Dome Productions’ Unique New Truck ‘Showcase’ Targets Digital-Content Creators

The nearly 41-ft. truck offers the ultimate in flexibility

One of the top mobile-production–facility providers in the business, Dome Productions made a splash in 2019 not by introducing another 53-ft. expando or a fully IP facility into the market. Instead, the company rolled Showcase, which is designed to meet the needs of digital-media companies looking to take their onsite productions to a new level.

Dome Productions’ newest mobile production unit is a small, flexible facility that is completely customizable for broadcasters looking to add onsite digital-centric content.

Designed as more of a mobile “studio,” Dome Productions expects Showcase to be used for onsite studio shows, esports productions, and even live podcasting programs. Measuring 40 ft. 10 in. long, 13 ft. high, and 8 ft. 6 in. wide, Showcase is smaller than a traditional production truck, and its tight footprint has a purpose.

“We wanted to make it so you can put it into a situation where it could be at an event downtown; a small space,” says Mike Johnson, director, engineering, Dome Productions. “If you were interested to host a studio panel onsite as an addition to an event that’s going on, for example. It’s a trailer built to be onsite for special events and around some productions. We may have a larger production going on, but this can supplement that, or it can be just uniquely a small gaming environment.”

Showcase features a small studio space that opens to the public, making it ideal for onsite studio shows or live podcast recordings.

A good example of Showcase’s deployment is similar to a pop up event that took place at the 2019 NHL All-Star Game in San Jose, CA, where Dome placed airpack facilities at the home of a San Jose Sharks executive to produce a live NHL 19 esports event to supplement the All-Star festivities around the city.

At its core, Showcase hosts space housing (from left to right) engineering, an open studio with a removable desk, Velcro wall treament for easy billboards and branding placement, and a window backdrop to open to the public, a foyer that can double as a makeup room or a green room, and a compact, 169-sq.-ft. production area.

As for the gear aboard, it doesn’t offer a standard package of gear traditionally seen in rental production trucks. Dome intends Showcase to be a complete custom and à la carte rental.

Showcase houses a small production-control room where customers can customize the gear on board.

“It’s an à la carte truck,” says Mary Ellen Carlyle, SVP/GM, Dome Productions. “You want to put your own equipment in? We can. Do you want to put a Carbonite [production switcher] in there? You can. Do you want to put an EVS DYVI in there? You can. You want to put nothing in there? You can. I call it a pop-up truck. It can [distribute] right to OTT or web streaming if needed. It’s very, very versatile, and we talked a lot about putting equipment in it, but, in this new era, everybody’s different. So we just decided, You know what, we’re not going to put anything in. You tell us what you want.”

Naturally, a big driver for this design was to develop a truck at a lower price point to meet the budgetary needs of many streaming and/or esports-related shows.

“With our clients, budgets are a concern,” says Carlyle. “So what we tried to do is give them everything within a configurable truck. It has the studio in there. It has the production-control room. It has cameras. It has lighting. It has power. It has air-conditioning.

“It’s not a Dome truck,” she adds. “Use it as your truck.”