Technical Staging Services - Mediaco

Event: Juno Awards Gala 2004
Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS)

Location: Edmonton, Shaw Conference Center

Event Profile
There is much more to the Juno Awards than the show you see on TV every spring. In fact, most of the awards are presented on the previous night at the Gala - and for glamour and excitement, the 2004 Gala easily rivaled the televised event.

The scope was far-reaching. Mediaco served as overall event producers, creating and integrating virtually every detail of the audience experience: complete design and implementation of all technical operations, venue decor, security service, right down to the Awards envelope designed for perfect TV optics.

Mediaco Solutions

Here are a few of the highlights:

Staging

An exciting backdrop design took full advantage of the 120-foot wide stage. A 12 x 16 foot center screen was flanked by 7 other screens to ensure maximum visibility for everyone in the room (no one wanted to miss a moment of emcees Ed Robertson and Steven Paige of the Barenaked Ladies or the roster of star presenters).

A vertical plasma screen, attached to the podium's front surface, featured a revolving 3D animation of the 2004 Awards logo.

Mediaco designed a 24-foot stage thrust to bring immediacy to the three live musical performances by Doc Walker, Shaye and rapper Buck 65.

Video and Visuals

The 7 screens provided a seamless blend of closed circuit image magnification from a total of 4 cameras - 1 fixed, 2 handheld on stage, and one on a 40-foot jib arm.

Live video images were precision-mixed with animated graphics for both image and graphical recognition of nominees and recipients.

Pre-event video production included the graphical design and assembly of nominee reels.

Lighting
Complex ceiling rigging enabled a unique look and "color story" for each major Gala segment, illuminating the musical performances and special moments such as the induction of legendary producer Bob Ezrin to the Hall of Fame, and presentation of the Walt Grealis Special Acheivement Award. This year, the award was presented posthumously to its creator, Walt Crealis, a beloved industry leader for 40 years who passed away in January 2004. Grealis's RPM Magazine published an annual music poll, regarded as a precursor of the Juno's.

Technical Coordination
Mediaco served as technical "host" for both the televised awards and the Gala, providing special TV lighting, Internet connectivity and video segments of the Award winners for broadcast.

Stage Management
Mediaco's precision stage management team directed the flow of the proceedings, ensuring that the 28 awards, two special awards and the three musical performances all went like clockwork - and without a hitch.

Mediaco partner Neil MacNeil, event producer, recounts his best Juno moment:

"In an event like this, with so many detailed elements, even small glitches can interrupt the magic. I positioned myself at the back of the room, headset on, ready to troubleshoot before problems happened. But after months of work leading up to this night, I had nothing to do! Cue to cue, segment to segment, the event was flawless."

In our industry, good service is the common currency. At Mediaco The Presentation Company, we go far beyond that. We are obsessed with impressing you. Our house blend of ability, creativity and energy is, we firmly believe, unmatched in Canada. "The Mediaco Way" is what our staff call it. Our clients call it "great attitude."

Whatever its name, it has earned us chances to serve many of the country's most exacting clients from the ranks of government, major corporations, chartered banks, associations, and leading event planners. It has resulted in an extraordinary resume: APEC summit meetings, Royal Visits, Commonwealth Games, and billion-dollar industry announcements.

Of course, major events like these don't happen every day. But from these opportunities we have developed a level of service (but no attitude) that shows up in all our projects, small or large.

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