Gabriel Beck and Lars Lochau broadcast sport on TV with the Actros

One tight squeeze: The Actros 1848 slides through the narrow gate one centimetre at a time. Everyone holds their breath. "Incredible!" comments Gabriel Beck. "The Olympic Stadium in Berlin is one of the largest stadiums in Germany and has has the smallest entrance gate." After a brief nail-biter and a further 200 metres of driving, visual judgement is once again demanded from the convoy: The two OB vans and two setup vehicles from the Hanover-based film and television company TVN are heading for the production area intended for them.

Gabriel Beck and his colleague Lars Lochau are part of the team delivering a smooth broadcast of the multisport event "The Finals 2022" from here in Berlin to television and the Internet - from 3×3 basketball to athletics, swimming and the triathlon.

42 workstations in two semitrailers.

The OB van and setup vehicles, equipped with cables, camera and sound technology, are parked, the trucks are uncoupled – but there is still a second shift for Gabriel and Lars. "Now it’s time to set up," Lars explains. It takes around 30 minutes to manoeuvre the two side chassis parts of the body out hydraulically – making the OB van a space-saver: A whopping 18 metres long and 7.5 metres wide, it provides around 120 square metres of space for 35 employees in direction and sound, production engineers and video technicians. There are seven more workstations in the 19.5 metre long and five metre wide setup vehicle. 24 cameras and other specialist cameras are set to capture the live event.

Driver and technician.

Lars and Gabriel are two of around 50 TVN employees in Berlin. "We need to be familiar with video and sound technology in order to set up and dismantle here," says Lars. And no matter what comes up, the following applies for everyone: be flexible, have fun – and work as a team. Lars: "It's not possible otherwise. Nobody can set something up on their own here."

Lars has been driving heavy goods vehicles for a good 15 years, he has been at TVN for three years and has travelled around a lot. "My most interesting trip? Three weeks in Iceland for an international match with the national football team." But he also enjoys other trips, for example to heavy metal festivals such as Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein.

Gabriel, a trained event technician, joined just a few months ago. Driving and technical set-up – a great combination. "It’s a very varied job," he says with a smile. His best trips so far? "To the Champions League final in Paris and to the international match in Bologna."

Towing equipment back and forth, laying cables, setting up workstations with technology: It takes Gabriel and Lars a good two days to get everything ready for production and prepare the seats of the commentators in the stadium. Even the Actros cabs are being prepared – here there is the necessary quiet to add sound to recordings.

But today it’s all about: Let the games begin!

Photos & video: Alexander Tempel