Event crew Wales, sorted without the fuss.
Thirty years in this industry, and most of what I know about Wales I’ve learned the hard way, standing in a loading bay at ICC Wales working out how to get a video wall through a door it was never designed for. That kind of experience doesn’t come from a spreadsheet.
These days it means I can build whatever a show needs, one specialist for a single day or a full crew for a multi-day production, across live, virtual or hybrid formats. Cardiff, Swansea and everywhere between, I already know which venues have awkward access, which have decent parking, and which need a site visit booked weeks in advance. That’s dealt with before it becomes your problem.
Cardiff on a Friday night, a rugby international kicking off in a few hours, and the crew you booked for hospitality has just doubled its numbers. That’s the kind of call I get from Wales, which is why my list tracks who’s actually free as closely as who’s good.
A graphics operator based in Swansea who can be on site within the hour. A showcaller who’s run the timings for award shows at the ICC Wales without a single overrun. There’s also a small pool of production assistants around the valleys who’ve worked enough back-to-back shows to keep a running order moving even when everything else on site is going wrong.
Tell me the date and the role, and I’ll tell you within the hour who’s free.
“What can I say about your Showcaller? She was just amazing. One million per cent couldn’t have done it without her. The number of changes, last-minute information, and zero client information was constant for 4 days… It was ruthless! I hope we haven’t frightened her off? We would love to work with her in future. Thank you!”
Marcus Kerr – Production Manager, ACC Liverpool
Straight to the right person
Ringing round venues and freelancers to piece together a Wales crew eats into time you don’t have going spare. Pass that job to me and get on with the rest of the show.
The Little Black Book
The Little Black Book runs from showcallers and floor managers to content producers and graphics operators, and every one of them has worked Welsh venues before, so they’re not learning the building on the day. Tell me the role, I’ll tell you who fits your show.
You decide, I deliver
Nobody arrives on site expecting a rundown of how your team operates. They read the call sheet, take their cue from your producer, and get stuck in.
Wales runs events on a scale people outside the country often underestimate: rugby internationals at the Principality Stadium, conferences at ICC Wales, the National Eisteddfod moving to a new town every year. None of it works without freelance crew who already know the venues, the access points and each other.
Wales pulls from a smaller freelance pool than London or Birmingham, which cuts both ways. Fewer names to choose from, but the ones who do this work regularly, prompt operators, artist liaisons, graphics operators, floor managers, tend to know each other, cover for each other, and know most of the venues between them. When someone’s diary is full for your date, they can usually point me straight to who else can do the job just as well.
Award shows, product launches, conferences that fill every hotel room in the city for a week, Wales runs on people who show up already knowing the drill.
I know this pool well, who’s sharp, who’s reliable, who’s already got a date I need. Send me the brief and we’ll take it from there.
Working further north? Here’s how we approach crewing shows in Scotland, where the distances are even bigger.