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National Capital Commission

Canada day on Parliament Hill

Producing Canada’s birthday celebrations on Parliament Hill (2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008) for the National Capital Commission and Heritage Canada. The concept design, programming and production of large national noonday and evening shows including formal ceremonies presented on the big stage on the hill for a live audience of over 100,000 and the entire Canadian population via national television.

CHALLENGE:

  • Produce two major multidisciplinary outdoor shows
  • These two shows had to be presented the same day on the same stage
  • These shows had to appeal to both an English speaking and a French speaking audience
  • The representation had to be filmed for television by two different film crews

SOLUTION:

Obtain a partnership agreement with two different television production crews so that each of the two television distributors would have a product adapted to their specific needs within the framework of the celebrations. Develop an efficient and multidisciplinary organizational structure to maximize artistic and technical resources.

RESULTS:

A 60-minute noon show presentation with a variety of artists from across the country including the 13 year old phenomenon Nikki Yanofsky, along with Eva Avila, Gregory Charles, Shaye, Corb Lund, Tomi Swick, dancers and acrobats, a trampoline number from the National Circus School, video clips of young Canadians and official speeches from the Prime Minister, Canadian Heritage Minister and Governor General. The show was broadcast within the air times of the CBC, Newsworld, SRC, RDI and TV5 Monde.

The presentation of the Evening show (150 minutes) programming in a continuous run down featured some common artists from the noon program as well as unique performers such as the Pas de deux from the National Ballet of Canada, historical evocation of 150th celebration of Ottawa as the Nations Capital, Feist as well as collaborative medleys featuring the various artists appearing on the evening show.

The show was presented live on Rogers Cablevision network and web cast (stream) on their web site. The web cast was also available for viewing 30 days following the live presentation.

The differed broadcast of a 90 minutes French television special was packaged from the evening program and aired on Societé Radio Canada.

INTERESTING FACTS:

  • Over 100 artists participated in the events
  • Over 150 people made up the design, stage and television crews
  • A $1.3 million budget