News Blog

Production Resource Group, L.L.C. (PRG), the world’s leading supplier of entertainment and event technology, announces a multi-million dollar investment in assets and personnel at its operation in Saudi Arabia following the group’s strongest performing year in the region, Peter McCann, CEO for PRG in the Middle East announced today. 

Located in the Riyadh Industrial Zone, the 40,000sqft facility is equipped with high-end assets and resources in video, audio, lighting, rigging and staging technologies. 

Tom Van Hemelryck, Co - President EMEA & APAC said, “We are delighted to see our ongoing work with live event producers in Saudi Arabia evolve further and at such pace”, adding, ”This investment is instrumental in guaranteeing that  our globalclients  will have access to world-class expertise and technology when working with PRG across Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East.” 

PRG’s Managing Director for the Saudi Operation, Bruce Mac Lean, commented, “Current client demand and the increasing market opportunities across GCC territories is exciting.  Over the last five years we have seen rapid growth within the event and entertainment sector in Saudi Arabia, featuring both local and international artists and an increase in world-class events.  We’ve enjoyed great success in the region to-date and our mission now is to ensure we can service the increasing customer requirement at good pace and efficiently, whilst also developing the next generation of technical expertise within the local talent pool.”

Media contact EMEA & APAC: Valérie Cuno vcuno@prg.com
Media contact UAE & KSA: Harriet Stewart hstewart@prg.com
Sales enquires in Saudi Arabia: Adam Rhodes arhodes@prg.com  

After an impressive debut in 2019, EDM fans have waited with bated breath for the return of MDLBEAST Soundstorm – the world’s largest (and loudest) festival. The wait was certainly worthwhile, and Soundstorm 2021 roared back into the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh with an even grander and extraordinary second edition. The line-up across the four-day festival featured the biggest names in dance music, including: Martin Garrix, David Guetta, DJ Snake and Tiësto, as well as 11 of the Arab world’s biggest stars, from Nancy Ajram and Elissa to Tamer Hosny and Amr Diab. These performers and over 700,000 fans partied across eight stages, including the behemoth main stage “Big Beast” which stood at 250m wide and 42m tall – one of the world’s tallest and largest stages! PRG were on hand yet again to provide 360° technical support for Big Beast, as well as site-wide EVAC PA and lighting activations for one of the site’s “VIB” entrance gates and projection mapping of the MDL Town Sculpture.



This epic vision for the main stage was a huge undertaking for the PRG team. PRG supplied gear from its newly established Riyadh warehouse, and this was then supplemented by various European depots. Over the course of our 7 months of continuous prep and planning and almost 3 months of set up on site, we delivered nearly 600 tons of technology; including the stage’s entire video, lighting, audio, comms and rigging package.

The record-breaking, continuous screen comprised of over 4,000 sqm of LED, and around 70 million pixels. For the screen’s centre, PRG supplied 2,200sqm of its brand-new Titan-X panels which were developed by PRG and Infiled this was supplemented with ROE MC-7H for the mid wing sections, plus ROE CB5 for the DJ Riser. To cater to the mass of stock, weight, power and pixel considerations that come with such a large single screen project, PRG designed a comprehensive control system, delivering a large yet flexible sync network solution for all artists.

For lighting, the main stage rig included over 1,000 fixtures, with 130 Universes of DMX, 6 x 400A Supplies and 26 km of cable. Fixtures included GLP X Bars, JDC1’s, Robe Pointe, Hybrid fixtures, and LED Bars. For audio, PRG supplied and distributed L-Acoustics K1, K2 and KS28 systems across the main stage and the delay towers which ran using L-Acoustics LA12X controllers and were monitored using P1 processors. Carrying it all were PRGs master riggers with a truss 3.3km long, and 410 hoists.

“The great thing about working with the 360° from PRG is that each department can draw upon its own wealth of expertise and resources, and each team comes together to deliver one exceptional event. This is a bespoke project, and so PRG built a bespoke team. Such a vast production really needed the internal workings and conversations between all our expert technicians to flexibly develop solutions smoothly. From a production point of view, this certainly makes things a lot easier and has definitely been appreciated on this show.”  Yvonne Donnelly Smith, UK Sales Director Music.

PRG Middle Beast Team 2021

To match and deliver the increased scale of the 2021 festival, PRG mobilised its global workforce. Working over 3000 man days, 130 members of PRG crew headed to the event site from our offices in Riyadh, UK, Dubai, Belgium, Germany, and Spain.

“What I see we are doing here is we're at the very forefront of the formation of the entertainment industry in Saudi Arabia. We've insisted that our vendors have a Saudi Arabian presence because we can't continue to support events unsustainably. We have to get going here and everyone has shown a willingness to do this and PRG have now moved into Saudi Arabia.” – Michael Jobson, Executive Director – Events, MDLBEAST.

In the spirit of the Saudi 2030 vision, this focus on supporting the region and its wealth of talent is certainly shared by PRG. Thanks to our newly launched Riyadh office and warehouse, PRG now has a pool of regional assets and resources for future events. After proudly supporting the Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix in Jeddah and Soundstorm 2021 for MDLBEAST, PRG has established a regional depot which already houses a great selection of assets, building a foothold for accessible equipment in Saudi Arabia to deliver exceptional events in the future.

“Part of our drive within Saudi Arabia will be to make sure that we are enabling and empowering and recruiting local Saudi resources and training them to ensure that they develop the skills to help deliver the events of scale that we put on. And that's one of the key drivers where we've been aiming our expansion within Saudi over the last three years.” Bruce MacLean, Manging Director PRG Middle East.

PRG would like to congratulate and thank MDL BEAST, Production Glue and Silent House for this outstanding second edition of the festival and give special thanks to our incomparable global PRG team for their incredible work.

Expo 2020 Dubai, the first World Expo to take place in the Middle East region, officially opened its doors to visitors on October 1st showcasing architectural wonders and technology innovations from more than 192 countries.
UK’s contribution to Expo 2020 Dubai is the mesmerizing cone-shaped UK Pavilion with a circular façade which was created by world-renowned designer Es Devlin. The 25-meter-high LED façade which is integrated into the wooden sculpture is designed to celebrate global cultural diversity and collaboration. The UK Pavilion uses an advanced AI learning algorithm developed in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture which allows visitors to add their word to a continuously changing Collective Message from humanity to the universe displayed on the LED modules.

PRG was appointed by Pico to deliver the engineering of the 2,000 customized LED tiles through our PRG Projects team, sourcing the bespoke LED technology via PRG China as well as the custom designed immersive audio system, designed by Polyphonia. The technology package was then installed by PRG in Dubai.

“This is one of the most remarkable projects that I have been involved with in my whole career,” says Frederic Opsomer, General Manager PRG Projects, “I have known Es for many years, and we have collaborated on several projects together. She is an amazing Designer, and I must say that this project reinforces her already stellar reputation. This breath-taking design of evermoving poetry, displayed digitally and integrated to illuminate the façade of the UK Pavilion was a beautiful challenge for us at PRG, and we are very proud to collaborate with her on this journey of innovation.”

This message of collaboration and international openness is reflected in the delivery of the project. The UK Pavilion is a truly global collaboration; designed in close partnership with Avantgarde, supported by structural engineer Atelier One and supported and executed by Pico International, delivered by our experts from across the PRG global network and finally executed on site by our dedicated PRG Dubai team.

Gavin Short, Senior Technical Project Manager for PRG in Dubai, said: “The UK Pavilion is an exceptional and unmissable part of the overall Expo experience, located in the Opportunity District and is clearly a space that will inspire visitors to the site.”

Expo 2020 is expected to attract 25 million visits, of which 70% are expected to be international visitors.

EMEA – April 20, 2021 • Production Resource Group LLC, (PRG) is known as the entertainment industry’s go-to production solutions provider for music, TV, film, corporate events, and theatre. Over the last year, the company has created a worldwide network 20 of studio environments, including locations owned and operated by PRG Alliance partners. Ideally suited for efficient, scalable production of pre-recorded and live content, each location is equipped with the most sophisticated gear and engineering to service its local market. These studios offer artists, brands and other creators a COVID-compliant setting and the resources to bring their visions to life. Beyond their responsiveness to today’s need for safety, they represent the future for digital and hybrid events.

“The studio environment has never played a more significant role, not only for legacy TV and film creators, but in music, corporate events and emerging fields like esports,” said Jere Harris, PRG Chairman & CEO. “Over the past year, we transformed spaces within our facilities—with every expertise and technology at hand—to serve that surge in demand, and we are seeing a very strong response from our customers.”

PRG Virtual Production Studios are located in Hamburg, Paris and Los Angeles. The PRG Digital Studios can be found all over the globe, including in "The EGG" in Brussels, London's trendy "Saatchi Gallery", Madrid, Dubai and Buenos Aires, Chicago, Las Vegas, Nashville, New York Metro, Orlando and PRG Alliance Partner Studios are in Budapest, Lisbon, Milan, Athens, Sao Paolo, Singapore and Zagreb.

Studios are strategically housed in the immediate vicinity of major facilities, putting both PRG’s inventory and technical expertise within reach, businesses, brands, musicians, filmmakers, and advertising agencies are given the opportunity to realize their projects with maximum security, expertise and cutting-edge technology.

Each studio has its own character, catering to the markets it serves such as music, TV/Film production or corporate event. An expert team is in place to supervise and staff each location, which all offer a variety of solutions for realizing productions and online events. PRG Digital Studios provide the perfect studio environment for pre-recorded or live broadcasts of a wide variety of digital event formats. 

Select locations within the network are PRG’s Virtual Production Studios, which seamlessly combine the physical and digital worlds. Advanced technology solutions—including extended reality (xR), mixed reality and proprietary Enhanced Environments and Ncam® technology—are used to add virtual environments onto real stages. These Virtual Production Studios are equipped to host green screen, standard capture or xR shoots, depending on the needs of production. Here, limitless creative possibilities are available to cinematographers, advertisers, event producers and DPs. From entirely imagined worlds to realistic scenery and backdrops, any environment can be brought into the studio with options for real-time visualization of virtual elements. As a result, talent can interact with their setting in real time, while producers realize major savings in post-production and travel costs.

Whether a simple livestream, an online product launch, a virtual session, elaborate film, television spot or advertising production, our studios are suitable for almost any digital production. High-quality technology, expert engineering for multi-purpose suites and spacious guest amenities characterize the studios. 

“What makes these studios so valuable is their location near the world’s major business and production centers, the range of technologies and people skill sets immediately available and our ability to bring all these technical solutions and workflow expertise elements together in-studio to realize the project vision of our customers,” said Stephan Paridaen, President & COO.

Visit our new microsite for all the details and info on our digital studios: studios.prg.com
 

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About Production Resource Group
PRG is the world's leading provider of entertainment and event technology solutions and has the largest inventory of rental production equipment. PRG provides comprehensive and discreet services to an array of clients in the live music, TV/Film, Broadway, sports, gaming, corporate experiential, and live events markets. Clients and partners depend on PRG's innovation, experience, and depth of experience in audio, video, lighting, rigging, staging, virtual production and extended reality, and scenery and automation systems to bring their stories to life. With 65 offices across North America, South America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Australia, PRG has capabilities to provide services worldwide. PRG is owned by The Jordan Company and GSO Capital Partners and PRG Management. For more information, please visit prg.com.

PRG has already proven its expertise and know-how for the smooth logistics and set-up of COVID-related major projects in a very short time, with the provision of the technical infrastructure for the temporary COVID- 19 treatment centre, in two halls on the Berlin exhibition grounds. Following this, PRG Germany has also been entrusted with the set-up of a similar technical framework for the temporary vaccination centres at Tempelhof Airport and the Arena Berlin Treptow.

PRG is supplying the complete infrastructure for this, including:

• Rigging
• Video
• Lighting
• Audio
• IT and power cables
• Floor plan & AV/IT planning
• Special software solution: Management system for inoculation booth assignment
• Digital signage (route guidance system via LED displays)

 
The rigging, which consists of a total of approx. 1.4 km of truss for both locations, is used to attach the fixtures for the comprehensive lighting, to lay and provide the IT and power set-up for the vaccination booths and the reception and care areas, as well as for the distribution of audio and video signals. As a special software solution, PRG supplied an automated vaccination booth management system, so that the booths are efficiently utilised during operation, minimising waiting times for patients and providing medical staff with an overview of occupancy at all times. PRG also developed a digital signage system using LED screens to help visitors find their way around. An area-wide public address system ensures that announcements can be made.

These temporary installations are carried out in close cooperation with the Berlin Senate Administration for Health, Care and Equality (GPG) and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), which ensures that the vaccination centres (also in accordance with the Covid protection rules) are ready for operation as efficiently as possible and within a short time. The challenge for all parties involved, but especially for PRG as the technical service provider, is to ensure planning permission is in place, plan the movement and disposal of large quantities of equipment and also personnel, and ensure the installation is managed on site within a very tight time frame. The two temporary vaccination centres are expected to be completed on schedule by mid-December. PRG Germany will then support the vaccination centres with technical staff on site for the entire duration of the vaccination process.

For well over a decade PRGdeltasound have been leading the way for specialist Event Communications in the Middle East.

Our technical experts have helped bring ‘Show Communications’ to the forefront of live events industry. We have worked hand-in-hand with the relevant authority (TRA in the UAE) to provide a full service of two-way radios and communications equipment to suit any scale events. 

But integrated communications is more than just radios. With the complexity of event production forever changing, large-scale events are now often running across multiple venues simultaneously and combining multiple teams with one common system. Producers and show-callers are demanding more reliable and intricate configurations with enhanced intelligent networks for greater functionality and adaptability.

PRG do this by offering technical solutions across three main service types.

True show communications systems - analogue and digital wired and wireless, full duplex show comms systems, large scale digital matrix solutions.

Radio systems - Approx. 700 analogue and digital handheld radios, Repeaters and model units, TETRA (terrestrial trunked radios) systems, user accessories for all models, registered frequencies with the TRA. Ability to provide simple conventional systems, up to large scale wide area trunked systems.

Event networks and signal distribution - Show critical LAN deployment for all departments, Ring / Star / Mesh redundant audio / video distribution, SMPTE / FSK Timecode wired / wireless distribution / conversion, Lighting / laser networks.

On many projects the communications engineers are first on-site and the last out on a derig. They interact with every member of production from Producer to Stagehands, so the ability to collaborate and engage across all levels of crew during the lifecycle of an event is a high priority. 

Ultimately the event communications experience our clients have is superior. We do this by offering full-scale service and networking solutions to local and international clients, as well as the dry hire stock to the wider industry. All of this is undertaken whilst maintaining the need to comply with local regulations in different markets.

The PRG team have played a crucial role in the region’s most impressive occasions, from the annual New Year’s Eve spectacular on the Burj Khalifa, the record-breaking fireworks extravaganza in Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah and many large-scale regional special events. The complex communications infrastructure and its capabilities that is installed to deliver these events is astonishing.

Last month, PRG were on-site for one of the European Tour’s premier events, the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA, a Rolex Series Event. We were engaged to facilitate full event radio communications for the four-day event, held in the UAE capital.
 
The scope requested by IMG, the event organiser, was to provide dependable and intelligent event communications coverage for the two square kilometre site located in the centre of Abu Dhabi. The area is quite a challenging RF environment, and careful attention had to be made during frequency planning and system deployment.

Meeting the needs of our brief PRG deployed a spectrum efficient trunked Capacity Plus system to support 200 digital handsets. This allowed the tour management to execute the delivery of the event with seamless communication for their crew via 15 different talk groups. As well as the television broadcast teams to communicate across the site.

PRGdeltasound Technical Manager Liam McGrath explains, ‘Having a trunked system ensures total flexibility and constant clarity for the users. The system is classed as a ‘polite’ radio system, in that if any of the repeaters experience any interference, the repeater will momentarily exclude itself from the network to prevent any clash with the other system.
 
‘Once the interference has passed, the repeater will then re-instate itself back into the system, with no effect on the users. This process is automated, although each event requires setting up differently depending on other known systems, as well as the existing RF and ambient background RF levels in the area’, said Liam.

Being able to offer this type of reassurance to clients is the cornerstone for the event communications department and the integrity of the service we offer is well known throughout the region. The repeated encouraging and gratified feedback from clients regarding the event communications post event, is also a testament to the creative and pragmatic mindset of Liam and team to design and install these networks. 

Liam adds, ‘one of the most exciting aspects of these technologies is that we can offer an almost unlimited configuration depending on the client’s requirements. 
‘We can offer everything from a simple box of six radios with a few of channels, right up to city-wide trunked digital system, with hundreds of handsets, dispatch centres, call recording, emergency systems, plus links into our show communications systems. 

‘Thankfully, as a business we have been given some of the most challenging briefs ever attempted to date, and this has allowed both the team and the technology to grow so that we can deliver, whatever the request!’ said Liam.

Contact the team of specialists at PRG to help plan premium communications for your next event.
dubaisales@prg.com

December 19th to 21st, 2019, are dates that EDM fans in Saudi Arabia will not easily forget! The very first edition of the MDL Beast Fest held in the capital, Riyadh, was an immediate hit. The stellar line-up included 28 International music acts, such as Tiesto, Steve Aoki, David Guetta, Martin Garrix, and 24 home-grown Saudi Arabian DJs including DJ Duo Dish Dash and EDM DJ Cosmicat. PRG is proud to have provided 360° technology support and production services to this.

From a creative dream to technical reality

The record-breaking festival took place at a purpose-built venue on the outskirts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Entertainment offerings were split across five stages delivering a truly spectacular event. PRG was the proud provider of 360° technology and production services for this remarkable first of its kind and it proved a real showcase, demonstrating the collective capabilities of the PRG teams from Dubai, UK, Belgium, Germany and France and their ability to collaborate in making that creative dream a technical reality!

MDL Beast is a festival of superlatives. The PRG team set up a total of 480 tons of equipment on-site — audio, lighting, video and rigging for the five primary stages — but it’s not all about the gear!

For this world-class and amazing first in the region, PRG has come together as a global team to deliver production excellence across all disciplines. This is what PRG is all about…it’s all about our people!

5 stages, 1 big immersive experience

More than 400,000 visitors immersed themselves across the 5 performance arenas, each of them beyond spectacular in terms of scale and visual impact! This, together with a mix of art & cultural zones, fashion activations and food & beverage outlets created a fantastic festival setting.

“We delivered over 3000 square metres of high resolution LED Screens across the festival site, from the impressive and Guinness World Record winning main stage, reaching some 37 metres high, to the immersive 360 degree video performance zones, the scale of this event was truly mind-blowing ”, explains Niel Beelen.

PRG in the Middle East

The supply of state-of-the art equipment was simply one aspect of our scope of work for MDL Beast. Added to this technology was the supply of a diverse range of technical specialists from the across the PRG world.

“PRG is all about technical production services. In a short time-frame our teams across three continents were able to come together team to deliver a truly mega event. MDL Beast was a great festival and we are really proud to have played a part in making this a success!” says Stephan Paridaen, CEO of PRG Group, who was in Saudi Arabia for the occasion. Paridaen continues: “We are really proud to be supporting the vision of 2030, delivered by the Saudi Arabian Leadership, has a focus on culture and tourism, sports and entertainment and what better example than this amazing event, MDL Beast!”

PRG wants to thank and congratulate MDL Beast LLC and Sela for this incredible achievement and to our fantastic global PRG Team.

An inspiring event designed to bring together all our regions from around the world in one location, to share and develop our unique global offering.

PRG Unite has been devised with the specific intention of gathering all of our international teams together, to discuss our global offering for the future. PRG globally is the leading technical solution provider for the event industry and is constantly looking at how to best assist our clients across the world, helping them grow and develop exciting activations. The PRG Unite event enables us to discuss future challenges and strategies while combining our resources and expertise as one team.

The event will enable each of our regions (United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Netherlands, Japan, China, UAE and United States) to showcase their very best corporate projects, detailing to our clients the processes from strategic planning to event delivery, allowing our clients the unique opportunity to share our knowledge and best practice which enable us to hold such a world-renowned standing within the industry.

This insider view is sure to be a unique and inspiring insight into the future of how PRG will work with its clients on a global scale. Speaking about the upcoming PRG Unite event Richard Williams - PRG UK Chief Executive Officer commented:
“We felt this would be a fantastic opportunity for our UK customers to meet and talk directly to all our global PRG colleagues in one place. Allowing them to understand how PRG can help support and work together to provide global solutions.”

End of press release.

About Production Resource Group:
Production Resource Group UK Ltd.
(PRG) is the world’s leading supplier of entertainment and event technology to a wide range
of markets, including corporate and automotive events, concerts, special events, theatre,
television and film, trade shows and installations, such as theme parks, museums, retail stores
and performing arts centres. PRG provides integrated services and equipment, including audio, video, lighting, rigging, staging and scenery and automation systems, for these markets from more than 40 offices in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.

Post Malone, who has captured the zeitgeist through his unique genre-blending musical style and introspective songwriting, is on a global tour. PRG is supporting the superstar worldwide by providing 360 concert touring services, including sound, video, lighting and rigging.

One PRG team

The initial contact and contract in the USA was taken care of by VER, which recently joined the PRG family. Their expertise with big productions in the USA has been indispensable for this tour. Thanks to its unique global presence and network, PRG is able to provide worldwide 360° touring services and apply the same high standards in all countries, across continents.

The crew comes from both the US and Europe and can count on local support and gear in any of the countries on the tour’s agenda.

Production Manager for Post Malone, Dennis Danneels, put it this way: “The PRG team, between Los Angeles, Vegas, Germany and the UK, were basically just taking the project and handing it off like an assembly line all the way down. We were taking advantage of all these different time zones to be able to complete this project in time. People were working right until the last minute of load-in.”

Global reach, local support

For the European part of the tour, our UK and German teams joined forces, working closely together, with UK providing video and light and Germany being responsible for the sound. Thanks to their ample experience in cross-national productions and great communication, this resulted in a seamless and smooth collaboration in which the client benefits from both the scale of PRG Group and the local presence and understanding of the market in each country the tour passes.

Stephan Paridaen, President and COO of PRG says: ‘from day one, this project has been about a collaboration to define the best, most fully integrated technical production solution that realizes the artist’s creative vision. We take that even further and service the tour globally on the ground with local, highly experienced crew and state of the art gear. It’s a service and a 360-degree solution.’

Video Crew Chief ‘Topher’ (Christopher Davidson) was delighted about the seamless support in the various countries. “One advantage of having a worldwide support system, like you have with PRG, is that I am confident that I can go anywhere on the globe and have the same caliber of people, gear, and the same support virtually 24/7 that is required in this industry.”

A new standard in large-scale concert touring

This cutting-edge approach to servicing large-scale concert tours on a global level is made possible by PRG’s unique ability to combine high standards of gear with specialists who work seamlessly together.

“There is incredible skill level with the PRG crew. The gear has been consistent day in and day out. We’ve had very, very few failures, and this is all the stuff that we ran for almost 24 hours a day for three weeks,” Danneels adds. “I’m really pleased with it from a financial stand point, it made a lot of sense, and it saved a lot of money.”

PRG wants to thank our client PostyCo and PM Dennis Danneels. We would like to extend our appreciation for our own Burton Tenenbein, responsible for the overall AE and lighting kit, Brent Dannen, who took care of the tour’s sound, and Mike Drew, supporting the tour’s video package. Also, a big thank you to the whole