Brett Lowell, the camera operator who rode the 1,300-foot cable dolly for 'Skyscraper Live.' Netflix By the time Alex Honnold finished pulling himself up the 1,667-foot glass-and-steel facade of Taipei 101, the athleticism and fearlessness of his feat were viscerally unmistakable to anyone who had been tuning in to Netflix's live broadcast for the past 90-plus minutes. Just as apparent for veterans of live TV or climbing documentaries, meanwhile, was the depth of the production expertise and specialized cinematography required to make Skyscraper Live such a smoothly vivid experience for viewers worldwide. "To cover 1,700 vertical feet," says James Smith, an executive producer at Plimsoll Productions, "this was the most impressive camera rig I've ever seen." Related Stories TV 'Virgin River' Season 7 Trailer Teases New Married Chapter for Mel and Jack TV 'Harry Potter' HBO Max Series Will Be the "Streaming Event of the Decade" - At Least, WBD Top Exec Says That rig - 19 camera sources distributed across one of the world's tallest buildings, supplemented by drones, a helicopter, robotic heads and a free-hanging cable dolly - was the product of months of planning by Netflix, Plimsoll and a small army of specialists accustomed to filming people doing very dangerous things in very inhospitable places. The difference, this time, was that the shoot took place not on a remote rock face or an Arctic ice shelf, but in a densely populated city, on the face of an occupied skyscraper, with the added pressure of broadcasting it all live. Honnold completed the climb on Jan. 24, scaling Taipei 101 from street level to the tip of its spire without ropes or protection - a feat believed to be the tallest urban free solo ever attempted. The ascent, which unfolded over roughly 90 minutes, was broadcast live worldwide as Skyscraper Live, drawing 6.2 million viewers globally over its first two days and quickly becoming one of Netflix's most-watched live events to date. Plimsoll, the U.K.-based production company that served as lead producer on Skyscraper Live, had already built a deep working relationship with Honnold through earlier projects, including his National Geographic climb documentaries, The Devil's Climb and Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold. The trust accumulated over those projects was what gave both Netflix and Honnold the confidence to mount a spectacle as daring as a rope-less skyscraper climb captured on live TV. "Alex needs complete confidence in the rigging team," Smith says. "He's the most extraordinary person I've ever met, let alone had the privilege to work with. But we couldn't do these things without an extraordinary crew around him. If Alex thought the rigging was even a bit sketchy, that could be playing in his mind instead of the climbing at hand. He also needs to know there's zero chance that someone above him, god forbid, is going to do something like drop something." Brett Lowell and Alex Honnold on the set of Skyscraper Live. Netflix Risk management for the project was handled by Secret Compass, a specialist consultancy that has partnered with Plimsoll on multiple high-stakes expeditions. Their remit extended well beyond Honnold himself to include the camera teams, aerial units and spectators below. An exclusion zone was established around the base of the building in the unlikely case of falling objects, and safety briefings governed everything from weather thresholds to airspace coordination. "I had more safety meetings, honestly, than I had creative meetings on this project - as you would expect," Smith says. Although the free solo itself could only happen once, the production around it was rehearsed in the days leading up to the live broadcast. Netflix and Plimsoll conducted full technical run-throughs with Honnold climbing the building on ropes, practicing camera handoffs, pacing and communication between teams spread across nearly a third of a mile into the sky. The climb was originally scheduled for Jan. 23 but was postponed by a day after rain left the building slick and unclimbable, leaving an extra 24 hours for either nerves to settle or anticipation to build among the crew. To further protect viewers, Netflix built a 10-second delay into the live broadcast, an uncommon but deliberate choice intended to ensure that audiences - especially children - would not witness a real-time tragedy if the worst were to happen. The camera plan itself was designed to balance intimacy with scale, without overwhelming either the viewer or the climber. In total, the 19 camera sources spanned fixed cameras, handheld and Steadicam operators, jib arms, a long-haul cable camera, two drone platforms, a helicopter unit and robotic cameras mounted near the spire. The mix included Sony HDC-5500 broadcast cameras, large-sensor Sony Burano units for cinematic detail, Sony FX6s, RED cameras mounted to the helicopter, Sony FR7 robotic heads and both Mavic and Inspire drones. Of those, 11 were wireless. Typically, remote