On April 30 and May 1, 2026, St. John Media spent two days in Atlantic City documenting internationally known organist Anna Lapwood during rehearsals and a live performance at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

Working alongside Anna Lapwood’s team at Sony Music Masterworks, the goal was twofold: capture the scale and impact of the live concert while gathering documentary footage that could reveal a more personal side of Anna, her creative process, and her relationship with the instrument.

Rehearsal & Behind-the-Scenes Access

The first day centered around rehearsal.

St. John Media was given extensive behind-the-scenes access, allowing Joey St. John, Tom Converse, and Kiernan Gallagher to document Anna preparing for the concert, exploring the organ and its console, rehearsing, interacting with those around her, and simply being herself in the environment.

Rather than attempting to manufacture documentary moments, the team concentrated on remaining present and ready for authentic interactions as they occurred.

One particularly memorable moment came during rehearsal when Anna spent time with a talented young organist.

She stopped what she was doing, sat down with him, and spent time practicing and working with him at the organ.

It was a small, unscripted interaction, but exactly the type of human moment that documentary filmmaking exists to preserve.

Capturing the Live Concert

On the second day, production shifted toward capturing the live concert.

Joey St. John, Tom Converse, and Kiernan Gallagher divided responsibilities across the venue, operating a five-camera setup designed to comprehensively document the performance.

Audio was treated with the same level of importance.

In addition to receiving a clean audio feed, St. John Media positioned multiple microphones throughout Boardwalk Hall to capture the atmosphere and acoustics of the space.

Interviews with Anna Lapwood and staff members provided additional context and storytelling material.

Documentary & Social Media Content

St. John Media ultimately produced a polished highlight and social media content from the production, while the larger collection of footage was captured specifically with documentary use in mind.

Sony Music Masterworks commissioned the footage for use in a future Anna Lapwood documentary.

For St. John Media, the project represented a combination of documentary storytelling, multicamera live-performance production, interview production, and artist portraiture.

At its core, however, it was about capturing Anna Lapwood in her element—not only as a performer on stage, but as an artist and person behind the performance.