
Graymatter Video supports more than 220 events at The Great British Drive In posted: 14/01/2021
Video control solutions specialist partners with the festival of film, great food and live entertainment at Sandon Hall
British Drive In (TGBDI) at stately home, Sandon Hall. Starting at the beginning of July, TGBDI ran every day until the latest lockdown in November. TGBDI was started by two friends, Coalition Event Services and Funicular Productions Founder, Craig Wilkinson, and tech event specialist, Ed Myhill, who brought in Graymatter and staging company, NoNonsense.
We always strive to create world-class experiences with film presentation being essential for our drive-in, says Wilkinson. Many other drive-ins use inflatable screens, but we didn't want to compromise as we felt it was important to have best in class for our video production and our structure. This is why we chose to work with Graymatter. Their expertise is outstanding, and they helped us pull together a world-class team in iMAG and NoNonsense who are all wonderful to work with; they are creative and solution driven, with a fine pedigree of work that we were blessed to have onboard.
Combining their decades of experience working on experiential events for world-renowned clients such as Facebook, Google, NFL, and Bacardi, long-term professional relationships with Sundance Film Festival and creating immersive theatre experiences such as The Murder Express, the team came together to transform one of Staffordshire's most beautiful estates into a drive-in experience to entertain, educate and unite people in the midst of Covid-19.
There were no sponsorship packages to start with and zero culture funding grants, says Graymatter's David Voyce. It was just a bunch of industry professionals who had worked with each other through previous projects and had a vision to create something that was both appealing and sustainable.
TGBDI can accommodate up to 180 cars per screening. Ensuring every member of the audience has a great view, Graymatter supplied a massive 100m2 ROE MC7-H 7mm LED screen from iMAG Displays and set up the entire technical ecosystem for seamless video control.
There's a lot of infrastructure required, and this is where our experience came in, adds Voyce. We knew the Cinema would be popular and not just a short-term event, so the solution needed to be robust and yet easily serviceable in order to endure the rigours of being exposed to the elements for such a long time. We opted for a ground support with rear access to the screen across three levels, coupled with the excellent ROE Visual MC7-H and our custom rigging solution designed to securely mount the screen onto the ground support. This provided quick and simple replacement of LED modules to keep the screen in tip top condition for the entire duration.
TGBDI's programme is diverse and includes anything from film, quiz nights and Q&As to live entertainment like comedy and music to food festivals. Focusing on quality of experience at a reasonable price, it offers a first-class visual experience as well as some of the best street food available, provided by Digbeth Dining Club.
Drive-ins surged in popularity this summer, and whilst many opted for weekend-only work, TGBDI has been the gold standard by running throughout the week, says Wilkinson. So far, we've delivered over 220 events and accommodated over 12,000 cars.
Feedback has been truly outstanding, with over 35,000 visitors enjoying the opportunity to get out and enjoy themselves in an open, socially distanced environment from the safety of their vehicles.
From the start, we wanted to use our accumulated knowledge of events and go above and beyond to keep visitors safe and entertained, Wilkinson adds. Without our customers, we're just a giant screen in the middle of the field, so a Covid-friendly user experience was our number one priority.
Cash-free payments, online ordering, sanitizer stations spread across the site, as well as clear signage throughout, are some of the measures that were implemented to ensure a protected environment. Great comedians and musicians such as Marcus Brigstocke, Reginald D Hunter, Suzzi Ruffel and Rachel Paris all had the opportunity to take part in comedy and live music nights and the team even had actor, comedian and beatboxer Michael Winslow coming all the way from Hollywood for a live Q&A session at Sandon Hall.
Being able to support the industry, the talented performers and of course our audience is a responsibility we feel obliged to continue for as long as we can, Wilkinson concludes. Having Graymatter on board, setting up the LED screen to taking care of all the video control tech, has been imperative in terms of delivering a high-quality visual experience. We've all been one team fighting through the crisis to deliver events during these strange times. We're truly grateful for this experience and are all geared up to continue TGBDI and to deliver a great experience.
Whilst TGBDI is currently closed, it is looking forward to returning as soon as restrictions are eased.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
22/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/05/2026
Game Creek Video Columbia and Celtic, NEP Supershooter 8 will house onsite produ...
21/05/2026
Freshly graduated, this upstart producer, director, and camera operator is already working as an AP on videoboard shows for the Philadelphia Phillies
In the li...
21/05/2026
Media Links has announced a channel partnership with Clearcast Asia, a broadcast...
21/05/2026
SiriusXM and NASCAR have announced a multi-year renewal of their broadcasting agreement. SiriusXM will continue to carry live broadcasts of every NASCAR Cup Ser...
21/05/2026
Audio-Technica held a demonstration event at its Technica House location in New ...
21/05/2026
Ateme has announced that RTL Deutschland has selected Ateme's software-based...
21/05/2026
LiveU has announced that BCC Live deployed the LU900Q intelligent production unit for the first time during the 2026 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas North Americ...
21/05/2026
ATSC has announced that Mark Aitken, President of ONE Media and Senior VP of Advanced Technology at Sinclair Broadcast Group, will receive the 2026 Mark Richer ...
21/05/2026
BBright has published a technical analysis of the Media eXchange Layer (MXL), de...
21/05/2026
The Esports Foundation has announced that the 2026 Esports World Cup (EWC) will be hosted in Paris, France, from July 6 through August 23. The event marks the f...
21/05/2026
Chyron has announced PRIME Scorebug, a scorebug solution built on the PRIME Platform for on-premises sports production, and has expanded Chyron LIVE with purpos...
21/05/2026
Media Links has announced the integration of its Xscend IP transport platform with Skyline Communications' DataMiner xOps platform. The integration will be ...
21/05/2026
As live sports productions continue to demand more flexible, scalable, and cost-...
21/05/2026
In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into...
21/05/2026
Hey Miami & Atlanta post-production folks!
Shade is hosting a free private suite at a Braves game (6/2) and Marlins game (6/5) and have about a dozen extra tic...
21/05/2026
The Suns and Mercury become the first NBA and WNBA teams to make games available under a single broadcast partner across both over-the-air and streaming....
21/05/2026
iPhones are part of the the regular production rotation for Friday Night Baseba...
21/05/2026
In advance of this year's Sports Emmy Awards, SVG is taking a deep dive into...
21/05/2026
Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Wiener in Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse...
21/05/2026
Spotify has always been about helping you find something you want to listen to. And over the years, we've learned your taste and the moments that matter to ...
21/05/2026
Getting concert tickets today can feel like a race you're set up to lose.
You show up at the right time, refresh endlessly, and still miss out. Too often, ...
21/05/2026
In 2022, Spotify entered a new chapter by introducing audiobooks to our platform. Since then, we've grown our catalog to include more than 700,000 titles, e...
21/05/2026
Opening remarks
ALEX
Good morning everyone, I'm Alex [Norstr m].
GUSTAV
And I'm Gustav [S derstr m].
ALEX
Whether you've been following our j...
21/05/2026
Today, Spotify hosted our third Investor Day in New York City, offering the fina...
21/05/2026
Spotify hat heute seinen dritten Investor Day in New York City veranstaltet und der Finanzwelt tiefere Einblicke in das Gesch ft, die Produktstrategie und die l...
21/05/2026
Aujourd'hui, Spotify a organis son troisi me Investor Day New York. En pl...
21/05/2026
Oggi, a New York City, Spotify ha presentato il suo terzo Investor Day, offrendo...
21/05/2026
Hoy Spotify celebr su tercer Investor Day en Nueva York, donde ofrecimos a la c...
21/05/2026
Hari ini, Spotify menyelenggarakan Investor Day yang ketiga di New York City, me...
21/05/2026
2026 : (Investor Day) , , . ...
21/05/2026
Hoje, o Spotify realizou seu terceiro Investor Day em Nova York, oferecendo co...
21/05/2026
Spotify Investor Day ...
21/05/2026
Spotify bug n, 20'nci y l d n m m z kutlad m z bu y lda, finans camias na, i modelimiz, r n stratejimiz ve uzun vadeli vizyonumuz hakk nda daha detayl ...
21/05/2026
Two new Story Packs join orchestral instrument line-up
Sonuscore have just introduced two new additions to The Score, marking the instrument's first maj...
21/05/2026
30,000 samples, 99 presets & 504 loops
Heavyocity are well known for their hard-hitting cinematic instruments, and their latest release is no exception to t...
21/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz AI powered voice to data: The future of air traffic control take...
21/05/2026
SKY RAIDER II INTERNATIONAL's modular open systems architecture delivers expanded operational reach and mission flexibility....
21/05/2026
ASO-enabled WESCAM MX-10 systems conduct systematic wide-area maritime search patterns, autonomously managing sensor scan operations to expand coverage, reduce ...
21/05/2026
HBO Max, a new addition to Gracenote Data Hub, is home to the most sports programming among major streamers
NEW YORK May 21, 2026 New analysis by Gracenote...
21/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/05/2026
The UK's leading event for the creative industries united thousands of professionals for two days of networking, debate, industry insight and getting hands-...