Bob Gordon has been a major player in the live concert business since the 1960’s. While long known and revered as the founder of A.C.T Lighting, few realize the Bob spent the first half of his adult life on the road with touring acts as a lighting designer and production manager. When it was time to get off of the road, he became an account rep for various light and sound companies.
Twenty-two years ago, he started up his own company here in the U.S. and has watched it grow up and mature into a successful enterprise. His dream was to form a company that would identify high-tech products and to exclusively stock, support and sell them. He treated them as if they were his own and he was their manufacturer. This is the basis upon which A.C.T Lighting was born.
Born in the Bronx and growing up in the shadow of Yankee Stadium, Bob’s family moved to Miami Beach in the late 1950s. Bob went to Miami Beach Sr. High School and later attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL. That is where he discovered his love for theatre, albeit, not on purpose.
“I was studying social studies education but I found myself working at Westcott Auditorium (now Ruby Diamond Auditorium). This venue was the local roadhouse for major theatrical productions, opera and symphonies. I needed a job and they needed a Trouper operator. This was an old carbon-arc Trouper. I loved it and learned all about technical theatre from the staff. My life was changed.
“Our department did all of the shows at Westcott, but we also did the large shows at the gym and the stadium as well. We formed a company called Wednesday Sound & Lighting and did many of our regional festivals.” The business was very different in the 1960’s Bob explained. Bands didn’t tour with their own sound and lighting, there was a list of acceptable companies that could provide those services regionally. We operated within a 500 mile radius, from Miami to Atlanta. We had a school bus and a Mack B-61 tractor. Our lighting gear consisted of 2kW Lekos and Fresnels. Our dimming was all auto transformers, and eventually we got this new thing call PAR cans.
After completing his education at FSU, Bob relocated to Knoxville, TN to work for a company called TERI Productions. They are still in business today. They were doing a stadium show with Leon Russell. They pulled into town and when they left, Bob was traveling with them. He ended up touring with Olivia Newton-John, the James Gang, Mountain, Elvis and ZZ Top. “Elvis played in the round so we did not carry a lighting rig, only 8 Super Troupers”. Eventually the cold weather in Bob’s mountain cabin got to him, and it was time to move.
“In 1975, I took a job with Jim Moody at Sundance Lighting in Hollywood. It got me to California. Jim wasn’t around much, he was usually out with John Denver or Linda Ronstadt. I ended up working down the street with Tony Mazzucchi at See Factor LA for a few years. We were in the old Columbia Studio Lot, which was referred to as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Lot in Hollywood. This lot held S.I.R., Sundance, Tasco and McManus. We even had our own commissary where you could buy a healthy sandwich with sprouts or pot and cocaine out the back. Trucks would pull into the lot empty and leave with sound, lighting, sets and backline inside.”
At See Factor, Bob worked on many projects, including Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. He and JB (John Broderick) went on tour with a band called Angel. He eventually left See Factor and worked on a movie called The Rose alongside Chip Monck, the legendary LD. After that, he ended up touring with REO Speedwagon. “I started out as their LD and later they wanted me to be their Production Manager. I toured with them in their prime, 1977 through 1982.
“I met my wife when REO was recording their Hi-Infidelity album. She would drop by the studio, sit in the corner and knit. She was totally bored with the whole thing. This is probably why we are still married”. Bob has been married for 35 years. They met at their mutual apartment complex in Sherman Oaks. She was a doctoral student at UCLA and Bob was a rock ‘n’ roll guy. “it was love at first sight for both of us. We got married four months later and we are still married and in love today. Speaking of REO, the day after the final rehearsal for the Hi-Infidelity Tour, I had two days before we left for the tour so we got married. The next day, I was off to Madison, WI to start the tour.” They have two children, Jeff who lives in NYC and is an IATSE #1 stagehand and Erin who is an independent entrepreneur.
Come December of 1982, Bob hung up his road shoes and came back to LA to start a new life with his wife and a new job working for Ricky Farr who owned TFA-Electrosound, a large lighting and audio vendor. He took over for Marshall Bissett running the lighting division which he felt was a step up the ladder. His first project was looking after Spinal Tap and their rock ‘n’ roll lighting designer, Richard Ocean. He soon put out big tours for Queen, Rod Stewart, Yes and Tom Petty to name a few. He worked there through 1986. Then his career and life changed forever.
“I became a Sales Manager, I took a job with Great American Market (GAM). This is the first time that the better part of my compensation came from commissions,” Bob says. This company was selling the first scroller, ColorMax, RDS projectors, gobos and their own color, GAMColor. “Within 2 ½ years I took that company from gross sales of $1 million to $3 million. Of course, based on my commission structure, I was making very good money. One day, the boss told me that he was going to cut my commissions in half. He said something along the lines of that he was looking for a sales manager, not a partner. I gave my two week notice and left.
Bob went to work as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Wybron, owned by Keny Whitright, the designers of the first gel scrollers sold by GAM. Bob spent over two years working there. He was employed on a straight commission basis. Again, making too much money got in the way and Bob was let go. It seemed like the right time to go into business for himself.
Nook: So, how did your start up your own company called A.C. Lighting at that time?
Bob: I had known David Leggett, the owner of A.C. Lighting in the UK for years. He asked me to let him know when I was available to work with him. He felt that we could start a US company together. We met in LA and agreed on the basic concept. I later drew up a comprehensive business plan. We both agreed and A.C. Lighting, Inc. opened it’s doors on July 1, 1993.
So David was pretty instrumental in getting you set up?
I was a good salesman, but I really knew nothing about running a business. David taught me.
What did starting your own company entail?
I started with three people (including myself) housed in a 2,275 sq. ft. building. I got several deals through A.C. Lighting in the UK to cover US distribution for Jands, Reel FX, Socapex etc.. we were pretty broke so we had to hit the ground running. On day 1, my first sale was $11,000.00 worth of multi-cable to TMB.
When did you get your first big break with your company?
Our first major hit was with the Whole Hog. I showed up at LDI in 1994 with the first non-working model of the Hog 2. All of the lights in the booth were actually run by a Hog 1 in the booth. The Hog 2 was perceived as a revolutionary lighting control system by the market. It could run moving lights in the way that would become the standard for all control systems. It had touch screens and spoke to you in English not DMX levels. No one cared that blue was a DMX value of 72%, they just called up blue. People were intrigued.
Do you give yourself a lot of credit for the success of Hog 2?
Sure, we sold most of the Hog 2s in the world. You see, selling cable wasn’t sexy, the Hog 2 – that was sexy. We sold between 1,000 and 1,200 of them in North America.
So your relationship with them lasted about 5 years?
In 1999, I was at the PLASA Exhibition. I was having lunch at the Platinum Club when I saw the guys from Flying Pigs having lunch with the guys from High End (our competition). I had a premonition and it wasn’t good. Later that year, those 2 companies cut a deal and I was out. We lost the Hog to High End Systems and all I could think of was “What’re we going to do now?”
What did you do?
We bounced back bigger than ever in the long run. In 1998, I saw my first grandma at the LDI in Phoenix. They weren’t doing a lot at that time and they had recently split with their US distributor. I contacted them immediately and we got a Letter of Agreement that allowed us to show their consoles at LDI later that year.
And how has that worked out for you?
In 1999, the grandMA was voted console of the year by the Broadway Lighting Master Classes and people were paying attention. They still are.
Along that time, Christie Lites became one of your largest customers
Christie purchased a few dozen Hog 2 from me. In 2000, I had to drive my former Hog customers towards MA. Christie had a meeting of all of their General Managers at the Skydome in Toronto. It was my time to make my pitch to them. It was a tough day, all of those General Managers just wanted to buy Hog 2s from me since all of their customers were still asking for them. I was depressed.
Large bummer for you eh?
I was feeling really low. Huntly [Christie] called me in my room asked me if he could drive me to the airport the next day. He did that and he told me to be patient. After all, his name was on the company checks and he liked the grandMA and he believed in me. Months later, we did a deal that involved 90 consoles.
How did you go on to become A.C.T Lighting then?
Well, when we started the company, David would fly over and we would work together. We had an office with 2 desks that faced each other. We formed the company with the idea that it would be highly collaborative and we would be together often. As it turned out, David did not like flying and it did not suit him. In the end, I was doing most of the work in America and I started asking if I could buy him out. A.C. Lighting was his trademark, his company and his life. He was not going to sell the US company. I owned my third of the company and life went on.
Until….
In 2000, I got a call from Murray, the CFO of A.C. Lighting. He asked me if I was still interested in buying out my other partners. I was able to do that but I wanted to keep the A.C. Lighting name so I paid a licensing fee to A.C. to use their trademark. In 2003, I decided to change the name to A.C.T Lighting, Inc.. I took on some minority partners to finance the purchase.
Why the name?
Two reasons, A.C.T with still be at the top of everyone’s contact list. Plus, actlighting.com was available as our domain name. Also, it is an acronym for Architectural, Concert & Theatrical Lighting.
For 3 years, you have been selling Clay Paky gear. In the same 3 years they have gone from little recognition in the States to becoming a household name in every lighting shop. How did this come about?
Clay Paky was a great brand with no foothold in the U.S.. They approached me several times over the years but I never felt that we were ready to put the necessary energy into it. They came back to me in 2012 and we were ready so we struck a deal. That first year, we sold a ton.
Describe a ton…
The first year, we broke all U.S. and North American sales records. The second year we broke all world sales records.
Why has your company been so successful?
With A.C.T, we have an amazing support system. We become the de facto factory and we handle all support including training, software and hardware. We have a team available 24/7. Ask anyone, we look after our customers and users. We also look after our own. During the recession of 2008, a tough time for everyone, we never laid off any staff and we did not trim any salaries or benefits. We were loyal to the people who kept us going.
So, where is Bob Gordon in the scheme of A.C.T these days?
In July of 2014, A.C.T was doing very well and I took the opportunity to manage an orderly transition of the company that I had created. I also wanted to establish my retirement plan. I sold the company and now Ben Saltzman runs it. That was my goal all along.
You don’t appear to be retired, Bob…
My new title is Founder, and one of my most important jobs is to be a symbol of what A.C.T Lighting stands for. Also, I maintain the good relationships with our key vendors and customers. Anyone can call and talk to me for as long as I am here.
