Camille Naredo

Miss Universe director Marcus Viner. Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News

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Miss Universe

Dyan Castillejo

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1763470720155viber_image_2025-11-18_17-54-41-916.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Miss Universe director Marcus Viner. Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News" width="960"/>Miss Universe director Marcus Viner. Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News</div>BANGKOK, Thailand -- Marcus Viner, a director based in the United Kingdom, is the creative force behind this year&#x27;s Miss Universe show.While he seeks to bring his global experience to the Miss Universe stage, Viner is also in awe of Thailand&#x27;s longstanding excellence in pageantry.&quot;I think it&#x27;s a reality that the Thais have a fantastic history in pageantry. They really understand the format. They really understand how to make it graceful, to make it impactful and big and exciting,&quot; he said.For him, the collaboration has been nothing short of rewarding: &quot;Entertaining. It&#x27;s been a real pleasure working with the Thai team. They have a real vision for this. Having seen rehearsals, I think you&#x27;re going to be excited.&quot;<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/pageants-beauty-queens/2025/11/15/miss-universe-competition-intensifies-after-swimsuit-show-interviews-1738">READ: Miss Universe competition intensifies after swimsuit show, interviews</a></div>Viner noted that the contestants themselves are energized by the production.&quot;I think it&#x27;s great. I think the girls have had a great time in Thailand. There&#x27;s a lot of fantastic hospitality. They&#x27;ve done a lot of great activities. I think what we&#x27;ve all noticed is that the camaraderie between the girls has been fantastic. They seem to be genuinely having a good time. They were rehearsing yesterday for about eight hours. Even after eight hours, they&#x27;re still smiling,&quot; he said.He also broke down the expected program lengths for fans eagerly anticipating the shows.&quot;You have an hour and a half on the national costume show. Probably an hour and a half on preliminary shows… Maybe two hours. That sort of time,&quot;  he said.As for the coronation night, &quot;The final is a three-hour show.&quot;&quot;The fans can expect a big opening number. A very big stage as well. Lots of LED screens, lots of light, big impact. So it looks fantastic. So it&#x27;s big scale. Really big scale. Fantastic choreography as well. And again, for the girls, watching it yesterday in rehearsal, their timings are all good. Their movements are all really great,&quot; he added.While Viner works closely with the Thai production crew, his main responsibility lies in managing presenters and ensuring the show runs with precise timing for a global broadcast.&quot;I&#x27;m working with the Thai team, so I&#x27;m watching what they&#x27;re doing. And then my main part of the work is to work with our presenters and to look at the staging and to really organize the timing of the program. Because the program&#x27;s going out worldwide, we have to hit times for ad breaks, for commercial breaks, and we need to make sure we&#x27;re off air at the end when everyone expects us to be. So that&#x27;s the challenge,&quot; he explained.The unique Thailand schedule also adds to the production demands.&quot;Eight a.m. Thailand time, yeah… Everyone&#x27;s in their glam at 6 o&#x27;clock in the morning,&quot; he noted, acknowledging the early call time required for contestants. Still, he believes the elaborate stage is worth the effort: &quot;Well, I think that&#x27;s fantastic because you want to give them the moment. So there&#x27;s no point in having a short stage. A big stage is good, I think.&quot;Rehearsals have recently shifted to the main venue—an exciting milestone for the candidates. &quot;So yes, rehearsals. They&#x27;ve now moved into the arena. So yesterday they were in an off-site space, they&#x27;re now into the arena [...] Beautiful screen designs. Really, really lovely screen designs.&quot;Viner praised the Thai organizers for their mastery of pageant production: &quot;And this is the thing. The Thais, MGI have got a fantastic setup for beauty pageants. They really understand it. So you can really visibly see that. It&#x27;s fantastic.&quot;

Marcus Viner, a director based in the United Kingdom, is the creative force behind this year's Miss Universe show.

Marcus Viner, a director based in the United Kingdom, is the creative force behind this year's Miss Universe show.

Director says Miss Universe show is 'fantastic,' a must-watch

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Director says Miss Universe show is 'fantastic,' a must-watch

Dyan Castillejo,

ABS-CBN News

Published November 18, 2025 09:01 PM PHT

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