Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1081428
www.postmagazine.com 39 POST JAN/FEB 2019 L ooking to begin the new year with some high-energy, high-ratings alternatives, television networks are featuring a number of competition series in their lineups, including ABC's Dancing with the Stars, CBS's freshman series The World's Best and a special Big Brother: Celebrity Edition, and NBC with three contendors: Ellen's Game of Games, America's Got Talent and the premiere of The Titan Games, with host Dwayne Johnson. Here, we look at two of NBC's top contenders — speaking with Luigi Porco, post producer/post supervisor on The Titan Games and Sue Moryer, supervising producer on America's Got Talent — and find out what it takes to post these shows and bring them to air. THE TITAN GAMES NBC recently launched The Titan Games, a large- scale, physical-competition series hosted by for- mer wrestler and current action film star Dwayne Johnson. Produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio, A. Smith & Co. Productions and Seven Bucks Productions, the 10-episode program pits everyday people in head-to-head challenges that are designed to test both the body and the mind. In each episode, competitors face extreme chal- lenges designed by Johnson himself, all requiring incredible strength and determination. Winners advance to the ultimate challenge of Mt. Olympus. Those who conquer Mt. Olympus become a Titan. The show shot its competition segments on-lo- cation in Irwindale, CA, back in September, and in studio space belonging to A. Smith & Co. (http:// www.asmithco.com) in Toluca Lake, CA. Luigi Porco serves as post producer/post supervisor on The Titan Games. He's a 'permalancer' who's been working with A. Smith & Co. for a number of years, including on the popular show American Ninja Warrior. According to Porco, Seven Bucks Productions and Universal Television are the co-producers of The Titan Games, overseeing the creative process. A. Smith & Co. handles post production for the show, including editorial. "Every show is unique, and with The Titan Games being a 'Season 1,' we didn't know what we were going to face until it happened," says Porco of its production and post. "There were some similarities to how we do post production for American Ninja Warrior, but obviously it's a different show." The goal for Season 1 was to create 10 hours of programming. The show premiered with a two- hour episode (clocking in at 85 minutes), and then continues with eight one-hour episodes that run in 43-minute broadcast lengths. When Post spoke with Porco in late January, they had completed roughly 60 percent of the episodes, with picture locked and delivered to NBC. The show captures an enormous amount of Competition segments are shot on-location in Irwindale, CA. NBC's newest reality show, The Titan Games.