Skip to content

Regional Winners Announced for Lighting Hometown Heroes

PLSN is pleased to announce the Regional Winners of the Lighting Hometown Heroes. All six regional winners are now the finalists for the Parnelli Hometown Hero – Lighting Company of the Year Award. The six top regional lighting companies in North America—one for each of five U.S. regions, and a sixth for all of Canada were voted on by the industry as they narrowed the field from 36 to the six regional winners.

The six regional winners will appear on the Parnelli Awards ballot as finalist when the ballot goes live Oct. 28, 2024 for the 23rd Parnelli Awards voting. The winner, voted on by PLSN and FOH magazine subscribers, will receive the Parnelli Award for Hometown Hero – Lighting Company of the Year at the Parnelli Awards ceremony on January 24th in Anaheim, CA.Read More »Regional Winners Announced for Lighting Hometown Heroes

Final Week to Nominate Hometown Hero

This is the final week to make your nomination for the Lighting Hometown Hero! Each year, PLSN honors regional lighting production companies with our Hometown Hero award. This award honors the best regional lighting production company in six regions across North America: the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest, and Canada. This award—from nominations to winners—is selected by you, the entertainment technology industry, because you truly know who the Hometown Heroes are in the industry.

Hometown Hero Nominations 2024, Open to Everyone

Each year, PLSN honors regional lighting production companies with our Hometown Hero award. This award honors the best regional lighting production company in six regions across North America: the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest, and Canada. This award—from nominations to winners—is selected by you, the entertainment technology industry, because you truly know who the Hometown Heroes are in the industry.

Hometown Hero Nominations 2024 Now Open!

Each year, PLSN honors regional lighting production companies with our Hometown Hero award. This award honors the best regional lighting production company in six regions across North America: the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest, and Canada. This award—from nominations to winners—is selected by you, the entertainment technology industry, because you truly know who the Hometown Heroes are in the industry.

Timeless Communications Honored by NAMM for 25-Year Milestone

Terry Lowe and John Mlynczak

While the whole world joined Prince and partied like it was 1999–or nervously awaiting the global calamity of the much-feared Y2K meltdown of the world’s computer systems–Timeless Communications President Terry Lowe was busy lining up advertisers and reviewing editorial content for the inaugural February 2000 issue of Pro Lights and Staging News, the precursor to today’s PLSN magazine.Read More »Timeless Communications Honored by NAMM for 25-Year Milestone

In Memoriam: Chris McGregor, Production Designer & Creative Visionary, 61

Chris McGregor

Production Designer and President of San Francisco-based Stage II Productions, Chris McGregor died of a heart attack on Monday, July 31, 2023, at 61. McGregor is widely known for his creative work for Phish and The Residents as well as lighting and production design for numerous events. His passing was initially confirmed by The Residents, who he had worked with since 1989. McGregor earned a BFA degree from the California Institute of the Arts in 1984.Read More »In Memoriam: Chris McGregor, Production Designer & Creative Visionary, 61

A Projection Problem (and Solution) for Adele’s Vegas Residency

PLSN spoke with Silent House Studios LD Cory FitzGerald and STUFISH Senior Partner Ric Lipson on their design for Weekends with Adele at The Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. “One of the big challenges was finding a fabric that we could project onto that would be bright and clear but that would also be dark enough when you didn’t want it to be lit with projectors,” noted Lipson. “We worked with a company called Carbon Black. They have a fabric that is a very dark gray. It’s essentially covered in a coating that reflects the laser projection in a much brighter way than a traditional projection surface. That became the silver bullet for making the projection look great on the sliding panels.”

The ‘Give a Damn’ Factor

Jerry Slone, Production Manager for Luke Combs’ World Tour, sees a common thread in all the vendors supporting the trek: a high “Give a Damn” factor. “Mike Brammer’s ‘Give a Damn’ is really high,” Slone says, of the Special Event Services (SES) exec who is providing the tour’s lighting and audio, along with a G2 Structures K2i HD stage as well as trucking through sister company SET. “I would say that about all our vendors,” Slone adds. “Everybody really cares.”

Returning to Lititz with a Continuing Commitment to Positive Industry Change

‘THE Conference: Live at Lititz’ will return to the Rock Lititz Campus on Dec. 6, 7, and 8, 2023. Building on the success of the inaugural 2022 conference, which featured more than 620 attendees, 30 sponsors and vendors, and 70 diverse speakers, the number of available tickets is increasing to 800 for 2023. As Production Manager Charlie Hernandez puts it, a key point of discussion will be “How do we leave the industry better than we found it?” adding, “There are a lot of smart people in our industry. Let’s all get together and try to come up with solutions, have a conversation, and try to come up with different ways of doing things.”

Last Chance: Nominations for Regional Hometown Heroes Close Aug. 25

Each year, PLSN honors regional lighting production companies with our Hometown Hero award. This award—from nominations to winners—is selected by PLSN readers. The winning company will receive the Parnelli Hometown Hero Lighting Company of the Year Award on Jan. 26, 2024 in Anaheim, CA during NAMM. But hurry, nominations close soon. The deadline is this Friday, Aug. 25, at 5 p.m. PDT.

Emmy Nominated Production Design

Among the nominees for the 2023 Creative Arts Emmy Awards is NBC’s ‘Carol Burnett: 90 Years Of Laughter + Love’ for Outstanding Production Design For A Variety Special recognizing Production Designer Tamlyn Wright and Art Director Travis Deck. Here is a clip showing some of their work for this special evening.