Newsletter: Integrator Profile

This section of our newsletter features integrators and their standout projects. If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming edition of our newsletter, please contact us at zeevee@feintuchpr.com.

Cory Froke, 4Wall Entertainment

Las Vegas is known for its electric atmosphere, world-class entertainment and dining options as well as stunning nightlife. The city is constantly evolving, with new hotels, casinos, restaurants and attractions opening all the time, guaranteeing that no two trips to the city are ever the same.

One of the newest destinations in town is the Chéri Rooftop Lounge located at the Paris Hotel beneath the dramatic Eiffel Tower reproduction. The entertainment and dining venue provides guests with two permanent TVs on opposite ends of the bar, two large portrait projectors and portable televisions that roll out to tables and can stream 10Gb content including advertisements, football games and special messages ranging from birthday wishes to anniversary celebrations.

Leading the AV installation at Chéri Lounge was Cory Froke, senior director of AV at 4Wall Entertainment, a full-service lighting, video and rigging company servicing all facets of the entertainment industry. The national organization, with local offices in Las Vegas and throughout the U.S., enlists live event designers to ensure that all their projects are brought to life in a way that is both technically proficient and creatively inspiring.

Froke started working with the lounge in April 2023 to give it a much-needed AV refresh. Initially, the design specified a competitor's AV over IP encoders and decoders, but Froke sought an alternative due to long lead times. He ultimately chose ZeeVee's ZyPer4K line for the project due to its renowned versatility and wide range of features – let alone in-stock inventory availability. He and his team equipped the lounge with ZyPer4K-XS and ZyPer4K-XR encoders and decoders, and ZyPer Management Platform.

“The timeline on this project was a big issue – the bid was awarded at the end of April and the lounge’s first event was scheduled for mid-September,” said Froke. “We got in touch with John Costa at ZeeVee, who said that he could get us product within a few weeks. That ultimately kept us on track to finish the project on time.

“Throughout the installation, we kept scaling the system to match Chéri Lounge’s changing requirements. We ended up expanding the ZeeVee system by almost 250% – something that was very easy to do with the ZyPer4K product line.”

Over the years, Froke has seen a significant increase in the number of customers transitioning to AV over IP products. He believes SDVoE and AV over IP will become the industry standard over the next five to 10 years.

"First and foremost, our customers need a system that's 'future-proof,' meaning that they can shrink or expand the number of inputs and outputs depending on the changing needs of its business without the hassle of reconfiguring the entire system,” said Froke. “I've found that with AV over IP products, we're eliminating multiple points of failure through simplifying the networking process and making it easier for our customers to use. In addition, they gain breakout features like multiview and video walls."

The biggest industry trend Froke sees is the shift from short-lived live events to permanent installations that incorporate ‘architainment’ (a blend of architecture and entertainment) principles. Initially centered on lighting, architainment is expanding beyond traditional 16:9 aspect ratios to transform spaces into storytelling mediums. Froke says that 4Wall’s focus lies in pushing boundaries beyond traditional integration, which accounts for 70% of the live events industry, and in crafting artistically designed architainment installations that deliver lasting impact – like at the Chéri Rooftop Lounge.