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With the European Championships Munich 2022, the largest multi-sport event since the 1972 Summer Olympics took place in Munich in August. From 11 to 21 August 2022, Europe's best athletes competed for the coveted gold medals in the disciplines of beach volleyball, canoe racing, climbing, athletics, cycling, rowing, table tennis, triathlon and gymnastics.
Within the Olympic Park at the heart of the event and beyond, the entire city dressed up for a spectacular and incomparable experience. The concept for this event was “World-class sport supported by a colourful festival”, which was a complete success. The organisers, the athletes, the international audience and the residents of Munich were all thrilled.
For PRG, this multi-sports event was a challenge unlike any other as the seven sports venues managed by PRG had to be staged with individual technological solutions.
PRG supplied lighting, sound, video and rigging for the venues in the Olympic Park (including Olympic Stadium, Olympic Hall, and Olympic Hill which involved public viewing with LED containers).
At the swimming hall, we installed lighting, sound, video and rigging in the finish area for the triathlon and the MTB races.
In Munich's city centre, Königsplatz (beach volleyball / bouldering), Odeonsplatz (cycling races, marathon), and at the regatta course, PRG supplied lighting, rigging, audio and video.
In the Rudi Sedlmayer Hall, where the table tennis competitions took place, one of the challenges was to install glare and reflection free broadcast lighting and rigging over the entire playing area.
The same applied for the gymnastics, which took place in the Olympic Hall. The audience could also keep up with the results on large display LED walls and bands installed by PRG.
As a special construction, PRG supplied an LED gate for the finish at Odeonsplatz which was adjusted in height depending on the sport (cycling / marathon). A special requirement here was to design a base that was as slim as possible so that the entire gate could be set up in the most space-saving way possible:
The almost simultaneous equipping of all these venues was also a mammoth task for PRG logistically as, in total, PRG installed 170 tonnes of equipment.
130 technicians and helpers worked over 2,000 man-days from 28 July to 21 August to install the technology, monitor it during the Championships and dismantle it at the end of the event.
Florian Michael Weber, Creative Director European Championships 2022: "We are creating venues where there are normally none, which is why you need a flexible partner like PRG who can react to this and also help spontaneously with new technology. I think it's exactly this flexibility that makes it so strong and has made Munich 2022 what it has become."
René Rarrel, PRG Director Outdoor LED, added: "It really was a sports festival, the individual sports were well attended, even on the day of the Olympic Park event it was watched by young and old - the European Championships were an outstanding sports event."
All in all, it was the biggest multi-sport event in Germany since Munich 1972, and the planning was suitably exciting and demanding. PRG is very proud to have been a part of it and would like to thank all those involved for their fantastic commitment and excellent cooperation, both beforehand and on-site. It made this amazing event a complete success for the competitive sports, for the spectators, and also in terms of the technical implementation.
For their 40th anniversary, the French band Indochine certainly didn’t do things by halves. Originally scheduled to take place in June 2021, the 45m high tower with a diameter of 30m has been in the works for 2 years. With 6 concerts on the agenda, the Indochine Central Tour performed in Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and closed with two concerts in Lille for their fans from Belgium to be able to come and sing along.
Imagined and sketched by the singer and leader of the band Nicola Sirkis himself, the design of the system presented a particular challenge. The entire rigging construction and sound system had to be invisible whilst still providing the best audio experience for the audience in the stadium. This meant that all the speakers needed to be placed inside the tower, behind the massive 360° LED wall, a groundbreaking concept in event technology.
Based on Nicola’s design, PRG France & PRG Projects worked tirelessly to make his dream a technical reality. Built in conjunction with StageCo, the tower was composed of specially manufactured Titan-X LED and PRG’s latest innovation of the SoundBlast Solution definitely is one for the books! “Nicola wanted to offer an unforgettable experience to all the fans. Building a 360° tower in the middle of the stadium with the audio and lighting inside would allow everyone to see better and be immersed in the pure musical performance and the artistic presence,” says Stéphane Desch, Director of Production. He adds, “He sent me multiple sketches of what he had imagined about two years ago and we started from that. In fact, the end result is very close to his original concept.”
While part of the PRG team started drawing up technical plans and diagrams of the tower, PRG Projects started developing and manufacturing an LED product that would make this endeavor possible. In response to Nicola Sirkis' vision, the 360° tower would need to be fitted with a customized LED screen, specifically developed and manufactured for the Indochine Central Tour, providing a solution that integrated the entire sound system, lighting and all of the cabling within the tower behind the LED screen, to be as streamlined as imagined.
“When we saw Nicola's first drawings, we immediately saw that there were some challenges. Firstly, we had to find a solution to place the sound behind the video screen and there was no solution to that at the time. Secondly, it was the height of the screen. The height of the screen meant that we had to create a new, very light product that had all the features of the PRG SpaceframeTM, including wind bracing, built into it,” says Frederic Opsomer, General Manager of PRG Projects. “At the same time, we needed a product with a transparency of over 70% to allow the sound to penetrate from the back of the screen into the stadium. This meant that we needed to develop a new product.”
INFiLED and PRG worked together closely to develop the TITAN-X. From the first drawing to a 1850m2 setup for the Indochine Central Tour, the collaboration and the combination of the PRGs know-how and INFILEDs agile developing capability has played a major role. R&D teams from Belgium, the UK and China worked tirelessly during more than 9 months on this project and created the ultimate, robust, mesh rental & touring solution with the foldable X-frame structure for a new level of stability. We’re delighted to have collaborated with such a long-term and strong partner like PRG on this impressive project!”, stipulates Michael Hao, CEO at INFILED.
The next challenge was to install the complete sound system behind the LED wall. This would allow for the images on the tower, fitted with 360° LED, to be enjoyed to their fullest, without any audio stacks obstructing the video content. PRG Projects carried out numerous tests with several audio manufacturers and developed the SoundBlast Solution which uses the weight of the audio as a ballast behind the LED screen to support the weight and structure of the LED installation.
“The Titan-X and the PRG SoundBlast Solution will allow us to take a step forward in the development of large videos and video content design because being able to place the sound behind the video screen has been the dream of all designers!” adds Opsomer.
Standing at 45m tall, the Indochine Tower was fitted with 2500 m2 of Titan-X, creating a video wall that was 30m in diameter and 24m high. This gigantic construction in its whole takes about 3 days to assemble and weighs 260 tons. The LED setup weighs 65t and takes 16h to be installed. With its 26, 542, 080 pixels (9216 x 2880) the images on the Titan-X as well as on the central screen in ROE CB5 below, were processed by 7 disguise GX2 servers.
PRG's Technical Director, Romuald Beaufour, who drew up the plans and initial diagrams of the tower comments: "The installation of our Titan-X in stadiums was sometimes complex because the tower protruded from certain stadiums (in height) which posed problems for the municipalities. In order to comply with the relevant legislations, the tower had to withstand a 72km/h wind speed for 3 seconds.”
The lighting kit was made of 1360 lighting fixtures, including LED Striplights and Floods, MAC Viper Wash, Movinghead Impressions X4, LITECRAFT OutLED AT10.plus, ELATION Proteus Smarty Hybrid IP65, and last but not least, 8 PRG GroundControl Longthrow Followspots.
Lighting Designer Jean Christophe Aubrée describes: “There were a lot of challenges in terms of lighting, which is mainly due to the 360° configuration of the tower. The idea was to be able to create some volume in all of this and to use the surfaces, the seats, and the structures of the stadium a little differently. We positioned lighting all directions, from both inside and outside of the tower. We also had to carefully consider the size and weight of our fixtures, since they all had to fit into the tower. Working with a 3D model allowed us to visualise the project more effectively, since sometimes you tend to lose the feeling of distance and dimensions a little.”
In total, 250 technicians were mobilised for the entire Indochine tour and more than 950 shift workers were hired. The PRG touring crew represented 9 different nationalities. “Whether it was PRG Belgium, PRG Projects or PRG France: everyone got involved in this beautiful project. Everyone did a great job. We brought people together from all over the world to grow this team for the tour. It was wonderful to see the synergies and sharing of know-how. But the success of this adventure is also a choice of companies with whom we collaborated. Everyone contributed to this. Whether it's StageCo for the structure or MPM for the sound, this all is a big part of the success of the adventure!” finalizes Laurent Boillot, Production Director, PRG France.
During the concert on June 25, 2022 at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon, 22 digital cameras recorded the show, allowing Indochine to offer a retransmission of the concert from November 24th, 2022 in IMAX cinemas, the world's first live concert filmed in its entirety for IMAX.
PRG AG is pleased to announce that it will be moving into a new, ultra modern office space in a prime location in the center of Hamburg early May 2022. With a direct view of the harbour and a total area of almost 1,400 sqm, the new office will continue to represent PRG's German headquarters. PRG employees and clients can not only expect modern facilities and spacious work areas, but also enjoy all the advantages of Hamburg's special location on the banks of the Elbe.
As of next month, PRG will be available at the new address Neumühlen 19 and is looking forward to coming together again as a team and welcoming its clients here in the future after the years of pandemic.
In addition to the already announced move of the logistics and warehouse location to Kerpen, PRG marks another important milestone with the move into the new headquarters in Hamburg. With this move, PRG reinforces its significantly strengthened presence in Germany and will be able to respond even better to the needs of its customers in the future.
PRG is the world's leading technology provider within the entertainment and events industry. PRG has the largest inventory of production equipment for hire and offers a complete range of services to clients within the live music business, TV & Film, Broadway, Sports, Gaming, experimental corporate events, and the live events market. Clients and partners rely on PRG's innovation, experience and in-depth know-how in audio, video, lighting, rigging, staging, virtual productions & extended reality, and set & automation systems to bring their stories to life. With 62 offices located in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, PRG offers the ability to provide services worldwide.
The Bridge is an exciting and unique addition to the PRG UK network, opening a hub for productions of all sizes in the heart of the country. The space has been designed to be completely flexible and has the power to support whatever your production needs. Located just next door to the PRG UK headquarters in Longbridge, the space richly benefits from a direct link to PRGs wealth of equipment and expertise onsite. From truck splits and prep to full studio productions and pre-production rehearsals, The Bridge can deliver.
Production teams have complete privacy at The Bridge, with access to the space and the resources to run their projects through from planning to show day.
Backstage, it offers a spacious 170sqm office space including: a modern kitchen, showers, accessible bathrooms, bright and comfortable green room and artist dressing rooms, plus spacious production offices, a board room and a gallery viewing space.
Downstairs, The Bridge is home to a 17m x 35m clear floor production area with a minimum 6.2m height clearance. Wall and ceiling drapes line the space and spray insulation has been provided to ensure heating and soundproofing. The space includes a 400A 3 Phase Powerlock, dedicated highspeed production internet, 24hr secure access, and parking for cars, tour buses and trailers.
“With the introduction of The Bridge to our Longbridge location, we are harnessing the power, space, technical capability, and world-class experience of our business and people. It really is a flexible space that offers solutions for live event productions.” Yvonne Donnelly Smith, Sales Director – Music, PRG UK.
To see how The Bridge can help your production, contact the team at thebridgeuk@prg.com.
This new entity has already been active on the market since February 2022 and will provide the PRG AG with production staff by increasing the crewing and service flexibility and therefore providing PRG customers an even more reliable execution of event services.
The PRG Crew employees will experience the advantages of a permanent position and moreover a huge scope of national and international projects from the various market segments of PRG Group. Focused on crewing services, the PRG Crew GmbH will also offer clear career models, as well as personal development programs and further training opportunities.
PRG also welcomes André Ozolins, Managing Director PRG Crew, who will manage the new subsidiary alongside Ingo Rehnert (COO of PRG AG) and who has joined the PRG Team in January 2022.
„With the PRG Crew GmbH we aim to develop into a leading provider of crew services in the entertainment industry and a leading employer for technical staff in the various trades. We offer our employees a secure job in an exciting international event technology service provider company with great productions. In doing so, we combine the extensive experience of the events industry with the wide-ranging opportunities of staffing services.", stipulates André Ozolins, Managing Director PRG Crew.
“We would like to bundle production-related personnel services and establish them on the market as a stand-alone business model reduced to the essentials at the highest level of quality through the PRG Crew GmbH” adds Ingo Rehnert, COO PRG DACH, “Our employees and our clear focus on service quality are the absolute focus. We are looking forward to entering a new era in our industry well prepared".
PRG AG is a leading full-service provider for the event industry. Its services range from support in event conception, planning and implementation to technical equipment and the follow-up of all kinds of events. A comprehensive consulting and support service guarantees customers a creative and professional realization of their events. The PRG equipment pool is one of the largest in the world. Depending on the customer's requirements, PRG supports individual trades or acts as a general service provider with a comprehensive 360° service.
Production Resource Group AG (PRG), Germany, announces the relocation of its central logistics location from Hamburg to Cologne, Kerpen in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Hamburg warehouse, all its equipment and the logistics department will leave the Bredowstrasse in Hamburg to integrate a brand new state-of-the-art and well-equipped property managed and owned by the DIETZ AG in Kerpen-Türnich, as from May 1st. The German PRG Headquarters will remain in Hamburg and will also be moving to a new, easily accessible location right in the city center of Hamburg. The Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Frankfurt and Stuttgart offices will keep on operating as per today.
With the relocation of its Hamburg warehouse and logistics department, PRG AG is not only centralizing and broadening its national reach but will also considerably increase its connection to the equipment pools and offices in Belgium, PRG Gear in Switzerland and their locations in France and The Netherlands.
“We are very excited about all the possibilities this highly modern logistics hub
of 20 000 sqm will guarantee for our customers in terms of shorter transportation routes through Germany and Europe in the future.”, says Udo Willburger, CSO PRG DACH and Executive Board Member. “DIETZ AG's property is perfectly tailored to the needs of our industry and clientele.”
Ingo Rehnert, COO DACH adds: "We are very much looking forward to moving into the new property. The new warehouse facility will allow us to implement a modern and a more efficient operations concept. In this respect, we were rather limited in our Hamburg location. The new premises will enable us to define new standards and to significantly increase our productivity and quality in processing. This improvement will have a positive impact on our internal processes as well as on our production services."
PRG is a leading full-service provider for the events industry. The services offered range from support in event conception, planning, implementation, and technical equipment to the follow-up of events of all kinds. A comprehensive consulting and support service guarantees customers a creative and professional implementation of their events. The PRG equipment pool is one of the largest in the world.
Depending on the customer's wishes, PRG supports individual trades or acts as a general service provider with a comprehensive 360° service.
PRG is a reliable technical partner for national and international sports, esport and cultural events such as the European Championships Munich, the Gymnastics World Championships Stuttgart, the Porsche European Open, ATP tennis tournaments, the Handball Champions League Final Four and numerous motor sport events for many years. With its Sports & Special Events Team and the corresponding technology, PRG ensures impressive opening and closing ceremonies, but also broadcast-quality lighting, indoor and outdoor LED technology and sound systems for events of all event sizes. There is hardly a major public viewing event to which PRG does not contribute with its technology and LED truck fleet. This also includes the fast-growing esports market, for which PRG has provided technical support for events like Valorant, PUBG and Fortnite. Thanks to their Virtual Production Studio-xR, PRG also offers new expertise in the production of various formats in the gaming and influencer sector. Large-scale video projections in the sports and cultural sector round off the offer.
To better serve these markets, PRG is pleased to welcome Meike Árnason as Director Sports & Special Events. Meike brings many years of experience from the event industry. She has worked as an freelance project manager and producer for various agencies and productions (e.g. 100 Years BMW Festival Night at the Olympic Stadium, various cruise ship productions for Celebrity Cruises, show entertainment production for the Mall of Qatar, Helene Fischer Stadium Tour 2018, etc.). For more than 10 years Meike accompanied the Europe-wide Apassionata/Cavalluna tour and held different positions. Most recently she worked as General Manager at the Showpalast Munich.
" I have worked with PRG as a partner on the client side for many years, so I know the company very well and have known it for a very long time. PRG has always been a professional and very reliable partner for me. The colleagues are absolute experts in their field and very passionate about what they do, which is why I am looking forward to being part of this team in the future. The size of the company, the global presence and all the synergies that are made possible, are also factors that distinguish my future challenges at PRG. For me, the position of Director Sport & Special Events combines my strengths, my interests and my great passion for the entertainment industry quite perfectly. I am also looking forward to working with Florian Riepe, Head of Sports & Special Events , and the whole team." says Meike Árnason.
Statement Udo Willburger (CSO PRG DACH & Teil des Vorstands): "The Sports & Special Events segment is an absolutely key topic for PRG both in Germany and internationally. That's why I'm particularly pleased that Meike is joining PRG and will be managing this team. I am convinced that she will be able to incorporate her multiple strengths and her many years of experience in the industry and wish her and her team a great start and lots of success in the Sport & Special Events segment. “
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.
We are pleased to welcome Kai Habermann as Managing Director at PRG Cinegate.
Kai joins Martin Abert in the role, and the two will form the joint management of PRG Cinegate GmbH from January 2022.
Kai Habermann brings with him 28 years of experience in different media companies. Kai already has Cinegate DNA as, between 2005 and 2012 he served as the Managing Director at Cinegate GmbH. In 2012, he felt the need for a change, which led to him becoming Managing Partner at RGB Energy Audits. From 2014 to 2021, Kai then ensured the successful development of ORENDT STUDIOS GmbH as Managing Director, where he was responsible for 360° content creation in the e-commerce sector at its Hamburg and Düsseldorf locations with over 200 employees.
PRG Cinegate Managing Directors Kai Habermann (left) and Martin Abert
Kai Habermann: "Working with the great PRG Cinegate team, combined with this exciting new challenge, makes me feel very positive about the future with PRG Cinegate. My motto for this: whoever stops getting better, has stopped being good."
Martin Abert adds: "I am extremely pleased that we were able to win Kai Habermann for us, so that together we can now use our expert knowledge to drive forward the strategic development of PRG Cinegate and expand our market position more strongly. In addition to scripted and non-scripted TV & film productions, we are particularly focusing on the fast-growing streaming market and virtual production."
PRG Cinegate has locations in almost all German states and studios in Hamburg, Berlin and Cologne. The company is a technical full-service provider for cinema, advertising and TV productions and operates an extensive rental of state-of-the-art cameras, lighting, grip as well as generators and vehicles. The studios vary in size depending on location and are suitable for productions of all sizes.
For the third time in 2021, PRG has just delivered a 360° service for the game show 'Teammates', streamed on Twitch and produced by popular hosts Amar and Trymacs, and agency MediaTotal. Amar and Trymacs are among the most successful streamers on Twitch in Germany with this format, which is reminiscent of 'Schlag den Raab'.
The event was held in the Virtual Production Studio of PRG Cinegate Studios in Hamburg, which has all the technical and spatial facilities needed to produce such a complex game show efficiently.
Reza Abdolali, Managing Director MediaTotal GmbH said: "Teammmates – actually the biggest game show on Twitch – is with the hosts Amar & Trymacs, who invite us to this big show three times a year. Twenty games are played with two invited guests each, who compete against the two hosts to win a 30,000-euro prize.
With PRG, we have a partner at our side who is very far-sighted, who understood from the beginning that we are not in the TV world but in the 'live stream area', where things are different. What I appreciate about PRG is that they can act as a full-service partner. On the one hand it's about the technology, but also really about content and planning. We got a lot of support right from the start – in that respect we are very happy to have PRG on our side."
On working with the production, Andreas Knaak, Recording Manager / Senior Account Manager PRG, said: "I think it's very good that we were able to go through the planning together almost from minute zero and that we were also able to advise and thus develop the show together with MediaTotal. One challenge for this production was that we would have had a space problem for some of the games in our already very large Virtual Production Studio. So, it was a good thing that we have several studios here at Cinegate so that we could include the large Studio 1 and also outdoor facilities. Of course, this was also a challenge for communication, for the logistical process and for everything that goes with it. It's a matter of really listening in advance and understanding what the client wants and needs in order to be there on the spot."
PRG provided the following services for the Teammates game show: Broadcast (vision mixers, cameras and recording, streaming technology), Video, Audio, Lighting, and Rigging.
In addition, PRG provided the complex game programming. Jakob Brunert, Senior Project Manager PRG, comments: “We programmed the game technology and everything around scoring for this show. This means that we play out a total of 14 HD streams from our system, which can be seen on various monitors here in the studio, but also for the viewers at home. This includes scoring, i.e. all the individual point scores from the games, the total point score, and also the joker score for the individual games – and also some digital games that can be seen here on the LED floor on the LED wall.
For the realisation of these applications, we have chosen Ventuz software as the development interface, with which we can produce very flexibly to broadcast standard. It also gives us the option of including touch screens and other interactive elements directly in the software."
On the success of Teammates with Twitch viewers and his experience with PRG, Amar, Teammates Game Host, added: "Back when Stefan Raab quit classic TV and we then started streaming a similar format on Twitch Live, it got a lot of people excited – and I think we also come across as pretty likeable. And of course, the opponents are always great!
After all, this is the third time we've done Teammates together with PRG, and it's just fun to work with the guys, the whole team is very friendly, they build up, break down, don't ask many questions and rock the thing – and I celebrate that!"
We thank Amar & Trymacs and MediaTotal for the positive feedback and once again fantastic collaboration – and look forward to exciting new events together in 2022.
Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for our subsidiary in Zurich!
As the leading dry hire company in Switzerland continues to position itself, PRG Switzerland will go forward as PRG Gear and broaden its reach beyond the swiss borders in the European space. With this move, PRG brings its’ dry rental sources under one single brand with the focus of being the leading source of equipment rental for the production community.
PRG Gear’s office in Zurich is ideally located since it is right in the heart of Europe and can easily offer professional services going beyond. Within 24 hours PRG Gear will be able to serve a radius of 600 km straight from its 7'500 m2 warehouse, which is amongst the largest equipment inventories for all types of production disciplines in the event industry. Working with PRG Gear means having access to leading edge technology and ever evolving gear in Audio, Video Lighting, LED, Cameras, Rigging, Media Servers, Fiber and more.
“Not only will former PRG Switzerland clients be able to rent equipment from PRG Gear in Zurich, they will also be able to count on a widened offer of support solutions for their productions. With the ever-shortening installation and dismantling schedules on-site, we want to include mobile and efficient solutions in our strategic offerings in the future.” says Martin Fischer, General Manager PRG Gear Zurich. “We will also be offering an additional space in our warehouse facilities for our clients to optimize time and prepping of their projects on-site.”
Working in close conjunction with Martin Fischer, General Manager of our Zurich subsidiary, Niklas Bohr will be the new Head of Business Development at PRG Gear in Switzerland. With his many years of experience, Niklas will focus on Austria, France and Italy and address new customers in Europe.
“The moment us right for us to strengthen our brand and move forward as one PRG. We already have 15 well established PRG Gear affiliates in the United States that focus on our dry-rental business. It is only natural to unify the subrental brand globally.” stipulates Stephan Paridaen, CEO PRG, “Whilst the events sector is still reeling from the corona pandemic, we want to make sure that we are ready for the industry to kick off again stronger than ever and face the, what we all hope to be, a roaring 2022 and most of all, serve our clients at our best.”
PRG Gear Switzerland has 14 years of experience in the dry hire business and tries to offer its customers the best solutions. No production is too small or too big.
Founder, Chairman & CEO Jere Harris to take on new role of Executive Chairman & Chief Creative Officer
NEW YORK – Nov. 17, 2021 – PRG, the world’s leading provider of production solutions for entertainment and live events, has named Stephan Paridaen as CEO, effective Jan. 3, 2022. Paridaen currently holds the role of President & COO at PRG, leading its operations in EMEA & APAC since 2010. Simultaneously, Jeremiah J. (Jere) Harris will become the company’s Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer.
“There’s no one better prepared and able to lead the company than Stephan Paridaen,” Harris said. “Since arriving at PRG 12 years ago, he has demonstrated an exceptional passion for our mission and has focused on the continual growth of our business in the EMEA and APAC regions, while improving our operations and expanding our offerings.”
As Executive Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, Harris will work with and support Paridaen and the leadership team on continued excellence in areas that established the company in the first place and define its legacy: customer experience, technology and the mentoring and development of the best industry talent.
Harris felt that the timing was right for the CEO transition. He said, “We are at an inflection point for the company, the industry and indeed the world. After leading the company through the most difficult period in our history, we are now on solid footing. There is still much work to do, and I am confident in Stephan’s ability to realize the tremendous opportunity ahead.”
Speaking on behalf of the PRG Board of Directors, Lauren Krueger, Managing Director, KKR, said, “We thank Jere for his exceptional leadership of PRG and look forward to his contributions as Executive Chairman & Chief Creative Officer. We are confident that Stephan brings the strategic vision and operational focus needed to accelerate growth and profitability at PRG.”
Paridaen has led PRG’s growth in the EMEA region, establishing the company as a major presence on the entertainment and event production landscape there. Recent achievements include the development of new markets, such as esports; a network of digital and virtual production facilities across EMEA and APAC; and a significant expansion in the Middle East, a region actively positioning itself as a destination for entertainment and sports.
Before arriving at PRG, Paridaen was President, Media & Entertainment at the leading visual technology & systems provider Barco. While there, he played a transformative role in the converging technologies of video and lighting, the digitization of cinema theatres and LED display innovation.
Paridaen said, “It is a true honor to lead a company as rich in legacy and innovation as PRG. Jere Harris was among the first to see the tremendous power of technology to transform how audiences engage with music, TV and film, theatre, corporate events and more, and his founding mission now has greater relevance than ever. PRG is uniquely positioned for growth with its industry-leading team of people and global resources.”
Harris is a legendary figure in entertainment and event production. He began his career on Broadway as a carpenter’s apprentice and has since earned a Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award, four Tony Awards, multiple Drama Desk Awards, an Olivier Award, and an Emmy Award for engineering. PRG, the company he founded in 1995, has grown into a global presence with 62 offices in 28 countries and an unsurpassed diversity of technologies and skillsets. In addition, it holds over 250 patents and trademarks and is responsible for innovation that has reshaped production practice in theatre, concert touring, TV, and film and more.
In order to meet the growing market in digital and virtual production, and to offer our clients even better services, we have strengthened our digital studios and are pleased to welcome Timo Hille as Head of Virtual Production and Steven Meyer as Virtual Production Specialist on board with us. Timo and Steven join the existing team with Christian Jungen (also Virtual Production Specialist), Felix Falk (Media Server Operator) and Moses Bartosch (Project Manager).
From left to right: Christian Jungen, Steven Meyer, Timo Hille
Timo Hille is responsible for the entire Virtual Production unit from sales to production. He will also drive the latest developments and innovations:
"The whole area of virtual productions is relatively uncharted territory and still offers a lot of room for creative solutions. What appeals to me is that we at PRG not only want to consolidate the market we have already established ourselves in, but also to use our studios to develop new technologies for the live entertainment sector and to work out production-ready solutions from them. This will allow us to offer our clients not just simple equipment in the future, but unique technology solutions that don't even exist yet."
Steven Meyer as Virtual Production Specialist is responsible for the integration of content into the multi-layered digital studio environment:
"I create new interfaces and ensure that content supplied by the customer is optimally integrated into the various virtual production systems (tracking, real-time engines, media servers). For me, it's always about seamlessly linking these systems to create a perfect virtual experience."
Christian Jungen, who is also a Virtual Production Specialist, adds:
"In addition to working on interface integration, I create and optimise virtual content so that the real and virtual worlds merge exactly. So, with this additional component of creative content creation, we can offer our clients another service that enables efficient digital productions with us."
Johannes Wahl, PRG Sales Director Virtual Production Germany, summarises:
"We can clearly see that the demand for Virtual Production is growing strongly, especially in the area of scripted content. Virtual production gives creative people and filmmakers endless possibilities to redefine spaces and move in real and fictional worlds without restrictions. In addition to artistic aspects, calculative security and the ability to plan the virtual environment are crucial for production. These technologies will certainly have a lasting influence on filming and post-production in the future and will become permanently established as an innovative form of production. That is why we are happy to welcome Timo and Steven, two creative thinkers, to strengthen our team. This means we are ideally equipped for future challenges and innovations in the field of digital and virtual production."
Shooting of the feature film "The Social Experiment" in the
PRG Cinegate Virtual Production Studio-xR in Hamburg
More information about our global digital studio network: www.studios.prg.com
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.
