Ola Melzig
Head of Production, Eurovision Song Contest
Bio
Ola Melzig started as a stagehand, working on locals shows in Stockholm 1989, taking the long way and advancing to forklift driver, runner, production assistant, lighting tech, backline tech and even catering assistant. He learned the world of productions in detail, and this knowledge has been a great asset to him in what he’s doing today. Over the last 20 years he has production managed high profile shows such as the Eurovision Song Contest, The Commonwealth Games and The Nobel Prize Awards, and is one of the most renowned and respected Production Managers/Technical Directors in the industry, maybe just because of the fact that he started off at the very bottom of the ladder! In February 2017, he was awarded Production Manager of the year at the annual TPI Awards in London.
Ola is the Head of Production for the Eurovision Song Contest, one of the largest, most complex, and cutting edge productions each year. A live televised production with a viewership of over 200 million around the world (only 111.7M watched last year’s Super Bowl). However, in the US most people have never even heard of it! Eurovision is a song contest between European countries that takes place every year in the previous year’s winner’s home country.
Back in November 2018, our team traveled to Minsk, Belarus to film an interview with Ola as he worked at the Eurovision Junior Contest. Todd interviewed Ola about what it takes to lead a production team on one of the world’s most complex events, while at the same time providing the producers with a product they can be proud of. You won’t want to miss the chance to hear this interview at FILO 2019 Anaheim.
For an in-depth look at the tech behind the Eurovision Song Contest, check out the Eurovision Diary and take a look at some of their show clips on Youtube.
