Author: Del Brown

Alongside his work in broadcast television and motorsport, Del Brown regularly directs and vision mixes live television productions for major corporate clients — town halls, internal communications events, awards ceremonies, live streams and brand productions where the audience may be internal, international, or both.

Some of the household names Del has directed and vision mixed live productions for include Paramount, MTV, Comedy Central and Thomson Reuters — as well as large-scale live streaming productions for major UK employers.

Why Corporate Productions Need Broadcast Television Standards

Corporate live events are often treated as a category separate from broadcast television. They shouldn’t be. A live town hall going out to thousands of employees, a CEO address being streamed to an international workforce, or a live awards ceremony for a major brand carries exactly the same technical and editorial demands as any other live television production.

There are no second chances. The presenter is live. The feed is going out. Every shot, every cut, every graphic and every piece of content that appears on screen is a live decision — made by a director who either has the experience to handle it or doesn’t.

This is the environment Del has worked in for more than 25 years. The same calm shot-calling, gallery communication and real-time decision-making that he applies to a live sporting event or a broadcast studio programme applies equally to a live corporate production. The client gets broadcast-standard output because the crew is operating to broadcast television standards — not event production standards.

Paramount UK

Funny Hands Media delivered live corporate production for Paramount UK, with Del directing and vision mixing the live output. Paramount productions of this type typically involve high-profile attendees, complex logistics, and the kind of corporate stakes where broadcast-quality delivery is not optional.

MTV

Del has directed and vision mixed live content productions for MTV, including studio-based and event-based productions that required the same multi-camera live television discipline as any broadcast programme. MTV productions combine entertainment production values with live television delivery — an environment that rewards experience and punishes improvisation.

Live Streaming and Hybrid Productions

The growth of hybrid and live stream production has expanded the corporate live television market considerably. Events that would previously have had a physical audience only now go out live to global workforces, partner networks and public audiences simultaneously. The technical and editorial demands of these productions are identical to broadcast — the audience just arrives through different devices.

Del has directed and vision mixed live stream productions from studio and venue environments, delivering broadcast-quality output for global distribution. The skills are the same: shot-calling, real-time decision-making, and keeping the production on track regardless of what the live environment throws at the gallery.

Awards Ceremonies

Live awards ceremonies are among the most complex multi-camera live television productions — unpredictable running orders, live presenter and winner ad-libs, and the specific challenge of cutting around a room while maintaining broadcast-quality output throughout. Del has directed and vision mixed awards ceremonies across the entertainment, corporate and industry sectors, including productions for major UK brands and international clients.

Available for Corporate Live TV Production

Del is available as a freelance live TV director and vision mixer for corporate productions, town halls, live streams, awards ceremonies, brand events and hybrid productions throughout the UK and internationally.

Whether you need a director for a single production day, a complete gallery team for a multi-day event, or an experienced pair of hands to strengthen your existing crew, get in touch via the Contact page to discuss your production. You can also see a broader overview of Del’s live TV directing credits and live events work.

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.

Multi-camera production is at the heart of live event coverage. Whether you’re producing a music festival broadcast, a corporate awards ceremony, a sports presentation show or a charity telethon, the quality of your multi-camera direction defines the output. Getting the right director in place — someone who knows the format, knows the technology, and can perform under pressure — is one of the most important decisions in pre-production.

This guide covers what multi-camera direction for live events actually involves, and what to look for when hiring a freelance multi-camera director in the UK.

What is Multi-Camera Direction for Live Events?

Multi-camera direction for live events means coordinating multiple camera operators positioned around a venue — on stage, in the pit, on cranes, on the floor — and cutting between them in real time to tell the story of what’s happening. Unlike single-camera filming, live event multi-camera production happens once, in real time, with no opportunity to reshoot.

The director manages this from the production gallery or OB truck, communicating on talkback with camera operators, the vision mixer, graphics, VT playback and sound — calling cuts, building sequences and reacting to live action as it unfolds. Every decision is final the moment it goes to output.

Types of Live Events That Use Multi-Camera Direction

Multi-camera direction is used across a wide range of live events throughout the UK and internationally:

• Music performances and festival stages — capturing artist performances, audience reactions and atmosphere across multiple camera positions in real time
• Corporate events and conferences — IMAG (image magnification) for large-screen projection, combined with recording or live streaming for remote audiences
• Awards ceremonies — capturing winner announcements, audience reactions and speeches across multiple cameras simultaneously
• Sport and sporting events — covering live action with rapid cutting, combined with replays, graphics and commentary
• Live streaming events — to YouTube, social platforms or corporate portals at broadcast standard
• Album launches and branded entertainment — high-profile live showcases for artists, brands and streaming platforms

What Does a Multi-Camera Director Actually Do?

Pre-production: Working with the event producer and technical team to plan camera positions, define coverage zones, agree on the running order structure and prepare a camera script or shot list. For large events this can take several days; for smaller productions it may be a briefing call and a site visit.

On the day: Calling shots live in real time from the gallery, managing communications with camera operators on talkback while monitoring programme output. For events with live streaming or broadcast output, the director ensures broadcast-standard coverage throughout — clean cuts, correct framing, appropriate pacing for the format.

Post-event: Many live events are also recorded for highlights packages, social clips or on-demand broadcast. The director ensures the live cut works for these secondary uses from the outset.

Hiring a Freelance Multi-Camera Director in the UK

When hiring a freelance multi-camera director for a live event in the UK, look for a director with direct experience in your specific event format, a showreel of comparable live credits, and a track record of working cleanly under pressure. Familiarity with the technical setup — whether that’s an OB truck, a fly-away kit, or a fixed studio gallery — matters too.

Del Brown is a London-based freelance live TV director and vision mixer specialising in multi-camera direction for live events, sport, entertainment and corporate productions throughout the UK and internationally. With more than 25 years of broadcast experience, his live event credits span awards ceremonies, music broadcasts for Disney and YouTube, Formula 1 and Formula E motorsport, corporate events and large-scale live entertainment. He is a BAFTA Craft Awards judge and is available for live event directing and vision mixing engagements across the UK and internationally.

View the full range of live event credits on the Events page, or watch examples of his work on the Showreel. Contact Del Brown via the Contact page to discuss availability and your production requirements.

The live TV director is the person making every decision, in real time, with no second takes.

From the production gallery — or the OB truck on location — the director has vision of every camera feed, the programme output, graphics, VTs and communications with the entire crew. They call each camera shot, instruct the vision mixer, and shape what the viewer sees, all while the broadcast clock is running.

Unlike a film director who can reshoot scenes until they’re satisfied, the live TV director has one chance. Every cut is final. Every decision happens under pressure, in the moment. It is one of the most technically demanding and creatively rewarding roles in television production.

What Happens in the Gallery

The director sits at the centre of the production with a multiviewer showing every camera feed simultaneously. On talkback, they communicate with camera operators, the floor manager, graphics, sound and VT playback — all at once. A typical gallery call might sound like: “Camera 3 tight on the presenter, Camera 1 wide shot, take 3 — Camera 2, can I get a two-shot on the guests — stand by VT — take VT.”

In many live event, streaming and corporate productions, the director and vision mixer are the same person — sitting at the vision mixing desk and calling their own shots live. This director/vision mixer combination is increasingly common and requires both creative decision-making and the technical precision to execute cuts cleanly under pressure.

Pre-Production: Planning the Coverage

Before any broadcast, the live TV director works with producers, technical directors and the event team to plan the camera coverage. How many cameras? Where are they positioned? What does each one cover? How does the running order map to the shot list?

For music performances, this means timing cuts to the track. For awards ceremonies, it means knowing when to cut to the winner’s face before they know they’ve won. For sport, it means understanding the play well enough to anticipate the next moment before it happens. Good live directing looks effortless because weeks of preparation have gone into making it look that way.

Types of Live Television Production

Live television spans an enormous range of formats, and a freelance live TV director may work across all of them:

• Broadcast sport — football, motorsport, cricket, boxing, athletics
• Live entertainment — awards ceremonies, music performance broadcasts, album launch events
• Corporate events — IMAG for large-screen projection, combined with live streaming for remote audiences
• Live charity events and telethons — high-pressure live fundraising broadcasts
• Streaming platforms — YouTube Live, social platform broadcasts, digital events for global audiences
• Esports and gaming — fast-growing live broadcast format requiring rapid multi-camera coverage

What to Look For When Hiring a Live TV Director

If you’re a producer or event company looking to hire a freelance live TV director in the UK, look for experience in your specific format, a strong showreel of comparable live production credits, and the ability to perform under pressure in a fast-moving broadcast environment. The right director will feel calm in conditions that would unsettle most people.

Del Brown is a London-based freelance live TV director and vision mixer with more than 25 years of multi-camera broadcast experience. His credits include live entertainment broadcasts for Disney, YouTube, Paramount and MTV, Formula 1 and Formula E motorsport, the British Independent Film Awards, Skepta, Joy Division and a wide range of UK and international live events. He was invited to judge the Best Multi-Camera Director category at the BAFTA Craft Awards in 2021 and 2026.

To see examples of live TV direction and vision mixing, visit the Showreel. For availability and bookings, please use the Contact page.