In 1990 Boeing's Board of Directors gave the go-ahead to begin development of the 777. In classic Boeing style it was a $4 billion "bet the company" move. The 777 was a twin-engine plane designed for transoceanic routes - a smart but unusual approach that would appeal to customers but had the potential to turn into a nightmare to secure the necessary certifications.

To add interest to the wager, Boeing decided to design the entire plane in a 3D modeling program called CATIA. CATIA would enable everyone to see how each of the 3.5 million parts would fit with all the others. With this bold stroke Boeing eliminated the need for a full scale mock-up, minimized profit robbing rework and sped up the ETOPS certification process.

To make the most of the 3D tools, Boeing created integrated teams - for the first time engineers, the purchasing agents who would buy the parts they specified, the contractor who would deliver the subassembly and the customer maintenance representative who would maintain the system shared the responsibility for the design. This new approach was dubbed "Working Together".

CEO Phil Condit really "got" the potential of a live event. Phil, Graeme and our crew worked together to ensure that we met the two distinct goals that Phil had for the event.

A long time Boeing employee himself, Phil knew that the 777 Rollout would be a landmark moment. It had been a long time since Boeing had introduced a radically new airplane, and he knew there was a golden opportunity to create a memorable celebration for the 100,000 who would be in attendance.

Phil also saw a strategic opportunity to use the event and the excitement around the new airplane as the tipping point he needed to move the collaborative "Working Together" model into the mainstream of Boeing culture.

The hangar where we did the show is enormous, and the logistics are a story within themselves. We created a 280' projection surface and fly loft which we filled with pani projection and 35mm film. We backed the plane with 400' of scrim, and surrounded it with 1.5 million watts of lighting and a carefully designed megawatt sound system.

Show-day came early. Starting at 6 am we ran a show for 7,000 people every hour. Sixteen in all. Each ran flawlessly. The event garnered worldwide headlines; while the video won the Grand Prize at the New York Film Festival, our industry's most prestigious award.