
Live From MLB at Field of Dreams: Fox Sports' Studio Crew Lowers Outfield Set To Show Off the Cornfield Director, Remote Studio Operations Rob Mikulicka offers a peek behind the improvements to this years set By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor
Thursday, August 11, 2022 - 10:07 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
In a professional baseball game played on a pristine diamond in the middle of eastern Iowa, the cornfield is the surefire star. Like the game of baseball, nature isn't always predictable, and this spring's growing season produced stalks only 8 ft. tall, much shorter than last year's 11-ft.-tall ones. Fox Sports' remote studio operations adapted to the circumstances and brought the main set closer - and deeper - into the corn.
Our first instinct ended up being the best one, says Rob Mikulicka, director, remote studio operations, Fox Sports. That was to lower [the set] by 3 ft. Last year, the corn went right to the top of the railing there, but [with the lower set] it's above the [railing], and the corn has become a bigger part of the story.
Lost in the Maize: Lowered Platform Brings Cornstalks Into the Picture Having decided to lower the platform, Mikulicka and company needed to work with Mother Nature to make sure it's in the most perfect spot. With the help of BaAM Productions, a sizable portion of the cornfield next to the videoboard in left field was plowed and taken away to make room for the set. Beneath the stalks was a hill that needed to be navigated, which means that one end of the platform is higher than the other.
We had two plans: either lower it or possibly move forward a little bit, Mikulicka explains. With the hill getting steeper by nearly 4 ft., I would have had to remove more corn [with the second option], but I didn't want to do that. We had to redesign some aspects because certain cables ran under the set last time, but that's obviously out of the question now since the back of the set is resting on the ground.
Fox Sports' main MLB at Field of Dreams studio set is once again located in left field next to the videoboard.
Certain challenges arose as this plot of land was sectioned off. First, the studio team at Fox Sports needed to work closely with BaAM Productions to drop the set at exactly the same spot as last year's. Relying on the same light pole from last year as a reference point, both parties were able to pinpoint the desired location amongst the sea of corn. Second, the studio-operations staff had to work around a new addition to the MLB at Field of Dreams schedule: the first-ever minor-league game played at the site - the Cedar Rapids Kernels vs. the Quad Cities River Bandits - on Tuesday, Aug. 9. From an operational perspective, pulling off this set was an arduous task, but, creatively, the broadcast will benefit from new sightlines that make the desk seem to be engulfed by the cornstalks with the field slightly behind the desk.
We put a lot of focus on the fans [during other regular-season games], notes Mikulicka. Here, the corn and the field are a huge driver of the story. We want to show it off as much as possible.
Go the Distance: Filmwerks Builds Sturdy Structure To Withstand Bad Weather With the location selected and the platform lowered, Filmwerks took the proverbial baton and constructed the infrastructure. The company helped Fox Sports remodel and retrofit an existing desk with the appropriate wood finish.
Rob Mikulicka (pictured) and Rod Conti are leading the remote-studio-operations team.
The steel structures above and on the sides of the set was designed with weather in mind. Iowa is known for unpredictable and sporadic weather that can include ferocious thunderstorms and nasty tornadoes. Similar to last year, when a tornado warning was issued a day before the first outing of MLB at Field of Dreams, harsh conditions affected construction.
We did have some challenges in the beginning, says Mikulicka. There was a lightning alert going on at the time, and the crane is probably the worst thing to have up because it's taller than the light pole, which is our lightning-protection system. We helped Filmwerks get the roof raised, and, once that was up, we could safely work on getting the desk and tech ready to go.
To prepare for inclement weather on Thursday, Filmwerks has ensured that the structure can withstand winds upwards of 80 mph, even though Fox Sports will take precautions if gusts reach 35-40 mph. For accurate readings, the broadcaster's trusted meteorologist is working onsite at the ballpark. Aside from weather, the setup is designed to accommodate any flyball-turned-homerun that reaches the desk. If a player gets hold of a ball during batting practice, the netting/lighting scrim behind the talent's chairs will be able to stop the impact of a hard-hit ball.
The MLB Field of Dreams set includes three hard cameras, a jib camera, and two teleprompters.
In the compound, director David Faller and producer Bardia Shah-Rais will handle the pregame and postgame shows from Game Creek Video Encore mobile unit. The pair will have multiple camera feeds at their disposal, including three hard cameras and a jib on the set, along with cameras that will be used during the game: a cable cam running from the field to the original movie set, three separate drones (two heavy-lift and one FPV racing), RF handhelds, and more. Fox Sports' Vault facility in Los Angeles will be online for studio programming, with one EVS machine, one teleprompter operator, and graphics.
Village Mentality: Pregame Set Connected With Cinematic Baseball Production Host Kevin Burkhardt, three-time World Series champion and Hall-of-Famer David Ortiz, World Series champion Alex Rodriguez, and 17-time Sports Emmy Award winner Tom Rinaldi will lead the pregame show on Thursda
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
08/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/07/2026
Collaboration demonstrates how managed IP distribution and cloud-based syndication workflows can support live television at national scale
Fox Television Stati...
08/07/2026
New ARRI ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme camera seamlessly delivers up to 8x HFR via SDI fo...
08/07/2026
Did You Know? Redshift for Cinema 4D: The Power of the Distance Node
Marc Potocnik July 8, 2026
0 Comments
The Did You Know? Redshift for Cinema 4D ...
08/07/2026
Lightware is introducing the biggest update yet to the LARA Wizard Touchpanel configuration experience, designed to help integrators work faster while deliverin...
08/07/2026
DMC Production has turned to Calrec in its quest to redefine outside broadcasting with a flexible approach to live production that reverse engineers the convent...
08/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/07/2026
Foundry today announced that Reel FX Animation Studios has adopted Flix to standardize their pipeline and streamline processes across departments. Flix is a vis...
08/07/2026
The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck t...
08/07/2026
Australians in Film and Screen Australia launch FUTURE VISION Forward to elevate...
08/07/2026
Film follows the courageous fight for justice by survivors of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries & Mother and Baby Homes
TESTIMONY airs Wednesday 22 July at 9...
08/07/2026
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra is offering leading performance at lower cost than top c...
07/07/2026
Applications are now open for the Validation Booster, a six-month acceleration programme supporting journalists, media organisations, content creators, media in...
07/07/2026
The Universal Talent Identifier (HAND) has issued HAND IDs to 50 top prospects ahead of the 2026 MLB Draft, including consensus top-ranked players Roch Cholowsk...
07/07/2026
Cisco and the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team have announced an extension of their partnership, expanding the scope from networking and communications to incl...
07/07/2026
LucidLink has announced a workflow integration with Adobe Frame.io that gives production teams unified access to Frame.io projects alongside supporting producti...
07/07/2026
Chyron has announced the appointment of Ahmed Magd as Sales Director for the Middle East. Magd joins from previous senior commercial roles at Riedel Communicati...
07/07/2026
Leader Electronics of Europe has announced that its PHABRIX Qx rasterizer and Le...
07/07/2026
eCLUTCH has announced it has acquired broadcast rights to the Esports World Cup 2026 for EMEA and MENA, covering the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, Sweden, a...
07/07/2026
Riedel Communications and ARRI supported ORF's host broadcast of the Eurovis...
07/07/2026
ARRI has announced the ALEXA 35 Live Xtreme, a camera that adds high frame rate ...
07/07/2026
LiveU will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 7.C24), showcasing the LU900Q Intelligent Production Unit, expanded Sony collaboration, and additions to its open IP-video...
07/07/2026
Telemundo's coverage is packaged with Multiview, Catch Up with Key Plays, in...
07/07/2026
The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) has announced a seven-year media r...
07/07/2026
Produced onsite at The Star in Frisco, TX, live coverage of the two-day event airs on ESPN platforms
The season for Football Media Days is here, and the Big 12...
07/07/2026
Rogers Communications Inc. has announced an agreement to acquire the remaining 25% ownership stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) from Kilmer Spo...
07/07/2026
End-to-end broadcast solution includes fleet of mobile units, Cloud Control, and...
07/07/2026
Sports-production-tech experts sound off on the state of the industry...
07/07/2026
New mixer aimed squarely at instrument-level sources
Heritage Audio have clearly been busy recently, as alongside their all-new Tubestrip, they've also ...
07/07/2026
New channel strip combines popular hardware designs
The latest arrival to the Heritage Audio line-up brings together a selection of their praised hardware d...
07/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
07/07/2026
New Kessler 10 data now available in Nielsen CMI gives brands a deeper view of h...
07/07/2026
New Nielsen Ad Intel and CMV data reveals rising competition in Australia's ...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Riedel Communications and ARRI played a key role in one of the most technically ambitious Eurovision Song Contest productions to date. For the first time in the...
07/07/2026
Berklee Valencia Honors Eric Whitacre at the 2026 Commencement Ceremony The Grammy-winning composer was celebrated alongside this years cohort of masters degr...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
The appointment will drive growth and innovation across the Media Business Unit
Fincons Group, a leading IT business consultancy and systems integrator company...