VIVA Creative, a media and event company based in Rockville, MD, announced that the agency is producing The Call to Unite,  “a 24-hour global streaming event bringing together over 200 cultural, spiritual, civic, and community leaders who offer gifts of hope and healing.” The event is set to begin Friday, May 1, at 8 pm EDT.

According to a release, “The Call to Unite will stand in solidarity with those experiencing pain, fear, loneliness, and grief — and offer hope and support as we build a new future together. Throughout the 24-hour event, global leaders will join citizens of the world in sharing practices, lessons, songs, performances, reflections, and more to help viewers turn the pain of this moment into possibility for tomorrow.”

The event will feature Oprah Winfrey, President George W. Bush, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Garner, Maria Shriver, Deepak Chopra, Quincy Jones, Yo-Yo Ma, Rob Lowe, Martin Sheen, among other leaders and everyday people from all over the world who #answerthecall. The lead convener of event is Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver, stated the release.

“The vision for this 24-hour experience required a creative and technical partner with big thinking and a big heart. We knew from the start that VIVA Creative had world-class creative and technical
expertise, and when we learned that their mission is to use events as a platform for human connection that improves the world, we knew we found our perfect match,” states Shriver. U

“Streaming events is an intimate medium, yet viewers don’t always think about what it takes to get that content onto their devices. From creative storytelling to technical production, audio/visual
engineering to social media integration, the team at VIVA has been working around the clock for five weeks to get it done – working 100% remotely in quarantine,” says Joe Talbott, President, Global Content & Creative, VIVA Creative.

VIVA Creative has been working on the pr0ject with Jon Klein, CNN’s former president, and Roni Selig, former executive producer at CNN.

“Think about the amount of content for a 24-hour broadcast. VIVA brought in an entire team of storytellers, including dozens of segment producers, directors, editors, and motion graphic artists. I’m repeatedly awestruck by the camaraderie, professionalism and raw talent they bring to this expanded team,” states the Emmy Award-winning Selig.

Simultaneously, VIVA Creative’s technical teams developed new ways to deliver this program on a global scale, on any device, while working, building, and testing from quarantine.

In addition:

– Big Whig Media at the Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C., is providing the infrastructure to connect to the world
– AI Media- Closed Captioning
– C2 – design support
– Creative Technology – Broadcast Truck to allow for social distancing
– SES and DCI – Satellite Connectivity
– Tagboard – Broadcast Social Media Aggregation
– Telescope- Website Social Media Aggregation
– Vision Technical Group and Agrekko:  Temporary power
– Zoom – communications

Behind-the-scenes work will culminate in livestreams on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, SiriusXM Stars Channel 109 and UNITE.us from 8 pm ET on Friday, May 1, to 8 pm ET on Saturday, May 2. Spotify will provide segments from the event on demand within the 24
hour period and afterward.

More here.