We’re all familiar with the extravaganza that is the Super Bowl Halftime Show or other special one-off events. And not to take anything away from the intricacies of such events, but perhaps they benefit from the greatest of all unheralded production assets: Time. Imagine putting on a show day in and day out – without time.
When you’re a professional hockey team in Las Vegas, there’s a certain amount of pressure to step up your live event game. The Las Vegas Golden Knights have become legendary for their pre-game productions. And a big part of their show is Flex customer, Quince Imaging.
But let’s take it a step further and, well, up the ante (this is Vegas, after all). Imagine being tasked with not only crafting a legendary pre-game production, but crafting a legendary pre-game production on opening night. And THEN (yeah, we’re doing it) doubling down, as this game is against the newest team in the NHL, the expansion Seattle Kraken.
It’s not every day the National Hockey League (NHL) welcomes a new franchise to the league so to play host to the first Seattle Kraken game at T-Mobile Arena presented a rare and unique opportunity. Andrew Abrams, Sr. Executive Producer, Production & Venue Technology with the Vegas Golden Knights, envisioned creating a larger-than-life experience to commemorate the event. As leaders in sports projection technology, the Quince Imaging team were called upon to help bring that vision to life.
“The Golden Knights came to us with a vision of what they wanted to do,” said Quince’s Director of Innovation, Eric Gazzillo. “Not only did we need the Golden Knight to vanquish the Kraken, but the pressure was extra high as it was the first NHL game ESPN had broadcast since 2004.”
Needless to say-the Golden Knight won the battle (as did the Golden Knights, 4-3). It was a huge success with the opening production generating significant media buzz (social and otherwise).
What’s even crazier still? Eric and team were planning the event from Iceland, where they were deep in production on an eSports live event, which has become an important vertical in Quince’s overall business. Said Gazzillo, “We’ve started in eSports about four and a half years ago, just as it was starting to explode and expand.”
When asked how Flex helps Quince’s work internationally, he said, “The complexity of the events in places like Iceland, Singapore, and Germany creates challenges around shipping and receiving logistics. Customs paperwork and manifests have to be perfect and Flex gets it right every time. Flex is critical to our success.”
As Quince continues to innovate and expand – whether in video production, staging or more permanent installations, we think they might consider changing their name from Quince Imaging to Quince Imagining. Here at Flex we’re rooting for the Golden Knights to continue its great season-just to see what Quince might imagine for the Stanley Cup Finals.
Flex is proud to have worked with Quince Imaging, celebrating 25 years of innovation, and its world-class team to empower clients to bring their visions to life since 2015.
