Rey Carrasquillo of Telemundo: “You Must Always Stay Flexible To Rethink How You Shoot A Show Like The Latin Billboard”

For Rey Carrasquillo, Sr. Director of Technical Production at Telemundo, this year’s edition of the Latin Billboard Music Awards came with an additional challenge because it took place in a new venue: the James L. Knight Center.

“It’s a different venue, smaller, so you have to readjust your set design, lighting, and several elements because you’re working with a different space. Something I did like was the theater vibe. Sometimes these shows shine more in a theatrical environment because the audience is closer, more engaged, and it gives you tremendous energy. But yes, working in a smaller space means redesigning everything, making sure each element has its place. The James L. Knight is an older venue, so many things have to be done manually—laying cables, moving things between levels. That brings challenges. But in the end, it worked very well. The set looked incredible on camera: big, powerful. We were very happy with the result,” Carrasquillo told PRODU.

A WELL-ORCHESTRATED DANCE

He explained that his work as production director begins a couple of months before the event. “My job as director starts about two months earlier. My key moment is when the set design exists. The designer presents the set, and I sit with the producers to analyze it. We begin to see how we’re going to execute the show: the stage size, presenter positions, where the special awards will go… whether anything in the design needs to be modified. Do we need more space for a mosh pit? Should we move the set forward a bit to allow room for props? Everything starts with the design,” he noted.

Olga Tañón during the Latin Billboard Music Awards

He said that then he looks at who is performing, what song they will do, and receives the creative concept. “For example, Daddy Yankee will be on a platform that looks like a building, with dancers wearing illuminated backpacks.” He receives that information and begins planning how to shoot it: which camera goes on Yankee, which camera for the dancers, a wide shot, and whether to use a steadicam onstage or on the floor. “I arrive at the venue about seven days before the show and start working with the team there. There are so many moving pieces. It’s an orchestrated dance,” he said.

LESSONS LEARNED

Asked about the lessons learned from producing this year’s Latin Billboard Music Awards, Carrasquillo said the first one — although it sounds cliché — “is that everything is possible. Working in a new place and delivering a show like that was impressive. There are always challenges, but everything can be achieved. I also learned that you must always stay flexible to rethink how you shoot the show. This year, for example, we didn’t have ‘close-downs,’ which are walls that drop to cover the stage during changes. It was an open design, so I had to rethink how to protect what was happening onstage: pieces moving, preparing the next performance while giving out awards. How do you cover that? How do the winners come up without showing the set being moved? Those kinds of challenges are my favorite because they make me a better director. So yes, the big lesson is: always rethink how you shoot, and that everything is possible,” he said.

He emphasized that after finishing the production of an event of this magnitude, “you feel a combination of massive euphoria and exhaustion. You’re on cloud nine because the show turned out spectacularly. It looked beautiful. You’re happy to have achieved it. And the next day you’re exhausted because the adrenaline drops. But having directed this for 15 years makes me feel proud of the team and grateful to Telemundo for continuing to trust us.”

On a personal level, he said that producing the show enriches him tremendously “because you work with different vendors, share ideas, and learn something new each time. It makes me a better director and a better manager, because here at Telemundo I lead a large team, and this kind of experience helps me be better,” he concluded.

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