Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront 2022

The Main Stage at Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront 2022

Another Shining Performance by Jennifer Hudson

David Zaslav, WBD CEO, Addresses the Crowd from ATOMIC’s Custom-Made Lectern

600+ Sceptrons Were Used Throughout the 2022 Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront

Production Drawings of the Theater at Madison Square Garden for the WBDU 2022

Pre-Show Tech Check on some of the 395+ LED Tiles

ATOMIC-designed Lobby Entrance of Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront 2022

Half Moon Part of the Lobby Outfitted with an ATOMIC-Built Sign

Custom Fabricated Louvred Walls Create a Stunning Visual to the WBDU 2022 Lobby Guest Experience

Stylized, On-Brand Refreshments Reiterate our Production Motto, “It’s All About the Details”

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Description

For this year’s Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront, in conjunction with our longtime colleagues at Soren West, we produced a truly remarkable event. What did we do specifically? Well, we did much of what we do when we produce events – manage A LOT of details. Details that go into categories like; budgeting, catering, COVID protocols, travel, hospitality, vendor management, talent, venue maintenance, and the list goes on.

Not only did we help produce the event, but we also designed the lobby guest experience. As soon as attendees arrived, the exclusive entrance was donned with custom high-end furnishings, beautiful floral arrangements, stylized refreshments, and an on-brand feel to set the day off right.

Not only did we produce the event and design the lobby, we ALSO custom fabricated a lot of the structures seen throughout the event. Some of those included:

  • The infrastructure that held the LED tiles and the sceptron forest on the main stage
  • Custom signage throughout lobby, hallways, and theater
  • Louvered walls in the lobby (Yep, those were custom!)
  • A custom lectern
  • Show staging (with help from our friends United Staging & All Access)
  • Rolling wagons

Oh La La, Custom-Built Louvered Walls

Sceptron Forest For the Win!

This was the 20th time we have worked on the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront! It started as TNT/TBS Upfront in 2002 – and through several mergers and transitions we are still honored to be a part of this awesome production. Mike Rhoads, one of ATOMIC’s most illustrious alumni, was the production designer for the 2022 mainstage. He has designed the mainstage for the last 16 years!

Some fantastic facts from WBDU 2022:

  • We used over 600 Sceptrons to create the forest of light that comprised most of the scenery on set. This was the bulk of available inventory in North America at the time!
  • We used 395 LED tiles to build the large screens on the main stage.
  • We administered over 1600 COVID tests! 🤯
  • The Theater at Madison Square Garden never looked so good 😉

A special thanks to our own team for pulling this off and thanks to a PLETHORA of other people and companies for making this happen.

ATOMIC Team

Production

  • Pat Bonner (Chief COVID Officer)
  • Lauren Brignone (Producer)
  • Jeff Lotz (Production Manager)

Design

  • Andi Blady (Lobby Production Design)

Custom Fabrication

  • Alix Reynolds (Scenic Account Manager)
  • Batul Rizvi (Scenic Account Manager)
  • Colin Nixdorf (Scenic Project Manager)
  • Adam Curry (Assistant Scenic Project Manager)
  • Ryan Weidner (Scenic / Custom Fab Tech)

Production Freelancers

  • Laura Bowman (Lobby Producer)
  • Holly Cislo (Talent Manager)
  • Kristin Costa (Graphics Producer)
  • Audrey Perozzi (Lobby Production Manager)
  • Betty Butchar (Production Coordinator)
  • Hawo Adan (Office PA)
  • Christina Dimitriadis (Green Room Manager)
  • Seth Olson (Overnight Manager)

Executive Producer Partners

  • Soren West Agency
  • Visual Noise Creative
  • Brin Hill

Production Vendors

  • 4Wall (Lighting, Rigging Gear, Video Tile & Control, Kinesis Automation)
  • Anomalous
  • Angel Salazar Design
  • Bash & Fete (Narrative Production Management)
  • CT / NEP (Camera Gear & TV Truck)
  • Cassidy Rigging
  • Creative Conners (Automation)
  • Early Bird Visual
  • Eidetic Design (Seth Bernstein / Alex Stevens – Lobby Lighting Design)
  • Fabian Yeager Designs (Stage Lighting Design)
  • Firehouse Productions (Audio)
  • Jeff Markowitz (Show Caller)
  • Kitchen Witch
  • LightWurx (Lobby Production Electricians)
  • Lizz Zannin (Camera Director)
  • Madison Square Garden
  • Mike Rhoads Design (Stage Production Design)
  • Theatrical Resources (Staging Supervision / Production Carpenters)
  • VOCO
  • Winick Productions
  • AAA Event Services
  • All Access (Decking & Risers)
  • BluEdge
  • CC Rental
  • Cort
  • Dimitri Carpet
  • Drape Kings
  • Hotel Rock Lititz
  • Metro Graphics
  • On Time Elite
  • Rosebrand
  • SIR
  • Smartsource
  • Sunbelt
  • Taylor Creative
  • Total Caption / Mara Zuckerman (Accessibility)
  • Two Dots
  • United Staging & Rigging
  • Wits End
  • Periaktoi Productions / TJ Donoghue

Images courtesy of Soren West