← All work Virtual Ceremony · Apr 29, 2021

Sec. Antony Blinken ’88 keynotes Columbia Law’s Class of 2021.

Globally streamed and televised graduation ceremony for the Class of 2021 at Columbia Law School — with the sitting U.S. Secretary of State, a Columbia Law graduate, delivering the keynote.

Client

Columbia Law School

Role

Technical Director
Multi-cam show-call · audio

Engagement vehicle

Magic Seed Productions
Mar–May 2021 · 3 mos

Talent

Sec. Antony Blinken ’88
U.S. Secretary of State, keynote

The brief

Mid-pandemic graduation for one of the most distinguished law schools in the country — with the sitting U.S. Secretary of State at the lectern.

Spring 2021. The Class of 2021 had completed two of three years of law school in person, then a final year almost entirely on Zoom. Columbia Law School made the call to host their graduation virtually — and to invite their most distinguished recent graduate, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Class of ’88), to deliver the keynote.

The brief: produce a globally streamed and televised graduation ceremony with the technical polish of a network broadcast, the personal feel of a campus rite of passage, and zero margin for failure on a federal-level keynote address.

What we delivered

Multi-cam television production with a cabinet-secretary keynote.

End-to-end technical direction for the production via Magic Seed Productions, with VAAV Industries leading on the technical side. Built and managed the team of subject-matter experts and operators across camera, audio, lighting, and live-call — delivered through a multi-cam television workflow rather than a Zoom-call workflow. Called camera shots and audio moves live for the duration of the ceremony.

The Sec. Blinken keynote ran clean. Columbia Law News covered it as one of the highlights of a special day. Ceremony archived on the law school’s YouTube channel. Three-month engagement included pre-production planning, the live show, and post-show management of invoicing and payroll for the production team.