Stageco Does It On Discovery Channel

Stageco will be doing it like they do it on the Discovery Channel, as the cable and satellite TV station has chosen the Belgian-based production company as the subject for a documentary.

Hearing that Stageco builds "the biggest stages in the world," Discovery Channel’s Adam Bradley decided to feature it on the "Really Big Things" show. The programme is provisionally set for screening February 8.

"We jumped at the chance," said Stageco U.S. ops VP Mary Lou Figley, who invited a Discovery crew to spend a day filming the company at work as they built the stage for Genesis at Giants Stadium in New Jersey on the U.S. leg of the band’s recent world tour.

Having a television crew present during an already tight build schedule presented extra logistical challenges.

"Typically we move at a very quick pace. But, to allow the television personnel to document the build properly and let their host become involved, we had to slow things down a little," Figley said.

"Safety is always the main concern during the stage installation or removal process and we had to pay very special attention to them at all times, making sure that they were not putting themselves or others at risk."

Getting the film crew on site provided a logistics problem of its own. First, the necessary permissions had to be acquired from the band, the stadium and the labour unions. Once that was achieved, the filming had to be built into the production schedule.

The filming itself went without a hitch and the feature captures the way Stageco completes a complex build in the middle of a logistically challenging tour, demonstrating how the company has established its reputation for delivering huge stages efficiently and on time.

Stageco was founded by company chief Hedwig De Meyer and Belgian national promoter Herman Schueremans.

The Genesis stage was 60 percent custom-built and combined impressive visual impact with some tough technical challenges.

Built to a plan by renowned set designer Mark Fisher, the stage featured a special structure, curved in two planes, into which a custom-built video screen fit seamlessly.