For the past 10 years, longtime friends LD Steve Owens and production manager/LD/rigger Dave Shepard met up between tours and talked of their creative vision, of launching their own business off the road to keep income flowing. Then each would get the crew call and they would go their separate ways on the road. When the industry shut down in March because of the Covid-19 virus, the question of “If not now, when?” was answered. Creative Visions, their professional outdoor lighting and installation company, was born to service the area of middle Tennessee.
While architectural lighting is nothing new, who can say their home exterior was influenced by the designers of Poison, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Doobie Brothers, among others? Owens said they wanted to bring their theatrical lighting skills to the residential neighborhoods. “A lot of people can use white light to shine on the front of your house or trees, but as far as creativity, it is truly lacking,” Owens explained. “We want to make homes look as vibrant as a main stage.”
They’ve already received plenty of positive feedback after posting photos on social media of their own homes taken to the next level. And with plenty of road crew friends out of work because of the pandemic, Owens said they plan to hire labor from the lighting industry. More info at creativevisionstn.com
Tosar Opens Drive-In
Drive-in movie theaters have become the new “go-to” for entertainment during this pandemic. While many artists are booking live shows at these revived outdoor venues, Lynyrd Skynyrd LD Jonny “Tosar” Tosarello has gone one step further: he’s bought and revamped one. He and his business partner opened the Rock ‘N’ Roll Drive-In in southeast Missouri for new and classic films and family fun. Coming attractions will feature live concerts, mini golf, batting cages and a boardwalk-style arcade.
“People are starving for something to do around here, which is our main motivation to get this going ASAP,” Tosar said. Its Oct. 21 opening night sold out in advance for Smokey and the Bandit and Talladega Nights.
Tosar brought in Mike “Coop” Cooper of Networked Technologies/Road WiFi — a friend who has worked with Papa Roach, Staind and KISS — to network the sound, lighting, video, surveillance and point-of-sale systems. “We have a 35,000-lumen laser projector that shows an amazing image on the original 80-foot wide by 58-foot high screen built in the 1960s. We also are adding effect sound and lighting to the movies to enhance the experience,” Tosar added, pointing out that he will be on a console punting the lighting himself. “We originally planned to open in spring, but our projector came in early, so we thought, why not?” More info at rocknrolldrivein.com
Programming His Own Tunes
LD Scott Warner is programming musical instruments rather than lighting consoles these days. Using drums, guitar and keyboards, he is creating new electronic music with a touch of rock. Creating tunes is not new for him, he said. “I wrote a song back in the late ‘80s that was placed on a documentary about the talk show host Morton Downey, Jr.” In his other spare time, he’s making kitchen chopping boards for his wife’s veggies and taking care of two outside feral cats.
Touring Career Workshop Goes Virtual
LD Chris Lisle and Erik Parker’s Touring Career Workshop continues in its 19th year, but goes virtual this time. The free event takes place Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 6 pm Nashville (Central) time. This year’s theme, “An Evening of Connection and Reflection,” will feature speakers addressing concerns of our industry in this pandemic.
Sponsorships paid for 90 sessions of counseling services in 2019 for touring professionals in need of help, and Lisle said there were enough funds in the account to cover the program through this year. As another way of giving back to the industry, the TCW is giving free promotion to all of last year’s sponsors, believing it would not be appropriate to ask for funds for this year’s event. Look for live streaming details at www.facebook/touringcareerworkshop or touringcareerworkshop.com
Cars, Cruise Ships and Candidates
Nautilus Entertainment Design president & principal consultant Jim Tetlow has been on the road lighting the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Debates. Elsewhere within the company: LD Kurt Doemelt is lighting a live streaming Toyota dealer meeting from the Dallas-area Toyota Campus, while LDs Ashley Kidwell and Logan Hayden completed commissioning the architectural lighting for the Enchanted Princess, a new Italian-built cruise ship.
Philadelphia Film Shoots
Drew Mercadante and his design team at Supervoid.tv have been handling lighting design and creative direction for a series of concert films shooting with local Philadelphia artists. The series is targeted for release in early 2021.
Designing for Dubai’s Re-opened Theme Parks
Creative production and lighting designer Dan Reed reports that, “after eight straight months of staring at my four walls watching my country disassemble its entertainment workforce for no good reason, I finally was part of a concentrated effort to re-open and re-start production in Los Angeles.” In late September, Reed re-entered a soundstage to design lighting for two Fox TV game show pilots. “Fox had full workplace testing and strict mask and social distancing policies in place, and I felt quite well looked after with the nurses and extra PAs onsite to help facilitate the new policies.”
Following that, the Global Village Dubai announced its reopening, and Reed has returned to design new attractions and re-program the park-wide lighting system that he designed for them last year. “With PCRs [genetic Covid-19 tests] administered before and after the 16-hour flight, and with an additional 48 hours of quarantine in my hotel room once I landed, I was able to re-enter the UAE and be here to assist with re-opening the park by Oct. 25.”
Reed added, “The differences between the total lack of effort to re-open Disneyland and the parks in California versus the efforts being made elsewhere is a real eye-opener for me. Most of us just want the opportunity to adapt and adjust and try to move on. It’s the lack of trying that’s so disturbing. But on the whole, things are looking up! Let’s spread the optimism and can-do spirit!”
Send Debi Moen your latest news. Reach her at dmoen@plsn.com.
