Scott Givens

Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Ceremonies

Scott Givens and his team at FiveCurrents recently was awarded the tender for the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies by the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee. These will be Russia’s first Olympic Winter Games, and the ceremonies will embrace the grand pageantry, rich cultural resonance, and stark and mysterious beauty of thousands of years of the Russian people and Russian history. Held in a purpose-built stadium configured to FiveCurrents’ specifications on the edge of the Black Sea, these will be spectacular and memorable ceremonies, embodying the Russian psyche and the spirit and passion of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Ceremonies

FiveCurrents was retained by the London 2012 Organising Committee to be the production company and serve as a guiding hand behind the London 2012 Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The ceremonies team included London creative visionaries Danny Boyle (director of Slumdog Millionaire), Stephen Daldry (director of Billy Elliott), Mark Fisher (legendary scenic designer), and Hamish Hamilton (top-tier television director). With a cast of more than 18,000, these uniquely British ceremonies were enthusiastically lauded in Britain and embraced by viewers worldwide. They were broadcast in 204 countries to more than 4 billion, with widespread critical acclaim.

Puebla’s 150th Cinco de Mayo Broadcast Special

On 5 May 2012, FiveCurrents produced the 150th Cinco de Mayo Celebration: “Puebla: Orgullo de Mexico.” The commemorative celebration was developed for broadcast to increase awareness as Puebla as a tourist destination, and to honor the rich history and bravery of the people of Puebla. The 150th Cinco de Mayo celebration was broadcast in 21 countries to more than 300 million people worldwide. The special was presented in three acts: The Spirit of the Land, The Spirit of the People, and The Spirit of Puebla. Incorporating Mexican and indigenous history and folklore, FiveCurrents used Fort Guadalupe, where the Battle of Puebla was fought in 1862, as the backdrop for the broadcast. The show included remarks by the president of Mexico and the governor of Puebla and performances by Marc Anthony, Chayanne and Maria Jose.

Clinton Global Initiative

Scott and his team at FiveCurrents have produced the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting since its inception in 2005. CGI is a non-partisan catalyst for action bringing together a community of global leaders including heads of state, non-profit organizations, charities, and business leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The initiative culminates in an annual conference, at which each invited guest, as a condition of attendance, must make a specific commitment to address one of the focus areas discussed. CGI staff then monitors the progress and success of these commitments throughout the year. To date CGI members have made more than 2,100 commitments, which are already improving the lives of nearly 400 million people in more than 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $69.2 billion.

Envisioned by President Clinton as a conference about action, FiveCurrents sculpted an event where action is the core activity. FiveCurrents' work on this project involves everything from designing the staging to printing collaterals to webcasting the event.

“It’s an effort to bring people together and then do something most of these conferences don’t do; to ask every participant here to make a personal commitment to do something. If we do it every year for a decade, every single year, people know they have to commit to do something and do it.”

In 2008, the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation held the inaugural CGI U conference at Tulane University in New Orleans. More than 700 students attended the first annual CGI U. In order to attend, student members were required to make a public service commitment, with the goal of bringing about positive social change. Commitments range from installing energy-efficient light bulbs to establishing campus bike share programs, from distributing life-saving water filtration kits to designing medical backpacks for nomadic doctors in Africa. Since the inaugural meeting in 2008, nearly 4,000 commitments have been made.

XVI Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011 Ceremonies

FiveCurrents produced the Guadalajara 2011 Pan and Parapan American Games Ceremonies, watched live by 200 million people worldwide. During the Opening Ceremony, the creative team led spectators through a journey showing Guadalajara’s past, present and future. The “past” segment capitalized on Mexico’s rich cultural history. The “present” segments focused on the athletes and their inspirational power. The most robust artistic content came in three segments that captured a highly stylized vision of Guadalajara’s future, featuring a future of innovation, culture and peace. The successful delivery of the Pan and Parapan American Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies shone the spotlight on Mexico and Guadalajara’s rich artistic, creative culture, and on Guadalajara’s bright future.

SAP Sapphire General Session

For the 2012 SAP Sapphire Now conference which had a live audience of more than 7,000 and a live video streamed worldwide, Scott Givens was approached to make a splash for keynote speaker and CEO Bill McDermott. Using layered video screens on multiple planes and mediums, FiveCurrents made a multidimensional reimagination of SAP’s “Run Better” campaign to introduce McDermott, and edited layered videos to introduce keynote panelists from Burberry, Redbox and Ace Hardware.

Rio 2016 Olympic Bid

FiveCurrents was the Executive Producer for Rio 2016’s successful Olympic bid, responsible for producing the IOC Evaluation Commission’s visit to Rio, and all presentations, videos and creative support for the campaign. Chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Dick Ebersol said of the final presentation in Copenhagen in October, “Rio's presentation was the best I have seen in 20 years.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission’s visit to Rio de Janeiro, one of the four finalist candidate cities vying to host the 2016 Olympic Games, was heralded as a tremendous success by local and international news organizations. FiveCurrents produced the four-day visit that included more than 20 presentations and a tour of the existing and proposed venue sites.

FiveCurrents also produced a dinner for the IOC members on Rio’s iconic Pao de Acucar that included a fully costumed samba school, a chorinho band, bossa nova artist Paula Morelenbaum, thousands of candles on the beach spelling out “Rio 2016” and hundreds of performers dressed in white, holding candles singing the anthem of Rio de Janeiro: Cidade Maravilhosa.

LiveCity Vancouver 2010

During the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Scott and his team at FiveCurrents served as the Creative Producer of LiveCity Vancouver, a series of fan celebration sites in the heart of downtown Vancouver, which drew tens of thousands of visitors each day. LiveCity Vancouver featured headline concerts, massive sponsor pavilions, daily educational programs, Olympic athlete appearances, and large screens where revelers cheered on their teams and watched daily competitions. Every evening, FiveCurrents produced the nightly closing spectacular, which included projections on three water screens of the most recent Olympic highlights, integrated into a dazzling fireworks display.

Rio Reveillon Copacabana New Year's Celebration

FiveCurrents celebrated New Year’s in Rio de Janeiro, producing Reveillon Copacabana. More than 2 million people gathered on Copacabana Beach to watch live entertainment and celebrate the New Year. The event included four stages filled with Brazilian pop, bossa nova, symphony and samba, and a “New Year’s Wishes” fireworks spectacular that was broadcast in more than 100 countries by TV Globo. The entire 5+ kilometer beach came under one 1000-speaker sound system to sync nine ocean barges in a spectacular 18,000-effect pyro display. The show had fireworks and music based on wishes for renewal, prosperity, peace, happiness, love, friends and family, country and the future. With more than 2 million people dressed in white, it was an incredible celebration of the hope of the New Year.

SportAccord Opening Ceremony

During the opening ceremony of SportAccord, a 5-day gathering of 1,500 leading representatives from international sport, Scott served as the Executive Producer. In the spirit of the American West, street performers and cowgirls on horseback lined the route guests took to the historic Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The evening began with a performance by the Colorado Ballet accompanied by a video montage of great Westerns of American cinema filmed in the stunning landscapes of Colorado. Act two featured nearly 50 dancers from the Rocky Mountain School of Dance who used their bodies to recreate some of the iconic images of the Denver scene from behind an illuminated screen. The third and final act of the evening was the ultimate party band, Earth, Wind & Fire, who had delegates boogieing at their seats.

Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games

Scott served as managing director of the creative group for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. He was responsible for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Olympic Medals Plaza and everything from the color palette and branding to the production of the Olympic Torch Relay’s key moments and design of the Olympic Cauldron. Scott filled Salt Lake’s downtown skyline with towering building wraps; build Olympic Rings larger than ten football fields on a mountaintop, and built an Olympic torch and cauldron that were made of glass to share the Olympic's Theme, the “fire within”, with the world. Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney writes about Scott's creativity in his book Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership and the Olympic Games(ISBN 0895260840):

For all things relating to the creative functions, I turned to Scott Givens. We needed him to bring heart and meaning to the Games, achieve the scope and sweep of Sydney, but with less than a tenth of the bankroll. We needed big ideas—big enough to fill the city with the magic of an Olympic celebration. We could not afford to fund a battery of infrastructure improvements, let alone a banner for every streetlamp, so the projects we chose to fund needed to be high impact. We needed more from less. We needed water from stones. Scott went to work thinking big, bold, audacious thoughts

For their work on the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics, both Mitt and Scott were awarded the Olympic Order by President Jacques Rogge of the International Olympic Committee.

Disneyland 50th Anniversary

Following the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Scott worked as Vice President of Entertainment for Disneyland Resort, overseeing Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Celebration dubbed the Happiest Homecoming on Earth. Scott dressed Disneyland for the occasion, threw special parades, produced nighttime fireworks shows, and a put on a block party got everyone dancing in the streets. Scott oversaw the conception and production of everything from the Block Party Bash at Disney's California Adventure to the daily Parade of Dreams along Disneyland's Main Street USA to the nightly "Remember . . . Dreams Come True" fireworks show, featuring a new flight by Tinker Bell. His team also crafted how the 50th Anniversary would be celebrated throughout the parks, including design of advertising, logos and graphics for every Disney theme park worldwide.

As the start to the 50th Anniversary celebrations, Scott returned to the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, having recently produced the Millennium Rose Parade's opening show featuring 2000 human participants, and brought with him Cinderella’s Castle. Created entirely of roses, the float featured a Disney cast of characters who led a celebration to kick off the parade and introduce the theme park’s milestone anniversary.

XV Rio 2007 Pan American Games

As president of FiveCurrents, Scott Givens was the Executive Producer of ceremonies for the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Opening Ceremonies won several awards including an Emmy Award, an ISEMS Award, and six Telly Awards. The July 13, 2007 Opening Ceremony was praised by Brazilian and International media as "spectacular." :

"Brazil's secound largest city still must overcome doubts about crime and traffic, among other things, if it hopes to make good on its Quixotic bid to play host to the 2016 Olympic Games. But Rio sure has the opening ceremony down pat... On Friday the city inaugurated the 15th Pan American Games with a lavish and creative 3¹⁄₂ -hour show that featured a symphony orchestra, three 100-foot-long coral snakes, Miss Brazil, an alligator the size of a 747, fireworks, a 1,500-piece percussion band and thousands of dancers dressed as everything from ocean waves to water lilies. There's little doubt it was most spectacular." -The Los Angeles Times

"Brazil welcomed the Americas to dance last night, a lush and lavish opening ceremony to kick off the 15th Pan American Games that outdid many an Olympic kickoff." -Globe and Mail

"Fireworks exploded and the wave went around Rio's cherished Maracana soccer stadium as Brazil launched its biggest show on Friday - and a test of its ability to become a major player on the global sports stage." -International Herald Tribune

"A flamboyant closing ceremony capped two weeks of sport. The PanAmerican Games had excellent venues and glossy ceremonies." -BBC News

Super Bowl Saturday Night

On the evening of February 2, 2008, less than 24 hours before the kickoff of Super Bowl XLII, Tempe Town Lake filled with nearly 50,000 excited fans for the first annual Super Bowl Saturday Night. Scott was the Executive Producer of Super Bowl Saturday Night, which the NFL likened to a New Year’s Eve-style event. The NFL celebrated the count down to the Super Bowl in style with host Jerry O'Connell, Boston pop punk sensation, Boys Like Girls, the Counting Crows and a fireworks spectacular that light up the night sky.

“As the Counting Crows faded away into the sunset, suddenly the sky seemed to explode with fireworks. It was like New Year’s, Fireworks Night and the Queen’s 50th Jubilee rolled into one monstrous multicoloured firework.” - SportingLife.com

The free outdoor concert and fireworks spectacular featured an appearance by NFL star Derrick Brooks, Line Backer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Purdue

Scott began his career producing card stunts while a student at Purdue. His first stunt was a Block P in the football stands at Purdue. While still a student, he was hired by the NBA to create a card stunt at the All-Star Game. He worked on other card stunts at the 1987 Pan American Games, Super Bowl, AFL Grand Final and Opening Ceremony of the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics.