Figure 8 logoBite logoBikky logounPLUG logo

For Figure 8, Bite and unPLUG, co-hosts of the Unscripted restaurant roundtable

Live broadcast · New York City · August 27, 2026

Live broadcasting a restaurant executive roundtable for Figure 8 Digital in New York City

Figure 8 Digital and three restaurant tech partners brought restaurant brand executives together at The Malin Flatiron for a live roundtable called Unscripted. We broadcast it live with three cameras and a crew of three, and viewers tuned in from all over the US.

By Tony Ellis Martinez · TM Productions

Restaurant executives seated around two round tables under a hanging lamp, with bookshelves behind them and the audience in front
The full panel at The Malin Flatiron, 27 minutes into the broadcast.

Figure 8 is a restaurant management consulting firm for multi-unit restaurant brands. On Thursday, August 27, 2026, Figure 8 co-hosted a live roundtable called Unscripted with three restaurant technology partners: Bite, which makes self-ordering kiosk software, Bikky, a restaurant data platform, and unPLUG, which helps restaurant brands grow first-party revenue. Executives from Bluestone Lane, Bubbakoo's Burritos, Marco's Pizza, The Original Chop Shop, Captain D's, Habit Burger & Grill and Playa Bowls sat down with the four co-hosts at The Malin Flatiron on Broadway in Manhattan to talk about the digital side of running a restaurant brand, guest data and engagement, and loyalty programs.

We broadcast the roundtable live with three cameras and a crew of three, and viewers tuned in from all over the US.

3CAMERAS
3PEOPLE ON THE CREW
13AT THE TABLE
4CO-HOSTS

How the job came in

Kevin Dale, a New York event photographer we've worked with for years, introduced us to Figure 8. We met with their team over Zoom on June 17 to go through the venue, the audio and how they wanted the stream to look. Figure 8, Bite and unPLUG each signed on with us directly for the broadcast.

Planning the coverage

The Malin had house microphones and speakers in the room but no audio crew, so the audio mix was ours to run. Figure 8 didn't want a static stream with one wide shot. They wanted to see the panelists up close and the reactions around the room, and they wanted footage they could use in their marketing later. We set up two cameras on tripods and one camera operator moving around the room, which gave them a more engaging stream and better marketing footage without paying for a separate video team.

Figure 8 also wanted the room to feel natural and casual instead of overly produced, so we shot it under the room's own lamps and overhead light and didn't bring in a lighting kit.

The full room from the back, with audience members in armchairs and couches and the panel at two tables at the far end
The room from the back during the roundtable.

Frames from the broadcast

These nine frames come from the program, the same picture the viewers watching live were seeing, with the timecode from the recording on each one.

Panelists at the left table in front of the bookshelves, one of them speaking
0:06:00Left table
A panelist in a white cowboy hat holding a microphone at the right table
0:08:40Right table
The whole room from the back, with the audience in armchairs and both tables at the far end
0:19:20Back of the room
Every panelist across both round tables, seen over the heads of the front row
0:22:00Full panel
A panelist talking with a microphone while the people beside him listen
0:32:40Right table
A close shot of a panelist in a striped shirt speaking into a microphone
0:56:40Roaming
Four panelists at the right table, one with a microphone
1:04:40Right table
A panelist at the left table speaking into a microphone with blue water bottles on the table
1:26:00Left table
Four panelists at the left table listening to the conversation
1:31:20Left table

Close shots of the panelists

The tripod cameras covered the full panel and each table, and the operator moving around the room picked up close shots of whoever had the microphone.

A panelist in a striped shirt speaking into a microphone, with other panelists listening beside him
A panelist at the left table, 1:15:20.
A panelist in a white cowboy hat speaking into a microphone at the right table
A panelist at the right table, 1:36:40.

Watch the roundtable

Figure 8 posted the full roundtable on its YouTube channel after the event.

The full roundtable across both tables under the hanging lamp

The full roundtable on Figure 8's YouTube channel. Open on YouTube

Thanks to Figure 8, Bite, Bikky and unPLUG for having us, and to Kevin Dale for the introduction.

Roundtable details via the Figure 8 YouTube video. Company descriptions via figure8.digital, getbite.com, bikky.com and unplugdining.com. Every image on this page is a frame from the broadcast.