Ric Birch

As CEO of Spectak Productions, Ric Birch has produced many of the largest and most successful live productions ever mounted. From the Sydney Olympic Opening Ceremonies which were hailed as establishing new standards for creativity, performance and technical production, to the Sydney Millennium Celebrations which were hailed the best in the world, Ric Birch’s credentials are unrivalled worldwide.

Invited to produce and direct the 1982 Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Brisbane XII Commonwealth Games, the ceremonies received rave reviews and became the highest rating television program in Australian history. This success led to Ric Birch’s appointment as Director of Production for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, which were hailed as a turning point for theatricality in major events.

Following this Ric Birch formed Spectak Productions in partnership with News Limited. Since then Spectak has produced an array of spectaculars including The Bicentennial Wool Collection for the International Wood Secretariat; The opening of the Sydney Harbour Casino (1995), The opening of Melbourne’s Crown Casino (1997); The opening ceremony of the Medical World Congress in Los Angeles; Christmas at Dixie for the Dollywood organisation in Tennessee, South Carolina and Missouri; and the 1996-2000 Sydney New Year’s Eve Celebrations.

Ric Birch was also Director of Entertainment for World Expo 88 where he was responsible for an entertainment budget of $45 million and a $10 million budget for construction of venues. With over 50,000 performers during a six-month period, it was the largest entertainment program ever seen in Australia and one of the largest undertaken anywhere in the world.

Ric Birch’s extraordinary success in creating wide-ranging entertainment projects has led to requests for his services worldwide. He has consulted for theme park developments in Hong Kong, Japan, Spain and France and entertainment planning committees for the 1990 World Expo in Osaka, the 1992 Universal Exposition in Sevilla, and the 1995 Exposition in Vienna. In August 1990, Ric Birch directed the Singapore Jubilee Spectacular for the Singapore government – a multi-million dollar production which incorporated a cast of 15,000 performers to celebrate 25 years of Independence.

In 1991 Ric Birch was invited to be Executive Producer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the XXV Olympic Games in Barcelona. Responsible for creative concepts, planning, organisation, budgets, and the selection of personnel, Ric bought together an international team to produce the best ever Olympic ceremonies — until Sydney 2000.

Since returning to Los Angeles, Ric Birch has reunited with News Corporation and Spectak is now part of Fox TV Studios. They are currently developing new live global events and producing feature films and television series’.