Oscar Party with VOA and Channel 6

March 08, 2010

Eventions teamed up with the Volunteers of America, Channel 6 WPVI and the staff at the Loews Hotel to produce Philadelphia’s only officially sanctioned telecast of the Oscars. The Volunteers of America shelter homeless people and help them find permanent housing. They also help people struggling with behavioral health issues or development disabilities and they help ex-offenders re-enter their communities, reconcile with their families, and resume their working lives. This event is their major fundraiser for the year and turned to Eventions Productions to jazz up the presentation and make this year different.

We listened to the client’s goals of making the stage and production more of a “show” They were bored of the two screens and a podium they have been doing for years. We designed a stage set incorporating two HD (High Definition) video screens to allow us to take a direct HD feed from Channel 6 and display it in crystal clarity. We also suggested a stage set with multiple plasma monitors to display sponsor logos. We originally had the idea of getting two huge Oscar statues to flank the podium, but learned that the Oscar image is a copyrighted image and cannot be used without authority from the Oscars. ( I Wonder how many other “props and décor pieces” that are used in events are copyrighted and people don’t ever think about it) We then came up the idea of having these cool statues we have seen at events magically hold the plasmas. A quick call to a friend at a prop shop and some careful engineering and we had our “floating TVs,” a sexy lucite podium and some intelligent lighting and we had a great looking presentation for the client.

The client gave us the technical requirements for their entertainment. Little did we know they were female impersonators. Cher, Liza, Tina Turner and Prince put on an amazing show and got the crowd on their feet from the second they walked in the door.

VOA arranged for about 50 Papparazzi to greet the guests as they came off of the elevators onto the red carpet. A Channel 6 on-air personality interviewed people for broadcast back to the national ABC network feed.