It’s a Tough Job, but Somebody’s Got to Do It
To say that Axis deBruyn’s career path has been frenetic is like saying Bill Gates has a little money. Today, deBruyn owns his own company at the age of 36, and he has a gratifying career as a freelancer. We caught up with him to talk about how he got started in the industry, how he got through the dot-com bust, and how he found his niche in Las Vegas.
The evolution of structural technology forges a new partnership
In 1980, John Brown founded Brown United by combining Mike Brown Grandstands and United Production Services. At that time, both compa-nies were owned by Mike Brown — John’s father and 2002 Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award winner — who had given John his first experience in the business back in 1975, working for Elton John at Dodger Stadium.
Behind every good lighting designer, there is a team of people responsible for making the vision turn into reality. When it comes to concert lighting and lighting for television, Allen Branton is one of the best in the business. In this month’s interview, we speak with Lighting Director/Gaffer David Oakes, who tells us about the folks who make up the “Branton Team” and how they work together to make his award-winning designs come to fruition.
Audra Breyer integrates the "boy's club."
Audra Breyer is a Jill-of-all-trades, who just happens to be the master of integration on John Mayer’s current tour. We caught up with her long enough to find out what it’s like being a woman in a boy’s club, how she got to be where she is today and the thing she likes least about our industry.
Long before there were software packages, Patrick Woodroffe kept it real for pre-viz
Long before WYSIWYG, VectorWorks, 3D Studio Max and ESP Vision, there was Patrick Woodroffe’s 4-to-1 real- life studio, albeit in miniature. Woodroffe, who gained notoriety in the industry chiefly as the lighting designer for the Rolling Stones, but whose résumé bulges with superstars and shows dating back to 1972, put together a working scale model studio for preproduction using PAR 16s and miniature truss. The London-based precursor to virtual reality preproduction software was very successful when he sold it to a production company. We spoke to Woodroffe about his venture and how it came about.
Doug Holder interviews his brother Don Holder, lighter of The Lion King
[The Lion King is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Having recently opened in the Montecasino Theatre in northern Johannesberg, South Africa, and another opening slated for Paris in October, the production will have played in 11 different countries worldwide. There are currently eight productions of the show, including Broadway, the West End, Hamburg, Tokyo, Seoul, two U.S. national tours and Johannesburg, making it a global phenomenon. In recognition of his stellar work lighting the show, we bring you an interview with lighting designer Don Holder conducted by his brother Doug.—ed.]
When we were kids, my brother Don (or Donnie, as I still call him) was always involved in a frenzy of activity. In high school, in Rockville Centre, N.Y., he was like a hyperactive Mickey Rooney, running from one project to the next. And now at 49, he hasn’t changed.
Rick Baxter, master of electricity, is a sometime citizen of Vegas via Broadway.
While lighting designers create grand visions that bring productions to life, electricians are responsible for putting them together and making sure they work correctly. More often than not, they are faced with the challenge of taking a complex system with thousands of control channels and making it a reality. They are tireless workers and can spend months prepping a show.
One of the most well respected electricians in our industry is Rick Baxter. And in this month’s interview, he tells us about working on Broadway and in his home-away-from home, the importance of good paperwork, and offers a bit of advice for manufacturers.
Steve Garner explains the passion behind his position.
Work to live or live to work? When is it time to take that chance? As console programmer Steve Garner explains, he fell in love with the industry as a kid and then left it all behind. But, as fate would have it, the Siren of the Theatre, Lor-tel, kept calling him, so he packed his bags and moved to New York. Twenty-plus years later, he has found his niche and he’s back in the theatre doing what he loves most. Life is funny like that… sometimes, if we’re lucky, we can get back to where we started.
He may have a common name, but David Taylor is a designer with an uncommon resume. The English native has been involved in theatre since he was a teenager working in the West End. After stints at the University of London and the University of Massachusetts, he went to work as a draftsman for Theatre Projects in Covent Garden, London.
Robert Wertheimer puts his theatre background on ice
At an age when most of us are still playing with bugs, a different sort of bug bit Robert Wertheimer — the lighting bug. Ever since, the owner of Spectacle Lighting Design (www.spectaclelighting. com) has been fascinated by the world the lighting. In this month’s PLSN Interview, Wertheimer explains how he ended up designing for Hockeytown, the art and danger of designing on ice, and why it’s important that your client has an excellent experience.
Matthew Perrin talks about achieving amazement.
Plenty of people in our industry wanted to be an actor, yet ended up studying technical theatre. But not many have toured as an LD for one of the biggest bands of the ‘70s, then quit to play in a rock ‘n’ roll band. And what if someone were to do both, then ended up working for a mouse? That’s the story of the multi-talented King of Congo Blue, Matthew Perrin.
Working for UVLD, Cameron Yeary has the opportunity to work with some great minds in our lighting industry, including the company’s principal partners, John Ingram and Greg Cohen.
But as the resident visualist, he brings something special to the team. In our PLSN Interview, he explains the importance of previsualization, media servers and why better results are a function of how much control we have of the production.