Lighting Designer Bruce Ferri of FLDA was honored to be part of the winning team that took home two Sports Emmy® Awards for MLB Tonight on the MLB Network. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the winners of the 31st Annual Sports Emmy® Awards at a special ceremony at Frederick P. Rose Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. Ferri designed the lighting for MLB Tonight which won the award for Outstanding Technical Team-Studio as well as Outstanding Production Design/Art Direction with Production Design Team listed as: John Entz, Jim Fenhagen, Bruce Ferri, Gary Fippinger, Bryan Higgason, Joe Lamberta, Chris Mallory, Tony Petitti, Tony Santomauro, Michael Sheehan, Susan Stone and Karen Whritner.
“It is very exciting as both the MLB Network and FLDA both launched in January of 2009, so I have a real connection to that project,” explains Ferri. “I am very honored to be sharing in these awards with the great team from MLB Network and with the rest of the designers from both Jack Morton/PDG and the entire team from Blackwalnut. I also want to thank my colleague, FLDA Lighting Designer Mick Smith and Assistant Lighting Designer Ben Pilat who worked with me on this project.”
MLB Network’s studios in Secaucus, New Jersey consist of two studios both lit by Ferri. Studio 3 and Studio 42, which are named in honor of Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson, total 15,200 square feet. Every video display in both studios is fully native HD, as is all video produced at the studios. Studio 3 is the primary home of the live nightly studio show, MLB Tonight. The second studio, Studio 42, measures nearly 100’ x 100’ is an open, half-scale baseball diamond and is where Sportscaster Bob Costas conducts his interviews with baseball legends.
Ferri is no stranger to sports television lighting. In 2004, he received a Sports Emmy nomination for ESPN’s SportsCenter and explains the approach FLDA takes for a project like MLB Network. “Sports broadcasting is an interesting challenge because they are giving fans the day’s news but also presenting it in a fast-paced, high energy format and the studio needs to be able to convey that energy and excitement. Also the space itself is used for multiple different setups and styles of shots so you really have to breakout of just the ‘guy sitting at a desk look’ but at the same time the lighting can’t compete with the show, it has to enhance it.”
FLDA congratulates MLB Network on all four of their Emmy awards, which also included MLB Tonight’s win for Outstanding Graphic Design and Bob Costas’ award for Outstanding Sports Personality-Studio Host.
About FLDA
Television lighting design firm FLDA, focuses on what they do best—multi-camera television productions. FLDA adheres to the core principal that while lighting should not be a conscious element to the viewer, it is a critical element that at all times should support and complement a project to enable it to communicate much more effectively. Lighting Designers Bruce Ferri, Fred Bock and Mick Smith along with Director of Production Shannon Curran work from FLDA’s offices located in New York City.
For more information, please go to www.flda.tv. You can also follow FLDA on Facebook
