As the outbreak of Covid-19 across the globe saw the entire UK go into lockdown late March 2020, the last six months has forced both a sudden hiatus and transformation of the live events industry.

Large and small events across the world were faced with no other option than to cancel or postpone indefinitely due to the strict government guidelines put in place. Following this tragic end to live events for the foreseeable future, Creative Technology (CT) has moved virtual event technology to the centre of our offering, developing services and solutions to deliver for our affected clients.

As a global leading supplier of live event technology, CT was ready to support our clients, investing in and developing our in-house facilities to enable our customers to continue delivering their events virtually and in a Covid safe environment.

CT has expanded its in-house facilities which includes a market leading XR studio powered by the Unreal engine, a fully fitted remote production gallery, two additional remote production suites and two Covid-secure socially distanced performance spaces – all based at our offices in London, Gatwick. We have been working around the clock for a whole host of clients, supporting them in delivering a range of challenging and complex virtual events in these new facilities.

The ability to record, edit, and live stream content all in one location has allowed us to create some extraordinary events, reaching thousands across the globe. From demanding and complex streaming events such as a virtual event for international Blue chip company, which saw CT delivering three simultaneous 90 minute live virtual shows twice over one day in six different languages for client, BK Events, to the Human Rights Watch fundraiser which gained over 11,000 viewers across the day raising nearly $8,000,000 for the cause.

Another event that made use of CT’s newest facilities was Katherine Jenkins’ live sing-along, powered by Vodafone. The opera singer’s beautiful home performance was streamed to thousands of people via Facebook Live and into over 100 care homes across the UK and was a huge success.

Our state-of-the-art XR studio provides a totally immersive, interactive stage for a multitude of events that really capture their audiences. In August we hosted the AIM Independent Music Awards, presented by Tiffany Calvert who was joined by a selection of award-winning artists including AJ Tracey, Arlo Parks, and Little Simz. Performances took place on the virtual stage in our studio and on a real physical stage in our Covid-secure performance space, UNITY, for the pre-recorded event which was then streamed by over 20,000 viewers.

We were also joined by long-standing client, Imagination to help deliver a virtual event announcing a brand-new bespoke platform created for automotive giant Ford of Europe. CT worked closely with Imagination to create an environment that brings content to life in completely new ways, using real-time graphics and augmented reality blended with real presenters to transport viewers into a new virtual world.

In the world of sport, with many events now beginning to take place behind closed doors, CT have been on hand to deliver core technical services on-site.

As an approved supplier of the European Tour, CT has been continuing to supply tournament television services to the tour events as well as delivering new on-course leader boards, a digital alternative to the manual scoreboards which are helping to support social distancing guidelines by reducing the amount of people required to support this service.

In addition to this, CT have put two of our brand-new OB vans to work at the Men’s International Cricket. The Covid-secure, fully fitted out vehicles which were introduced for the 2020 season brought in all feeds from the host broadcaster, CTV and distributed video and graphical content to the venue and perimeter LED screens.

Standing out from the virtual and behind closed doors events throughout the last 6 months, Creative Technology were honoured to work for client, The BBC, to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day with a visual spectacular at the Horse Guards Parade in London. The event which was aired on BBC One on 15th August saw stunning content created by Kate Dawkins Studio projected across the complex structures using 69 31k projectors. The 29 sequences of high-resolution content were shot as both the canvas, and backdrop to the military marching bands, orchestras, and readings over 5 days of filming, the event was a huge success and an absolute pleasure to be a part of.

“As we reflect over the last 6 months, I am immensely proud of what Creative Technology has achieved, both as a business and as a team of individuals. We have been faced with huge challenges, as has the entire industry, that nobody could have foreseen and we will continue to pull together and work hard to deliver shows and support our clients with virtual, live or hybrid solutions, as we navigate through this new world of live events.” – Mark Elliott, Managing Director of Creative Technology UK.

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Additional notes on Creative Technology

Creative Technology (CT) is one of the world’s leading suppliers of specialist Audio Visual equipment to the broadcast, corporate, entertainment, and sport industries. Our bespoke events staging services bring together advice, support and equipment of the highest quality, providing everything from large screen displays to content delivery systems.

Creative Technology is a part of the NEP Worldwide Network.

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For more information please contact:

Alana Coyne

Marketing & Communications Executive of Creative Technology UK

+44 (0)1293 582024

acoyne@ctlondon.com

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