DCI Unwrapped

(From DCI.org -- By Chris Webber)

Few DRUM CORP INTERNATIONAL (DCI) products are more coveted to the avid drum corps fan than the annual WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS DVDs.

Since the 1970s, Drum Corps International has produced television broadcasts of its World Championship events.

Starting in the 1980s as VHS became popular, performances became available to the average drum corps connoisseur, and after updated technology became available, the very first DCI DVDs were offered in 2000.

In 2006, the full line of DCI World Championships DVDs includes six discs spanning performances of all competing Division I corps in addition to the 12 Division II and III finalists.

Several of these DVDs give viewers access to multiple video angles and audio tracks so they can call the shots they want to see and capture their favorite moments from the drum corps season.

More than 100 people have a hand in making the annual DVD products a reality, accounting for well over 10,000 man hours worth of work.

Take into account the additional work that is put in to create three separate television broadcasts on ESPN2 (two-hour version and two one-hour segments) and a five-and-a-half hour live theater broadcast, taping and producing anything television related to the DCI World Championships is an impressive feat.

From June through November each year, Drum Corps International and TOM BLAIR, INC., the production company for all DCI television products, are hard at work on a drum corps season's television products.

The following is an inside look at the DVD-making process from start to finish, and some of the steps that are involved to put the finished product on consumer's doorsteps.

DCI Unwrapped

John Santamaria, thanks for the post.

[Way to go Tom Blair.]