Inaugural SVG LIVE! Conference Brings 250 Top Sports and Entertainment Production Leaders Together in L.A.Discussion focused on how innovation is shaping the future of audience engagementBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Friday, November 14, 2025 - 2:51 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
More than 250 leaders from across the live-event-production ecosystem gathered for a full day of insight, inspiration, and forward-looking discussion at the inaugural SVG LIVE! Sports & Entertainment Production Conference. A packed audience of producers, technologists, and creatives explored how the lines between sports and entertainment are blurring and how innovation in live production is shaping the next generation of audience engagement.
Moderator Jeff Jacobs (NEP Group and SVG LIVE! Conference Chair) at the SVG LIVE! conference in L.A. with (L to R): Melanie Fletcher (Done Dusted), Linda Gierahn (Silent House Productions), Craig Lazarus (ESPN), Josh Mark (SoFi Stadium), and Jonathan Mussman ( Netflix).
Held at the Luxe Sunset Blvd Hotel in Los Angeles, the new SVG event was chaired by industry veteran NEP Group SVP/Head of Production Jeff Jacobs, a 30-year veteran of the sports-entertainment-production industry. Speakers took the stage from Done Dusted, ESPN, FOX Sports, Funicular Goats, Global Citizen Organization, L2 Productions, LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games, NEP Sweetwater, Netflix, NHL, NWSL, Savannah Bananas, Silent House Productions, SoFi Stadium/Hollywood Park, and WWE.
The day kicked off with a Coffee Talk presentation by Crakes Media principal Patrick Crakes, offering a look at how live programming continues to thrive in a fragmented, on-demand media landscape. He set the table for the day by highlighting the enduring value of appointment viewing - from live sports coverage to awards shows and other cultural tentpoles - and how real-time engagement remains a critical driver of audience growth and ad revenue.
Few individuals embody the connection between sports and entertainment more than Jim Bell, SVP, media, LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In a candid and wide-ranging keynote presentation, he reflected on his career overseeing some of television's most iconic properties - from NBC Olympics to The Tonight Show - and shared insights into LA28's media vision. He emphasized the importance of innovation, collaboration, and storytelling that connects global audiences through live moments.
Jacobs then led the Mastering Ceremonies: Bringing Awards, Festivals, and Other Tentpole Events panel with top producers: Done Dusted's Melanie Fletcher, Silent House's Linda Gierahn, ESPN's Craig Lazarus, SoFi Stadium/YouTube Theater's Josh Mark, and Netflix's Jonathan Mussman. Together, they revealed the intricate planning, creative collaboration, and technological precision that power the award shows, fan festivals, and large-scale events that define modern entertainment.
In a joint presentation, Sony's Jaime Raffone and WWE's Joseph Solari demonstrated how virtual production is transforming the creative process, enabling greater flexibility and efficiency in studio environments. The session showcased how tools like LED volumes and real-time rendering are bridging cinematic and live-broadcast workflows.
The next panel - The Future Is Live: Tech Innovations Driving Sports & Entertainment Production - explored the innovations shaping live-content creation. Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer and innovator Deena Sheldon joined Riedel Communications' Pino Barile, Blackmagic Design's J. David Hoffman, Canon's Jamon Lomax, and NEP Sweetwater's Jason Newman to discuss the rise of AI automation, cloud workflows, and cine-broadcast cameras/lenses, underscoring how technology continues to elevate both efficiency and storytelling.
In an afternoon Fireside Chat with Jacobs, Global Citizen's Lee Rolontz offered an exclusive look at the 2024 FIFA Club World Cup Halftime Show, a collaboration of FIFA and Global Citizen designed to merge entertainment and advocacy on a global scale. In addition, Rolontz previewed the effort for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Halftime Show, intended to inspire action through the power of live performance and storytelling.
The panel Convergence of Sports and Entertainment: Producing Studio Shows and Live Events on the Field and in The Arena brought together Done Dusted's Guy Carrington, NHL's Bob Chesterman, Funicular Goats' Aaron Cooke, NBA/Unrivaled/MSG's Kevin Dobstaff, and NWSL's Brian Gordon to discuss how broadcasters are reinventing halftime shows and incorporating musical performances at sports events.
In an afternoon presentation, Ateme's Micka l Raulet explored how the company's end-to-end video solutions are empowering federations and leagues to deliver immersive, next-generation fan experiences - from 360 video to direct-to-consumer streaming platforms.
Next up, Reality, Reimagined: The Role of AR, XR, and Virtual Production in Live Event Production featured Disguise's Dan Baum, FOX Sports' Zac Fields, Silver Spoon's Dan Pack, and The Famous Group's Jon Slusser. The panel showcased how AR, XR, and virtual-production tools are revolutionizing the look and feel of live coverage of sports and entertainment, creating hybrid experiences that engage both in-person and remote audiences.
In the day's closing session, TVU Networks' Tom Brown, L2 Productions' Scott Rehling, Savannah Bananas' Mitch Rubenstein, and Verizon's Tim Stevens examined the evolution of remote and cloud-based production models. The panel, titled No More Boundaries: The Evolution of Onsite, REMI, and Cloud Production, highlighted how flexibility, scalability, and connectivity are redefining how - and where - live coverage is produced.
SVG LIVE! was
North America Stories
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13 with guest ...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
04/12/2025
Lightware, a global specialist in AV connectivity, is looking back on a year defined by new advancements, strong collaboration and continued growth. Across the ...
04/12/2025
Riedel Communications today announced a new partnership with Haivision, a leading global provider of mission-critical, real-time video networking and visual col...
04/12/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) and Normann Engineering today announced a major milestone in their strategic collaboration, celebrating 20 successful broadband deployme...
04/12/2025
Creative software developer Foundry today announced Mari 7.5, the latest iteration of its artist-friendly paint toolset that can handle large, detailed assets w...
04/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS), a leading provider of wireless audio solutions and RF management, was on site at Dreamforce 2025 in San Francisco providing...
04/12/2025
LTN's purpose-built IP video network brings all-movie diginet to over 100 stations and streaming platforms in just three months while eliminating satellite ...
04/12/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with ThinkAnalytics, the global leader in AI-powered data a...
04/12/2025
The HELM, a global expert in cinematic live broadcast and high-end production workflows, has signed a partnership agreement with Keslow Camera, one of North Ame...
04/12/2025
At ISE 2026, LiveU will showcase its expanded IP-video EcoSystem, enabling broadcasters, sports, production companies and pro-AV professionals to share their st...
04/12/2025
Since the beginning of commercial television, advertising has been a key part of broadcasting. Over the years, the technology for inserting ads into programs ha...
04/12/2025
MUNICH and MILAN Warner Bros. Discovery said HBO Max is expanding into Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein on Jan. 13, 2026, and ...
04/12/2025
SAN FRANCISCO AudioShake has launched its first streaming-capable software development kits (SDKs) designed specifically for real-time music detection and copyr...
04/12/2025
NASHVILLE The mobile and REMI production company TNDV has announced that it headed south into Mexico to live-produce the three-day 2025 Zane Grey Championship P...
04/12/2025
BURBANK, Calif. Hollywood Professionals Association Executive Director Phil Kubel has stepped down from the organization to pursue new opportunities, the group ...
04/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission said it has closed 2,048 inactive proceedings, the largest number of dormant dockets ever terminated in a singl...
04/12/2025
A new tech blog from Netflix highlights the importance of the AV1 open video codec, which now powers about 30% of the platform's streaming and discusses a v...
Inaugural SVG LIVE! Conference Brings 250 Top Sports and Entertainment Production Leaders Together in L.A.Discussion focused on how innovation is shaping the future of audience engagementBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
