Fireworks TV Competition Show Discussion

[PyroWalker]

Have any of you been involved or approached by the guy who wants to do the fireworks tv show? There are a few pages of discussion on FB. I was approached, but I don't have a team. Also, the concept as being put out now is not something I would want to be a part of. It started as a nice idea, but I think his concept has taken an impossible turn.

For those of you who don't know. The idea was to highlight the fireworks industry by showing backyard pyromusicals. Then it morphed into a competition show, and now looks like a bracket competition of blind pyro with some pretty impossible constraints. 20-25 cases of pyro, not sure about the firing systems, and 4-5 hours from picking product, to having the show scripted and set to shoot with a 5-person team. Lots of experienced people have expressed concerns and given suggestions, but I think the guy who is wanting to do this has very minimal fireworks experience and seems bent on the reality show drama/excitement aspect.

Anyway, wanted to throw this out here....

[Wholesale Fireworks]

We were approached many years ago by a production company who wanted to do a show about a family owned fireworks business and the day to day operation focusing mainly around the 4th of July. Everyone has a great idea but no idea on how things actually work in this industry. Probably not the same company, but it will eventually fade away once they realize what all is involved.

[PyroWalker]

We were approached many years ago by a production company who wanted to do a show about a family owned fireworks business and the day to day operation focusing mainly around the 4th of July. Everyone has a great idea but no idea on how things actually work in this industry. Probably not the same company, but it will eventually fade away once they realize what all is involved.

This is one guy who says he has connections with the film industry. He plans to film 8 episodes with back to back blind pyro competitions in 4 days.
Here is his plan from the FB posting:
Blind Pyro Amateur/Am-Pro Tournament (Competition Show)
· Competition Structure:
o 8 Teams
o Single Elimination Tournament
o 3 Rounds
· 3 Judges:
o Judging based on
§ Pyromusical Concept (Originality and Rhythm)
§ Soundtrack (Selection of music)
§ Technical Design (Difficulty, spacing, quality of display)
§ Execution (Precision, Lack of errors, % fired)
· Structure:
o All fireworks will be 1.4g consumer grade or ProLine
o Each team has 5 members
o Some or all teams will be selected via a video submission
o Member can either be complete amateurs or am-pros
o Each member of the team will be required to pass a multi-hour safety class to participate in the tournament/competition
o 2 teams will compete against one another during each episode
o All teams will blindly (without seeing what is in their boxes or chosen pallet) choose a specified amount (about 20-25 cases) of fireworks per round of the following categories
§ 500g
§ 350g
§ 200g
§ Shells and Mortars
§ Fountains
o Once all fireworks are selected each team has 4 hours to put together a pyromusical with a maximum time of 5 minutes
o Teams will have to use all fireworks selected
o Teams will use electronic firing systems, racks, and e-matches to fire off display
o Set up area will be about 250ftx15 ft
o Each team will have a limited space to mount fireworks (ie 4ftx10ft boards)
o Winning team will win either a gift certificate, cash, or fireworks and supplies as a grand prize
o For an 8 team tournament, episodes will be as follows:
§ Episode 1: Introduction to teams, sponsors, host, and judges
§ Episode 2: 1st Round: First 2 teams compete to proceed to 2nd round
§ Episode 3: 1st Round: Next 2 teams compete to proceed to 2nd round
§ Episode 4: 1st Round: Next 2 teams compete to proceed to 2nd round
§ Episode 5: 1st Round: Last 2 teams compete to proceed to 2nd round
§ Episode 6: 2nd Round (4 Teams Remaining): First 2 teams compete to proceed to Final Round
§ Episode 7: 2nd Round: Last 2 teams compete to proceed to Final Round
§ Episode 8: Final Round: The winning teams from the 2nd round compete for the grand prize
§ POSSIBLE Episode 9: Recap of tournament and sponsors, Guest Musical Performance, Winner is allowed to create a display of their choosing up to 10 minutes in length

[Arles]

It's a good thing that nothing could go wrong rushing a firework setup.

[Engineer Cat]

What's the point of a safety class if people are going to be rushed to get it done in 4 hours?

How are 5 people supposed to safely poke 20 - 25 cases of product in a 4 hour window as well as lay them out, wire them up and script the show to items you have no idea what they do until opened. And that's if the label has a clear description of the effect.

I agree with Arles. This guy will need an Episode 10 (Injuries).

Is there even enough audience who would watch this besides people like us who already do this as a hobby? I mean most of the pyromusical people are on this forum. I would guess if you counted everyone in the world that's into this, it would be a few thousand. Not enough for a TV show.

This guy clearly knows nothing about setting up a pyromusical display. Someone had to tell this guy we can do pyromusicals in 4 hours here's the format for a show. These TV producers don't come up with this stuff on their own. I'm friends with someone who has been producing MANY of the most popular reality TV shows for 15 years. It's always people going to her with ideas. Not herself or the networks coming up with them. AND I hate to break it to you all but reality tv is always scripted in one way or another. Remember LIVE PD the cop show.... yea nothing was ever filmed on a live feed. They camera footage was edited before it aired. One of my buddies is a reality tv editor and would (and still does) send me links to the edits he has done for shows weeks before they make it on the air. Do you know what was live? The night the show was aired the hosts were live while commenting on the videos that were edited. That's the live part of Live PD. LMAO

[displayfireworks1]

Over the years these TV show producers called me a few times looking for a fireworks related TV reality show. Speaking of reality, one time I mentioned funding to them. I said something like what is the budget for products, prizes etc. They responded we are looking for something “Organic”. What does that mean? They want something that is already occurring and they just show up. They really do not want to fund it. My impression was it is independent production companies looking to create something. Then sell it to one of the networks. In the prior post with all that multi-level fireworks contest etc. Who is funding, feeding and possible housing all the contestants?
These TV show producers want “Organic”. If you look at some of the current and past shows, it is something that is already occurring and they show up to add drama, danger and interpersonal dynamics of the crew or contestants. I remember one of producers cited an organic example. There is some kind of pumpkin shooting yearly event and they just showed up and made a TV show out of it. It would be interesting to see if someone out there is willing to create and fund it.

[PyroWalker]

I agree that this guy knows nothing about setting up a fireworks display. He needs to spend some time with some backyard pyros, go to Sky Wars or PGI. Many big names in the industry are trying to convince him to listen and make changes, but he is all about the drama and apparently stupidity. I've called him out on talking out of both sides of his mouth about caring about showing "quality shows" and "highlighting safety", but he really only cares about the drama and making a reality tv show.

[BMoore]

I could see people watching this. It falls in the same line as the Christmas light competition shows, Halloween Decorating, Knife making, cooking, etc. A lot of those shows have some crazy time limit to add to the excitement. With careful editing it seems like total disaster with one minute left to go and then it magically all comes together in the last millisecond. I agree though, that speed is probably not the right message to send for fireworks and I'm not sure what they are proposing would even be possible. A better strategy might be 4 hours to plan, script and set up and then have professionals come in to do an inspection, wire and actually fire the show.

[Salutecake]

Personally I think you are looking for trouble if you hook up with any company like this. If you're looking to put your name up in lights, you already do that every time you light the fuse.
The whole scenario listed above invokes nothing but Stupidity and Drama. Not to mention the cost to you and the profit made by him.
Does he have a place for the competition? If not who pays for the rental possible permits, what about the fireworks, entrance fee???
Then let's rush the fireworks set up process, hey, I know they are only 1.4 but they are still explosives! Even when you take your time and are careful bad things can happen.
There are already plenty of great home made vids out there that can be entered for a competition.
There are also plenty of irresponsible people posting irresponsible handling of fireworks, and that's what this company wants and by putting time restraints on the setup I think they are planning to create their own drama when things go wrong.
Do you think any of the organization, like the PGI would sanction anything like this????

I'm glad you brought the topic up.

[Engineer Cat]

Those Halloween and Christmas decorating shows work on that stuff for months. It's only edited to appear to be in a time crunch. This idea as presented doesn't allow for such editing and only ensures a dangerous environment.

[displayfireworks1]

The more I read those details you say someone posted, it all sound like someone’s big fantasy. What TV production company would list all of those details and reveal what the show idea is in such details. Also when you start playing music on TV for fireworks or for any reason, you need permission or to pay royalties. It would be near impossible to get permission to create a pyro-musical. These production folks usually contract well know fireworks people and/or companies privately and do not publicly announce it. It all sounds like a big fantasy someone created.

[Birdman]

I was thinking the same thing about the music royalties. I assume the music would have to be predetermined to ensure the show had the rights to use it before filming. At least you wouldn't need to use time composing a soundtrack.

[WithReport]

It will be interesting to see what becomes of this event. The whole thing has been fairly bumbled so far. It is clear he has no real experience putting something like this together, but has claims of fantastic sponsorship - 500cases, igniters, provided firing system for every team, hotel accommodations, travel stipends, cash prices, etc. But has yet to formally announce any sponsors.

His original desire was to try to put together some interest in a streaming service or TV series on pyro - yeah something like those Christmas light challenges. Although I'm quite pessimistic about any service actually picking it up, it seems like there are many events, clubs, and individuals that he could have filmed and made episodes on, but he is suddenly focused on creating some blind pyro bracketed event for 3 days somewhere in Alabama. I think he as lost sight of his original proposed product - some high quality episodes on pyro. I for one don't consider a thrown together blind pyro as top notch pyro.

And yes, the issue with trying to broadcast or stream most music without paying royalties has been mentioned to him a number of times. Right now he is letting people pick their own music.

[Engineer Cat]

It will be interesting to see what becomes of this event. The whole thing has been fairly bumbled so far. It is clear he has no real experience putting something like this together, but has claims of fantastic sponsorship - 500cases, igniters, provided firing system for every team, hotel accommodations, travel stipends, cash prices, etc. But has yet to formally announce any sponsors.

His original desire was to try to put together some interest in a streaming service or TV series on pyro - yeah something like those Christmas light challenges. Although I'm quite pessimistic about any service actually picking it up, it seems like there are many events, clubs, and individuals that he could have filmed and made episodes on, but he is suddenly focused on creating some blind pyro bracketed event for 3 days somewhere in Alabama. I think he as lost sight of his original proposed product - some high quality episodes on pyro. I for one don't consider a thrown together blind pyro as top notch pyro.

And yes, the issue with trying to broadcast or stream most music without paying royalties has been mentioned to him a number of times. Right now he is letting people pick their own music.

Did this guy reach out to you too?

[PyroWalker]

It will be interesting to see what becomes of this event. The whole thing has been fairly bumbled so far. It is clear he has no real experience putting something like this together, but has claims of fantastic sponsorship - 500cases, igniters, provided firing system for every team, hotel accommodations, travel stipends, cash prices, etc. But has yet to formally announce any sponsors.

His original desire was to try to put together some interest in a streaming service or TV series on pyro - yeah something like those Christmas light challenges. Although I'm quite pessimistic about any service actually picking it up, it seems like there are many events, clubs, and individuals that he could have filmed and made episodes on, but he is suddenly focused on creating some blind pyro bracketed event for 3 days somewhere in Alabama. I think he as lost sight of his original proposed product - some high quality episodes on pyro. I for one don't consider a thrown together blind pyro as top notch pyro.

And yes, the issue with trying to broadcast or stream most music without paying royalties has been mentioned to him a number of times. Right now he is letting people pick their own music.

There hasn't been a lot of activity on the FB post since his latest update, which seemed to suggest he was rethinking things. There were fantastic ideas and suggestions thrown out to him, but he seemed pretty focused on making it kind of chaos. I am also suspicious of how he has the funding, sponsorship, etc. I have connected with a few people who have been in the industry "forever" and have connections with some of the big brands including Dominator, Winda, Cobra to name a few... None of them are talking about this (or admitting to being involved at this point). It will be interesting to see what flushes out. If they wanted to come to my property, film me scripting, preparing cakes, doing setup, and shooting a show, I would be all for being a part of this. Even if they put parameters around it and made it a competition against other "backyard" pyros, that could be a cool concept. Probably cheaper also!!

[Engineer Cat]

If they wanted to come to my property, film me scripting, preparing cakes, doing setup, and shooting a show, I would be all for being a part of this. Even if they put parameters around it and made it a competition against other "backyard" pyros, that could be a cool concept. Probably cheaper also!!

Yea I agree with you there. I think the niche of the show is how each one of us deals with the issues we face as a non pro backyard pyro. We all have different reasons for putting together the shows as we do. Some of us only have a small footprint to work with. Some of us can only shoot a "short show" for various reasons. Some have to deal with their HOA, and others have fairly limited restrictions. That's the part I would be interested in. That's what makes me read and watch what our fellow pyros here talk about. Anyone can drop a bunch of cakes on the ground and fuse them together and fire them off. It's the planning, setup and execution that I'm interested in. I can care less about a contest format.

[Birdman]

I believe they would want to stick to a tight timeline not just for the drama it creates but because it keeps their costs down. As proposed they could probably film a whole season in a few days. Sending film crews to document each individual show would be a much bigger expense because it would take a lot more time and resources to film.

Some of my suggestions would be:

- Providing every team with a full inventory of everything they have to work with (e.g. Fireworks, hardware, supplies etc) for each round. This way teams at least have time in advance to research the product and at least have a clue what they have to work with. Contestants will need to know firing system and scripting tool well in advance so they can familiarize themself if they have little or no experience. I also think sponsors would want this so teams can better highlight their products.
- Randomly assign a soundtrack to each team (e.g. pick out of hat, spin wheel etc) or have a contest (questions pertaining to safety and/or other pyro "trivia") and allow the winning team to pick first, 2nd place picks second etc etc.
- Each round should have a different theme (e.g. daytime/children's show, patriotic show, gender reveal, show for special musical guests) and have additional special guest judges for each round (Kids, military or vets, expectant parents, etc).
- Increase cue count available each round and increase time for scripting and setup accordingly. Time doesn't even have to be set in stone and can be adjusted after each round. Lets say in round 1 the teams are given 54 cues (3x 18 cue mods). Use this as a baseline for how much time is given in the next round where cue count may be 90 cues (3x 18 and 1x 36 cue mods). This way contestants can get more time in the next round if they have too much difficulty getting through round 1 and producers can decrease time if they find teams are able to get things done faster then expected.
- Allow each team/contestant to bring one item from home (rack, tool, special tape, fuse connectors, fuse etc.) that they feel they need but is not being supplied or gives them an advantage over another team.

My thinking is that teams should have some knowledge ahead of time while still having some randomness to keep things interesting. Having predetermined soundtracks not only decrease time to script but allows producers to ensure they have the rights to the music and/or allows them to work promotional deals with bands/labels. Increasing cue count each round and not having timelines set in stone allows contestants and producers to make adjustments for safety or to create more drama if needed. As currently detailed I just don't see any of these shows being more than a bunch of sky puke that can then be edited down to look however good/bad the producers want it to. I personally would like to see what teams can do with limited cues and product as well as lots of cues and product. Just seems the original concept is too repetitive and too stringent. Four hrs to script a 5 minute show consisting of 20-25 cases of fireworks can turn into a hot mess rather quickly. I'd much rather see it be more about creativity and ingenuity then about composing soundtracks, "gotchas" and TV editing.