LOS ANGELES — Prime Focus Technologies (www.primefocustechnologies.com) recently partnered with Notting Hill Carnival (NHC), one of the world's largest street festivals. The event has been celebrated every year since 1966 on the streets of the Notting Hill area of Kensington, UK. The company helped the festival present its first online edition since it was cancelled due to COVID-19. But, by employing remore post production capabilities, the festival kept the spirit alive online.
NHC attracts approximately 2.5 million people annually, and showcases the best of Caribbean culture, with percussionists, steel drums, dance performances and parades. This year, 150 performances from 16 countries were scheduled, include chef Levi Roots, who cooked up a carnival-inspired feast. Other highlights included the Brazilian Samba-Reggae band Batala and Soca dancers dressed in carnival costumes created by London-based designer Melissa Simon-Hartman.
"Not having Notting Hill Carnival on the street this year was an incredibly sad but vital decision that was unavoidable for the safety of millions that attend," explains Matthew Phillip, executive director of Notting Hill Carnival. "We wanted to ensure that the vibrancy, sounds, and culture were still given an opportunity to flourish in 2020 and am thrilled we found an able techno-creative partner in PFT make this come alive virtually."
PFT's creative teams in the UK and India collaborated remotely, moving dailies after every day of filming to complete post production activities. Anytime, anywhere access to videos, review & approval on the fly, and basic editing was simple thanks to PFT's proprietary cloud software, Clear.
NHC 2020 Access All Areas content was available from August 29th to 31st on YouTube Live and LetsGoDo.com, along with nhcarnival.org.
"Thanks to our 600-plus creative minds and robust cloud technology, which allows creative services to be delivered at scale, Europe's largest street festival can be enjoyed from the safety and comfort of your own home," notes Bhaskar Sitholey, senior vice president, creative services, PFT. "When Notting Hill Carnival [went] 100 percent online for the first time in its 54-year history, it [was] yet another validation of PFT's state-of-the-art capabilities in virtual post production at scale. I am thrilled to be a part of this endeavour."