The night of glory for music videos, the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, was held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on September 12, 2023. The show was hosted by Nicki Minaj, marking her second consecutive year in the role. Multi-award-winning lighting designer Tom Sutherland once again—his fourth consecutive year—designed the lighting, with production design by Matt Steinbrenner. Live Design's exclusive chat with Sutherland takes us behind the scenes of this visually sizzling show for our Plot Of The Week.
"The rig consisted of mainly Robe fixtures, they’re one of my go-to brands; we used a large amount of Mega Pointes and I Forte fixtures. They were both my workhorses," says Sutherland.
"We also used relatively new fixtures called Pixel Line IP’s from ACME," the LD adds. "They were the linear lights that ran left and right of the screens. We were able to run both video and lighting programming through these." The rig also contained Chauvet Color Strike M’s, which Sutherland used to, "line all the curved trusses and really help define the geography of the set."
"The programmers created some amazing effects throughout the show and they helped bring the stage to life. As for the lighting consoles we used and MA Lighting grandMA3, it was my first time using MA3 software and I really think it helped enhance the show. All of this was pre visualized in Depence3. We were able to get a great head start."PixMob provided and controlled LED wristbands: "I worked closely with them to merge the design of the wristbands into the rest of the show," explains the LD.
One of the challenges of lighting the VMA's is the large number of acts. "This year we had 16 performances in the room, there were 16 different creative teams that we had to work with to bring the artists creative visions to life. This process usually starts a month before the show, it’s always quite an intense period making sure that everything is drawn, built and delivered on time. Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved it always ends up coming together," says the LD.
"Creating a set this large in the Prudential Center is quite a challenge just because of the weight restrictions, we had to work closely with the team from Kish Rigging to find solutions to be able to hang the set and lighting. It resulted in a mixture of flown elements and ground support," Sutherland adds. "Matt Steinbrenner, the production designer, created a wonderful set based on audio sound waves and a gigantic moon person head. It featured some beautiful curves that I was able to follow with light. The dimension and perspective of the design really bought the room to life. Every camera angle gave you something different."
CREW
Lighting Designer:
- TOM SUTHERLAND
Lighting Directors:
- HUNTER SELBY
- JAMES COLDICOTT
- JASMINE LESANE
- JAY KOCH
Lighting Programmers:
- BRIAN JENKINS
- ERIC MARCHWINSKI
- TOM YOUNG
Gaffer:
- ALEN SISUL
System Tech:
- JOHN COX
Lead Best Boys:
- DENNIS SISUL
- CHRIS MOELLER
Best Boys:
- DAMON ISAACKS
- BOBBY TACOMA
- ERIC GREENLUND
- KEITH MEOLA
Lighting Techs:
- OSCAR QUINTERO
- NICOLAS TANGUAY
Lighting Tech:
- GERARDO VIZCARRA
PixMob Programmer:
- STEFAN ZUBOVIC
PixMob Project Manager:
- SHANNEL CÔTÉ-SICKMAN
Laser Programmers:
- COLIN CLARKE
- GARRETT GOSTING
Laser Tech:
- NATHANIEL ALDANA
VENDORS
Lighting:
LED Wristbands:
Lasers:
- ER PRODUCTIONS
GEAR LIST
MAIN SHOW
Automated
- 70 Vari*Lite VL3500 Wash
- 151 Robe Forte
- 202 Robe MegaPointe
- 68 Claypaky Mythos 2
- 4 Claypaky Sharpy Wash 330
- (495 Total Automated Lights)
Effects
- 84 Chauvet Color STRIKE M
- 220 ACME Pixel Line IP
- 159 Chauvet STRIKE Array 2
- 58 TMB Solaris Flare Q+’s
- (521 Total Effects Lights)
LED
- 9 Chauvet Ovation E-910FC IP 26°
- 28 Elation SixBar 1000 IP
- (6x) Elation SixBar 500
- (43 Total LED Lights)
Followspots
- 12 Robe BMFL Followspot
- 6 Robe BMFL Followspot LT
- 5 Strong Gladiator IV
- (23 Total Followspots)
PERFORMANCES
Anitta
- 6 Chauvet Color STRIKE M
Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion
- 8 TMB Solaris Flare Q+ LR
- 20 Chauvet COLORado 2 Solo
Demi Lovato
- 22 Ayrton MagicBlade FX
- 26 Solaris Flare Q+ LR
Diddy (Global Icon Award)
- 14 GLP Impression FR10 Bar’s
- 1 Robe BMFL Followspot
- 1 ER AT-30 Laser
Doja Cat
- 12 Astera Titan Tube
Hip Hop 50 Performance
- 8 GLP Impression FR10 Bars
Måneskin
- 90 GLP JDC1 Strobe
- 8 TMB Solaris Flare Q+ LR
Metro Boomin feat. Future, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Swae Lee, and Nav
- 8 Chauvet COLORado PXL Curve 12
- 2 Astera Titan Tube
Nicki Minaj
- 43 Robe Tetra2
- 13 GLP Impression X4 Bar 20
- 12 GLP Impression X4 Bar 10
Olivia Rodrigo
- 11 Elation FUZE PAR Z120 IP
Peso Pluma
- 24 Robe MegaPointe
Shakira (Video Vanguard Award)
- 1 Robe Forte
- 36 TMB Solaris Flare Q+ Rayzr 50cm
- 24 My Method Clone
- 10 Elation CUEPIX Blinder WW2
- 6 ER AT-30 Lasers
Stray Kids
- 6 ER AT-30 Lasers
TOMORROW X TOGETHER & Anitta
- 20 TMB Solaris Flare Q+ LR’s