RuPaul’s DragCon LA Pink CarpetLive Streamed with Blackmagic Design

Blackmagic Design workflow helps World of Wonder bring live production in house.

Blackmagic Design today announced that the Pink Carpet at RuPaul’s DragCon Los Angeles 2024 was live streamed using a Blackmagic Design live production workflow, including ATEM Television Studio 4K8 live production switcher and Blackmagic Web Presenter 4K streaming solution. The event became the most streamed original program on the WOW Presents Plus platform, a global hub for streaming the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” franchise.

Produced by World of Wonder Productions, the company behind such television shows as “Million Dollar Listing,” “Backyard Envy,” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” this year’s DragCon LA Pink Carpet event featured a ribbon cutting ceremony and the legendary Queen’s Walk. Drag queens from all the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” franchises walked the 200 ft. pink carpet, showing off this year’s looks and stopping for on camera interviews.

At the end of the pink carpet was World of Wonder Productions’ video village, featuring a host of Blackmagic Design gear, including an ATEM Television Studio 4K8 which served as the main switcher for live streaming the event in conjunction with a Blackmagic Web Presenter 4K. Five Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 digital film cameras stationed around the pink carpet were fed into the ATEM via SMPTE cabling with Blackmagic Studio Fiber Converters and Blackmagic Camera Fiber Converters for control and power.

The video village also used several Micro Converters BiDirectional SDI/HDMI 3G to connect various monitors around the venue, so producers could watch what was being shot. A HyperDeck Studio 4K Pro broadcast deck delivered pre loaded graphics for the live stream. Producers also needed the ability to switch between multiple inputs at a moment’s notice for a reference monitor for host Michelle Visage, so the team used a line out of the ATEM Television Studio 4K8 into an ATEM Television Studio HD live production switcher. This allowed them to use one output to access all the camera angles, graphics, and verbiage Visage might need to see to host the show during the live stream.

According to World of Wonder Productions’ Equipment Manager Blake Jacobs, the event was previously produced by outside vendors, but the World of Wonder team wanted to find an affordable way to bring live streamed events in house and, in turn, utilize those savings to increase the frequency of their live streamed events.

Jacobs noted that investing in Blackmagic Design gear allowed World of Wonder Productions to produce this year’s Pink Carpet event with confidence. “The feature set and reliability helped give us the assurance to properly deliver and execute a live show from DragCon,” he said. “It was easy to set up and test the gear during preproduction, using the Blackmagic product manuals as needed to realize our desired workflow. Blackmagic Design gear is so user friendly, which is one of the main reasons why we like using it. It’s also compact, making it easy to transport to and from events, and its affordability is a huge plus.”

Jacobs also praised Blackmagic Design products’ versatility, noting the team used the gear for additional coverage of DragCon LA, as well as for Live from the Pink Carpet at DragCon UK 2024, which was World of Wonder Productions’ first live broadcast on its subscription video on demand channel. The team also plans to extend live coverage of the next DragCon UK to cover performances on the main stage.

“Not only is Blackmagic Design gear affordable and easy to use, allowing us to bring our event coverage in house, but the products’ flexibility enables us to scale according to the needs of each project,” concluded Jacobs. “We’ve started to cover events of varying sizes and configurations, and the portable design of the ATEM Television Studio 4K8, for example, lets us set up and breakdown for events quickly, yet it’s super powerful. We’re excited to see what else we can do with the Blackmagic Design workflow as we continue to grow our event coverage and ultimately, our offerings as a production company.”