In PLSN’s continuing quest to track down the next shining star in the live event industry, we met Ross Tyler Blitz. At age 26, the New York City-based lighting director and programmer shares his story and the key that unlocked his door to the production industry’s world of opportunities: networking.
From Camp to Contacting LDs
Ross knew at age 10 that he was destined for showbiz. The catalyst kicked in at summer camp when he chose “the drama option” over sports. “They put me on lighting, and something clicked,” he explains. “I loved everything about it.”
Blitz followed his bliss. At 13, he volunteered as followspot operator at the Willow Theatre in Boca Raton, FL. In his spare time, he absorbed lighting magazines and found a hero: LD Bryan Hartley. He Googled him and emailed questions.
“I thought ‘What’s the worst thing he can say, ‘No?’ Thankfully he could not have been a nicer person. He invited me to load-in, and we talked all things touring,” Blitz says.
“Yes, his parents brought him to the arena during the day,” Hartley recalls. “He knew all the lingo and products. I was impressed with his knowledge.”
Ross’ connection with the LD of Trans-Siberian Orchestra would come full circle in later years. But back to our story.
Interning at 14
In high school, Ross studied in the Stagecraft program, serving as resident LD for their new state-of-the-art theater in Palm Beach County, FL. For four years, he “lived” in that facility, doing countless theater and dance productions. “Sometimes school administrators would drive in their golf carts to get me out of class to fix a power problem, or figure out why lights were not turning on in the theater,” he recalls with amusement.
During those years, at age 14, he interned with the Lighting Design Group (LDG) for the televised 2008 Republican Debates in Boca Raton, FL. “I learned a lot, even if my main task was cutting gel,” Ross says. “Even menial tasks have an important impact.”
Full Sail to Smoky Mountain Opry
In 2011, Ross graduated from high school and enrolled at Full Sail University, taking three months off for another internship with the LDG at the 2012 Republican National Convention.
He graduated Full Sail in 2013 with a Show Production degree. Through alum LD Susan Rose, he got his first professional gig as lighting director/programmer and pyro tech at the Smoky Mountain Opry in Pigeon Forge, TN. His first road gig followed a year later as electrician/FX on the Barbie Live! tour.
Running Away to Join the Circus
Jumping on board for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train in 2014 “was definitely a new experience — elephants pooping and tigers peeing on you,” he describes. “But I fell in love with it and stayed a few years. Feld owns their gear, so we had parts and had to fix every single light in the rig. That’s where I got the building blocks of my skill set as a moving light tech.”
From the Olympics to Lionel Richie
When the Lighting Design Group was staffing up for the 2016 Olympics, LDG President Steve Brill recalls, “The Olympics can be an intense, stressful environment, and I thought Ross would fit in quite well. I was impressed with his eagerness to learn new skills, travel anywhere with a bright outlook, and with how much he had grown over the past few years. As fate would have it, Ross was ready to move on beyond living life in a small train cabin, and he joined us in Rio de Janeiro and did quite well.”
After the Olympics electrician gig, Blitz flew straight from Rio to New York City to jumpstart his career. At an inauguration event, he met LD Rob Smith, senior designer at Lightswitch, which led to the two working together on Chris Brown’s “The Party Tour” in 2017. And that later led Smith, as LD for Lionel Richie’s 2017 tour, to recommend Ross join the crew.
During 2018, Blitz worked on multiple tours: as lighting designer for Slash, lighting director for Julia Michaels, and on the lighting crew of Maroon 5.
By 2019, he heard back from Smith, who was prepping for Lionel Richie’s “Hello Hits” world tour. Says Smith, “I had grown confident enough in Ross’ abilities that I had made a note to keep him in mind if I found myself looking for a touring LD in my stead. Lionel Richie 2019 was that opportunity. I decided to pursue shorter-duration work. I would previz and program the tour, and Ross would take it on the road. It was initially outside his comfort zone. He was running grandMA2’s controlling about 240 fixtures, Mbox media servers, Barco S3s, and calling spots, which included Follow-Me for 50 moving lights — just another day as a touring LD. The shows went off better than expected.”
While the industry is on lockdown, Blitz is “capitalizing on online free classes — thank you, manufacturers! — and forming new bonds networking across the industry in Zoom chats.”
While he learned on a Hog 2, he’s primarily a grandMA2 user, but he’s well-versed in most brands of lighting consoles. He’s also a certified tech for Claypaky, High End Systems, Martin and Vari-Lite lighting products.
So, back to his mentors… and how they figure in his future. Blitz was set to join Brill and the LDG team on the Olympics in Tokyo, but it’s currently rescheduled to 2021. And Rob Smith says he and Ross talk regularly. “When the next opportunity comes along for me to place a talented programmer/operator on a job, I won’t hesitate to pull Ross back into the fold,” he says.
Meanwhile, Ross and Bryan Hartley also kept in touch. “Ross achieved great success,” Hartley says. “He called me one day to return the favor and have me come to his show. It was Lionel Richie, and he was the LD. That was very cool! My next mission is to get him on a TSO tour.”
Blitz says having Hartley visit as his guest “brought that experience full circle for me.” He emphasizes that networking remains “the most important thing you can do,” and we can’t help but wonder where his connections will take him to next.
