Metro Productions Delivers the BIG Picture at JMU

No more squinting from the sidelines. James Madison University football fans can now catch their Division 1-AA National Champs’ hottest highlights on a 17-foot, state-of-the-art LED Display Screen. The new Daktronics video display screen and scoreboard made its debut last fall under the technical direction of Metro Productions, a full-service, concept-to-completion film, video and multimedia production company headquartered in Hampton, Virginia.

Under a two-year contract, Metro Productions will continue to create the graphics, video and commercial elements for the screen, as well as support live coverage of six highly attended home games, graduation and other special events. The talented team includes Metro professionals and JMU students from the school of media arts and design, making game day an on-the-job training exercise, taking a few lucky students beyond the classroom.

“Metro Productions has years of experience producing dynamic, high-impact media,” said Brad Edmondson, athletics marketing director for JMU. “The enthusiasm of our very own JMU alumni on Metro’s team, the cutting edge video and graphic elements, and the ability of the crew to react to the tempo of the game adds a powerful new element to the atmosphere in Bridgeforth Stadium on game day,” he added.

With production facilities located in both Hampton and Richmond, and offices in Alexandria, Metro Productions’ award-winning producers, directors, and videographers have been creating video and multimedia presentations for more than 20 years. Metro Productions’ client list includes Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, travel and tourism organizations, federal, state, and local government agencies, all branches of the United States military, economic development enterprises and non-profit foundations.

Metro Productions Wins International Award

Metro Productions was awarded a Gold World Medal at the 2006 New York Festivals Film and Video Competition. This honor, recognized as the Oscar of the independent production industry, is given to only those programs that demonstrate the highest quality in media production. Metro Productions, working in support of the US Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, created this powerful and poignant music video based on the song He’s Coming Home, written by Dillon Dixon and recorded by Curb Records artists Cowboy Crush.

Filmed on location in Smithfield, Virginia, He’s Coming Home paints the picture of a young soldier deployed overseas and the emotion his family feels while he is gone. Metro Productions used the town’s Main Street as an “Everytown, USA” backdrop. For four days, Metro Productions’ crews worked in Smithfield shooting in High Definition video format to get the best possible look for the presentation. In addition to the Smithfield locations, Metro Productions’ crew used areas on Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia to recreate battle zones in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Representatives of Metro Productions accepted the Gold World Medal in front of a packed house of industry professionals at Broadway’s Hudson Theater. An internationally competed award, the New York Festivals Gold World Medal is not awarded annually but is only given to productions whose impact and quality exceeds the judging criteria. Metro Productions was the only Virginia production firm to receive this award and one of only two firms to win a Gold World Medal in the past three years. This year’s award recipients included entries from London, Singapore, Munich, Tel Aviv, Zurich and Helsinki and from American production companies like HBO and The Discovery Channel.

“Winning this Award is a great honor for our creative team,” said Raymond Walsh, President and CEO of Metro Productions, “especially considering the other nominees and recipients. He’s Coming Home is an example of the effort Metro Productions gives every client. We appreciate the Film and Video Festivals recognition of our efforts and dedicate this award to America’s soldiers and their families.”

For more information about this program, visit www.metro-productions.com