Inside Apple TV’s MLS iPhone Production with Royce Dickerson, Apple Live Sports, Executive Producer – Sports Video Group

Tonight’s MLS matchup between the LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo FC will make some production history as the match will be captured entirely with iPhone 17 Pro Max cameras. Royce Dickerson, Executive Producer of Live Sports at Apple dives a little deeper into the historic effort with SVG Co-Executive Director Ken Kerschbaumer. You can check out the match at Apple TV beginning at 7:30 PST.

Tell us a bit about where the iPhones will be located?

Royce Dickerson, Executive Producer, Live Sports, for Apple

To cover the more than 86,000 square feet of a soccer field, the production team will use 15 iPhone 17 Pro Max throughout the match and they will be positioned in a variety of locations around the pitch to capture unique angles, both long and short, for fans at home.

Camera control functions, especially zoom in and out, have always been an issue when it comes to using a phone in a live production (pinching not super exact!). Will each phone have a camera operator and will they be able to adjust zoom?

Most of the iPhone cameras used will be fully operated to make adjustments in real time, like zoom, based on the action and dynamism of the game. The remaining iPhone cameras will be fixed-position cameras, with the ability to remotely adjust zoom settings from the production truck using the Blackmagic app on iPad.

Are all of the cameras cabled and sending back video and audio via a cable or will they use wireless spectrum?

All fixed position iPhone cameras are hardwired into the production workflow. We do leverage one iPhone equipped with RF to allow an operator to roam and capture shots from the field.

Will any cameras be shooting in super slow motion mode?

iPhone 17 Pro Max has the ability to capture in 4K 120fps which allows flexibility to change the speed of playback including a super smooth and cinematic slow motion. For this production, we are capturing 120fps so there may be instances where slow motion is used.

One of the big challenges with phones is also replay….

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