5Qs: Danny Whetstone, CEO Of DWP Live

Danny Whetstone, CEO of DWP Live.

Starting with six projectors in 2007, Danny Whetstone founded DWP Live, a video production company that focuses on projection mapping for corporate clients, agencies, and designers. Today, DWP Live boasts an impressive resume, with projects like a projection and light show for An Enchanted Experience at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, Paula Abdul’s PSA about breast cancer awareness, three consecutive years at Cinemacon, and the Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show featuring Madonna, as well as an extensive catalog of video production equipment. Now DWP Live’s stock of equipment, including a complete line of coolux Pandoras Box media servers, d3 Technologies 4x4 Pros, and an assorted array of Barco projectors, will be available to rent through DWP Rents, which launched February 2. Live Design caught up with Whetstone just before the launch.

1. Can you share a little about how DWP Live has grown in the past few years?

We have continued to rapidly grow, year over year, since we started. Our primary and deliberate growth in the last two years has been with our people. We went from eight employees to 27, with a clear focus on building a support staff to manage the new division, DWP Rents. 

Our primary focus for Q1 in 2015 is growing DWP Rents by not only sharing our equipment inventory, but also our expertise and experience. There are several good rental resources but not many that are really focused on the resources we have and none that have the experience we are ready to share. We have continued to stay on the front lines of new equipment, continued to expand the products we stock, and are excited to make them available to others.

An Enchanted Experience. Courtesy of Integrated Visions.

2. Were there any particular challenges in designing An Enchanted Experience?

The biggest challenge that we had was the fact that it was a long-term install with remote access. We were on the rooftop of the property at Rockefeller Plaza. Access to that was really complicated. We couldn’t just hop on an elevator and go up there. We had to have security clearance and an escort to get to the projector location. So the biggest challenges we overcame were being able to fit into a really small space on the balcony that was up there on the sixth floor and the remote access to everything. We set up webcams and remotely monitored everything via TeamViewer, so we didn’t have to have direct access. Once everything was set up, it was all successfully controlled remotely. 

Gear, Beyonce, And Paula Abdul

3. What gear is most valuable to your work with DWP Live?

Our primary focus is on projection and projection mapping. Our projector inventory is built around projectors ranging from 6,000 lumens up to 40,000 lumens, in the latest series of projectors released by Barco. Secondarily are media servers. We are one of a few companies to offer coolux Pandoras Box, which is what we used at Saks and what we have used since the beginning of DWP. It is an awesome platform, and coolux just released revision number three of the hardware, and we are currently the only people carrying it. Pandoras Box is a star in our arsenal. 

To kick off DWP Rents and Q1 2015, we have also taken delivery of the d3 technologies 4x4 Pro, which is also an excellent platform for media servers. It can be perceived as a competitor to Pandoras Box, but if you look at it from the outside, they are two very different things and appeal to two very different audiences. d3 is part of our big push to create new connections in 2015, and we are really excited to add them to our inventory. We’re not saying one is better than the other. We’re saying that they are both great options, and people make different choices. Also, a big part of what we’re building our systems around in 2015 is the new Barco Encore 2. We’ve been on the E2 beta team for them since back in September, and that just fully launched at the end of December and is readily available as well.  

Beyonce at World Humanitarian Day. Photo by Cliff Watts.

4. What trends in projection, both in design and gear, do you expect to see in the future?

Well, wouldn’t we all love to have a million-lumen projector in a tiny little box? I don’t think that is going to happen any time soon. I think we’re going to see a big transition in the coming months from HD to 4K, and that is a big part of DWP Rents becoming early adopters of the Encore 2 and being able to manage 4K resolution as well as 4K inputs and outputs. With 4K projectors just starting to come on board, there will be some big, new trends not far behind. 

5. Of the projects you’ve done with DWP Live, which one are you most proud of and why?

There is one that tickles my fancy the most, and that is Beyoncé in the UN Chamber and doing the music video for “I Was Here,” particularly because of the cause and support of World Humanitarian Day. I think the ultimate goal was a billion social media posts, and it surpassed the goal by far. All in all, the whole experience of the message that she was sending, the way it was done, and having the rare opportunity to work inside the UN Chamber was pretty awesome, probably my highlight so far.

Watch Paula Abdul's PSA about breast cancer awareness, for which DWP Live provided all the projection technology.

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