For the second year running, Florida-based, J. Thor Productions, was called on to light the black-tie awards ceremony at the Inc. 5000 Conference & Gala. Used to paint and texture a set dominated by geometric shapes was Elation’s new Artiste Picasso LED moving head that was part of a larger Elation lighting package.
Each year, Inc. Magazine publishes its list of the 5000 fastest-growing publicly held small companies in the U.S. The 2018 gala, held 17 October 2018 – 19 October 2018 at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort in Texas, brought together some of the nation’s most successful business minds.
“We purchased the Artiste Picasso’s specifically with this event in mind,” stated J. Thor Gogolen, Founder and Owner of J. Thor Productions, who were the sole equipment provider for the general session and all breakout rooms. “The framing shutters were crucial to being able to texture the geometric shapes of the set with precision and had enough punch to cut above the wash fixtures, providing the saturation on the scenic panels. They performed extremely well and raised a few eyebrows amongst the tech crew who had not worked with the fixtures prior to this event.”
The custom set, was designed and fabricated by ZH Productions and was geometric in nature and incorporated a lot of hard lines and angles. According to Gogolen, it proved the ideal canvass for Lighting Designer, Brian Silva to paint with coloured light. “Some of the key focuses were two diamond-shaped tunnels that served as entrance and exit points for the presenters on stage. Gogolen said: “We decided to keep all of the set pieces white to allow the lighting to create the depth and separation of each of the scenic pieces. The scenic elements were set at various depths on stage, which allowed us to up light and front light the panels giving Silva plenty of canvas to play with.”
Gogolen also dipped into his existing inventory of Elation luminaires on the project. The 2017 set design used an Elation Satura Profile and Elation Platinum FLX lights and again the dynamic moving heads found a role in 2018 set up.
Adding colour to the set and around the room was Elation Fuze Wash Z350 LED wash moving heads, but it is another fixture that Gogolen credits with helping to raise the visual bar.
“The Chorus Line 16’s are definitely one of my favourite fixtures on any show,” he said. “Beyond their ability to be a smooth uplight on the set panels, when we are in presentation mode the tight beam effects and a little haze make for some fantastic eye candy for those moments of excitement. I love the way Silva created these chase patterns down the line of fixtures that just added some amazing sparkle to the set. The sweeping beams of moving lights through haze are always a nice look but the effect that these fixtures have added to our shows really takes the look to the next level.”
