Leslie was tasked with the set design for this year’s Super Bowl/Pepsi sponsorship area alongside the field. Follow along as she discusses her vision and the challenges of bringing it all to life.

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The challenge for such a big event is coordinating all the different departments between lighting, stages, decor, video, audio, sponsor paraphernalia, etc, it’s pretty complicated.

Especially on Super Bowl where every single truck needs to go through VACIS and every person who enters the premises has been screened months in advance.

Security is tight! All of these things make planning of the utmost importance; if you have not hired your production assistants and laborers, confirmed your vendors, booked trucks, you will be panicking because you simply cannot get them in.

And a big creative challenge is creating something new and fresh for the same client and sponsors year after year.

I always try to approach the design with a new angle where the sponsor is present but there is a spin to the design. This year I decided to go all blue and white for Pepsi.

What people don’t realize is we quite literally deconstruct New York City and move it to Indianapolis, hundreds of trucks carry custom built stages and sets, with just as many hands waiting at the other end to complete the build.

To see this metamorphosis is one of the most thrilling parts of the job.

Coverage by Lesley Morphy