For the first time in Canadian television history, a domestic Canadian broadcaster will produce and deliver its own exclusive coverage of an Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. Airing live beginning at 5:45 p.m. PT / 8:45 p.m. ET this coming Friday, Feb. 12, the VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES OPENING CEREMONY will deliver a truly Canadian vision of this momentous Canadian event. Hosted in English by Brian Williams, Lloyd Robertson and Catriona Le May Doan and in French by Pierre Houde, Richard Garneau and Alexandre Despatie, the OPENING CEREMONY will be directed for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium by the legendary Louis J. Horvitz, the six-time Emmy® Award winner and the record 12-time director of THE ACADEMY AWARDS®, who recently directed THE 52ND ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS.
The VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES OPENING CEREMONY will be broadcast live by the Consortium on 10 television networks in 11 languages, two websites, 24 radio stations and in 64 Cineplex Entertainment theatres across the country. Following its live broadcast, the OPENING CEREMONY will be available immediately on demand on CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca and the following day on Video on Demand to digital television subscribers.
The Consortium has been working around the clock at BC Place for the unveiling of its own, fully unilateral coverage. The broadcast will be presented from a total of 25 different Consortium cameras in the stadium, along with access to dozens of other international camera feeds. The Consortium will also incorporate feeds of Canadian athletes and spectators watching from Whistler.
“Being in charge of our own destiny with regard to all aspects of the telecast allows us to customize the show to the degree our viewers have never seen before,” said Rick Chisholm, Executive Vice President of Broadcasting, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. “When the Canadian flag is raised, when our National Anthem is performed, and when our 206 Olympic Games athletes march onto the field at the end of the parade of nations, Canadian viewers deserve a unique Canadian perspective that stands above what everyone else in the world will see.”
Hosting the English-language coverage is decorated broadcaster Brian Williams, who will be working his 13th Olympic Games, and CTV Chief News Anchor Lloyd Robertson, who has guided Canadians through historical events for more than 50 years. Joining them in the broadcast booth high-above BC Place stadium is Catriona Le May Doan, one of Canada’s most highly decorated Olympians, who will bring insight into the excitement, nervousness and anticipation that our athletes will be experiencing on the stage floor.
In French, three-time Gemini Award winner Pierre Houde will be in the broadcast booth alongside Richard Garneau, the dean of Olympic Games broadcasting, who will be covering an unprecedented 22nd Olympic Games. They will be joined by two-time Olympic Games silver medallist Alexandre Despatie.
Directing it all is Louis J. Horvitz.
“We demanded excellence for our viewers and Louis J. Horvitz is the best director in the world,” said Ivan Fecan, President and CEO, CTVglobemedia and CEO, CTV Inc. “His experience in globally-celebrated live event productions made him the perfect choice to direct the OPENING CEREMONY.”
“To be invited by the Consortium to direct the OPENING CEREMONY is a distinct honour for my family and me,” said Horvitz, whose father Louie Horvitz was born in Hamilton, ON. “With my father being Canadian, he sees my participation as the crowning achievement of my career. I fully embrace the magnitude of the responsibility that has been bestowed on me to present this significant event to Canadians.”
Horvitz has directed numerous major live event broadcasts during his distinguished career, including 14 EMMY AWARDS, 12 ACADEMY AWARDS, THE KENNEDY CENTER HONORS, THE MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS, and U2 Half-Time at Super Bowl XXXVI. Horvitz has been nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning the award on six occasions for his directing work on THE ACADEMY AWARDS. Horvitz won the Directors Guild of America Award in 1998 and a pair of prestigious NAACP Image Awards for his work in support of the United Negro College Fund. In 2009, Horvitz directed the historic KIDS INAUGURAL: WE ARE THE FUTURE broadcast for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
The OPENING CEREMONY airs live on CTV, TSN, Rogers Sportsnet, V, RDS, RIS Info Sports, OLN, OMNI, APTN and ATN and 24 Rogers Radio and Corus Québec radio stations. In addition to English and French, the Ceremony will be broadcast in Cantonese, Cree, Inuktitut, Italian, Mandarin, Mohawk, Portuguese, Punjabi and Tamil.
Horvitz will also direct the Consortium’s original unilateral coverage of the VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES CLOSING CEREMONY on Sunday, Feb. 28. Sitting alongside Horvitz in the production truck for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be renowned producer and multiple Gemini Award winner Larry Isaac, who has worked seven Olympic Games in addition to 13 Stanley Cup finals.
