Ryan Seacrest Foundation Brightens Pediatric Hospitals Through Seacrest Studios
Designing impressive broadcast lighting is something the pros at Brightline Lighting do every day. CRI and lumens are part of their DNA. But there are projects where lighting goes beyond the physical and generates more lightness in life. Such is the case with Brightline’s involvement as a tech partner with the Ryan Seacrest Foundation (RSF). Starting in 2010, RSF builds state-of-the-art Seacrest Studios within children’s hospitals, providing hands-on broadcasting and entertainment activities to patients. The studio broadcasts on each hospital’s closed-circuit TV network directly to patients’ rooms. Fourteen children’s hospitals currently have a Seacrest Studio.
The initiative has clearly taken off. In just 18 months RSF opened new Seacrest Studios in Queens (NY), Memphis, Salt Lake City, and Atlanta. The studio at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Arthur M. Blank Hospital is the most recently completed project. It opened on October 11, 2024. New studios and upgrades to existing Seacrest Studios are planned in several hospitals over the next two years.
Meredith Seacrest Leach, Executive Director & COO of RSF explains the reason behind the studio’s popularity: “Children’s hospitals are realizing how important it is to not only care medically and physically for their patients, but to also provide a variety of options supporting their mental health and over all well-being. Seacrest Studios are designed to be a safe space where kids in the hospitals can escape and have fun. They are a ‘no-poke zone’ that allows kids to just be kids and help bring some joy and happiness during their time in the hospital. It’s been very rewarding to see leading pediatric hospitals continue to apply for one of our studios.”
For the folks at Brightline, being selected as a key part of the “no-poke zone” at hospitals nationwide has made a huge impact on the company internally. “It’s an honor to light Seacrest Studios,” says Kathy Katz, Managing Partner, Brightline Lighting. “They’re bringing real light into children’s lives, and we’re all so excited to play a part. Dealing with an illness can be such a serious, dark challenge, but with a full-scale production studio in the building, they get to experience a very different, positive challenge. It can make a profound change in a child’s day-to-day life at the hospital.”
Behind-the-scenes and on-camera opportunities abound at Seacrest Studios. “Patients are highly encouraged to learn how to use the equipment,” explains Nicole Mead, VP, Business Development & Operations, Ryan Seacrest Foundation. “It’s very important to Ryan that patients be hands-on in the studio in areas that spark their interest. For some patients that means a more behind-the-scenes approach – learning how to use camera equipment or how to edit content. For other patients that means working with studio staff to conceptualize, produce and even star in their own shows.”
It’s not just the kids who benefit from a hospital’s Seacrest Studio. It provides an entertaining escape for parents and siblings and instills pride in hospital staff. “When I was at the install at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Queens, New York, I saw families waiting on surgery and test results watching the action in Seacrest Studios,” says Michael Zihmer, Brightline National Sales Manager. “It’s much more engaging than staring at a TV monitor of some generic programming in a waiting room. It takes you away from where you are for a moment. Suddenly, they’re not in a hospital anymore.”
Seacrest Studios are all top notch with a core component of broadcast-quality equipment that includes, in addition to Brightline SeriesONE and FlexT lighting fixtures: JVC cameras, JVC and NewTek (Vizrt) video switchers, SAS audio consoles, and Genelec monitors. It’s a package that consistently works within the various Seacrest Studios and a design concept that’s been developed and refined since the first studio installation.
To create the cleanest look with the greatest mobility, lighting is the first piece of the production package installed. To minimize floor clutter, all Brightline LED studio and in-ceiling architectural lights are placed overhead. This enables wheelchairs and gurneys to maneuver easily inside the space. It also provides greater flexibility for equipment placement and different shooting styles.
Mead has noticed the change since standardizing on Brightline lights: “It makes all the difference in the content produced, both live content and photography and videography to be published. We have noticed an immense difference in the quality of our content since installing the Brightline lighting packages.”
Studio lighting is designed to match the hospital’s architectural lighting nearby, with the goal of bringing studio-quality lighting into a non-studio environment. Fixtures used for the hospital’s house lighting must have a high CRI (Color Rendering Index) to match the production lighting. Being able to integrate the color temperature of both sets of lights creates a more cohesive look.
Most Seacrest Studios are at or near the hospital lobbies with an abundance of daylight and windows. The newly constructed three-story tall studio in the lobby of the Arthur M. Blank Hospital in Atlanta is surrounded by a glass atrium and can be seen from multiple floors.
The Foundation relies greatly on the expertise of its partners. In its selection of Brightline as its production lighting vendor of choice, Mead explains, “We were looking for a lighting partner known for its support and innovation. We needed a manufacturer that could provide the support we needed for each studio and a company with the innovation required to pivot design plans when needed within a very fast-paced build cycle. We have found exactly that in Brightline.”
Product Links
- L1.2: https://brightlines.com/product/seriesone-l1-2-led-studio-fixture/
- L1.4 https://brightlines.com/product/seriesone-l1-4-led-studio-fixture/
- Mako and Minnow: https://brightlines.com/product-category/profile-spotlights/
- Lupo: https://brightlines.com/product-category/fresnels-and-panels/
- Flex-T: https://brightlines.com/architectural/
- Wireless DMX: https://brightlines.com/product/dmx-rdm/
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More information about the Ryan Seacrest Foundation
