Key takeaway
Key takeaways
- T-10 weeks: Brief and scope definition
- T-8 weeks: Site recce
- T-5 weeks: Drawing and plan issue
- T-2 weeks: Run of show lock
How event production is actually delivered
An event production company is an accountability structure before it is an equipment list. Split the work across a sound vendor, a lighting vendor, a screen supplier and a stage fabricator and every one of them will deliver exactly what they quoted; the gaps sit in between. Who owns the power distribution that the screen and the lighting rig both draw from? Who sets the truss trim height that lets the array hang and the backdrop fit? Who holds the schedule when the stage build runs three hours late and lighting cannot focus? Under one technical contract those questions have one answer, and that answer has a name.
From enquiry to load-out
- T-10 weeks
Brief and scope definition
Agenda, guest count, venue shortlist and the client's non-negotiables turned into a scope document that names what each department owns and where the boundaries sit.
- T-8 weeks
Site recce
A measured survey rather than a walk-through: rigging points and what each will actually take, power positions and available load, dock and lift dimensions, trim height, columns and sightlines.
- T-5 weeks
Drawing and plan issue
Technical drawing, rigging load plan, power plan and cable schedule issued to the venue, the agency and every department for sign-off and comment.
- T-2 weeks
Run of show lock
Agenda converted into a cue-marked run of show, content deadlines enforced with a named owner, and the interface schedule with decor, catering and venue agreed in writing.
- Show day −2 to −1
Build and rehearsal
Departments build to the published programme, then a full rehearsal with the actual content and the actual microphones, with the cue stack called end to end.
- Show day to +6 hours
Show and strike
Show called live from the stack, then de-rig in the venue's mandated order with the as-run document completed before crew are released.
Who is on site
- Producer
Owns the scope, the document set and the client relationship from brief to strike, and is the one name accountable when two departments disagree.
- Production manager
Writes and holds the build programme, sequences departments so each gets the site when it needs it, and resolves clashes on the floor rather than escalating them.
- Show-caller
Calls the show live from a cue-marked run of show on comms — walk-ons, video rolls, lighting states, award hand-offs — so every department moves on one instruction.
- Department heads
Audio, video and lighting leads each own their system design, crew and signal path, and report readiness against the programme instead of negotiating with the client directly.
- Rigging lead
Verifies every point against the venue's capacity and the signed load plan, and controls who is permitted to work beneath a hang.
- Stage manager
Runs everything behind the curtain line — speaker and artist calls, props, award handling, entry and exit routes — on comms with the show-caller.
What you should receive
Deliverables
- Scope document naming what each department owns and where the interfaces sit
- Measured recce report with rigging capacities, power positions and access dimensions
- Scaled technical drawing in plan and section, revision-numbered
- Rigging load plan with calculated point loads and venue sign-off
- Power plan with a per-phase load schedule and generator sizing
- Cue-marked run of show and the cue sheet every department works from
- Post-event as-run report recording each change, overrun and incident
What we plan around
What can go wrong
How we prevent it
- What can go wrong
Four vendors each deliver their own scope and nobody owns power distribution, so the LED wall and the lighting rig end up sharing an overloaded phase.
How we prevent itOne power plan with a per-phase load schedule is drawn before anything is ordered, and a single electrical contractor feeds every department from distribution we specify and label.
- What can go wrong
The stage build overruns, lighting loses its focus window, and the show opens with an unfocused rig.
How we prevent itThe build programme gives each department a named slot with float, and the production manager holds a documented decision point at which stage scope is reduced rather than allowed to consume the next department's time.
- What can go wrong
The venue refuses a rigging point on build day because no load plan was ever signed off.
How we prevent itPoint loads are calculated against the venue's own structural capacity and approved at drawing issue, with a ground-support fallback carried in the design for any point the venue will not confirm.
- What can go wrong
The agency reorders the running order the evening before and three departments hear about it separately.
How we prevent itThe run of show has one owner and one revision number, changes are reissued to the whole distribution list, and the show-caller calls only what is in the current revision.
The detail that matters
The work happens on paper weeks before anything is loaded. The document set is the real deliverable: a scaled technical drawing in plan and section with stage, screen, truss, control and camera positions; a rigging load plan with calculated point loads; a power plan with per-phase balance and generator sizing; a build programme sequencing every department; a run of show against the client's agenda; and a cue sheet that all departments work from. These go to the venue and the agency for sign-off, because correcting a drawing at the issue stage takes a revision number, while discovering the build is wrong on site takes the schedule with it.
Start the conversation
Get an itemised quote from Prime AV Solutions within 24 hours — call +91 93093 80958 or WhatsApp our producers.
Published 26 September 2026 by the Prime AV Solutions production team.