Always On the Go and Staying Entertained
Written by Michael Harris, photos provided and by Anthony Rao
Kent Vanderberg spent a few months working for a mouse in Central Florida in 1996 and after he was done, he looked around and figured Clermont would be a good spot to settle in 1997.
“It looked like there was more going on here than there was in Grand Rapids, Michigan,” he says.
Kent is the owner of Big Sky Productions, a video company that does everything from shooting commercials to making movies.
And Kent is in the process of making a movie, while mixing in some fun work-related travel. Two separate entities, yet very unique.
Kent came to Florida to work on a production centered on the 25th anniversary of Walt Disney World. He’s done so well that he’s made Florida his home and in return he does contract work for Disney.
But in between his productions for Disney, he sets out and works on his own productions. Currently he’s working on a documentary called “Rennies,” which is due to be completed in October.
“It’s a feature length film about the personalities and characters that inhabit Renaissance Faires,” Kent says. “Specifically we’re kind of looking behind the scenes and focus on three different people in their regular lives and then their characters in the Renaissance Faires.”
Particularly Kent is examining the annual Lady of the Lakes Renaissance Faire, which is held in Tavares in early November.
“There are some very colorful people who participate in Renaissance Faires,” he says. “Not only do I want to celebrate the fun people have, but to demystify it somewhat because there’s a misconception that it’s not family-friendly. In fact, the Lady of The Lakes Renaissance Faire is very family-friendly. They have a day where they invite children out and make it very educational for them.”
Kent says he goes strictly as a patron, although his daughter does dance as one of the “gypsies” at Lady of the Lakes. “I saw clearly there is a story to be told here.”
Kent was hired by Jennifer and Michael Dempsey of the Lady of the Lakes to do the documentary. Jennifer and Michael met at the Faire a couple years ago.
Michael was one of the founders of the event and he plays Lord Edward, wherein he stumbles around all day as if he’s the town drunk. Kent knows he’s drinking water, “but you would swear he’s drunk.”
“Michael is pretty laid back, most of the time,” Kent says. “He’s one of the three people we follow around. You see him outside of the Faire and then when he’s there, he becomes somebody else.”
Jennifer is the marketing director for the Faire and was looking for someone to do the documentary.
“I looked at it as a way to use my new equipment and do something outside of the work for hire I do on a regular basis,” Kent says.
One of Kent’s “regular” jobs is filming ESPN the Weekend at Disney World in early March. In March 2009, his work led to his latest and greatest gig.
“I direct ESPN the Weekend at Disney and also produce the video content,” he says. “For all the visiting athletes, we have intro and highlights videos and I did those for five years. One year, I was informed I wouldn’t be doing the videos anymore and another company would be doing it. I would just direct the show.”
Kent went on to explain that while working with the company who shot the videos, Big Screen Network, he was talking to the vice president of the company, Bob Becker. Becker complimented his work and asked if he did sports video work. Kent replied that he applied to shoot video for the Olympics and Bob said that the applications went through his desk.
“He said, ‘Those come to me. I hire the people for the Olympics. You want to work the Olympics?’ It was that easy,” Kent says.
So Kent was off to Vancouver where he worked the 2010 Winter Olympics for Big Screen Network. What BSN does is the production for the large screens at each of the venues at the Games and not NBC, which held the U.S. broadcast rights for the Games.
“Every event has this huge outdoor TV screen. So our job was to entertain the people who were there,” he says. “There were about 2,000 people at the base of the hill; we had announcers and cameras who would talk to those in the stands or one of the colorful characters who were there. We had our own graphics that I would put together.”
Kent, who will be working for the network in London in 2012 for the Summer Games and again at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, was assigned to direct the BSN entertainment at the alpine events in Whistler, British Columbia, which is about two hours northeast of Vancouver.
“Our job was to keep the crowd entertained and going,” he says. “I would know who the next skier was coming down the hill and look for someone from their country. Like if the skier was Italian, I would look for someone in the crowd from Italy and show them on the screen. They would love that, thinking they were on TV.”
And keeping himself entertained and going is something Kent has been doing recently. With Rennies, the Olympics and his work for Disney, Kent is always on the go.
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