The Parnelli NextGen series in PLSN spotlights up-and-coming live event professionals who have been making their mark on the industry. All of these talented individuals are also in the running for the annual Parnelli NextGen honor, which will be announced at the 21st Parnelli Awards ceremony in April 2023.
Vanessa Arciga is well aware that going from college to small clubs to working with international pop star Olivia Rodrigo in only a few years is a blessing. She constantly credits all those who helped her along the way. That list of live event industry talent includes Lighting Designer/Programmer Rob Koenig. “He started mentoring me and let me jump in the programmer seat,” Arciga says. She would call him for advice on her first tour and her most recent one, too. “I’m truly grateful to have him as a mentor.” But it’s one thing to get a break and have someone give you a chance; it’s another to make something of it. Arciga certainly has.
Playing Music with Lights
Arciga was born and raised in Temple City, CA, a suburb nestled on the southeast border of Pasadena. She grew up immersed in music, playing viola in the school orchestra. “Music has always been a part of my life,” she says. Watching the school musicals, she became enamored with “those people running around in all-black, who would run on and off the stage and then the set had changed,” she says with a laugh. In her sophomore year at Temple City High School, she joined TCHS Dragonflicks, the backstage crew, where she got into stage managing. During this time, she was at the school’s dance concert when she noticed the lighting console and wondered what all those buttons did. At the console was high school tech teacher Elias Bourjeili, and when asked what he was doing, he told her, “playing music with lights.” “I want to do that!” she declared.
She went into the University of California, Los Angeles’ Theater, Film and Television program. While providing her with good experience, she couldn’t help noticing that the traditional theater-based program was pulling her away from the “playing music with lights” idea. A little further northeast of the campus in Burbank was Silent House, the award-winning design and production agency. When she learned that Leticia Leon, sister of a high school friend, was working there, Arciga reached out (today Leon is a freelance art director/creative designer). The bold move paid off as Leon invited her to shadow the lighting team at the 2017 iHeart Radio Awards show, where Eric Marchwinski, co-founder of design support services company Earlybird Visual with Kirk Miller, was the programmer. Fascinated by what he was doing, she emailed Marchwinski after the show expressing interest in programming, which got her an invite to their office. “We chatted about what I was looking to achieve in the industry, which was so helpful,” she said. “Then I was sitting behind Eric while he was programming a tour and somehow, I worked my way into being an intern there, and basically lived in that office my last year of college.”
Graduating to the Road
While at Earlybird, Arciga diligently learned the console “button to button” while also honing her 3D drafting skills. “I worked on 3D models, and I am so grateful they let me come down and learn.” Trial and error were involved—she says, noting her first drafting project took 15 drafts. “This is why they get hired so often—they are extremely detail-oriented, as I learned fast.”
In 2019, she graduated from UCLA knowing she wanted to be a programmer, but thought it best to learn how to be a lighting tech first. Next, she connected with Matt Shimamoto and Harrison Lippman, co-founders of lighting production and rental firm, Volt. “With them I got a small gig working a Jimmy Kimmel performance—it was simple, but they quickly realized I could draw and that allowed me to jump on a few shows.” While at Volt she got to deep dive into drafting, teching, and programming, working on a streamable gaming start-up project through 2020. While that project never came to fruition, it proved to be an experience that gave her a post-grad education. “I remember sitting with Matt and Harrison and feeling like that next step would be touring, and they felt I was ready, which meant a lot.”
Merely weeks later she got a call from Shimamoto and Lippman wanting to send her out as lighting director with singer Willow. “It was exciting being thrown into that club tour because I always think I’m not ready for something, but then those around me think I am, and that gives me the confidence I need.” Willow went out with just a bass player, guitarist, and drummer, with Arciga armed with an MA Lighting grandMA3 compact console. Voyage Productions’ Kyle Keegan was the designer and programmer; but once out on the road there were times she had to busk. “We did a show in London where her brother Jaden made an appearance and did a six-song set, and that was all on me with some input from the [tour manager] Tim Miller.”
When she returned from that gig, Earlybird then sent her over to work with award-winning designer Kille Knobel, who was lighting designer for Secret Cinema’s Netflix Arcane live immersive experience. From there, Marchwinski asked her if she was available in January for “something”—which turned out to be doing some programming for the Super Bowl Halftime show. There she helped with rehearsals making sure it all looked good before it moved to the stadium. “It was a fantastic experience, and amazing that they trusted me for something like that.”
Sweet and Sour
The next phone call came from Production Designer Paul “Arlo” Guthrie asking if she would co-program Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour Tour. “Arlo is a fantastic man, and it was wonderful working with him and [the multimedia studio] Moment Factory.” For that she graduated to the grandMA3 full-size desk. “Arlo handed me his design and then told me it was going to be my show, and gave me a lot of advice on everything I needed to do to keep it all organized.” Rodrigo’s team wanted to keep it “very rock ‘n’ roll” but also slower scenes in her traditional lavender look. Once out on the road, there were some changes in the song list plus some adjustments for the occasional guest artist who showed up. Arciga adds that she especially had fun with Sew What?’s mylar drop curtain, which added a great deal of visual texture to the show.
Her calendar is already filling up for the immediate future, but looking beyond that, she comments, “I love touring, and I love programming, but maybe there’s something for me in TV, too. And maybe being a designer… I’m young, and I’m being told this is the time to try new things and get out of your comfort zone.”
