In total, more than four miles of cable were used to power 14 Martin MAC Auras, 20 MAC Viper AirFxs, 19 MAC Viper Performances and 24 MAC Viper Profiles throughout Radio City Music Hall from Thursday 8 May 8th - Saturday 10 May.
What began as a relatively quiet experience in 1936, the NFL's annual Draft has become one of the largest productions and most anticipated yearly events. As the NFL has continued to grow, so has the emphasis on production quality.
"This was our first year with a complete Martin rig," Franks said. "Doing this project for 18 years, the Draft has consistently grown into a bigger event. We are constantly looking at how we can make it better each year and this year Martin played a big part in that. With two different networks now covering the event, the challenges grew even more as additional areas needed lighting coverage. It was a lot to manage but having the consistency of one team, we were able to create a uniformed look that worked for everyone."
Franks decided to make the transition to Martin fixtures after several product demos and side-by-side comparisons with competitors. "We did the entire set-up in a matter of three days so there was definitely a lot of pressure to get it perfect the first time," he said. "In addition, there is a new red carpet set-up outside the Draft before the first night that we were responsible for lighting. There were a lot of different parts but Martin helped tie it all together."
Echoing Franks' statement, John Trowbridge, gaffer crew chief at The Wolf Productions stated that he enjoyed working with a quality product such as Martin. "In prior years," he said, "we've used a selection of different manufactures, so it was nice to tighten things up with just Martin. Christie Lites is a Martin shop with a bunch of great fixtures so it made my life and my team's life easier dealing with one company."
(Jim Evans)
