Latin Grammys

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Univision’s exclusive telecast of the 21st annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards, aired Thursday November 19th and — like most 2020 awards shows — this year’s awards operated a bit differently than previous ceremonies.

The telecast included a mix of remote performances filmed from multiple cities all over the world, along with the main event broadcast from Miami’s American Airlines Arena. Featuring a line-up of Latin music superstars such as Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Anuel AA, Camilo, Bad Bunny, Karol G, Anitta, Fito Páez, Pitbull, and J Balvin, among others, this year’s show reached 5.7 million total viewers 2+ and delivered all-new high-water marks on social with 11.8 million total interactions on social.

J Balvin, Bad Bunny and Karol G led the nominations this year, giving the urban genre some well-deserved recognition.Singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade ended up being the big winner, sweeping all three categories she was nominated in, including Best Alternative Song (for "En Cantos" with iLe) and Best Regional Song (for "Mi Religión"). She tied with fellow artists Rosalía and Carlos Vives for the most wins of the night.

These pandemic era productions pose unique obstacles for designers and producers. One of the biggest challenges, outside of staying healthy, testing every member of the crew multiple times, and abiding by the plethora of governmental guidelines, is replicating the energy lost by a live audience. In this instance, a very limited offscreen audience of 200 lent a bit of atmosphere to the performers in the massive arena setting.

Photo provided by PRG

As the necessity for entertaining a live audience is eased, a bit of relief comes in the form of pre-taping certain performances and the ability to achieve music video levels of production. In the live portions of the show, camera angles — that would typically disrupt an in-house audience — are now able to bring a cinematic feel to the final product.

In one of the five international broadcasts of the evening, Bad Bunny performed two tracks from his 2020 Latin GRAMMY-nominated LP, YHLQMDLG, "Bichiyal" and "Si Veo A Tu Mama." The singer, draped in a silver sequined track suit, crooned out the window of a white sports car as four wheelers encircled him on the streets in his hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Photo provided by PRG

Design for the Latin GRAMMY Awards stage started back in August by Set Designer Jorge Dominguez in collaboration with the show's Executive Producer Jose Tillan, and Assistant Producer Charlie Singer. The team also partnered on Univision’s Premios Juventud which was the first live awards show in the States since the pandemic hit. While it went off remarkably smoothly, it served as a conceptual testing ground for Dominguez and team.

After Premios wrapped, Tillan decided the official theme for the Latin GRAMMY would be “Music Makes Us Human.”

“With everything we were encountering with quarantine, music was the thread that connected humanity,” explains Dominguez, who drew inspiration from viral videos of people around the world playing music from their apartment windows during lockdown.

By broadcasting from five different countries, having artists perform from their homelands, and recognizing reggaeton and trap artists – Latin urban genres that had been previously snubbed in award ceremonies – the global appeal of Latin culture and music was beautifully and thoughtfully highlighted by the Latin Recording Academy.

Photo provided by PRG

“The remote stages spread the wealth of jobs throughout the production community and showed the influence of Latin Music around the world,” said lighting designer Tom Kenny, who was responsible for the colorful, glamourous looks on the main stage in Miami.

Kenny’s vivid color looks came from Robe Pointes, Clay Paky Sharpys and Scenius profiles. The lighting and video orders were provided by PRG. With a rig of roughly 1,200 fixtures, Kenny had no problem achieving big looks, but also left space for smaller, stripped down moments as well. “I always use a cornucopia of lights, but the GroundControl Followspot system from PRG is fabulous for those intimate performances,” said Kenny.

The LED screens took a starring role in the show, with content by Raj Kapoor and Jason Rudolph as screens producer. Exotic, deep, lush colors filled the ROE CB5 screens and the BM4 Floor throughout the evening. The effect was captivating and elegant, but never busy.

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“We had a house band and real musicians, a very classic feel - we can’t let people forget how great live music is,” said Kenny. “It was important that we provided an escape to everyone at home while celebrating the influence of Latin music in the world.”

“Our team onsite knocked it out of the park, especially our video crew with Luke Lewis leading the charge as project manager of this show. Saying, "no" is not in his vocabulary,” said PRG Account Executive Anthony Ciampa.

“I have to give a lot of credit to the guys at PRG – they have been integral to this entire process,” agreed Dominguez, who had, for an added hurdle, just come off a surgery during the production. “When you’re trying to jump start the industry with these kind of events, we all have a vested interest and they stepped up to the plate like they were part of our core production team.”

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Credits & Crew:

Executive Producer: Jose Tillan
Set Design: Jorge Dominguez
Lighting Design: Tom Kenny
Production Manager: Antonio Parodi
Content: Raj Kapoor
Screens Producer: Jason Rudolph
Gaffer: Alex Flores
Gaffer: John Ellar
Lead Carpenter: Jesus Fragoso
Lighting Director: Mark Butts
Lighting Director: Ronnie Skopac
Lighting Director: Fuji Convertino
Screens Programmer: Tim Nauss
E2 TD: Duane Wright
Screens Control Engineer: Josh Fleitell
Content Manager: Kelly Austin
Project Manager/LED Programmer: Luke B Lewis
LED Lead/Crew Chief: Josh Marrano

LED Techs:
Pablo Moreira
Colton Carroll
Mike Sienkiewicz
Omar Montes Rangel

Lighting Techs:
Tim Donovan
Mikey Smallman
Adam Haigin
Russ Keitel

Lighting and Video: PRG
Audio: Firehouse Productions
Comms: Professional Wireless
Cameras: Univision

PRE-SHOW:
Lighting Designer/Director: Rene Garcia
Gaffer: Jason Uchita
Programmer: Chris DeLorenzo

Techs:
Ramon Furelos
Cris Estrada
Sylvio “Riff” Romanello
Andres Vietto
Edward Miyares

GEAR LIST
LIGHTING
MOVING LIGHTS
78 ROBE ROBIN 1200 LEDWASH, BLK
10 VL3500 WASH FX (NAC3-20)
25 ROBE ROBIN 600 LEDWASH, BLK
24 STROBE GLP JDC1 LED RGB
76 CLAY PAKY SCENIUS UNICO BLK
120 ROBE ROBIN POINTE, BLK
28 CLAY PAKY SHARPY BEAM 189W BLK
26 CLAY PAKY SHARPY BEAM 189W CHR
27 GLP IMPRESSION X4 BAR20 RGBW
60 STROBE SOLARIS FLARE LED RGBW NON-RDM
63 STROBE SOLARIS FLARE LR Q+ LED RGBW 36° V2
10 VLX LED WASH, RGBW, BLK
10 STROBE MARTIN ATOMIC 3000 LED
2 LITEPANELS ASTRA 1X1 X2 KIT
4 STAND C-STAND 40" MSE CHR
PRG GROUND CONTROL
14 SPOT SYSTEM GROUNDCONTROL CONTROLLER PRG
6 FOG DF-50 DIFFUSION 120V
6 FAN VARI REEL EFX RE 2 110-125V
2 FOG JEM ZR33 FOGGER DMX 120V
6 NODE PRG VIRTUOSO SUPER NODE
20 NODE GRAND MA 8-PORT
2 OPTICALCON OM3 MM DUO FIELD 492' 150M
4 OPTICALCON OM3 MM DUO FIELD 250' 76M
3 GRAND MA2 FULL CONSOLE 8192CH
1 GRAND MA2 LIGHT CONSOLE 4096CH
16 GRAND MA NPU NETWORK PROCESSING UNIT
8 DMX SWITCH A/B 8-UNIVERSE 1RU CT
6 MON 19" LCD 1440X900 DVI/VGA
70 OPTO BOX XLR5 2X 8 SWITCH A/B DMX TMB PROPLEX
4 OPTO BOX XLR5 - XLR5 X8 PATHWAY 9024 100-240V
18 NET SWITCH 1GB X12 MGD OPTICALCON X2 VIA12
2 NET SWITCH 1GB X24 NETGEAR JGS524 1RU
1 NET SWITCH 1GB ETHERCON X8, OPTICALCON QUAD X2 TMB
19 UPS 120V 1500VA APC SMT1500RM2U 2RU
4 DIM 24X 2.4K SENSOR+ PACK SOCA19/2P&G
7 RELAY 1X 20A DMX FLEENOR DMX1REL20A

LED
ROE CB5 - 128 in Frames - 534 in Cases
662 LED Tile 5.77mm ROE Carbon CB5 Wht (NT) B#1 1x2
ROE BM4 Floor - 187 from Matrix - 248 from VER
463 LED Tile 4.76mm ROE BM4 Floor Tile B#2
56 LED Floor Riser ROE BM-Series 2x3 V2 Non-Rolling
LED System Processing
8 LED Processor Revolution M8 4K
16 LED Proc Revolution Dist Box M8
1 Samsung U32E850R 32" 4K Monitor (No Audio)
1 AJA Hi5-4K 4K SDI to HDMI Converter
4 Decimator MCDMON-9S 9x1 3G(Level A/B) HD/SD SDI Multiviewer (SDI out) Card
3 LED Processor Brompton Tessera SX40 4K 2RU
9 LED Proc Brompton Tessera XD 10G Data Dist
3 LED Processor Brompton Tessera M2HD
14 Folsom ImagePRO-II Processor
2 Barco ImagePro-4K
2 Barco E2/S3/EX/IP4K Input Card Tri-Combo HDMI 2.0/DP1.2/12G/6G

MEDIA SERVERS
SERVERS
2 Hippotizer Boreal + v4 (4x DVI Output)
4 Hippotizer Taiga+ (6x DVI Output)
1 Adderlink Infinity AIM Manager 24 Station
1 Adderlink Infinity AIM Manager Power Supply
4 AdderLink Infinity Dual Transmitter
3 AdderLink INFINITY ALIF1002 TRANSMITTER
3 AdderLink Infinity Dual Receiver
1 AdderLink INFINITY ALIF1002 RECEIVER
2 Brainstorm SR-112 Distripalyzer w/ TCG
2 PSU 12V 5.0A 100-240V DIN4M Brainstorm PS-8
2 Brainstorm SR-112 Distripalyzer
4 Genelec 8040BPM 6.5" Active Two-Way Studio Monitor
4 TC Electronics Level Pilot Monitor Control
6 Barco Encore E2 Processor Gen1
1 BlackMagic Smart VideoHub 40x40 4K-12G Router
1 ROUTER 16x16 HDMI MATRIX LWARE MX2-16X16- HDMI20-R
1 Panasonic AW-UE150 4K Integrated PTZ Camera
2 Cisco SG112-24 24 Port Gigabit Switch
2 AJA FIDO-T-ST Single Channel HD/SDI/3G to ST Fiber w/Looping SDI Output
2 AJA FIDO-R-ST Single Channel ST Fiber to HD/SDI/3G w/Dual SDI Outputs
1 AJA NP12-US0520 Power Supply (DWP)

PRE SHOW
LIGHTING
3 BEST BOY SPOT HP W/CAMERA GROUNDCONTROL
3 SPOT SYSTEM GROUNDCONTROL CONTROLLER PRG
33 ROBE ROBIN POINTE, BLK
11 ROBE SPIIDER LED WASHBEAM RGBW BLK
20 STROBE GLP JDC1 LED RGB
28 GLP IMPRESSION X4 LED RGBW BLK
2 FOG MDG ATM GENERATOR THEONE APS
30 CHAUVET COLORDASH ACCENT QUAD LED RGBA BLK
MOVING FIXTURES
44 ROBE ROBIN 1200 PUREWHITE DL LED WASH BLK
LED FIXTURES
30 MARTIN RUSH PAR 2 V1 LED RGBW ZOOM
12 SOURCE 4 LED LUSTR SERIES 2 HEAD/BODY BLK
8 SOURCE 4 LED DAYLIGHT SERIES 2 HEAD/BODY BLK
12 GLP IMPRESSION X4 BAR20 RGBW
GRIP LIGHTING
6 SOFTLIGHT LED ARRI SKYPANEL S60-C MANUAL
10 TRUCOLOR HS SOFT CINEO
16 STAND COMBO 3-RISE ROLLING STEEL MSE CHR

VIDEO
(x3) - ROE CB5 LED Screens - 4W x 2H - Flown – 24 Prime
24 LED Tile 5.77mm ROE Carbon CB5 Wht (NT) B#1 1x2
24 LED Tour Frame ROE CB Blk 1W2H
3 LED Tile Bumper ROE CB 4W TF
6 12" Grapple Rigging Point (Black)
(x3) ROE CB5 LED "Ceiling" Feature - 1W x 3.5H - 21-1x1 Prime
21 LED Tile 5.77mm ROE Carbon CB5 Wht (NT) B#1 1x1
21 LED Tour Frame ROE CB Blk 1W1H
2 LED Processor Brompton Tessera M2HD