Manchester International Festival: City Wide Live Broadcast
Twenty one days of city wide live production for MIF17, supporting BBC and online broadcasts from Piccadilly Gardens, UNFEAR and Old Granada Studios.
Taking live coverage across a city wide festival
Manchester International Festival 2017 placed live projects in Piccadilly Gardens, Old Granada Studios and UNFEAR in the Northern Quarter. We spent 21 days on site supporting selected broadcasts across those locations.
Each production had its own creative language, site conditions and audience route. The technical plan needed to support BBC and online output across a public opening event, an evolving installation and a live music performance.
A tailored broadcast route for each MIF17 project
We provided the live link to the BBC and the online livestream for What Is the City but the People?. At UNFEAR, the team produced Manchester Street Poem’s 24/7 CCTV style multiview livestream using eight camera points, more than one kilometre of cable and LiveU.
At Old Granada Studios, Lion Eyes produced the New Order show and we supplied the live links for online distribution. Together, the three projects accounted for 21 days of our activity on site.
In numbers
Twenty one days of live production across Manchester
We spent 21 days on site during Manchester International Festival 2017, delivering city wide live production across selected projects in Piccadilly Gardens, Old Granada Studios and UNFEAR in the Northern Quarter. Each location required its own route to the BBC or online audiences.
Katherine Jewkes was MIF17 Digital Producer. We supplied live production and connectivity workflows across the programme, moving between a major public opening, an evolving installation and a music performance.
Photograph: Jon Souper.
What Is the City but the People? live to the BBC and online
What Is the City but the People? opened MIF17 in Piccadilly Gardens. Created from an idea by Jeremy Deller, the work brought Manchester citizens onto a raised runway with live music, projected portraits and text.
We provided the live link to the BBC and the online livestream broadcast. The production carried the public event from the city centre site to broadcast and digital audiences.
A continuous live view of Manchester Street Poem
At UNFEAR, a disused shoe shop in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, Manchester Street Poem developed as a performance and installation co created by Underworld and people with personal experience of homelessness.
We produced the 24/7 livestream, running just over one kilometre of cable to eight camera points, creating a CCTV style multiview broadcast and using LiveU to carry the feed from UNFEAR. The continuous broadcast let remote audiences watch the words and soundscape evolve across the installation.
New Order online from Old Granada Studios
New Order’s collaboration with Liam Gillick and Joe Duddell took over Stage 1 at Old Granada Studios, with Gillick’s visual environment responding to the music.
Lion Eyes produced the show. We supported that production by supplying the live links for online distribution, including streams to the MIF and New Order Facebook pages. The role concentrated on carrying the finished programme reliably to its digital audience.
One production partner across three very different environments
The public runway in Piccadilly Gardens, the continuous UNFEAR installation and the Old Granada Studios music programme each required a different combination of camera coverage, connectivity and delivery.
Twenty one days onsite gave us continuity across the festival while the team adapted live links and online delivery to each production and collaborator. The work demonstrates how one technical partner can support a city wide cultural programme without treating every venue or audience in the same way.
For practical planning advice, read our remote production workflow guide. Explore our Manchester Street Poem livestream for related production work.
Frequently asked questions
How long was we on site at MIF17?
Our on site activity across Manchester International Festival 2017 lasted 21 days.
What did you deliver for What Is the City but the People?
We provided the live link to the BBC and the online livestream broadcast from Piccadilly Gardens.
How was Manchester Street Poem broadcast?
We produced a 24/7 CCTV style multiview livestream using eight camera points, more than one kilometre of cable and LiveU transmission from UNFEAR.
What was our role on the New Order show?
Lion Eyes produced the show, and we supplied the live links for online distribution to the MIF and New Order Facebook pages.
Planning a live broadcast across several venues?
Talk to us about camera systems, connectivity and live delivery for your event.
