Aspire Ventures had the opportunity to showcase the innovative work they’ve been doing in the Lancaster region for the Rise of the Rest tour. Lancaster, PA was one of several Central PA stops for this startup pitch competition led by AOL co-founder Steve Case and his investment company Revolution. On October 10, Case and the Rise of the Rest tour visited York, Harrisburg, and Lancaster including a stop at Aspire Ventures.

We teamed up with Aspire to transform a traditional conference room into a corporate theatre for the world-class presentation. The opportunity included design for the presentation and motion graphics as well collaborating on scripting and run of show.

The Emerald Cup began as a harvest celebration when founder Tim Blake invited cannabis cultivators to his private home in Laytonville, CA. The harvest festival has grown from a group of dozens to tens of thousands and now is held annually at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. It is Northern California’s premier cannabis destination, advancing the concept of sustainable, outdoor farming. Its reputation is firmly solidified as the largest, most respected, organic, sun grown cannabis competition in the world.

Nimblist was brought in for the 2017 Emerald Cup to help elevate the overall experience for sponsors, vendors, the growers and attendees. The festival included  four stages, two music venues, signage and wayfinding, maps, and attendee experiences. Our scope included crafting custom display cases, sponsor and vendor areas. Our team worked with Emerald Cup leadership to develop and execute a cohesive branding experience from signage to maps, program guide and merch. We also provided lighting design for all music stages, educational and speaker sessions as well as the overall show direction.

Super Bowl 53 in Atlanta, provided another opportunity to work with the NFL on several exclusive events.

The historic Fox Theatre is one of Atlanta’s premiere venues for live entertainment and provided the perfect venue for the 2019 Honors award broadcast. We provided the production design for VIPs as part of Honors, the National Football League’s annual awards show recognizing the best players, performances and plays from the current season. As part of the Honors programming, the 2018 Walter Payton Man of the Year award was announced. Considered one of the league’s most prestigious honors, the Man of the Year Award presented by Nationwide recognizes an NFL player for outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on the field.

Additionally, Nimblist worked again this year on providing the VIP players and nominees with a private hospitality experience.

INDIGO GREY: The Micah Grey Experiment was an immersive theatre experience created and performed by the Hammerstep dance collective founded by Jason Oremus and Garrett Coleman. Hammerstep is known for utilizing choreography, technology and non-traditional audience engagement to tell a story and this performance was no different. The performance, part of the exhibition “Only Human” was presented by NEW INC and Nokia Bell Labs, was performed at Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ.

The concept was based on a utopian Sixth Borough in New York City and its cutting-edge research facility, Borough Labs, which was searching for solutions to the worldwide energy and humanitarian crises. Chief Engineer Micah Grey had discovered the presence of an Indigo energy life force, demonstrated through the physical and extrasensory abilities of society’s most creative and innovative individuals. Micah involves audience members in a public event to recruit “Motion Thinkers” to help fuel a revolutionary new Indigo experiment. Developing a story like this and taking audiences along thru it required creative thinking to push limits and the experience to execute the production at all levels while not sacrificing design but keeping the project on budget.

Through the use of cameras that measured the motion, frequencies, and depth which displayed data in real time on the screen, the responsive projection environment was used to build a relationship and create fluid interaction between technology and humans. This allowed the audience to wirelessly control drones and solve interactive motion puzzles through simple gestures and progress through the story.

Our Nimblist team included Spike Brant, Lauren Brunson, Atshusi Hanano and talented collaborators Scott Peterman, Andrew Hildebrand and Branko Balic who worked hard on the technical drawings, lighting design, animation and scenic elements that helped manifest the creative vision of the Hammerstep founders. Our draftsman, Atshusi Hanano, put his skills to work and created the drawings for a pyramid-like structure which consisted of a modular array of geometric 3D shapes that can be arranged in various configurations. This served as one of the key structures of the performance and functions as a monolithic projection-mapped sculpture.

 

Photos by: Beth Holzer, Rain Embuscado and New Inc.

 

Continuing our long relationship with the Robin Hood Foundation, for 2015 we had the role of Technical Producer on the annual gala event. With a compressed schedule of 4.5 days for load-in through load-out, it was a heavy team effort and a huge success with the collaboration of David Stark Design, DPS, Event Associates, and Union Square Events. Nimblist was honored to have worked TOGETHER to aid Robin Hood in raising a record-breaking over $101 million!

Nimblist was honored to be a part of the I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell. The show, which was organized to pay homage to the memory of the late singer, drew a multitude of artists, celebrities and fans alike. Among the acts there to celebrate the legacy Chris Cornell left behind were the Foo Fighters, Temple of the Dog, Pearl Jam, Audioslave, Miley Cyrus, Metallica, the remaining members of Soundgarden and Jimmy Kimmel as host.

The live performances were supported by images and video footage of Chris Cornell, projected on the screens surrounding the stage. As the Screen Producer, we worked to pair relevant images, time periods and songs. This production design was a labor of love for our staff, as it was a very personal experience for many on our team. We provided lighting design (for all bands except Foo Fighters and Metallica) in collaboration with long-time partner and lighting designer, Kille Knobel, who worked with Chris Cornell’s team for many years. It was also a cherished opportunity for many roadies who have been in the industry for the past 20 years and offered their assistance with the event. The tribute was concluded with a somber moment when the remaining members of Soundgarden finished their set and walked off the stage.

Our team was grateful to be involved in such a powerful moment in music history that saw so many artists come together on one stage to remember a music icon.

The evening benefitted both the Chris and Vicky Cornell Foundation and the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation.

 

For football fans all over the country, the night before the NFL Kickoff is definitely worth celebrating. Fanatics had been waiting months for football to be back and Nimblist had the opportunity to produce an unforgettable private party featuring performers such as DJ Jazzy Jeff, LOCASH and Bebe Rexha.

Built in 1901, the 23rd Street Armory was our most historic venue thus far. We transformed this fortress-like structure in west Center City Philly that houses the First Troop Philadelphia City Calvary, which once acted as George Washington’s personal bodyguard in the Revolutionary War. Talk about an extraordinary venue!

We collaborated with our friends at the NFL for yet another year to kick off the football season. Nimblist was responsible for the production management, technical & production design and event decor was done by our talented decor producer Casey Cooper. BlueMedia worked their magic by branding the space for the corporate sponsor Pepsi and LightAction provided the lighting, audio and staging.

Nimblist teamed up with Turner Entertainment Networks to help design their annual event showcasing its umbrella organization, Turner Network. Turner Upfront 2015, which was held at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden, unveiled the network’s plans for the future of their flagship channels like TNT and TBS, as well as CNN, HSN, Adult Swim and more. Featured speakers at Turner Upfront 2015 included Anderson Cooper, Billy Eichner, Conan O’Brien, Shaquille O’Neal and many more. For this event, our team created a unique and visually captivating design.

The stage design was constructed with cohesiveness and flexibility in mind. A multitude of smaller screens were stacked to blend into one large seamless canvas. Two of the video screens were built to move to reveal new speakers or stage sets and slide back into place to create one fluid screen.

The lobby was designed with black-on-black graphics, with yellow protea flowers and white chrysanthemums accenting the lobby that was meant to serve for the opening reception and as a lounge for the post-show reception. The focal point of the lobby was the Turner Upfront’s slogan “TurnItUp” on the wall, which was decorated with Gossamer SuperZipper from ATOMIC.