Hawthorn puts BBC shows in the spotlight
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Previously known as BBC Worldwide Showcase, the 2019 event marked a new chapter for Showcase, the first year under the Studios banner. Celebrating British creativity, the exclusive events previewed some of the BBC’s new programmes including Top Gear, The Planets and One Planet: Seven Worlds. Led by the BBC Studios team, Hawthorn’s group creative director Peter Harding helped to produce and deliver a production design for the two evenings.
Night One saw the M&S Bank Arena transformed into a glamourous gala dinner, with top BBC talent including Brian Cox and Sir David Attenborough taking to the stage. The dining space was surrounded with 12 large LED screens, created using 576 panels of ROE CB3 3.75mm LED supplied by 80-Six. A striking LED strip chandelier, designed by Hawthorn’s head of lighting Jack Sayer and created by the team at Light Initiative, formed the dramatic centrepiece. Created using 70 intelligent pixel mapped tubes, the custom-made chandelier worked alongside the lighting and video content to create a striking focal point in the space.
Hawthorn created bespoke LED table centres that stretched the entire length of the dining space. These were created using 520m of RGBW LED tape, giving the team control of 31,200 LED pixels. A lighting design by Russell Grubiak utilised over 600 fixtures to light both evenings. The rig included Claypaky Sharpy, Martin Mac Aura XB, Martin Mac Viper Performance, Robe BMFL Spot and Robe LED Beam 150 fixtures.
For sound, Hawthorn installed the latest d&b audio system, providing even coverage in the round.
Sally Brookes, head of global events at BBC Studios comments, “We love working with the Hawthorn team to create such memorable evenings to celebrate the very best of our content.”
(Jim Evans)
