National team picked to produce convention
Local lawyer named to oversee activities
Organizers of this summer's Democratic National Convention in Boston are pairing a national production team with a local lawyer to coordinate activities inside the FleetCenter during the July event.
Two veteran producers of major televised events, Don Mischer of Los Angeles and Ricky Kirshner of New York City, will serve as executive producer and producer of the four-day convention. They will be in charge of the creative end of convention programming, including the design of the stage, musical selections, and how the event will look on television.
"It's going to be a great convention," said Kirshner, who was involved with production for each of the last three Democratic National Conventions and is executive producer of this year's Tony Awards. "There's a lot of potential to do some great things up there."
Convention chief executive Rod O'Connor has said that planners wanted producers with experience in nationally and internationally televised events. That decision left some local production companies and business leaders grumbling that Boston-area firms should be more involved.
Ensuring heavy local participation, a Boston lawyer, Alan D. Rose Jr., was named convention hall director, a post that will have him working alongside the producers and the construction managers. Rose, a partner in the law firm Rose & Associates, was lead advance person for then-vice president Al Gore's campaigns in 1996 and 2000.
Rose will be in charge of logistics inside the FleetCenter, including security, construction, and space allocation. He will also handle basic traffic flow for dignitaries and the presidential nominee as they make their way through crowds.
Mischer, the executive producer, has won 13 prime-time Emmy Awards and produced or directed events including the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, as well as specials for entertainers including Robin Williams, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and Willie Nelson.
Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com.
