Behind-the-scenes at Manchester City’s in-house facility, Studio 1

Manchester City FC’s Studio 1 is a high-spec facility in the heart of Manchester City’s training ground.

It is located next to where the first team player’s train, so is convenient for capturing content without requiring a great deal of player’s time.

Manchester City FC creates a wealth of content from the studio every day, for the club’s YouTube, TikTok and social media platforms, as well as its D2C platform City+. It also produces regular content with the players for the club’s commercial partners.

The studio is used to create content around new player signings, including the video clips of players shown during the team announcements during live games, and the photo shoots for the new players.

It also houses a regular live studio-based chat show called MatchDay Live for YouTube and City+, which provides pre-match, half-time and post-match insight and analysis.

Broadcast Sport visited Studio 1 to see the facilities and catch up with Walker-Jones. Broadcast Sport editor Jake Bickerton was also taken through the content creation process for new signings at the club, where he got to imagine he was Manchester City FC’s new star signing. His interview with Walker-Jones is below.

When did you start work on the studio, and what essentials were on your ‘Must Have’ list for the new facility?

We began the process in the summer of 2021. Before deciding on designs and suppliers we agreed our studio requirements. These are that it needs to be positioned as close to the men’s first team, women’s team and academy players as possible, to enable convenient access for all players and staff.

It should also be a space big enough to allow multiple formats and provide us the flexibility to create simultaneous setups (the Haaland signing is a great example of this).

The studio needed to be the home to our MatchDay Live show and our interviews for broadcasters, partnership shoots, photography, esports, podcasts and internal comms.

There was also the requirement for the studio to offer connectivity to the current broadcast infrastructure at the Etihad Stadium.

We also needed a green screen area and access to allow bespoke equipment, set and props onto the studio floor – we can drive a car into the studio space.

Who did you work with during the planning, design, and implementation stage of the new installation?

After engaging with several suppliers, we decided to work with Jago Design. They have vast experience in the industry, and produced a studio design that realised our vision, and fit into all our requirements.

Together, we engaged with Scena to build and install our set along with bespoke furniture. Meanwhile, LDM.tv support our broadcast side of the studio and manage our Blackmagic broadcast cameras.

What is the size and what are the key features of the studio?

There is a 98 m sq studio floor. The ceiling height is 5m and within that ceiling space is our extensive lighting rig, which allows us to light several formats simultaneously.  

Along our set is an LED video wall with connectivity locally and to our Etihad Stadium. The entire studio is soundproofed, with extensive acoustic panelling throughout. There is also a hard-wearing production floor.

In terms of cameras, we have 4K Blackmagic cameras, with a Ped camera and a slider. We also have use of a jib if required for shoots.

The studio’s large video wall can be used in several ways – you can have bespoke assets in full length; or you have bespoke assets that can be designed in several sections, most commonly used in three sections. The middle section can be controlled from the production gallery for live inserts and live cameras on location, stadium shots, or any other assets/graphics or video content. This really brings any live production to life and is used to great effect in flagship show MatchDay Live.

As well as the studio floor, we have a 27 m sq office space, which is available for up to eight City staff or guests.

There’s a green screen area at the back of the studio. We have two sets of large doors for ease of setting larger set items/specialised camera equipment/lighting etc. The exterior acoustic door is also large enough to enable a car to be driven directly into the studio.

One of the key features of the studio is the adaptability of space, which can be turned around in minimal time, meaning we can produce several bits of content in the one controlled area, but have the ability for it to look considerably different. 

The studio is fully LED Cold Lighting lit for live shows/pre-recorded shows. The LED set can be bespoke lit with any RGB combination, enhancing and complementing brand looks.

We also have a living wall to encourage wildlife to thrive, and which makes the studio look aesthetically pleasing from the outside, fitting in the environment perfectly.  Our external studio LED screen can be populated with bespoke assets, enhancing the special feel of the studio, welcoming whoever comes to the studio. We are aiming to install solar panels to generate enough electricity to power the studio in the future.

Furthermore, we can play music direct into the studio to pump up the atmosphere.

What does the studio offer that you didn’t have before? How were you previously managing/filming content for the club?

It’s a professional, broadcast-spec studio space in close proximity to all Manchester City players. The studio is situated in between the men’s and women’s team training pitches. So, we now have a permanent and dedicated space that City Studios use to produce all types of content. And club partners are able to use the space to produce content activations with Manchester City players in a closed space, with technical expertise to hand.

Added to this, broadcasters are able to utilise the area when interviewing players and managers. The studio is so flexible in all aspects, design, functionality, space, and location. Every day the studio is in use, with a wide range of activities, ranging from:

• Photography shoots – We’ve shot kids’ merchandise kit shoots, magazine shoots, player reveal photography, official player photography and player head shots.
• Player reveal shoots, which cover innovative, modern shoots with slo-mo 4D cameras and tube lighting, and official interviews, which then gets sent to all media organisations and on our channels. Commercial shoots ranging from EA launches, for both first team men and women, various partner shoots, and even transforming the studio into the Emirates Palace Spa for Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips to give each other deluxe facials
• Live MatchDay Live shows, with all our 4k studio cameras fibred straight into the gallery
• Pre-recorded ‘as live shows’ FPL…In the Game…Womens…Academy Shoots

What has been the reaction of your players to filming in the space?

The players have all reacted amazingly well, players have said that they are really impressed with the space, and some have personally asked for personal shoots to be shot in the space. The players have been incredibly enthusiastic. All of the new players who joined this summer, both men’s and women’s teams, had their content activation (photos, interviews, video promos) captured in Studio 1. We plan to use Studio 1 to generate pod/vodcasts, generate new studio-based tactical shows and continue to maximise the space.

Here are some examples of content we’ve created there.

Kalvin Phillips Signing Family Feature

FIFA Ratings Reveal

Recent MatchDay Live in Studio 1

Sergio Gomez signs

Do you have plans to expand your in-house production facilities, following the roll out of this studio space?

Yes, the rate of growth we’ve seen over the last couple of years will not slow down and we are continuing to develop Studio 2 in the Etihad. We are looking at also dry hire/full production hire of the studio to external clients/broadcast companies.