Plenty of variety in our teleprompting work over 2015 so here’s quick look at what we’ve been up to before we go…back to the top and reset.
We helped more live event speakers and MCs than any previous year; had great fun prompting EPK’s on the blood-splattered set of Ash vs Evil Dead; prompted the worldwide live draw for the FIFA U21 World Cup and the announcement of the host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games; was called on to make the Governor General look good again; and prompted the Sky Rugby Awards for a 10th year in a row- though with a new host, the marvelous John Campbell.
The main observation about our work these days? I’m glad you asked that question and I’ll answer it. The ratio of on camera to on-stage work has shifted 180 degrees from just 5 years ago. Waaaaay back then on-camera jobs were 75% of our work and now on-stage holds that position. My gut feeling is that there are two main reasons for this, coming from opposing sides.
Firstly, the availability of tablets and smartphones with the accompanying explosion in autocue and prompting apps- more than 30 free ones for iPad alone at a quick count- means that more productions are choosing to cut costs by using existing tools (I’ll explore whether I think that’s a false economy- spoiler alert: probably- in a subsequent post) leading to less call on professional prompting services. Secondly, Prompt Service has set the gold standard for live event prompting in New Zealand to the extent that more presenters and event producers are requesting a prompter. Again, I’ll outline the benefits of this (from the client’s perspective) in another article.
So, swings and roundabouts and all that, but we’re excited about what 2016 will bring. And that includes the purchase of a piece of new equipment unique to New Zealand and available for dry-hire…
