LAS VEGAS – Concert video pioneer and 2016 Parnelli Visionary honoree Danny O’Bryen has joined the Parnelli Board of Advisors. The Board advises and consults on Parnelli-related business, including who receives future lifetime achievement awards.
“I am delighted that Danny is joining our board,” says Parnelli Board Chairman Marshall Bissett, of the Screenworks co-founder and president. “With the increasing role of video and a new content creation award for 2020, his input will be invaluable.”
Born number three of 10 kids in Rockville Center, NY, he would get his first industry “job” – hanging up concert posters for $50 around Boston. He then became a stagehand and went on to work for a promoter. In 1976 he was hired by See Factor and got more involved with running lights.
By the early 1980s, he was renting video cameras and flypacks from Tasco and slipped into what was increasingly becoming an important part of live concerts. “Everything was analog back then, so that switcher had all of eight buttons,” he says. “I figured I can push eight buttons, and started being a ‘Video Director.’” Friend George Travis (who won the Parnelli for Lifetime Achievement in 2013) noticed what he was doing and asked him to teach lighting designer Carol Dodds how to direct Springsteen’s Tunnel of Love tour.
Madonna’s 1990 Blond Ambition tour was a big break as video’s changing role was starting to turn heads. Other tours followed including AC/DC in 1992. At that point he realized he had a video company and today Screenworks is one of the biggest and most successful video companies in the business.
In 2015, Screenworks opened a Nashville office. He built his company and his name working for the biggest acts in the business including The Rolling Stones, Barbara Streisand, Rush, U2, Guns N’ Roses, Fleetwood Mac, and many others. As video’s roll continued to evolve, O’Bryen made sure he stayed on top of the advancing technology, which he continues to do today.
“It was an honor to receive the Parnelli Visionary Award a few years ago, and so now I’m looking forward to working with the board and contributing to the process,” O’Bryen says. “The Parnelli Awards are always a great industry night and I’ll be glad to be a part of it.”
For more information on the Parnelli Awards, go to www.parnelliawards.com.
