6 minute read
Full Time | Mountain Productions
MOUNTAIN PRODUCTIONS
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ive our readers an introduction to Mountain Productions...
Founded in 1979, Mountain Productions is the largest staging company in North America and a world leader in rigging sales and installations. The company has worked on more than 20,000 events with thousands of world-renowned clients. For over forty years, we have been providing high quality temporary and permanent entertainment structures for all kinds of events. Offering fully customisable stage design and construction, we have a variety of staging options and rigging accessories for both rent and sale, making the possibilities for unique staging solutions endless. In addition to staging, we also have a broadbased Installations Department who can assist clients with all phases of their project through a variety of disciplines, such as design, engineering, fabrication, installation labour, and commissioning. With our team of world-class engineers, at MTN we have the capabilities and expertise to create custom installation solutions that are tailored specifically to each of our clients’ requirements. Proudly based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, our team has four decades of experience working with professional sports teams, large scale venues and promoters, universities, fashion houses, multinationals, and government bodies. Our scope can range from something as basic as a bandstand for a local musician, to helping fit out a multi-billion-dollar stadium. We pride ourselves with being able to grow with our customers.
Your installation department is launching new services - can you tell us more?
This is an exciting time for the MTN Installations Department. Not only have we recently welcomed new leadership, but also additional staff to accommodate our growth and new services. We are in the process of expanding the department’s business offerings outside of our current installation capabilities, that traditionally revolve around turnkey offerings that are exclusive to our on-site projects and not to other integrators. We want to maximise our internal capabilities and are moving further downstream by providing vendor services in design, engineering, and fabrication as stand-alone offerings. With this new investment, anyone can approach us as a trusted third-party vendor that provides design/engineering or fabrication to assist in entertainment and industrial installations.
Design/Engineering
One of the many things that sets MTN Installs apart from the competition is our in-house Design and Engineering Department. Our team can design build anything from temporary structures to permanent installation systems that are tailorfit to a diverse range of industries. These services include: • Providing 2D or 3D rigging layouts to visualize how equipment will interact in your building • Developing custom mounting and rigging solutions • Performing 3D laser scanning to capture As Built conditions and creating a point cloud deliverable of the space for future use • Performing calculations for wind, snow and seismic loads • Providing stamped drawings from our team of PE’s in 43 states, with applications pending in the remaining seven • Consulting services by specifying off-the-shelf rigging components that safely support your equipment or custom solutions
Fabrication
With our full team of in-house welders, carpenters, and finishers, we can take our clients’ ideas one step further with the fabrication of end-product solutions. Some of our fabrication capabilities include: • Steel and aluminum welding and machining • CNC, laser, or water jet cutting • Powder coating and galvanising • Assembly preparation and component test fitting
Which sporting venues has Mountain Productions worked on previously?
We have carried out work for professional sports franchises, buildings and arenas from the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLS. Some recent examples include Capital One Arena, Chase Center, Ford Field, and Red Bull Arena. We’ve also worked with collegiate venues such as: Neyland Stadium (Univ. Tennessee), Alumni Stadium (Boston College), Bryce Jordan Center (Penn State), and Moody Center (Univ. Texas). For these projects, we have installed a variety of rigging solutions for audio, video, lighting, and projection.
Do you have any upcoming sporting venue projects
We are in the process of finalising a number of sports venue installations that we are unable to discuss publicly at the moment. Check our website: www.mountainproductions.com for updates on all of our current projects.
What are Mountain Productions’ aims for the next five years?
Building the MTN brand is about expanding on our strengths, both geographically and in our offerings. You will continue to see that expansion in our home market and throughout EMEA and Latin America. “The addition of a new office in Berlin is just the start. For us, it is about keeping our eyes open to identify complimentary goods and services as they emerge and develop from our learnings or from organic feedback from customers.” - Ricky Rose, CEO. Pinpointing these opportunities, like providing bespoke installations-oriented engineering services to other integrators as a stand-alone firm, was one of those discoveries. Many small to medium size integrators don’t have internal engineering, design, and fabrication while larger companies’ sub-contract out some of these disciplines depending on the project. Over the next five years, we will continue to build our team to be the go-to vendor and service provider for these organisations to help them fill in the gaps and provide support.
ANDREW HAWK,
DIRECTOR OF INSTALLATIONS
Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your career background?
My name is Andrew Hawk, and I joined Mountain Productions in 2015 as a Design Engineer after graduating from Penn State Behrend with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I initially began by working with our Staging team, with a focus on product development. In 2016, I began working more heavily with the Installations Department and increased my focus and involvement across every facet of its development from budgeting and site surveys in the proposal phase, to working with our teams in the field to guide what is necessary from the standpoint of a professional engineer. Growing up, I spent a large amount of time working in and around live events as my father owns a company which focuses on audio and video installs and rentals. We primarily worked on schools, churches, and concerts using a variety of AV equipment. This experience was extremely beneficial to my professional development within the MTN Installations Department. Working in the Installations Department has afforded me the opportunity to design and develop rigging solutions for over 30 venues of all sizes, from small theatres to the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas. In managing these projects, I have learned that no two venues are the same, and each project comes with its own set of challenges, which keeps our team constantly engaged. As I transition to the role of Director of Installations, I look forward to developing new business methods and strategies to help our team continually exceed our clients’ expectations.
Next big thing in sporting venue design/ installations?
A positive trend that we’ve noticed is that venues are putting more and more thought into their rigging needs. Whether it’s through increasing structure capacities or strategically positioning rigging points, venues are finding ways to increase their flexibility and speed of rigging. Small changes like these may often be overlooked, but they ultimately lead to a better fan experience. The MTN Installations Department is working on both retrofits for older installations and new builds, keeping our clients on the cutting edge of technology and design.
Favourite sporting venue?
My favourite sporting venue has to be Beaver Stadium (State College, PA). Being in the stadium with 106,000 other fans is always an exciting time!
www.mountainproductions.com
