CANADA / DRAKE
Drake's Iceman Episode 3: A Live Short Film in Milan.
The musician and rapper Drake launched his new album Iceman with a series of cinematic short films, produced by CANADA and broadcast live to fans.
Following the success of Episode 2 in Manchester, CANADA once again led the production for Episode 3, this time in Milan, with Groovy Gecko brought in to deliver the live streaming. The brief was ambitious: capture a cinematic short film entirely live across a city-wide network of locations, from underground clubs to moving vehicles, all while maintaining an “extra crispy” level of production quality.
The result? A technically seamless, fully live short-film experience that teased the upcoming album, engaged fans in real time, and set a new benchmark for live music storytelling.
BACKGROUND.
The Iceman series pushes the boundaries of live music events by merging storytelling, music, and live broadcast. Episode 3 needed to outdo its predecessor, bringing a cinematic feel to a live environment while capturing the vibrancy of Milan. Drake wanted fans to feel immersed in the narrative, introducing new tracks, and visually expressing his commentary on the music industry using Pinocchio-inspired imagery.
The technical challenge was immense: live streaming across multiple locations, including underground venues and moving vehicles, while keeping the production cinematic and maintaining flawless broadcast quality.
OUR SOLUTION.
Groovy Gecko designed a solution to deliver a live, citywide short film with cinematic production values:
- Multiple Locations & Cameras: 12 Milan locations were captured using 19 cameras and 40 LiveU units, including live drone feeds.
- Seamless Comms for a Large Crew: We custom integrated Reidel and Motorola systems to provide comms across a 200+ crew operating over a 90 sq km spread.
- Connectivity Enhancements: Underground clubs and challenging locations were boosted using Peplink and Starlink units for LiveU, ensuring zero dropouts. Each LiveU had a primary and backup feed for redundancy.
- Cinematic Live Production: We coordinated live shots of Drake driving and performing, integrating creative storytelling with music, maintaining a cinematic “short film” style.
- Post-Broadcast Potential: The high quality feeds were shot with future use in mind, allowing parts of the live broadcast to be repurposed for official music videos.
Our approach allowed Drake and the creative team to push the narrative boundaries of live performance while keeping fans engaged with an immersive, fully live experience.
"Just wanted to say a massive thanks to you and all the Groovy Gecko crew. You guys were efficient and super helpful and it was great to tackle this spaghetti challenge in Milan with you all."
CANADA.
THE RESULTS.
- Views: Over 1.9 million at the time of publishing.
- Audience Engagement: Fans were captivated by the cinematic storytelling, live performances, and exclusive music previews.
- Technical Success: Zero dropouts across underground venues, moving vehicles, and a citywide live setup - a remarkable technical achievement for a live broadcast of this scale.
Drake teased more tracks from his upcoming album, incorporating narrative elements like Pinocchio characters, showcasing the potential for these live events to double as music video content.
1.9 million
live viewers on Drake’s YouTube channel.
≈5.8k
live comments during the broadcast.
>1 million
additional on-demand views within the first five hours of streaming.