We often got asked: What do you do as a creative production company? Best way to answer the question is to meet the team and ask them questions about their work. Let’s start with Ky!  Ky Lloyd works with battleROYAL as Production Manager and Show Caller for all kinds of productions – from small one-off shows to large-scale major events. She is responsible for the preparation in the weeks and months ahead as well as for the smooth running of the event itself.

Ky Lloyd grew up in the US but moved to Germany where she has been working as a technician, stage manager and show caller in various theater and performance productions for over 20 years, working for major companies such as Stage Entertainment and Disney. As Show Caller and Production Manager for battleROYAL, she has played an important part in some of our biggest events over the past 6 years.

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Where does most of your work take place: in the office or onsite?

Mostly of job happens in the office with preparations for the event. Our goal is to prep, organize, communicate and coordinate a show’s technical elements as much as possible in order to have the most efficient and smooth experience on-site. Creative team members, artists, crew, volunteers and more join the project during rehearsals–sometimes only in the last day or hours before an event. Production management coordinates and communicates to them all. Hopefully the bulk of our work is done before we arrive at the venue. Onsite it’s then our responsibility to run the show or event–safely, smoothly and on time.

Is there any difference between mid-size shows and major productions?

The bigger the project, the more people and departments there are to coordinate. But it is more a question about the infrastructure than the size. For instance, our show PARADE was far smaller than our work for the Opening Ceremony for AARHUS 2017. But PARADE was completely produced by us–from concept and casting to costumes, props and video design. Therefore the production team had a great deal of work to accomplish in-house. In Aarhus, the whole organization of the event was taken over by our partners in Denmark—battleROYAL was able to focus on the concept and just certain aspects of the realization.

However it’s not always this way. Every project is unique. Our strength is our flexibility and we can adapt what we provide to what our client needs.

What are the most important tools and skills for a Show Caller?

Communication, preparation, an accurate watch and huge portions of calmness and caution—and l learn more with every project I do! As a Show Caller you always have to reckon with sudden obstacles but have the pressure of “the show must go on.” It is my job to keep things on time, but keep calm and make safe decisions. No matter if I am calling a battleROYAL production or just booked personally to call an external event, I try to bring my “tool box” for any eventuality: I check that we have back up images for projection and video, safety announcements loaded in the sound desk or a playlist prepped to keep the audience in a good mood while fixing a technical problem–everything you need to have in your back pocket but hopefully never need. But I don’t mean to focus on the risks. It a high-energy, high-stress, high-responsibility job and I love it. I get to work with some of the best people in the business—technicians, artists, or the creative teams. It’s an incredible privilege!