
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 ...
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...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
16/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/01/2026
Graduate Spotlight: Nadia Castagna The educator, who grew up in Rochester, New York, shares how she went from Berklee to collaborating on meaningful programs ...
15/01/2026
Milano Cortina 2026: OBS CEO Yiannis Exarchos Previews Production InnovationsFirst Person View drones, AI-based tech target greater fan engagement, efficiencyBy...
15/01/2026
Clever with cameras: Bringing the drama of the 2026 ISU European Figure Skating ...
15/01/2026
No stranger to ice: Host broadcaster Sunset Vine on pressure and planning for th...
15/01/2026
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Leah Gill, Associate Athletic Director, Digital Media, ...
15/01/2026
National Sports Broadcaster Perspectives: What to Expect in Production in 2026Leaders from ESPN, FOX Sports, Netflix, and Warner Bros. Discovery share their pro...
15/01/2026
From Berlin to London: Amazon delivers NBA Europe games for an international aud...
15/01/2026
LOS ANGELES, CA, January 15, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announced the appointment of David Linde as Chief Executive Officer. Linde will assum...
15/01/2026
The SGL Carbon site in Bonn has a long tradition of training. For many years, young talent has been successfully trained here, regularly achieving excellent exa...
15/01/2026
The JEC Composites Innovation Awards annually honor the most innovative and ambi...
15/01/2026
X-energy Reactor Company, LLC ( X-energy ) and SGL Carbon LLC ( SGL ) have signed a 10-year framework agreement to provide graphite for the deployment of X-ener...
15/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
15/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
15/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
15/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
15/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
15/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
15/01/2026
RT is tonight announcing that Mari Hurley has decided to leave her role as RT 's Chief Financial Officer to take up a new position outside RT . Mari will r...
15/01/2026
15 Jan 2026
VEON's Kyivstar Reaches 3.0 million Customers with Starlink Dir...
15/01/2026
Views to free streaming service U grew by 15%, average monthly active users by 23% and registrations by 18%
UKTV's channels achieved record viewing share, ...
15/01/2026
Thursday 15 January 2026
Sky Sports to show Final Stage of inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup
Sky and FIFA have agreed an exclusive new partnership whi...
15/01/2026
Thursday 15 January 2026
The official trailer for the second season of Seth Mac...
15/01/2026
Wuppertal January 15, 2026
Riedel RefCam Takes Center Court in German Basketba...
15/01/2026
Back to All News
Nah Yung-suk Presents Take a Hike!' - A Snowy Reality Adv...
15/01/2026
Back to All News
Firebreak Premieres on Netflix February 20
Entertainment
15 January 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
DOWNLOAD THE FIRST LOOK IMA...
15/01/2026
Back to All News
The Variety, Voices, and Vision Shaping What's Next on Net...
15/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix and Sony Pictures Entertainment Enter New Pay-1 Deal W...
15/01/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today announced the nominees for th...
15/01/2026
Award-winning production solutions bridge traditional and next-generation workflows
FOR-A MixBoard
FOR-A IMPULSE
viztrick AiDi
MFR-3100EX...
15/01/2026
Arvato Systems Named Launch Partner for AWS European Sovereign Cloud
As a launch partner for the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, Arvato Systems enables customer...
15/01/2026
NVIDIA kicked off the year at CES, where the crowd buzzed about the latest gaming announcements - including the native GeForce NOW app for Linux and Amazon Fire...
14/01/2026
Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 13th January, 2026 ITV, one of the UKs leading broadcasters, has selected Yospace, the global leader in Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), to ...
14/01/2026
Tech Focus: Audio Consoles, Part 2 - New Options for Virtual MixingA variety of solutions offer both technical and economic benefitsBy Dan Daley, Audio Editor
...
14/01/2026
Tech Focus: Audio Consoles, Part 1 - Key Component Evolves Toward the Totally Vi...
14/01/2026
SVG Summit 2025: Audio from Monday Workshops Now AvailableListen to sessions from Live Production Innovation, AI Production Tools, Cloud Production, Content Wor...
14/01/2026
The L3Harris large T7 robotic systems will provide U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines wi...
14/01/2026
Steiger Media's adoption of Calrec's compact Argo M console not only makes its innovative new hybrid truck faster, more efficient, and agile, but also e...
14/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
14/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
14/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
14/01/2026
Press Release: The Boston Globe Names Cartesian a Top Place to Work in 2025
January 14, 2026
News
Cartesian - January 14, 2026 - EINPresswire.com - Sp...
14/01/2026
Comscore and Marcus Theatres Announce Five-Year Extension for Cinema ACE and Ent...
14/01/2026
Comscore and Santikos Entertainment Announce Five-Year Circuit Wide Commitment t...
14/01/2026
January 14th, 2026
TRIBECA ANNOUNCES BEST NEW YORK SHORT AWARD FOR 25TH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL
In Celebration of Its 25th Anniversary, Tribeca Introduces a N...
14/01/2026
Wednesday 14 January 2026
Sky News announces Cathy Newman to lead flagship new political programme
Sky News today announces that award-winning journalist and ...