Limelite Lights Warner Bros. Discovery Studios for The Paris Olympics 2024

As broadcast lighting specialists, Limelite Lighting was selected to deliver a complex lighting, rigging and controls package for WBD’s six presentation studios throughout the Games. Working in shift patterns Limelite Lighting’s crew in the UK and Paris worked in unison to deliver 18-hours of records per day over WBD’s extensive portfolio.

The open roof top of the Hotel Raphaël in central Paris was the chosen location for the WBD studios. It provided a flexible and diverse space for filming multiple Olympics- focussed talk shows for live broadcasts in the UK, US, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Poland, France, Spain, Germany, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands.

With unobstructed panoramic views of Paris and the iconic Eifel Tower, the location presented the perfect backdrop for the open-sided studio. However, the logistics of building an intricate lighting rig on a roof top in Paris, seven stories above the street level posed a significant challenge.

Limelite Lighting worked in collaboration with White Productions, which specialise in complex rigging systems and infrastructures for events. Together they devised a spectacular plan to build the lighting rig in its entirety upon the streets below, and crane-lift it seven stories onto the hotel’s rooftop.

Once in situ the Limelite crew rigged the power and remaining lighting equipment as per the creative vision of Lighting Directors, Chris Hollier and Andy Cottey. Working closely with Limelite’s Gaffer, Matthew Mountier, the lighting specification had to be highly adaptable to align the practical elements with their creative concept.

Limelite Lighting supplied the full lighting from their HQ in South East England. It comprised: 140 x Martin Mac XIP, 12 x Cream Vortex, 7 x Aperture LS 1200d, 140 x Showtec Cameleon Spot Q, 80 x Prolights LumiPix 15IP, 60 x Astera 8way AX5 TriplePAR, plus large volumes of set LED.

This detailed approach to the pre-production meant the studio build took just five days from boots on the ground to completion.

As the sole lighting suppliers for WBD’s studio coverage, Limelite Lighting was responsible for multiple live shows that were filmed and broadcast simultaneously throughout the Olympics. With the live vision gallery located at WBD’s studios in the UK – Stockley Park, Limelite Lighting had to develop a reliable and complex network from Paris – a mere 250 miles away!

Gaffer, Matthew Mountier, shares the challenges associated with devising a suitable network, “We very quickly discovered that not many productions have completed a lighting network like this before, especially using the GrandMA3 system. Even the console manufacturer and Ambersphere in the UK could not confirm such a concept could work.

“However, our Network Technician, Joe Peal was instrumental in discovering a solution and after rigorous testing, we realised that the system required two lines of separate communication within the network, to maintain an active main and a backup.

“We had a breakthrough moment when we discovered ‘theBRIDGE’ solution. This is an easy to configure, VPN provider, specifically designed for lighting and event network protocols. It allowed our consoles, which are usually only accessed on a local network to be connected globally.

“During network testing between the WBD studios in Stockley Park and Chiswick, we successfully achieved multiple devices in session, running on MA-NET protocol through both theBRIDGE system, as well as a dedicated fibre line supplied by NEP.” 

Limelite Lighting supplied two operators per shift in London, with remote control access of four studios, and one console in Paris to operate a further two studios. The system was run on an NEP line as the main link, while theBRIDGE provided a backup link, which would take over as required.

“As a result, we were measuring only 7m/s - 8m/s of latency between London and Paris, with very low rates of session dropout.

“To enable every operator to work smoothly without interfering with other studios while programming/operating, the consoles show files were split into separate ‘data pools’ and ‘worlds’.

“This connection worked seamlessly throughout the 19 days of live records, across all WBD sports channels. While the IP-rated lighting rig was tested to its limits during the first few days of filming in the unprecedented torrential rain,” concludes Mountier.

Lighting Director, Andy Cottey reflects on Limelite’s approach to lighting the WBD studios for the Paris Olympics, “Given the extraordinary level of planning and logistics this job entailed, the devil was most certainly in the detail. Limelite Lighting provided us with the superb skillset and quality kit, that - despite being seven stories up and on an exposed roof top - never once impacted the design or creative. The build was impeccable, and their professional crew made the daily running smooth and an absolute joy.”

Kudos to Limelite Lighting crew for the Paris Olympics 2024: Gaffer, Matthew Mountier; Paris Operators, Ed Railton and Frankie Francis; Gaffer, Phil Parsons; Sparks, Chris Earle, Alan Read, Rebecca Maskell and Dave Harris; Network, Joe Peal; London Operators, Dan Street, Shaun Burnet, Andrew Law, Louise Lesley, Seb Williams and Tom Dyson.