Companies driven by people doing what they love to do most are what make a "hometown hero." There's a lot of passion in this eclectic collection chosen by the readers of PLSN. Some are old, some are new, some gear is borrowed (a.k.a. cross-rented), and one company is even blue. We invite you to spend a few moments with these fascinating organizations in the trenches doing the work on the front lines of the industry. Then go to parnelliawards.com and vote for which of these regional finalists is most worthy of winning the 2010 Parnelli Hometown Hero Award for Best Lighting Company. That company will be honored at the Parnelli Awards, set for Friday, Oct. 22, 2010 at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, NV.
Canada
Tour Tech East
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Tour Tech East (TTE) won the Parnelli Hometown Hero Award for Best Sound Company of the Year in 2008, and they are once again garnering honors – this year, as Canadian regional finalist for their lighting efforts. Not coincidently, Peter Hendrickson, TTE president, is a busy guy.
"The year started by supplying a large amount of Vari-Lites to the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies in February," he says. "In the spring we worked with Michael Bolton and David Copperfield. Summer started with the Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo and led into a run with Cirque de Soleil. Then there was the Queen's Royal visit." These events are big and complicated – the Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo is among the largest indoor shows in the world, featuring over 2,000 Canadian and international military and civilian performers required hundreds of Vari-Lites and thousands feet of trussing.
This summer, TTE also supported Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Weezer, Black Eyed Peas, Alan Jackson, and even Mr. Waterworld himself, Kevin Costner.
Hendrickson began his career as a freelance lighting designer in 1975 and founded TTE in 1984. He cites the 1990s as a turning point, when many big tours stopped carrying production and started using local support for their tours. Seizing the opportunity, TTE bulked up in terms of equipment and personnel. Rod Stewart, Def Leppard and Iron Maiden all came knocking.
Today, the company has grown to include 50 full-time employees and a massive amount of lighting gear. "That has helped our profile over the years." This year they've made a big investment in LED video display panels to meet increasing demand.
"We are now working on a CBC Ottawa [French network] TV series called Génies en herbe [Budding Geniuses]," he says. "This show is the first national TV series that is completely 100 percent LED fixtures – no moving light or standard conventional fixtures at all. Today we are working on the prep for the Johnny Reid Canadian national tour that starts in Edmonton." They are also involved with a Sam Elliott feature being filmed in Canada.
"We are very honored to be voted into this category by our friends and colleagues of the industry. That in itself speaks volumes about what we stand for."
Northeast
East Coast Lighting & Production Services
Warwick, R.I.
In the ultra-competitive northeast region, East Coast Lighting & Production Services (ECLPS) has received the Hometown Hero nod. It's a powerhouse organization that serves clients large and small. Owner Bob Morrissey credits those he works with in large part for their success (and he's permitted to brag, as ECLPS alumni include the likes of award-winning lighting designers Roy Bennett and Lee Rose).
ECLPS is a complete live event production company specializing in concert lighting production and special event lighting, and provides audio and video services and equipment. Early in his career, Morrissey grabbed hold of a shooting star known as the rock group Boston, which went from playing clubs to worldwide superstar status in just a few months. Other acts they have worked with include J. Geils Band, The Allman Brothers, Jerry Garcia, Joe Cocker, and many others.
"In 1972 we began as Polico Lighting, Inc. providing production support for all these now legendary artists," ECLPS' Jennifer Howell says. "Now nearly 40 years later we have grown with the technological advances in the entertainment industry, propelling us with our experience and education to a leading position in the entertainment world."
Morrissey is a hometown guy – still working in the area he grew up in, Warwick, R.I. Through the 1980s, he diversified supplying big and small events throughout New England (including the Newport Jazz & Folk Festivals). In 1995, he bought out his business partner and renamed the company East Coast Lighting and Production Services, putting the company on a new, vibrant path, building on past success and expanding their services.
"At that point, I started investing heavily in moving light technology, and that led us into a whole new direction," he says. At the time not everybody was offering the new technology, but Morrissey had a vision to make the commitment. "I knew I had to make that move." He did and the company has been growing every since.
"It's an honor to be voted as PLSN's Hometown Hero Regional winner for the Northeast, as there are great lighting companies in this region," Morrissey states. "We are passionate about lighting events locally, and throughout the Northeast region, in addition to providing tour lighting support for the new artist Trey Songz' Passion, Pain, & Pleasure Tour 2010."
Southeast
Zenith Lighting
Orlando, FL
"I was a freelance designer, and over the years, I bought equipment," Chas Herington says of his company's humble beginnings. "When it came time to hang up designing, I parlayed that into a rental company."
But today, Zenith is much more, fueled in large part by Herington's talent and experience. When he was Dire Strait's lighting designer, he established his reputation as a creative designer who wasn't afraid to try new things. (He was the first to use High End Systems' Intellabeams on tour). Other acts he designed for include Bob Dylan, Santana, Aerosmith, the Pretenders and Tina Turner.
Since founding Zenith, he's worked with the Steve Miller Band, Mark Knopfler, Madonna, Def Leppard and Justin Timberlake. In addition to music acts and concerts, Zenith Lighting handles lighting for corporate events and trade shows; film, video and TV; architectural lighting design and installations and parties. They also provide 3D photo-realistic visualization and rendering.
Zenith began in Colorado, but Herington relocated it to Orlando in 2001. "I had some business relationships there, plus I was getting too old to deal with the cold," he laughs. 2001 was a tough year for anything, let alone relocating a business. "It was a difficult year," he says. "I was still handling some touring clients at the time, working with Steve Miller, but I also did a lot of corporate things." Also sustaining him was the BBC, for which he did a lot of "Top of the Pops" projects.
Today the company handles a diverse group of clients from music acts to corporate, to television work with Univision. They also do a fair amount of business with nearby Universal Studios. "We have a warehouse full of gear," he says. "We are currently in a 15,000 square foot warehouse and we're outgrowing it rapidly." They recently became a Vari-Lite dealer, which adds to their High End Systems, Martin Professional, Gear Source, and the Light Source gear.
"We've been very focused on the rental inventory that we've purchased, and what lines we get into," he explains. "I think because we're stringent on maintenance and making sure the gear is of the highest caliber, we've been able to establish ourselves as a very reliable company to work with."
Midwest
Blue Planet Lighting
Hollister, Mo.
Blue Planet Lighting has been nominated two of the three years it's been in business. It's an honor that partners Kelly Koster and Mike Gormley are proud of. But they are also proud of the way they choose to do business.
"We opened this company debt-free with the intention of keeping it that way," Gormley proclaims. He adds that because of this philosophy, they've been able to skate over the "Great Recession" – and even has hired two more employees. While they are located in the vibrant Branson market, they have worked hard to reach beyond it.
"Branson is a nice market, and was 100 percent of our business in the beginning," he says. "Today it's only a quarter of our business." But it's still important as they supply the area theatres and theme parks with gear and expendables. In July, several area attractions upgraded their existing lighting control consoles including Silver Dollar City and the Branson Variety Theater. And let's not forget the updated theatre lighting in the Yakov Smirnoff Theater for his Moscow Circus. (Who could forget anything Yakov related?)
Blue Planet Lighting was formed from the Branson-area Koster Design LLC. Prior to starting the company, Koster was a lighting designer and technician on tours. Gormley started in the business running spotlight for Ray Stevens and evolved into an LD.
Because of their "only game in town" status, they are able to be dealers for High End, Clay Paky, Vari-Lite, Elation, Chauvet and "all the big brands," Koster says. Gormley says they do a lot of marketing. "We have some of the best employees in the business, and that gets our name out a lot." They launched Light Nation Radio, the first radio station dedicated to entertainment lighting professionals, which they continue to develop. They also have launched prolightingsupply.com, which Gormley says in growing.
Lately they've been doing a lot of school, theatre, and church business, including The Northview Christian Life Church in Carmel Indiana. They put in 5,000 pounds of ETC Fixtures into their 2,000 seat auditorium. They designed, installed, and trained the church personnel. Last year they completed a Philips Color Kinetics LED Installation in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
Southwest
Kinetic Lighting
Los Angeles, CA
"We've had an incredible year," said Daniel Bortz, upon hearing Kinetic Lighting had gotten more Hometown Hero votes from PLSN readers than any other lighting company in the southwest region. "We've been really busy, and these days you're just so grateful for any business you get. We're in a region where there are a lot of good companies – clients have many good choices. So to receive honors like this, it's wonderful."
Their services include lighting rentals, event lighting, equipment sales, system integration, lighting design, and equipment repairs. "We didn't plan on getting into rentals, but there was a need," he says, adding that there are a lot of rentals between Kinetic and companies that could be considered their competition. "Sometimes we'll bid on a gig and won't get it, but then the company that does get it ends up coming back to us to rent from us," he laughs. "As long as we get a piece of the pie!"
David Rosen founded Kinetic in 1996, but it was in September of 2003 when the company took on two more partners: Bortz and James Schipper.
Bortz co-founded Angstrom Stage Lighting in 1977 and enjoyed the design and production part of the business. In 2003, he and his partner split, with Bortz taking vice president of production Schipper with him. "It was the best thing that could have happened," he says. One not-so-great-thing happening around the time the trio started up was that Bortz came down with cancer. "Imagine laying in a hospital and being on a cell phone trying to set up a company!" he laughs. (Thankful he is fully recovered.) "The day we started, we literally had five events that first week."
High profile events include the TED conference, which they've done for a third year in a row. Other high-profile events include American Idol live performances and the big Governor's Ball held after the Oscars every year. Video is a big part of what they do. "We do a lot of large-format production that a lot of others don't," he says. "Fox had a big Super Bowl party here in L.A. and we did a lot of big projection screens for them." As the world moves to digital projection, the company is following that trend.
Based in Los Angeles (se habla espanol!), today the company has 13 full-time people and 35 part-timers.
Northwest
LD Alliance Concert Lighting Systems
Brisbane, CA
LD Alliance is a "new" company, but the principals driving the bus bring decades of experience. Dan English, who was with Morpheus Lights since its early years and was vice president when he left in 2005, heads the alliance. "I went back to being an LD," he states simply. Since leaving Morpheus, one of his principal clients right out of the gate was Phil Lesh, bass player for the Grateful Dead. He was out with his Phil Lesh and Friends tour, and along the way, English started buying "a little bit of equipment, and starting pulling people from other companies. That's why it's an ‘alliance.'" English has been behind the light board for over 25 years, having logged many shows with The Grateful Dead and others, including Patti Labelle and Boz Skaggs.
Today the alliance includes Andrew Carroll, Brooke Kimple and Mark Mehlman. Collectively, the quartet has an impressive and diverse resume of tours they've done recently including The Dead, Third Eye Blind, Wilco, Feist and The String Cheese Incident, among others. Mehlman has done festivals including Reggae on the River and Sierra Nevada Music Festival. Other events they've done include Earthdance and Harmony Festival.
They also just wrapped up the Outside Lands Festival, the only nighttime concert allowed in Golden Gate Park. "It's our third year of lighting the stages for it," English says. "We also do a lot of work with the local San Francisco promoters Another Planet and Live Nation." It's a modest crew that gets the job done, which includes Jack Grady and Bob Gibson.
English has just finished up the Dead Reunion tour, and Carroll is currently on the Michael Franti & Spearhead tour. But they primarily offer design services, rentals and sales for local and national concerts and touring. While he says they certainly welcome other opportunities, "we're really set up and geared for music. We don't really don't do much corporate, and we've all been designers and directors for music acts and that's what we want to focus on. We want to do what we love most."
