LD at Large

I believe most people have a favorite color. I’m partial to a deep blue myself. I asked around. Guys seem to like blues and purples. Girls like red and pinks. Some musical acts hate certain colors and have actually asked me to never light them in a certain color, while others only allow themselves to be lit in certain colors. But one thing I found is that nobody really digs yellow.

Earlier this year, one of my clients called me in for a meeting about what he wanted to do for his annual summer shed tour. We were currently playing arenas, but were headed outside for the summer. He wanted to talk about the current trend in arena shows to get some big looks. He looks me right in the eye and asks me, “How high is that front truss flying?” Fifty feet or so, I tell him. “And how wide are all these trusses?” I reckoned they spanned about 90 feet, side-to-side. “Now don’t get me wrong, Nook. It looks frickin’ great, but when did we all decide these shows had to be so big, to be good?”

I like shooting the breeze with the old timers in our biz. People who have been around the block a few times. The folks who follow all the unwritten rules just the same as the pertinent ones everyone knows. Whenever we start chatting, the subject of loyalty will eventually rear its head. It may be a great story of “Gee, look how far that person has come. So and so has kept them busy.” Or it may be ugly as in “Shame about that one, he had a shot… once.”

In my continuing pursuit of figuring out how lighting vendors build their inventory, I have come across three distinctive methods that a few different companies have utilized. A company may buy all their gear based on supply and demand. Or they buy certain pieces of gear and sub-rent the latest expensive fixtures on the market rather than risk they will be outdated. In the past, some companies actually built all their own lights, truss and dimmer racks. I thought that I summed it all up. But then I got to talking to some friends who work for Christie Lites. And it didn’t take long to figure out that there is one other way to build a business, and it seems to be working just fine. If you do it Huntly’s way.

Teamwork. It’s a big word. Everyone nods their head and agrees that, on any show, big or small, it’s about the teamwork. But lately I’ve been wondering why so many people in our business don’t really practice what they preach. Don’t get me wrong, I watch them work their butts off, doing great at the task they have been assigned. But the minute they are done with that, they are out of there. Gone from the arena. Waiting for that silly inconvenience between the load in and the load out (the show), to be done.

Each year I get a few calls from bands looking for a set or lighting design for their tour. It’s always an exciting process as I let my imagination run for a few days before I start putting pencil to paper. Last month, I got a call from a booking agent looking to hook me up with one of her new acts. So I contacted the management company and they emailed me a response. “Before we chat, take a listen to this music and let us know if this is something you would be interested in.” Nobody has ever approached me in this manner before. I had not thought I heard the band’s name previously.

This month, I continue on my quest to figure out which gear has the best return for a lighting company investment. Is it as easy as following the old “Supply and Demand” way of thinking? I always assumed that a lighting company chose what fixtures they would purchase based on what the customer’s latest needs were. But what if you did many shows each year with various LD types, and they all want different fixtures? Do the lighting buyers choose to base their decisions on the latest, coolest moving heads in the business? Or do they buy from certain manufacturers because they have good, lasting relationships with them and their salespeople?

I work with a vast array of people in our business. I get along with everyone regardless of color, religion or sexual preference. I like to think that every project needs teamwork to get it done. I firmly believe that if my crew likes me, my show will be better. I may be a production designer, but I value everyone’s input. The lowest guy on the totem pole may sometimes have a great idea that I will incorporate into my show, so I listen. I try my best to avoid being a prima donna, and I believe I have succeeded in that.

Last month I once again dealt with some of my favorite, yet most feared, lighting fixtures. The dreaded Christmas lights. Sure, they look great once the darkness comes and they cast a glow over my snow-filled front yard. The view is fab when the wrapping paper clad presents are illuminated solely by the blinkety-blink emitted from the corner tree. But for some reason, getting there can be a comedy of errors.

I read a lot of interviews with production designers in our business. I listen to them at speaking engagements. I see their posts on social media sites. They remember to credit their programmers and production managers, but it just seems like they never mention the countless individuals whose input was necessary for their vision to ever reach fruition. Most designers are not engineers. That’s why we put those little waivers on our plots that say we accept no liability for the structural design or integrity of a project. We just had the design concept. But we all need a team to cover our butts.

I spent some time recently talking to the people who run a few different lighting companies. Being an LD myself, I don’t see the business through the same eyes these people do. I tend to pick on them to lower prices on older fixtures. I don’t look at the big picture, what it really takes to run a lighting company. Besides just purchasing new realms of sexy toys, one has to take into account all the other nuts and bolts; the non-sexy items that enable these fixtures to perform.

Fall is one of my favorite times. Because that’s when all the lighting manufacturers showcase their latest products. For me, it’s a chance to see what the coolest new toys are out there. For lighting vendors, I think they may see it another way. Kind of like a Catch-22. They get to see what’s out there, but then they have to make some serious decisions on whether or not to open their wallets.  People like me don’t make it easy on them.