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CAR PARK PARTY Coalition Agency Founder and CEO, Guy Robinson discusses the lessons learned from 12 months of curating drive-in experiences and what the future holds for the company.
With venues closing and tours grinding to a halt in March 2020, three solutions presented themselves as alternatives to tide over the live entertainment industry until normality could resume. There were livestream shows in all their various guises; the more high-tech solutions, with virtual productions borrowing techniques from the gaming industry to reimagine what a live show could be; and finally, drive-in shows – a novel idea and a neat solution to keep audiences safe in their vehicles while still being able to gather en masse. One company that jumped on the drive-in format early in 2020 was Coalition Agency. From a series of events last summer to its successful Car Park Panto at Christmas, the format has provided much-needed income during this unprecedented time. The company and team of suppliers hit
the road once again on 12 April – this time round hosting a total of 82 shows for crowds up and down the UK. These productions are made up of two tours with David Walliams’ Billionaire Boy and Horrible Histories, along with a number of shows for SKY VIP. Aiding the production throughout its Spring calendar will be a number of loyal suppliers, including ADI.tv, Encore and PSL Technology Group. “This is that last roll of the dice for us,” stated Coalition Agency Founder and CEO, Guy Robinson, who admitted it had been a year of mixed success with the format. He spoke candidly about the challenges that come with this style of performance and explained that with drive-in shows, all the regular rules of putting on live events are completely thrown out of the window. “It’s been a big experiment to see what works with this style of 18