Beyond the General Assembly: Video Production for Climate Week NYC and UNGA Side Events
When people think about the United Nations General Assembly, they naturally picture United Nations Headquarters.
But some of the most interesting conversations surrounding UNGA don't happen inside the UN at all.
Throughout September, organizations host summits, panels, receptions, executive meetings, announcements, roundtables, private gatherings and media events at hotels, conference facilities, corporate offices and venues across New York City.
And this year, that activity overlaps with Climate Week NYC, September 20–27, which brings together leaders and decision-makers from business, government, finance and civil society through more than 1,000 events across the city.
For communications teams, PR agencies and organizations coming to New York, that creates an opportunity to think beyond simply documenting an event.
What content can you create because the event is happening?
Your Event Is Somewhere Else? We Can Come to You.
Sometimes bringing a speaker to a studio makes sense.
Sometimes bringing the production to the speaker makes more sense.
During UNGA, executives and experts can have extremely limited windows of availability. Your CEO may have 30 minutes between meetings. A speaker may be available immediately after a panel. An international executive may only be at a hotel or office for a few hours.
Murray Hill Studios provides professional on-location video production throughout New York City, with scalable crews and equipment for projects ranging from individual interviews to multi-camera panels and larger events.
Depending on the production, MHS can provide cameras, lighting, audio, crew and other technical support at offices, hotels, event spaces and other locations.
The objective is to build the production around the opportunity rather than lose the opportunity because of logistics.
Don't Just Record the Stage
If your organization is already hosting a UNGA or Climate Week event, the main program is only one part of the content opportunity.
Think about who else will be in the room.
You may have executives, experts, partners, clients, advocates or other people who are rarely together in one place.
That creates opportunities to capture:
Executive interviews before or after the event
Short conversations with participating experts
Speaker interviews
Attendee reactions
Behind-the-scenes footage
A moderated roundtable
A post-event recap
Short-form social content
A podcast with several of the speakers
Thought-leadership content for later release
Instead of looking at video simply as a record of what happened, think about the event as a chance to build a larger library of content.
Capture Content While the Conversation Is Happening
Timing can make a tremendous difference.
If your organization makes an announcement during UNGA, the best time to discuss it may be that day.
If an executive participates in an important Climate Week panel, consider recording a follow-up conversation while the subject is still fresh.
If several experts are together for a summit, capture their perspectives before everyone leaves New York.
Content recorded around the event can complement the event itself while also giving your communications team material to distribute afterward.
And not all of it needs to be produced for immediate release.
Some interviews can address larger, evergreen subjects that remain relevant long after September.
Climate Week NYC Creates an Enormous Content Opportunity
Climate Week NYC has grown into a major citywide gathering running alongside the UN General Assembly.
For organizations working in energy, sustainability, finance, technology, transportation, infrastructure, healthcare and many other sectors, it brings an extraordinary concentration of people and ideas to New York.
That makes it a natural environment for content creation.
An organization hosting a Climate Week event could record its panel and then interview the speakers individually.
A company with several executives in town could schedule a series of thought-leadership conversations.
An agency could bring a client into a professional studio for a deeper discussion following an event.
Several experts attending different Climate Week programs could come together for a video podcast or roundtable.
The goal isn't necessarily to create content about Climate Week.
It's to take advantage of the access Climate Week creates.
Live, Recorded, Virtual or Hybrid
Not every audience will be in New York.
And not every participant needs to be.
Murray Hill Studios can support virtual and hybrid productions that combine in-person speakers with remote contributors, professional cameras, audio, switching, graphics and other production elements.
A panel taking place in Manhattan can include an expert joining from another country.
An executive in New York can participate in a program being hosted elsewhere.
A conversation can be streamed to an audience that couldn't attend in person.
Or a program can be professionally recorded and edited for later distribution.
The physical location of the event doesn't have to define the reach of the content.
Use Murray Hill Studios as Your Production Home Base
For organizations managing several activities during UNGA or Climate Week, Murray Hill Studios can also function as a production home base.
You might:
Record an executive interview at MHS in the morning.
Send an MHS crew to cover an off-site event that afternoon.
Bring several speakers into the studio for a podcast the following day.
Produce a virtual segment with an expert who isn't in New York.
Then edit the resulting material into content for release during and after UNGA.
MHS is located at 248 East 35th Street in Midtown Manhattan, just minutes from United Nations Headquarters, making the studio especially convenient for organizations whose schedules are centered around UNGA.
Instead of coordinating several unrelated production vendors, organizations can work with one team experienced in studio, location, live and remote workflows.
Sometimes the Studio Is Still the Better Option
On-location production is useful when a schedule or event dictates the location.
But when you have the flexibility, bringing a speaker into a professional studio offers advantages.
Lighting, sound and the overall environment can be controlled.
Multiple cameras can already be in place.
Remote guests can be integrated.
Different visual environments can be created using MHS's collection of in-house set pieces, furniture and backgrounds.
And production personnel, control rooms and equipment are all under one roof.
That's why the best approach during UNGA may involve a combination of both.
Bring the production to the event when necessary. Bring the people to the studio when possible.
One Event Can Become Much More Than One Video
A professionally produced event doesn't have to result in one long recording that gets posted online and forgotten.
With some advance planning, the same production can generate multiple deliverables.
A 60-minute panel might become:
The complete program
Individual speaker clips
Several short social videos
A two-minute event recap
Executive soundbites
Website content
Internal communications
Promotional material for next year's event
Additional interviews recorded around the event can expand that library even further.
Thinking about those deliverables before production begins allows the crew to capture material in ways that make it more useful afterward.
Experience Matters When Schedules Are Tight
UNGA isn't an ideal time to discover that a production partner can't adapt.
Schedules change.
Speakers run late.
Availability shifts.
A remote participant gets added.
An interview suddenly becomes possible.
A client decides they want additional content.
Murray Hill Studios has decades of experience spanning traditional broadcast production, media tours, corporate video, livestreaming and today's virtual and hybrid workflows.
Technology continues to change, but many of the fundamentals of successful production remain the same:
Planning. Communication. Reliability. Professional crews. High-quality audio and video. And the ability to solve problems when something unexpected happens.
Those things become even more important during a fast-moving period like UNGA.
Make Your UNGA or Climate Week Event Reach Beyond the Room
The people physically attending your event may number dozens, hundreds or even thousands.
The potential audience for professionally produced content can be dramatically larger.
If your organization is planning a summit, panel, meeting, interview, reception or other activation around UNGA 2026 or Climate Week NYC, consider how professional video can extend its reach.
Capture the event.
Interview the people attending it.
Bring your speakers into the studio.
Connect participants remotely.
Create content for social media.
Build material that can be released throughout the months ahead.
Murray Hill Studios can provide studio, on-location, virtual and hybrid production solutions tailored to your event, schedule and budget.
Planning an event or production during UNGA 2026 or Climate Week NYC? Contact Murray Hill Studios now to discuss production support and availability.