YOU'VE SEEN THE SHOW
HERE'S HOW WE BUILD IT
Commencement is the hardest one-day show in live events, and we've built specific systems for it: graduate flow, broadcast, and a team that runs them all under one roof.
Fatfish has been producing live events since 2015. Commencement became a specialty because it rewards what we already do well: one crew covering audio, video, lighting, scenic, and content, with producers who own the whole ceremony instead of handing pieces to subcontractors.
The polish you've seen is the product of tools we built on purpose. The rest of this page walks through them, one system at a time, with photos from ceremonies we've produced.
SIX SYSTEMS, ONE CREW
Every AV company can hang a screen and mix a mic. These six systems are the hard part of a commencement, and they're where we've developed our expertise into something truly unique.
Thousands of graduates cross the stage in a single ceremony and the line never stalls. Multi-lane scanning means no dead air, professional readers get phonetic spellings cued to the graduate on deck, and the whole thing runs under three seconds per name without rushing anyone's moment.
- –Tassel check-in. Each graduate scans a QR code that drops them into the ceremony queue. Our Tassel software tracks every person from check-in to crossing, so nobody is out of order.
- –Names read right. Professional name readers see phonetic spellings on a display, cued to the graduate on deck.
- –Under 3 seconds per graduate. That's the pace our system sustains without rushing anyone's moment.
- –Multi-lane scanning and filtering. Multiple scan lanes merge into one clean stage order. Late arrivals, no-shows, and swaps are filtered on the fly without breaking the sequence.
- –LED wall IMAG. Every graduate's face on the LED wall and their walk across the stage is followed by a mobile camera - getting through the names while doubling grads' screen time.
Families who couldn't make the trip get a broadcast, not a wide shot. Two independent encoders run on separate paths over our own 10G fiber, a dedicated engineer mixes audio for people watching at home, and live captions run in real time.
- –Redundant streams. Two independent encoders on separate paths. If one fails, the other is already live and viewers never notice.
- –Dedicated audio mix. A separate engineer mixes the broadcast, so home viewers hear a mix tuned for them instead of a copy of the room feed.
- –10G fiber network. We roll in our own fiber backbone with headroom for every camera, screen, and stream at once. Arena Wi-Fi is never part of the plan.
- –Live captioning. Real-time captions on the stream and the big screen, in English and Spanish when you want both.
Every graduate's family wants their own recording of their student but in an arena with thousands of graduates, a phone recording of the LED wall doesn't capture the moment. Stage Clip syncs students' slides, name read, and walk together, then lets them download a professionally captured clip to post and keep forever.
See it live: fatfishmedia.com/uopx-grads →
- –A clip for every graduate. The crossing camera and the name data are already synced, so the system cuts an individual video of each graduate automatically.
- –Ready when the ceremony ends. Graduates search their name on a branded page, watch their walk, and download the file.
- –Shareable by design. Families repost the clips, and the school's name rides along on every one.
The last ninety seconds are the ones that end up on everyone's phone. Balloon drops rigged into the ceiling, indoor cold-spark fountains framing the stage, and CO2 bursts timed to the final cue turn the recessional into the shot families actually keep.
- –Balloon drops. Hundreds of balloons rigged in the ceiling and released on the final cue, timed to the last tassel turn.
- –Sparkulars. Indoor cold-spark fountains that frame the stage for the recessional and read bright on camera.
- –CO2 cannons. Big, fast bursts that hit on the beat and clear in seconds.
- –Custom lighting design. Our experience lighting designers program your show to your brand and your venue. What looks right for one school in an arena will do nothing for another on a baseball field.
Doors open long before anything happens, but that hour is part of the show. Live fan cam puts families on the big screen, moderated photos and messages come straight from the seats, submitted portraits tile into a mosaic, and school trivia runs while the arena fills.
- –Live fan cam. Vixi Live puts families on the big screen in real time, run by our operators so every cut lands on someone celebrating.
- –Messages from the crowd. Families submit photos and messages from their seats. We moderate them and push them to the jumbotron to support their grad.
- –Mosaic wall. Submitted photos tile together into a single image of the graduating class.
- –Trivia. School trivia on the big screen while the arena fills, so the show starts as soon as doors open.
The ceremony should read in your school's branding from the parking lot to the stage. We work directly with your brand to create a cohesive design that carries through your stage, ribbon boards, concourse screens, banners, marquees, and entrance signage.
- –Stage design. We design and build the stage around your brand, sized to the room and framed for the broadcast.
- –Venue branding. Ribbon boards, concourse screens, banners, and signage carry the ceremony look through the whole building.
- –Exterior branding. Marquees, entrance signage, and outdoor displays greet families before they're through the doors.
BUILT
TO TRAVEL
Two production trucks we built ourselves, sized to match the venue. Click either one for a closer look.
- Onsite editing suite
- Fiber with server access
- Isolated audio booths & teleprompter
- Client & show-caller working area
- Handles multiple simultaneous shows
- Climate controlled even in extreme temperatures
View gallery →
- Towable by pickup for rapid deployment
- Runs on 30A power, so it fits virtually any venue
- Fiber connected
- Isolated audio booths & teleprompter
- Climate controlled
- Small footprint
View gallery →
OUR CEREMONIES
A few ceremonies you might recognize.
Multi-city commencements: thousands of graduates across arena ceremonies, produced with full audio, IMAG, broadcast, and content in every market.
Watch: New York 2026 ceremony →
Broadcast and virtual ceremonies at scale. The latest featured 3,000+ graduates, from pre-production through broadcast.
Watch: Las Vegas 2026 ceremony →
A full ceremony production with audio, staging, and content scaled to the school's traditions, handled end to end so faculty could focus on the graduates.
Watch: JDCHS 2026 ceremony →
ONE GRADUATE, EVERY SYSTEM
Follow one graduate from backstage to the download link and you'll see every system on this page fire in sequence.
The people
on your show
The people below plan your ceremony, then run it on show day. Any of them can answer for the whole show.
10+ years in AV, including 8 years as lighting designer for The Piano Guys. Sets the bar for visually engaging environments.
Built Fatfish into a standout in experience design for clients like Adidas, Meta, and Amazon. Serves on Salt Lake's Culture Core board.
8 years making scenic dreams real across every medium — experiences built to stick with you for life.
Certified Project Manager with deep experience across live music, corporate, and trade shows — a calm, common-sense show leader.
Manages events worldwide with meticulous planning and a calm head when show day turns. Off the clock, he's happiest with his son Russell and his two dogs, Pete and Friday.
Production pro with a talent for immersive tech, turning big ideas into experiential events that land. Former Head Carpenter for the Lindsey Stirling Tour, and once a fan favorite on a Swedish reality show.
With Fatfish since 2014; production manager and audio engineer for The Piano Guys. Blends creativity and precision for standout events.
Focuses on relationship building through clarity, trust, and reciprocal value. Utilizes storytelling to develop our brand and your experience.
LET'S TALK
Tell us about your commencement.
Tell us the venue and the date, and we'll walk your team through how we'd run it, system by system.
YOUR COMMENCEMENT.