booth design

• Find out how you want to interact with your clients and what you want to be selling

Booth Design

7 steps in an effective trade fair

Step 7: Follow up with leads

• Follow up meetings

• Issue standard corporate or product templates

• Put leads on CRM or at least on regular e-news update

• Customer loyalty program

Class Exercise

• Suppose you are hiring a manager in managing your exhibition booth at MIF, please draft a job description