Giving the Class of 2020 the Graduation They Couldn't Have Together
As the world shut down in March 2020, and events began turning virtual, we got a call from a trusted, long-time client about whether we could help turn their graduation virtual.
Talon AV crew members working at laptop stations in a classroom venue, running a virtual broadcast.
The Challenge
Da Vinci Charter Academy had trusted Talon to produce their live, in-person graduation for years. Their ceremony was built around personal moments: student MCs, awards, and a "15 seconds of fame" video for every graduate, followed by a teacher speaking about that student's time at the school. None of that translates to a pre-recorded video or a teleconference link. The school needed a real broadcast, produced live, safely, from a campus where almost no one could gather in person.
Working with school administrators and district officials, the Talon team got permission to build a full studio inside a media classroom. Over two days, a media classroom became a broadcast studio, with pipe and drape, lighting, socially-distanced lecterns, two vans of video equipment, and a four-person crew, technical director, graphics operator, robo camera operator, and producer/show caller, all positioned six feet apart. Talon partnered with Argus HD for additional equipment and staffing support to pull it off.
The Details
Client: Da Vinci Charter Academy (Davis Joint Unified School District)
Location: Da Vinci Charter Academy campus, Davis, CA
Event Type: Virtual High School Graduation Broadcast
Headcount: Full graduating class, broadcast live to families and friends remotely
Duration: Two-day production
Services: Live multi-camera broadcast production, graphics automation, event networking and IT backup
Empty broadcast stage with a podium, American flag, and green-lit backdrop, lighting rig in the foreground.
How We Solved It
A graduation with this much personal detail couldn't run on guesswork, so the team built systems that could flex in real time.
Converted a media classroom into a full broadcast studio, with pipe and drape, lighting, and socially-distanced lecterns
Ran a lean four-person crew, spaced safely apart, covering direction, graphics, robotic camera operation, and show calling
Built an automated graphics workflow linking a spreadsheet of student names, awards, and titles to their photos, so last-minute changes never required re-editing assets
Secured dedicated school network access for the broadcast, with a cellular backup so the stream had no single point of failure
Ran robotic cameras for a full multi-camera broadcast without a large onsite footprint
Set up moderated live chat so students and families could cheer each other on in real time
Production monitors showing a countdown timer and student graduate photos for a Da Vinci Charter Academy virtual graduation broadcast.
The Outcome
The broadcast ran smoothly, absorbing last-minute script and content changes without missing a beat. Families who couldn't be there in person watched their graduate honored live, name, photo, and a teacher's words, and later received a downloadable video to keep. In a year that took graduation away from thousands of students, Da Vinci's class of 2020 still got a send-off that felt like theirs.