Scott Givens

Scott Givens is President of FiveCurrents, a creative and production firm that produces stadium spectacles, broadcasts and other live events. His goal is to capture the power of human emotion to create deep and lasting impressions on everyone experiencing his projects. At [http://fivecurrents.com/ FiveCurrents] , Scott aims to bring stories to life by harnessing the energy of five converging currents: Live, Broadcast, Digital, Print, and Environmental. Scott and his team build immersive environments that result in magical broadcast and live experiences.

Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games

Scott served as managing director of the creative group for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee [ [http://www.deseretnews.com/oly/view/0,3949,70001642,00.html 'Superb Games' - 2002 Winter Olympics coverage ] ] . He was responsible for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Olympic Medals Plaza and everything from the color palette and branding to the production of the Olympic Torch Relay’s key moments and design of the Olympic Cauldron. Scott filled Salt Lake’s downtown skyline with towering building wraps; build Olympic Rings larger than ten football fields on a mountaintop, and built an Olympic torch and cauldron that were made of glass to share the Olympic's Theme, the “fire within”, with the world. Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney writes about Scott's creativity in his book "Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership and the Olympic Games"(ISBN 0895260840):

For all things relating to the creative functions, I turned to Scott Givens. We needed him to bring heart and meaning to the Games, achieve the scope and sweep of Sydney, but with less than a tenth of the bankroll. We needed big ideas—big enough to fill the city with the magic of an Olympic celebration. We could not afford to fund a battery of infrastructure improvements, let alone a banner for every streetlamp, so the projects we chose to fund needed to be high impact. We needed more from less. We needed water from stones. Scott went to work thinking big, bold, audacious thoughts

For their work on the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics, both Mitt and Scott were awarded the Olympic Order by President Jacques Rogge of the International Olympic Committee.

Disneyland 50th Anniversary

Following the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Scott worked as Vice President of Entertainment for Disneyland Resort, overseeing Disneyland's 50th Anniversary Celebration dubbed the Happiest Homecoming on Earth. Scott dressed Disneyland for the occasion, threw special parades, produced nighttime fireworks shows, and a put on a block party got everyone dancing in the streets. Scott oversaw the conception and production of everything from the Block Party Bash at Disney's California Adventure to the daily Parade of Dreams along Disneyland's Main Street USA to the nightly "Remember . . . Dreams Come True" fireworks show, featuring a new flight by Tinker Bell. His team also crafted how the 50th Anniversary would be celebrated throughout the parks, including design of advertising, logos and graphics for every Disney theme park worldwide.

San Francisco 2016 Bid

Scott also served as managing director of the failed San Francisco 2016 Olympic Bid [ [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/summer/2006-11-13-san-fran-2016-bid_x.htm San Francisco ends bid for 2016 Olympics - USATODAY.com ] ] . According to [MSNBC] and other networks, the bid failed because "plans for a new bayfront stadium collapsed when the city’s NFL team said it intended to move to Silicon Valley."

Clinton Global Initiative

Scott and his team at FiveCurrents have worked with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) since its inception in 2005. CGI is a non-partisan catalyst for action bringing together a community of global leaders including heads of state, non-profit organizations, charities, and business leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The initiative culminates in an annual conference, at which each invited guest, as a condition of attendance, must make a specific commitment to address one of the focus areas discussed. CGI staff then monitors the progress and success of these commitments throughout the year.

Envisioned by President Clinton as a conference about action, FiveCurrents sculpted an event where action is the core activity. FiveCurrents' work on this project involves everything from designing the staging to printing collaterals to webcasting the event.

“It’s an effort to bring people together and then do something most of these conferences don’t do; to ask every participant here to make a personal commitment to do something. If we do it every year for a decade, every single year, people know they have to commit to do something and do it.” —William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the United States

In 2008, the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation held the inaugural CGI U conference at Tulane University in New Orleans. More than 700 students attended the first annual CGI U. In order to attend, student members were required to make a public service commitment, with the goal of bringing about positive social change. Students are expected to take tangible, concrete steps towards solving the world’s challenges. Attendees were addressed by President Clinton and were encouraged to recognize their responsibility to public service. Students participated in panel discussions on Energy & Climate Change, Global Health, Human Rights & Peace and Poverty Alleviation.

Students had the opportunity to meet Brad Pitt in the Lower 9th Ward and helped prepare land for his neighborhood-rebuilding project, “Make it Right.” Some of the distinguished CGI U guests included:Lance Armstrong, Betty Bigombe, William McDonough, Ray Nagin, David Skorton, James Carville, Lauren Bush, Dave Eggers and Laurie David.

XV Pan American Games

As president of his own production company, FiveCurrents, Scott Givens was the Executive Producer of ceremonies for the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro [ [http://txt.estado.com.br/editorias/2007/05/20/esp-1.93.6.20070520.6.1.xml Maracatu e samba no Maracanã :: TXT Estado ] ] . The Opening Ceremonies won several awards including an ISEMS Award and six Telly Awards. The July 13, 2007 Opening Ceremony was praised by Brazilian and International media as "spectacular." :

"Brazil's largest city still must overcome doubts about crime and traffic, among other things, if it hopes to make good on its Quixotic bid to play host to the 2016 Olympic Games. But Rio sure has the opening ceremony down pat... On Friday the city inaugurated the 15th Pan American Games with a lavish and creative 3 1/2 -hour show that featured a symphony orchestra, three 100-foot-long coral snakes, Miss Brazil, an alligator the size of a 747, fireworks, a 1,500-piece percussion band and thousands of dancers dressed as everything from ocean waves to water lilies. There's little doubt it was most spectacular." - [http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-panam14jul14,1,2780424.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-sports The Los Angeles Times]

"Brazil welcomed the Americas to dance last night, a lush and lavish opening ceremony to kick off the 15th Pan American Games that outdid many an Olympic kickoff." -Globe and Mail

"Fireworks exploded and the wave went around Rio's cherished Maracanã soccer stadium as Brazil launched its biggest show on Friday - and a test of its ability to become a major player on the global sports stage." -International Herald Tribune

"A flamboyant closing ceremony capped two weeks of sport. The PanAmerican Games had excellent venues and glossy ceremonies." -BBC News

Super Bowl Saturday Night

On the evening of February 2nd, 2008, less than 24 hours before the kickoff of Super Bowl XLII, Tempe Town Lake filled with nearly 50,000 excited fans for the first annual Super Bowl Saturday Night. Scott was the Executive Producer of Super Bowl Saturday Night, which the NFL likened to a New Year’s Eve-style event. The NFL celebrated the count down to the Super Bowl in style with host Jerry O'Connell, Boston pop punk sensation, [http://www.boyslikegirls.com/ Boys Like Girls] , the [http://countingcrows.com/index.php Counting Crows] and a fireworks spectacular that light up the night sky.

“As the Counting Crows faded away into the sunset, suddenly the sky seemed to explode with fireworks. It was like New Year’s, Fireworks Night and the Queen’s 50th Jubilee rolled into one monstrous multicoloured firework.” - [http://www.sportinglife.com/nfl/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=American_Football/08/02/03/manual_121343.html SportingLife.com]

The free outdoor concert and fireworks spectacular featured an appearance by NFL star [http://ww.buccaneers.com/team/playerdetail.aspx?player=Brooks,Derrick,55 Derrick Brooks] , Line Backer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Purdue

Scott began his career producing card stunts while a student at Purdue. His first stunt was a Block P in the football stands at Purdue [ [http://www.purdueexponent.org/interface/bebop/showstory.php?date=2003/10/28&section=features&storyid=OldMastersGivens The Exponent - features ] ] . While still a student, he was hired by the NBA to create a card stunt at the All-Star Game. He worked on other card stunts at the 1987 Pan American Games, Super Bowl, AFL Grand Final and Opening Ceremony of the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

* [http://fivecurrents.com/ Scott Givens' Company's Official Web Site]
* [http://www.deseretnews.com/oly/ Deseret News Web Site on Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic Games]
* [http://www.sanfrancisco2016.org/ San Francisco 2016 Official Web Site]
* [http://www.rio2007.org.br/data/pages/8A488A8F12D856280112D857246C0006.htm/ Rio 2007 Web Site]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15702086/ MSNBC Story on San Francisco 2016 Withdrawing Bid]
*Counting Crows
* [http://countingcrows.com/index.php Counting Crows Official Site]
* [http://www.boyslikegirls.com/ Boys Like Girls Official Site]
* [http://ww.buccaneers.com/team/playerdetail.aspx?player=Brooks,Derrick,55 Derrick Brooks]