LOS ANGELES — Following the loss of its popular King Kong ride to a fire in 2008, Universal Studios Hollywood spent the past two years turning up the heat on its newest and most exciting attraction, “King Kong 360 3-D” created by Peter Jackson. A collaborative effort between the celebrated film director and Universal Creative, the attraction transports Studio Tour guests to Skull Island for an immersive guest experience amid the battle between King Kong and a number of huge dinosaurs.
Working with professionals from Weta Digital and Park Road Post on the complex video and 22-channel sound design, Jackson and Universal turned to Pro Sound CA for the sound reinforcement system design and implementation. “We’ve worked with Paul Cuoco, Universal Studios’ technical manager, on a number of attractions in the past and he requested that we bid on this project,” says Arron Szabo, vice president of Pro Sound CA. “The creative and technical service teams dictated that the loudspeakers must be visually unobtrusive, capable of producing good levels and fidelity at a distance, and not be self-powered for ease of serviceability. With that in mind, we ran a number of SOUNDVISION models and ultimately recommended an L-ACOUSTICS system comprised of compact KIVA and KILO enclosures augmented by SB28 subs.”
Universal Studios Hollywood is a unit of Universal Parks & Resorts, a division of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.
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