For ‘Ninja Warrior Switzerland’, the biggest TV recording of the year, we were commissioned by TV24 for the overall management, stage construction and the recording itself. Our production team was already working on this project nine months before the broadcast and immediately got to work with the auditions, where we focused on a mix of athletes of different levels. From this starting point, we were then able to design a good overall package for an exciting and entertaining TV sports show.
For the TV show at the Hallenstadion, our team built the course, which consists of twenty obstacles, in cooperation with the American company ATS within a week. During the five days of shooting, these were rebuilt overnight or at least had individual elements changed so that viewers at home were always able to marvel at new stages on their TV screens.
For the first time, the world-famous Japanese TV show ‘Ninja Warrior’ is taking place in Switzerland. All participants have the same goal: to overcome the four obstacle courses – also known as stages – and the last obstacle, Mount Midoriyama. The requirements for tackling the course are strength, endurance, body control and technique. Approximately 1, 000 athletes wanted to take on this challenge and sent in their application video.
Our production team was already working on this project nine months before the broadcast and immediately got to work with the auditions, where we focused on a mix of athletes of different levels. From this starting point, we were then able to design a good overall package for an exciting and entertaining TV sports show.
Right at the start, it became apparent that the ‘Ninja Warrior Switzerland’ project was more comprehensive and complex than anticipated at all levels, including production. For the TV show at the Hallenstadion, our team built the course, which consists of twenty obstacles, in cooperation with the American company ATS within a week. During the five days of shooting, these were rebuilt overnight or at least had individual elements changed so that viewers at home were always able to marvel at new stages on their TV screens. As a result, the spotlights had to be redirected and adjusted so that the athletes appeared in perfect light on all sides during their run. To ensure all this, we drew up a 24 hour shift operation.
The auditions were divided into two parts: In addition to auditions at Milandia climbing hall in Greifensee, auditions on the Schilthorn at 3,000m above sea level proved particularly challenging. It was our responsibility to calculate a matching fitness score from the two auditions, which had fundamentally different requirements.
To ensure a good flow of information between the companies involved, comprehensive communication was of primary importance. This project is not only cross-company, but also transnational. The language barrier was a challenge that we handled confidently.
