Between 2023 and 2025, Del Brown directed and vision mixed the live Sports Presentation operation for two consecutive seasons of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship — one of the most technically demanding live television environments in international motorsport.
The brief came through Funny Hands Media, the live television production company Del founded and runs alongside his freelance career. Formula E awarded Funny Hands full operational responsibility for Sports Presentation across Seasons 9 and 10 of the World Championship — not as a crew supply contract, but as complete end-to-end production management. That included production planning, crew recruitment, presenter sourcing, international travel, visas, transfers, and on-site delivery at every race on the Formula E calendar.
Del directed and vision mixed the live output at every round.
What Sports Presentation at Formula E Actually Involves
Sports Presentation is live television inside the venue — the content fans see on stadium screens before the race, between the action, and during the event. It is separate from the broadcast going to television audiences at home. This is the show for the people in the building.
At Formula E, that audience is substantial. Across Season 9, Funny Hands delivered Sports Presentation to a cumulative in-venue audience of more than 300,000 spectators across 11 international race weekends.
Delivering Sports Presentation at this level requires a full broadcast television crew: a director vision mixing the output live, camera operators physically working the crowd, a producer in the presenter’s ear calling cues in real time, a floor manager alongside the presenter on the floor, and an EVS operator managing replays and pre-recorded content. It is, in every meaningful sense, a live television programme — with the difference that the audience is in the grandstands rather than at home.
International Production Across Four Continents
The Formula E calendar took the production team across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Race weekends included events in London, Berlin, Rome, Cape Town, Mexico City and Jakarta, among others.
Delivering broadcast-standard live output in each of those locations — adapting to different venues, different technical infrastructures, different time zones and different logistical constraints — is the kind of challenge that requires experienced heads in every role. Meticulous pre-production for each round was essential: the live television workflow had to function the same way in Cape Town as it did at ExCel London.
The London E-Prix Red Flag: When Live Television Has to React
The nature of live production means plans sometimes need to be abandoned. At the London E-Prix at ExCel, a red flag brought the race to a complete standstill for more than an hour. Rain and an on-track incident left the race broadcast with nothing to put to air, and thousands of fans in the venue with nothing to watch.
The Funny Hands team didn’t stop. With camera operators already working the crowd, a presenter being directed in real time and Del cutting the live output, the production kept the audience engaged throughout the entire delay. The team found stories, went into the crowd, and produced live content for the full duration of the stoppage.
One crowd interview — with a baby in the stands — went viral. It was the kind of moment that only happens when a broadcast television crew is properly set up and functioning: the instinct to find the story, react immediately, and keep the audience engaged when the unexpected happens. That instinct comes from broadcast experience, not event production.
Formula 1 Sports Presentation
Alongside the Formula E seasons, Funny Hands Media provides Directors and Vision Mixers to Formula 1’s Sports Presentation operation — supporting the delivery of live stage content, presenter-led segments, audience engagement and fan-facing content at Formula 1 events around the world.
Del’s role at Formula 1 events is the same: directing and vision mixing the live output from the gallery, calling shots, cueing content and making real-time production decisions in one of the highest-profile live sports environments in the world.
What This Means for a Freelance Live TV Director
Sports Presentation at Formula E and Formula 1 is the same discipline as any other live multi-camera television production — it just happens in a stadium rather than a studio, with a crowd of tens of thousands as the immediate audience.
For Del, the Formula E and Formula 1 work sits alongside everything else in a freelance career that has included directing and vision mixing across studio, sport, entertainment, music, news and digital. The skills are the same: shot-calling, gallery communication, real-time decision-making, and keeping a live production on track when the unexpected happens.
If you are looking for an experienced live TV director or vision mixer for a sports presentation, live event, outside broadcast or studio production, Del is available for freelance engagements on a day or project basis throughout the UK and internationally. Visit the TV directing page for credits, or get in touch to discuss your production.