MEDIA SERVICES
The Man Behind the Curtain
IBT Media Shoots Live Broadcast for GM
Jun 7, 2010 - 5:54:53 AM

“We have paid our debt in full with interest,” GM’s CEO touted to uproarious cheers. Kansas City’s Fairfax GM plant hosted the largest event in their company’s recent history.

Executives, Union Officers, and the Governor of Kansas gathered in a press conference before a stage in front of a curtain on the factory floor to announce that the iconic American company is back from the brink.

Behind the curtain, IBT Media captured the event’s action. The show was projected onto large screens inside the plant and tapped into a satellite truck for live broadcast nationwide.

This 45-minute media circus took over a week to plan and coordinate. Producer John Naughton of IBT Media said, “It was a grand scale, live production. The variables were tremendous. The historic moment was unfolding before our eyes. Yeah, no pressure… But we have such a great team, we were prepared and the whole thing rolled on without a hitch. We were all literally the man behind the curtain.”

IBT Media had a crew of 8 on the scene. One camera was on a jib getting sweeping overhead shots of the crowd and the stage. Another camera focused on the speakers at the microphone. A third camera, hand-held, zipped in and out of the crowd, getting human interest shots.

Behind the scenes, expert sound technicians ensured quality audio, a technical director selected the best camera angles and a switcher operator sent the line feed to the tape decks and the satellite truck.

John did an on-site edit of the program complete with B-Roll footage to release to news stations all over the country. Douglas Burton, who operated the main camera during the production, also authored and duplicated DVDs for GM to use for future promotions.