Ceremonies - Host City

SportAccord Convention signs Filmmaster Events as Silver Partner

Closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games (Photo: Wikipedia, Sarah & Austin Houghton-Bird)

SportAccord Convention has announced Filmmaster as Silver Partner to this year’s World Sport & Business Summit taking place from 19-24 April 2015 at the Sochi Expocentre, Sochi, Russia. 

Filmmaster is the producer of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies, as well as the Olympic and Paralympic torch relay, and recognised for staging some of the most exclusive sporting and cultural events worldwide. For the last 5 years, Filmmaster has been awarded Best Event Agency. 

Antonio Albete, CEO of Filmmaster Events commented: “Filmmaster Events is a leading global event agency that over the years has produced the main international sports events. This is going to be a big year for us, since we are involved in several sport and institutional events around the world and we will work at the production of Rio 2016 Olympic Ceremonies and Torch relay. We are really proud to be here for SportAccord Convention and would not miss this important event in the sport industry.” 

With 35 years experience and offices in Rome, Milan, Dubai, London and Rio, Filmmaster takes care of every phase including the creation, planning and production of events.

Nis Hatt, Managing Director, SportAccord Convention noted, “Filmmaster creates unforgettable events and moments people treasure. Their flair and brilliant mastery are hallmarks of their brand and we’re delighted to welcome Filmmaster to the SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit.” 

The SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit is a unique opportunity for key decision-makers in sport to engage with business leaders across 25+ industry sectors. The 6-day event features a 3-day Conference, dynamic exhibition, LawAccord, City Forum, the SportAccord Convention Village and Sports Demo Zone, the SportAccord Sport Awards, as well as hosting the annual general meetings of governing bodies of world sport. 

To register as a delegate visit www.sportaccordconvention.com. For further facts and insights on this year’s Convention, see The Preview.

The city is the centre of the world’s biggest story – Filmmaster Events

Antonio Abete, CEO of Filmmaster Events - one of the few companies in the world licensed to organise Olympic ceremonies

HOST CITY: Rights holders, hosts and organizers of mega sports events have a number of requirements and expectations about the structure and content of opening and closing ceremonies. How do you balance these requirements, and how do you avoid ceremonies becoming formulaic?

Antonio Abete: Producing a sports event requires commitment, experience, creativity and managing skills. This is why the best companies in the world take the field when it’s time to organise these important ceremonies. Expectations are always high: sports ceremonies are among the most watched television events in the world. 

On average, more than 4 billion people watch Olympic ceremonies. These events are in charge of telling the story of the country, showing its traditions, celebrating its future. They must meet technical demands as well as the emotional needs of the television audience and live viewers. Finding the right balance it is not simple; for this reason, long experiences together with the will to experiment with creativity are essential. 

It is difficult to work in a stadium: there are a lot of limits, such as the field of play, which is untouchable. You need to be creative if you want to avoid banality and keep the viewers attention high. You have to think outside the box and interchange charged-up moments with poetic ones. The viewers will be able to feel a wide range of emotions thanks to the successions of performances. 

 

HOST CITY: How important for the host city are the opportunities that mega sports events present for hosting other concurrent events, such as cultural festivals and business events, and how can a host city maximise these opportunities? 

Antonio Abete: The host city has got a great opportunity to highlight and promote its heritage through the world. It is essential that the city works as the leader of the event and creates an appropriate structure for all the accessory events. The city should be the protagonist in order to allow the public to discover the resources of its land. During these events, sport is linked with social issues, politics, culture and the future of the society that it is representing. Host cities must be able to handle all these different aspects and adopt a long-term strategy to make the shows more successful. 

 

HOST CITY: How do you see event production changing in 2015 and beyond?

Antonio Abete: There are no specific trends or determined directions. We are a leading player in event history, and we are aware of what we offer and what we can produce. 

The events industry is influenced by trends, like every industry, mostly because of new technologies, which are now essential while creating and producing every kind of event. We have been the first one to try new strategies, find innovative instruments and changing the rules. We are one of the few companies in the world, and the only Italian company, to be licensed to organise Olympic Ceremonies. This makes us proud and encourages us in improving our services and our skills more and more. 

 

Sochi and London ceremonies team to do LA2015 Games

Rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London (Photo: Matt Lancashire)

An LA-based company has won the contract to be the official executive producer of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2015 Special Olympic World Games, which take place in the city next summer.

The work was awarded through a competitive bidding process on the back of FiveCurrents’ experience working on 12 Olympic Games, four Paralympic Games and nine major multi-sport events over the last 25 years.

“Having produced the Opening Ceremonies of back-to-back Olympic Games, we are looking forward to bringing the world together to celebrate another once-in-a-lifetime moment of international pride right here in our home state and country,” said Scott Givens, president of FiveCurrents.

Most recently, FiveCurrents worked on the Sochi 2014 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies. They were also the production company behind Danny Boyle’s celebrated London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony and will also be working on the European Games in Baku next year.  

80,000 spectators are expected to attend the Opening Ceremony at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, July 25, 2015. The ceremony will be broadcast live and distributed internationally by ESPN, the Official Broadcaster of the 2015 Special Olympics World Games.

The opening ceremony will put the athletes at the centre of the celebrations, with the final leg of the “Law Enforcement Torch Run” culminating in a Parade of Athletes and the lighting of the Special Olympics cauldron. 

“We are looking forward to creating the stage that will celebrate the courage, determination and joy of our athletes,” said Patrick McClenahan, President and Chief Executive Officer of LA2015. “With the support of FiveCurrents, we will welcome the world as we cast a spotlight on acceptance and inclusion.”

The 2015 Special Olympics World Games will run from July 25nd until August 2nd. With 7,000 athletes representing 177 countries, the event can claim to be the “largest sports and humanitarian event anywhere in the world in 2015, and the single biggest event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games.”

Los Angeles is vying against Boston, San Francisco and Washington DC to become the US Olympic Committee’s candidate for the Olympic Games in 2024, a decision on which is expected to be made early in 2015.

 

World Fireworks Championship attracts host cities

Crowds line the streets to watch fireworks usher in 2014 in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam

The World Fireworks Championship has launched the process of identifying a host city for the event for 2015 and beyond, making it one of the world’s biggest artistic events that moves from one city to another.

“We are incredibly excited about the opportunity that the World Fireworks Championship has to offer a host city, as one of only a few major arts events that move from city to city around the world delivering very significant economic returns,” said Angus Buchanan, joint managing director of The Sports Consultancy. 

The Sports Consultancy has partnered with event producer, World Fireworks Productions with the aim of making the championships into “one of the world’s great travelling arts events”.  

The process of identifying a host city for the event from 2015 onwards begins today. 

“We are realistically looking for a 2015 host who will then host the next two editions before it rotates annually,” said Lucy Caillé, senior consultant at the Sports Consultancy told HOST CITY. 

The launch of the bid process coincides with an overhaul of the format of the event. Choreographing fireworks to music, the new look World Fireworks Championship will pit six of the world’s most celebrated fireworks companies against each other, competing for their countries over three weekends to become World Fireworks Champion.  

An interactive ‘Art of Light Festival’ will run alongside the championships with the aim of creating a busy programme of family orientated exhibitions and installations.

The event has also just announced its first commercial partner, global travel provider, TUI Event Group, who will will create and market bespoke travel packages to the host destination. 

“We believe the World Fireworks Championship event will be an enormously attractive destination marketing package,” said Chad Lion-Chachet, managing director, TUI Event Group.

“The event blends fireworks' universal appeal with the ability to showcase the city in, literally, the best possible light.  We’re really delighted to work with the team to develop the event as a “once in a lifetime” experience.”

The 2010 World Fireworks Championships in Oman attracted an audience of over 750,000 making it the largest ever spectator event in the Sultanate’s history and was won by Lacroix-Ruggieri representing France.

World Fireworks Productions CEO Mark Wooding said: “The 2010 Championship in Oman was incredibly successful, by far exceeding expectations and creating huge public excitement and enormous crowds. 

“Our plans for the future promise to take the Championship to new heights and we’re really looking forward to finding a host partner to share in our development of the World Fireworks Championship to make it one of the world’s greatest festivals.”

Potential host cities have been invited to submit an expression of interest by contacting the organisers at hosting@worldfireworkschampionship.com

Glasgow 2014 excludes Red Road demolition from ceremony

The demolition of five blocks of flats during the opening ceremony was intended as a bold statement of urban renewal

Glasgow 2014 has taken the decision to exclude the demolition of Red Road flats from the opening ceremony, concerned that public opposition might spark security incidents.

Having announced less than two weeks ago that Red Road flats would be demolished as part of the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, Glasgow 2014 has abandoned the plans in the face of widespread strong feelings of opposition.

Opposition to the proposal was led by former parliamentarian Carolyn Leckie, whose online petition gathered 17,240 signatures. On hearing the news, she tweeted “huge respect to decision makers prepared to change their mind. That’s the kind of democracy I want to live in.”

The organising committee was due to meet with Leckie early this week to discuss the proposals, with the intention of standing by its bold plan. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Glasgow 2014 told Host City: “Glasgow 2014 and Games Partners remain committed to ensuring the important story of Red Road is part of the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.  

“We want the story of Glasgow and Scotland to be real and authentic and reflecting the lives and history of communities such as Red Road, especially at such an important point in their regeneration.”

“We recognise the passion people feel for Glasgow and respect the wide range of views being expressed on how the city is represented in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games.”

On Thursday, David Grevemberg wrote to Host City readers confirming his support for the plans. “Bringing the Red Road story into the opening ceremony was opportunity to commemorate an important part of Glasgow’s social history in a unique and powerful way,” he wrote.

“There is no doubt the decision to include it in the opening ceremony is new territory. It is reflective of an opening ceremony designed to celebrate Glasgow’s authenticity, passion and ambition.”

However, in the interests of public safety, the organising committee decided to back down over the weekend. In a statement, David Grevemberg, Chief Executive of Glasgow 2014 said: “We made it clear from the outset the absolute priority was safety and that this event would only happen during the opening ceremony if it was safe to do so.

“Over the past few days it has become clear that opinions have been expressed which change the safety and security context. Glasgow 2014, Games Partners and key stakeholders, including Police Scotland and Glasgow Housing Association, are not prepared to allow what was proposed to be a positive act of commemoration to create risk for all concerned, including the communities of north east Glasgow.”

The opening ceremony will still reflect the regeneration of Glasgow, with a renewed emaphasis on public engagement. A spokesperson for Glasgow 2014 told Host City: “We are working to ensure plans for the ceremonies are properly represented and we are reviewing how we can best engage with people on this issue.

“The ceremonies create a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share positive aspects of city and national life with a global audience. Over coming weeks we look forward to sharing further details of the variety of different stories our Ceremonies will tell.”