Press.2.24.2020

CBS News and Gaillard Center ready the building for the Democratic debate in Charleston by adam parker aparker@postandcourier.com feb 24, 2020

The set for the Democratic primary debate at the Gaillard Center was designed by South Carolina native Jim Fenhagen. mary kouw/cbs news

It’s a grand production that requires days of preparation.

On television, you will see a polished Democratic presidential primary debate Tuesday night — the Gaillard Center Performance Hall full to capacity with donors and VIPs who managed to secure a ticket from the Democratic National Committee.

Seventeen cameras, including one on a swinging boom anchored among the seats and a mobile Steadicam operated on stage, will show the candidates and moderators from every angle.

What you won’t see is the extensive, expensive nine-day preparation: construction of the broadcast tent along Calhoun Street; installation of phones and computer terminals and banners and desks and +atscreen TV monitors and small stages in the Gaillard Center’s ballroom and salons; the creation of the Twitter room and improvised green room with its rack of dresses and make-up chair.

CBS News crews arrived in Charleston on Sunday, Feb. 16 — a day later than they had hoped because of a wedding party at the Gaillard on Saturday night that could not be rescheduled. palmetto politics

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The one-day di,erence meant the debate would be televised Tuesday night instead of Monday night, requiring intervention by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who arranged for a no-vote day in Congress on Tuesday so Democratic presidential candidates could avoid a potential con+ict.

You didn’t see set designer Jim Fenhagen of the brand agency Jack Morton employ perspective and other classic visual techniques to make a custom set for the Gaillard that draws the eye toward the candidates.

Fenhagen, a native of South Carolina, also designed the sets for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “The Colbert Report.”

Fenhagen worked closely with CBS News Creative Director Renee Cullen to devise the scheme. Much of the elements — podiums, platforms, signage — will be reused in the future, he said.

You didn’t see the Gaillard’s head carpenter Colin Skinner spend every day since Sunday, Feb. 16, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. — along with a big team of Gaillard and PRG technicians — extending and resurfacing the stage, installing 4K video walls, hanging hundreds of feet of rigging to accommodate around 650 lighting -xtures.

You didn’t see the rehearsal on Monday afternoon, featuring CBS News sta, familiar with each of the candidates and their talking points joking with the moderators, testing the technicians.

The debate, co-hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, will air live on CBS stations 8-10:15 p.m., moderated by Norah O’Donnell of the “CBS Evening News” and Gayle King of “CBS This Morning,” with support from Margaret Brennen, Major Garrett and Bill Whitaker. news

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It will also air live on BET, and stream on CBSN and on Twitter via @CBSNews.

Christopher Isham, CBS News’ Washington bureau chief, is one of the people in charge of all this. Isham said he did some reconnaissance in Charleston in May and has returned four or -ve times since. The timing

of this event is important, coming just ahead of the South Carolina primary Saturday and Super Tuesday.

“I think it’s the most consequential debate,” Isham said.

The -ve moderators will follow certain conventions, allowing a minute and 15 seconds for each answer, and 45 seconds for a follow-up answer, he said. His whole news team collaborated to come up with the questions for the candidates.

Of the -ve presidential debates Isham has worked on over the years, this is the biggest production so far, he said.

“There is enormous interest in the election and a certain expectation of the audience, so we’ve de-nitely ramped it up this year,” he said.

Steve Bedard, director of the Gaillard Center, said the teams have worked well together to prepare the building. He’s spent long hours on site, too.

“I’m too old for this stu,,” he said, half-joking. “It took me half of yesterday to recover.”

He added, “It’s been fun.”

Contact Adam Parker at aparker@postandcourier.com or 843-937-5902.

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