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| Van Nuys Fly Away at time of writing. |
We live streamed 16 shows from the Hollywood Fringe, across 4 days, using a mobile 4G hotspot for our internet connection. Technically speaking, we knew we were taking a risk but we'd tested the hotspots a number of times. Logistically we knew we were taking a risk, each show lasted about an hour and then there was 15 minutes to turnaround the theatre space from one show to the next. But the key was whether the streams be watchable and whether the viewers would enjoy the shows.
Logistically and technologically we had a resounding success. The streams too, were watchable and enjoyable. We got lots of praise for our work and inspired people to want to work with us in the future. We even had a positive effect on the audience numbers of some of the shows.
I guess I should just happily say, "A Success." But will I leave it there? No, I'm Scottish and that means nothing is perfect and everything is not quite good enough. This might seem harsh, and sometimes in Scotland this attitude is way too harsh, but for me it's fueled my obsession to improve and develop. Sometimes this outlook means that I don't sell myself or my achievements as well as I should and that can be destructive. At the Hollywood Fringe though, it meant that I moved so far forward, that my final show was a two camera shoot of 5 performers backed by 7 musicians; a show that I loved and was proud to stream.
So what's next? Well as I type this, I'm projecting flying doves onto the parking structure of Van Nuys Fly Away bus station as part of a performance art piece... and all I can think about, is how I could live stream this. Where ever there's an interesting performance, I want to share it.
