Cowboy Bear Ninja Captured the Energy of PaleyFest LA’s Panels

PaleyFest LA is an annual television festival where the top stars and creators come to discuss their craft in front of a live audience of fans. This year, New York-based production company Cowboy Bear Ninja partnered with the Paley Center for Media to film eight panels at the event - including conversations with the people behind ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’, ‘Family Guy’, and ‘Young Sheldon’.

Hosted at the iconic Dolby Theatre, the CBN team brought HD footage to the big screens for the thousands in attendance, as well as recording in 4K and using Steadicam footage to ensure the events live online after the festival in the highest quality possible.

LBB’s Ben Conway caught up with Cowboy Bear Ninja’s Miguel Drake-McLaughlin to discuss how it all came together, hiding an orchestra on stage for a ‘Family Guy’ surprise, and the future of live event production.

LBB> How many different panels and events did you produce? What were your core responsibilities at PaleyFest LA?

Miguel> There were eight panels over seven days, with some of the most recognisable people on TV. We had ‘The Morning Show’, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’, ‘Young Sheldon’, ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’, ‘Loki’, ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’, ‘Late Night With Seth Meyers’, and ‘Family Guy’ – no skips! And we did it all in one prep day plus seven shoot days.

Cowboy Bear Ninja was responsible for the live video – we filmed and projected an IMAG [image magnification] feed up on a 32-foot screen so the live audience at the 3,400 seat Dolby Theatre could see the conversations up close. We sent an HD feed to the house projector so that even the people in the balconies could watch the conversations as if they were right on stage.  In addition, we recorded everything in 4K for the Paley Archive, so that these panel discussions can be a part of their historic collection.

Above: The 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' panel, hosted by Judd Apatow

LBB> Were you also responsible for the edits and distribution of the events? How do you help your live productions live on after their broadcast? 

Miguel> The Paley Center for Media handled the edits – we provided them with the original camera media (all in 4K) and sound files and they handled it from there. It has been a real treat to see audiences around the world tune into YouTube to watch each of the discussions and add their comments. Just a cool example of a worldwide audience getting awesome access to their creative heroes.

LBB> How did this project come about? What excited you about PaleyFest? 

Miguel> Cowboy Bear Ninja has worked on a number of great live productions, including winning a News and Journalism Emmy for our TV show ‘Black Women Own The Conversation’. When The Paley Center for Media let us know there might be a chance for us to work with them on PaleyFest LA, we were beyond excited at the opportunity. Watching all the past panels was a huge inspiration, as the basic template is irresistible: the most impressive names in show business having fun talking about how they do what they do. 

We put together a list of some of the tweaks we wanted to make for 2024: subtly adding some camera movement and coverage of the huge crowds, and a few other ideas - but nothing to disrupt the direct and successful format that has been developed by the Paley Center for decades. When we officially joined on as the film production partner for 2024, we were over the moon because their PaleyFest LA events are exactly as billed: The brightest stars from your favourite shows, in person at the Dolby Theatre’, and we really didn’t want to miss it.

LBB> What is your history with producing live events and broadcasts? What have been some of your previous projects that taught you the most valuable lessons to help with this project?

Miguel> Our game show ‘Paid Off With Michael Torpey’ was filmed live-to-tape, with a studio audience. The live audience was important to keep the comedic energy up, which was critical since the show was balancing humour with the serious subject of the college debt crisis. When ‘Paid Off’ was renewed for more episodes, we added a live call-in segment so that audiences at home could participate, by calling into the studio where the host performed live. 

‘Paid Off’ got tonnes of press, which enabled us to work on many more live programmes, including ‘Black Women Own The Conversation’ – which was also produced as live-to-tape (in fact our director from ‘BWOTC’ was a first call for PaleyFest LA, and helped us out with some insights when we were pitching… but she sadly had a previous booking and couldn't join us for the production). 

These live-to-tape shows taught us the valuable lesson that planning, testing and rehearsals are key to making live coverage reliable and entertaining. 

LBB> What are the keys to success for producing live events like this? What equipment or team members become invaluable? 

Miguel> It was important to us to capture the excitement in the room at these events, so we included a Steadicam roving in the aisles and orchestra pit which added dynamic movement to the coverage. We were able to not only showcase the impressive historic venue that is The Dolby Theatre, but also capture the crowd going wild when the stars stepped out onto the stage. We also had truly amazing sound mixers for both the multitrack recordings and the live mix to the house.  

Above: Alec Sulkin and Mila Kunis at the 'Family Guy' PaleyFest panel

LBB> The ‘Family Guy’ live event involved performances by the cast with an orchestra, as well as a panel. How did you navigate those complexities? What were the most fulfilling and challenging parts of that experience? 

Miguel> There was a great surprise for the live audience at the ‘Family Guy’ 25th anniversary panel: a 40-piece orchestra accompanying the cast for a table read of an unproduced episode! We set up a reveal curtain that was raised as Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein took the stage singing the ‘Family Guy’ theme song. The video of the table read with the orchestra isn’t public yet– although I’ve seen a few clips on TikTok. 

Setting everything up for that part of the panel gave us a chance to use the whole depth of the stage at The Dolby. We actually set things up prior to the ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ panel – loading in the orchestra piano and backline before lunch, and rehearsing for ‘Curb’ after lunch, so that on the day of the ‘Family Guy’ 25th Anniversary event, we could do sound check and rehearsal all day before the audience filed in. The performance was a blast, with the cast really giving their all, and the energy in the room was amazing. 

LBB> Has there been any technical developments in the last few years that have changed how you operate with these kinds of projects? 

Miguel> Having reliable 4K wireless transmission was crucial for our steadicam work. This is something that has improved a lot recently, and honestly is a fantastic tool we use  for many other applications, not just our live event tapings. 

LBB> How do you see the future of live  production evolving? 

Miguel> I think of moments like the cast of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ speaking at a huge event like this just after the end of their epic run, and am struck with the realisation that these moments only happen once. Audiences understand the magic of live events and are making them more and more of a priority compared to, let’s say, movies and TV shows which can be watched later when it’s convenient to your personal schedule. But live and live-to-tape events are so exciting to produce and to watch. It's undeniable that they are growing massively in importance right now, and a real treat to be producing at this exciting time.