ABC Web Interviews Build Anticipation for “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock”
By Bob Doerschuk
With thousands of fans filling the streets of Downtown Nashville during CMA Music Festival, it might have been easy to miss one five-person crew threading through the crowd, hustling video gear to LP Field and back, packing and driving with it to homes and studios around town for interview segments, basically covering an enormous amount of ground and then coming back to do it again the next day.
Their assignment was to repeat what they’d done in recent CMA Fests: Capture the energy, excitement, drama, humor and exhilaration of these four days, and then whittle the results down to a series of short reports or vignettes. Beginning Aug. 9, these have been posted on ABC.com, as well as other Disney Web sites, Hulu.com, YouTube.com and other destinations, to maximize awareness among visitors and motivate them to tune to ABC on Sept. 1, 8/7c, for “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock.”
David Beebe, Director of Video Production, Disney/ABC Television Video Group, has overseen every one of these online promotions since they began in 2007.
Did you approach shooting for the Web differently at this year’s Festival than in previous years?
Beebe Rather than shoot very structured, sit-down EPK-style interviews, we used the relationships we’ve grown over these four years to shoot more behind the scenes, where there weren’t any other crews. We shot a lot on the artists’ tour buses or even in their homes. Each interview is a minute to two minutes and focused on a single artist, from newcomers to bigger names. We went to a lot of fan club parties with artists. We talked with Martina McBride at her Blackbird Studio. We did a lot with Darius Rucker. We have Jake Owen and Luke Bryan before a performance, talking. Some artists put together skits – for instance, Blake Shelton bringing his dogs over to Kellie Pickler’s bus and asking her to watch them while he goes onstage.
Were these vignettes scripted?
Beebe We didn’t want to give people scripts. We just set up an hour before shooting and said, “Hey, we’d like to shoot something fun, that people will want to share virally.” A lot of it was done on the fly.
How much advance work was required?
Beebe There wasn’t a lot of pre-production. We started planning our coverage about a month before the Festival, setting things up so that we could get what no one else was getting.
Do we see your interviewers on camera?
Beebe They’re off camera, so there’s no one to distract. It’s all about the artist this year. We cover all the events, we get a lot of stuff on camera that we can put together – but all of it is focused on that artist.
What else is different this year?
Beebe Rather than keep it exclusive to ABC.com and our partners, we’re handing out the footage everywhere we can. That’s our game plan: Shoot everywhere and share it wide.
To see the latest ABC Web promos for “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock.”.
“CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock,” is a three-hour television special to air Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 8/7c on the ABC Television Network. Hosted by Tim McGraw, the “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock” television special features performances by Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Billy Currington, Alan Jackson, Jamey Johnson, Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, McGraw, Justin Moore, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift, Josh Turner, Carrie Underwood, Uncle Kracker, Keith Urban, and Zac Brown Band.
“CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock” is executive produced by Robert Deaton and directed by Gary Halvorson. The 2010 CMA Music Festival is organized and produced by the Country Music Association. “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock” is filmed in high definition and broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.
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