Trey Kerr's career in live music started in a parking lot, getting handcuffed.

In 2002, he was an eighteen-year-old Phish fan outside Deer Creek Amphitheater, selling bootleg t-shirts to pay for tour while donatinga part of the money to the band's charitable arm, the WaterWheel Foundation. Security stopped him. Once the money's destination was confirmed, the standoff turned into a conversation. The conversation turned into a volunteer shift at the WaterWheel table, and the shift turned into a job offer from the band he loved. He has been part of the Phish organization ever since, nearly a quarter century and counting, today serving as the band's live broadcast and video director.

Like many in the live events industry, Kerr gained experience through many different roles and disciplines. Early in his career, a veteran production manager told him that in an industry built on freelancers, the surest path was to learn every job around him. He listened and took that to heart. Before video became his focus, Kerr worked as a lighting tech, backline tech, carpenter, merch seller, tour manager, stage manager, production manager, and nearly every video position a tour can offer.

"That advice became my DNA," Kerr said. "If you understand what every department does, and able to work at a high level with them, you never have to look for work. Video crews are usually the last ones in, the first ones out, and can be the department giving everyone else headaches. I made it my job to be the opposite, the video guy the other departments enjoy working with."

That reputation is a large part of why artists stay with him. When Kerr left a major production vendor to launch his own video company, 201 Productions, Phish came with him. The startup took a chance by focusing on 4K concert broadcasts and, by Kerr's account, became the first company to deliver them in 4K HDR. That broadcast expertise made 201 one of the few shops equipped for the pandemic and the abrupt halt in touring. Kerr's direction of The Beacon Jams, Trey Anastasio's eight-week residency at an empty Beacon Theatre, drew one of the largest livestream audiences of that era and earned a Pollstar Award. His live broadcast work with Greensky Bluegrass during the same period brought home an Emmy.

"Phish has always operated one way: they want the best," Kerr said. "The best crew, the best gear, the best partners, whatever it takes. Those are the people I learned from, the cloth I'm cut from. When a band trusts you with their show year after year, it's not about equipment. It's about being their guy. You show up for people, you do it right, and the rest follows."

The list of artists who have trusted Kerr with their shows runs across genres and decades. Some of his touring and broadcast credits include Drake, Maroon 5, Vampire Weekend, Billy Strings, Florida Georgia Line, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Thomas Rhett, Greensky Bluegrass, Oysterhead, Goose, Romeo Santos, My Morning Jacket and the Grateful Dead's historic Fare Thee Well shows, along with main stage video direction at Bonnaroo. The venues run from clubs and theaters to the most ambitious room in live music. In 2024, Kerr directed Phish: Live at Sphere, the first live broadcasts ever produced inside the Las Vegas venue, delivered to fans worldwide in 4K HDR. He continues to direct the band's live broadcasts, which are unique in the touring world: every show is different, and every show is broadcast.

Kerr arrived at 4Wall from Gateway Studios and Services, where he served as CEO the last 5 years. He championed Missouri's Entertainment Industry Jobs Act, a state legislation modeled on the incentives behind Pennsylvania's Rock Lititz campus. The legislation passed and Kerr considers it one of his proudest achievements precisely because it belongs to not one company.

"That legislation benefits the artists, the vendors, the whole industry," he said. "And that's the point. We're not all out here to fight each other. A rising tide lifts all boats. The industry is better when we grow it together."

That conviction is also the story of why he chose 4Wall. Kerr first met CEO Wes Bailey and members of the leadership team spontaneously during a business trip to Las Vegas. The meetups that followed revealed two leaders of the same generation with the same read on where live events are heading.

"Wes and I are about the same age, and we see this industry the same way," Kerr said. "It's still young, still a little bit of the Wild West, and there's a changing of the guard happening. The next generation of leaders is coming up, and we both feel a responsibility to build something better, together, instead of against each other."

When Kerr decided it was time for his next chapter, the call took seconds.

"Before I could finish the sentence, Wes said, 'You're hired,'" Kerr said. "That's who he is. He builds great teams. It's about the people, and the culture at 4Wall is everything I tried to build at my own companies. Everyone I meet here loves working here. I plan to be at 4Wall for the rest of my career."

As 4Wall's VP of Music Production, Kerr will focus on the music and touring business, applying his expertise to how the company serves artists and crews on the road. He will also continue in his role as Phish's live broadcast and video director, a relationship now in its third decade. The band's 2026 Summer Tour kicks off July 7, with 4Wall supporting the run.

"Trey has spent his whole career earning the trust of his clients and partners show by show, department by department," said Wes Bailey, CEO of 4Wall Entertainment. "He understands artists, crews, technology, and the economics of the music business from every angle.  Most importantly though, he brings a positive, infectious attitude to every conversation he's a part of. We couldn't be happier to have him join the 4Wall team."

Set to be fully operational by Summer 2026, the move will bring the company's full video, lighting, audio, and rigging offerings under one roof, enabling closer collaboration between departments, quicker equipment deployment, and a more streamlined experience for clients across Europe.

The move signals 4Wall's expanding operations in Europe, including upgraded facilities and increased operational capacity, allowing for continued growth and investment in the latest equipment and technologies.

The new office features a newly built Grade-A warehouse with six dedicated dock and level-access loading doors, as well as multi-floor offices, pre-vis, and conference space. The building also incorporates renewable energy technologies, such as PV panels, air source heat pumps, and rainwater harvesting, further supporting the company's sustainability initiatives.

Sitting within the London commuter belt, the relocation provides strong access to key transport routes and direct links to the wider UK motorway network.

On the unification of the three offices, Darren Poultney, Managing Director of 4Wall's UK locations, says, "Bringing our London, Aylesbury, and Blackburn teams together at Caxton Hill in Hertford is an exciting milestone for 4Wall as we continue our growth across Europe. With our full inventory all under one roof, this new facility strengthens our position as a true full-service supplier. It gives us the space, infrastructure, and flexibility to collaborate more closely, respond faster, and deliver a more seamless end-to-end service for our clients across the UK and Europe."

4Wall has recently grown its European client portfolio, with recent projects including the Stellantis National Business Meeting 2026, ICE Totally Gaming, and Mobile World Congress. 4Wall is also supporting Lewis Capaldi and Bad Bunny as they tour throughout Europe, is the official AV partner for Farnborough International Airshow, and will have a large presence at Cannes Lions festival.

This relocation and additional future European locations mark the company's commitment to strengthening its operations and investing in facilities that support long-term growth. With a modern, central location and all offerings under one roof, 4Wall is strategically placed to meet increasing demand and continue delivering for clients across Europe.

The new location can be found at:
Unit 10 and
Caxton Hill,
Hertford,
SG13 7NF

The NFL draft is rebuilt from the ground up in a new city every year. The three-day fan festival is expected to draw 500,000 or more attendees, with millions following the live national broadcast. 4Wall Entertainment deploys the complete lighting and video infrastructure for the 2026 draft in Pittsburgh. A full NETGEAR AV network, spanning 78 M4250 switches and 6 access points, makes that possible.

A Different City, Every Year

4Wall has been handling live events of every scale since 1999, servicing clients across concert touring, television, corporate events, theatre, and major outdoor productions. The NFL Draft is among the most logistically complex events 4Wall works on. The event is staged in a different host city each year. It requires a complete production infrastructure to be assembled from nothing.

In Pittsburgh, the 2026 draft runs from April 23 to 25 across two sites: the main stage and Draft Theater outside Acrisure Stadium on the North Shore, and a second site at Point State Park. Organizers anticipate 500,000 to 700,000 attendees over the three days, with a live national television broadcast running throughout, reaching millions more.

Zero Latency, No Exceptions

The draft stage runs eight grandMA3 consoles and 28 grandMA3 L processing units for lighting control, with video providing a significant proportion of the trigger cues. That means lighting and video are deeply integrated over a single network. When a lighting designer hits a cue, the command travels through the network, and the fixture must respond instantly. Any delay is visible on screen, to a national television audience, in real time.

The physical scale of the deployment puts additional pressure on the infrastructure. The stage spans two outdoor sites connected with 2.63 miles of tactical fiber. 30 spools, 13.900 feet in total. On a large outdoor site with hundreds of crew members moving equipment, cable damage is a routine hazard. A fiber failure that takes any part of the system offline during a live broadcast is simply not an option.

"Generic IT switches aren't built for what we do. NETGEAR's managed switches are purpose-built for this environment: the profiles, the speed, the ease of management. They just fit the way live events work."
Noah Abrams, Show Staff, 4Wall Entertainment.

One Network, Full Redundancy

4Wall deployed NETGEAR M4250 AV Line switches of various sizes as the sole network backbone for the entire production. The lighting data, video systems, and integrated trigger workflows all run on a single cohesive network, built entirely from scratch on-site. To guard against fiber damage across the sprawling outdoor footprint, the architecture is fully redundant, with two integrated parallel AV Line networks. That way, if one path is severed, a secondary path takes over without interruption. That redundancy is essential, given the rig's over 1,000 lights.

The rig is distributed across nine locations: six dimmer and network pits serving the main theater, greenroom, and player entrance tunnel, plus three front-of-house positions. This is part of what makes a robust, redundant backbone so critical. "We've got 78 switches throughout various areas, all NETGEAR M4250s of various sizes", explains Noah Abrams. "It's a huge stage, a huge audience package, and all of it is broadcast live on TV. That's why we're using NETGEAR's AV Line."

Network management runs through NETGEAR Engage. Its visual VLAN layout and color-coded topology give any engineer an immediate picture of how the network is structured, which matters in a setup that runs around the clock. The network architect cannot always be present, and the system needs to be clear enough that a colleague arriving for a night shift can take it over without an extended handover.

"Being able to pass off the network to somebody for the night shift is really important. Using Engage makes it a lot easier. The user interface is so streamlined that somebody who has never dealt with a switch in their life can log in and make things happen."
Noah Abrams, Show Staff, 4Wall Entertainment

Wireless connectivity across the site is provided by six NETGEAR Enterprise Access Points, three WAX608Y outdoor units and three WBE758 units, extending the AV Line network across the full outdoor campus. With crew moving constantly between the two sites during load-in and show, having wireless on the same managed infrastructure as the wired network keeps the entire system coherent and visible from a single point of control.

The Standard Across Every Show

The NFL Draft deployment is one expression of a broader strategic commitment at 4Wall. The company has standardized its entire networked production infrastructure on NETGEAR AV Line, running hundreds, if not thousands, of M4250 switches across touring productions, festivals, country music shows, and large-format corporate events out of its Nashville operation and other locations nationwide.

"We really appreciate how fast and responsive NETGEAR's managed switches are. For live events, that's what matters. When you're broadcasting live, you can't have a network that makes you wait."
Noah Abrams, Show Staff, 4Wall Entertainment

Running the same switches across every rack makes this operationally viable at scale. Every pre-built rack that leaves a 4Wall warehouse runs the same NETGEAR switches with the same pre-configured AV profiles, so any engineer picking up any rig, whether it's a country music tour in Nashville or the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, is working with a familiar system. Knowledge transfers between crew members with minimal explanation, deployment is fast, and the standard holds regardless of the show's complexity.

The NFL Draft offers no rehearsal, no second take, and no tolerance for failure. The stage is built from scratch, the broadcast goes out live, and millions of fans are watching. That is why 4Wall Entertainment chose to run the infrastructure on a network they can trust.

The Thorn continues to captivate audiences across the U.S. on its 2026 spring tour with a sweeping blend of theatrical storytelling and modern production technology. Touring the South and Southeast through early May, the large-scale production combines drama, dance, music, martial arts, and aerial acrobatics, brought vividly to life through a striking lighting design by Cory Fournier.

This year's production features a full lighting refresh that includes Elation's PARAGON M LED profile moving head, supplied by 4Wall Entertainment. The fixtures play a central role in shaping the show's visual language from subtle emotion to high-impact concert-style moments.

Visual Storytelling
The modern-day passion play delivers an immersive retelling of the life and death of Jesus. Working alongside Creator and John Bolin and Director Andrew Harmon, Fournier helped shape the look of a show that leans heavily on visual storytelling.

"Lighting plays a gigantic role in guiding the audience's experience," explains Harmon, who has been directing the show for the past 15 years. "Lighting tells the audience where to look and, in many ways, it becomes part of the dialogue. It says 'this moment is important' or 'wow' or 'this is a sad moment."

"Precision"
An Emmy Award nominee for his work on Fox's The Masked Singer, Fournier brings a wealth of experience across broadcast, film, and live events. His connection to The Thorn dates back to 2010, having first joined as a lighting tech under early collaborator Robby Kurtz of 4Wall. Departing in 2012 to pursue his own career before returning to this year's production, Fournier collaborated closely with Harmon and Bolin on the production.

Each year, The Thorn adopts a guiding principle to focus on, with 'precision' chosen for 2026. "Even before the tour started, we focused on precision with the crew," Fournier explains. "When we brought in the PARAGON fixtures, they immediately meshed with that concept."

Fournier, who serves as production manager, lighting designer, and lighting director on the tour, embraced that philosophy while refining a design he inherited from previous Thorn collaborators. Given creative freedom, he introduced new programming elements, sharpened the visual look, and added his own 'tips and tricks.'

"It's been a lot of fun," he shares. "We kept the core of what makes The Thorn special but upgraded the rig to deliver sharper, more precise lighting throughout the show."

A Versatile Rig for a Dynamic Show
Recommended by 4Wall's VP of Business Development, Robby Kurtz, PARAGON has proved to be a versatile and reliable solution on the tour. "I've been thoroughly impressed," says Fournier. "The framing shutters are incredibly accurate, the colors are rich, and the increased lumen level across the stage really shows. The precision on those fixtures has been great." He adds that they haven't had to touch the spares or even reset a fixture.

The lighting system includes 36 PARAGON M fixtures deployed across the rig. Ten are positioned on the front-of-house truss for key lighting, while the remainder are distributed across side-stage torms and overhead trusses. The majority-32 units-are integrated with a real-time performer tracking system. To cover the variation in the story, Fournier says he leans into the fixture's full feature set.

"We're using virtually everything the fixture offers for high-energy, concert-style looks to very quiet, emotional moments," he explains. "One of the biggest comments we get when people first see the show is that they didn't expect how varied and impactful it would be, and it's what makes the experience so powerful. One minute it's deeply theatrical, set-piece driven and dramatic, and the next it feels like a full-on rock 'n' roll show. It's a full experience."

Creating Emotional Impact
The ability to support storytelling through light is central to the production and PARAGON effects capabilities, from color floods to break-up textures to mid-air beams, all play a key role in maintaining visual interest throughout. Among the many visually striking scenes, one moment stands out for the designer and, undoubtedly, for many who see the show.

"It's the starry night scene when Jesus is born," Fournier says. "Dot gobos from the PARAGONs cut through the haze, and it feels like you're really inside that moment. Using gobos and the animation wheel while tracking creates these beautiful, evolving shadows and textures as the focus moves around to the different zones. The beam spread across the room, and the clarity of the fixture really carries the emotion and underscores the importance of that moment."

While The Thorn assumes that many audience members are familiar with its story, the production aims to create a deeper connection. "We assume that most people know the story of Jesus, but they might not have experienced it or felt it," Harmon says. "We hope people leave the show with a different understanding of the story of Jesus and that they feel it more emotionally."

Powered by Partnership
4Wall provided the AV package for the tour, including the new lighting kit. Fournier credits the company for helping shape the system, and for its excellent on-the-road support. "4Wall has been incredible to work with," he said. "The gear looks brand new out of the box, and Robby Kurtz and Gabe Thruston are great to work with. It's a great team and makes a big difference when you have that level of partnership on a tour like this."

Lighting Crew List:
Production Manager and Designer: Cory Fournier (www.CoryFournier.com)
Lighting Programmer and Rigger: Levi Foster
Lighting Crew Chief: Alex Martinez
Lighting and Tech: Zach Moore
Lighting and Tech: Teddy Mendoza

Photo Credits:
Photo 1, 4: Jessalyn Lorrig
Photo 2, 3: Cora Wagoner
Photo 5: Cory Fournier

4Wall Entertainment:
Robby Kurtz: VP of Business Development
Gabe Thruston: Director of Live Events

About Elation
At Elation, we collaborate with leading professionals in the lighting industry to help bring extraordinary experiences to life. As a designer and manufacturer of a wide range of high-performance entertainment lighting products, we're proud to be a trusted partner to top lighting professionals and rental houses around the world. Our commitment to quality, innovation, and creative solutions has made us a go-to resource in the industry. We also offer an advanced line of lighting control products through Obsidian Control Systems, and a full range of dependable specialty effects called Magmatic. Elation serves clients worldwide through offices in Los Angeles, Mexico City, and the Netherlands. We invite you to take a closer look at elationlighting.com

The GigaPix brings together the warmth of a classic fresnel wash with the power and control of a modern pixel fixture. Key specs include:

• Output: 17,000 lumens
• Zoom Range: 4.5 to 55 degrees
• Color Engine: Custom RGBL LED, 2,000 to 10,000K
• Effects: Modular control of each pixel with built-in color or flex macros
• Weather Rating: IP54, protected against dust and moisture
• Integrated Fresnel Lens: Smooth and clean wash light output
• Weight and : 33 lbs. | 14.1" x 17.8" x 8.9"

"The GigaPix fills a gap in the market for a fixture that gives designers the warmth and softness of a Fresnel without giving up the power and pixel versatility of a modern wash," said Brett Puwalski, Senior VP of Operations and Product Strategy at 4Wall. "It's a fixture that works across a wide range of applications, and that kind of flexibility is exactly what our clients ask for."

"With a weatherproof design, GigaPix can go anywhere. From indoor shows to outdoor gigs, 4Wall customers can depend on these fixtures to bring exceptional performance no matter the setting," said Tania Lesage, ETC Market Manager. "ETC is excited for 4Wall to get this versatile pixel wash fixture with a Fresnel look on more stages."

The GigaPix has already been deployed across multiple events, including iHeart Alter Ego, Wynn Las Vegas New Year's Eve, Sacramento Ballet's Sleeping Beauty, and the Horatio Alger Association Inaugural Dinner. The fixtures are also slated to be utilized at Dell Technologies World and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Photo credit: Skye Morse-Hodgson - iHeart Radio 2026.

At the Wynn New Year's Eve Event, the GigaPix served as the primary stage wash for Joshua Cuellar, Principal Technical Producer at Stories Illuminated Entertainment. Cuellar decided to try the GigaPix after having seen them at LDI and learning that 4Wall recently added them.

"We had just discovered the GigaPix at LDI. It was a brand-new option coming to 4Wall's inventory, so we decided to pivot to it as a modern alternative to a standard MK3 or Quantum Wash," said Cuellar. "Because our shows are filmed, consistent color calibration and seamless mixing were our top priorities. While we didn't use the pixel mapping or beam FX for this specific application, having that deep feature set available was a significant advantage."

Photo credit: Stories Illuminated - Wynn Las Vegas, New Years Eve

Cuellar added, "The brightness-to-size ratio is impressive. In a ballroom corporate environment, we are always hunting for a smaller form factor that doesn't sacrifice punch. The GigaPix delivered exactly that - it's a powerful, compact solution that holds its own in a large-scale rig."

About 4Wall Entertainment
4Wall is a full-service lighting, video, audio, and rigging company providing rentals, sales, and production services across the entertainment industry. With locations across the U.S. and U.K., 4Wall pairs a vast, meticulously maintained inventory with the technical expertise to support projects of any scale. For more information, visit www.4wall.com.

About ETC
Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) is a leading manufacturer of lighting control and fixture solutions for entertainment, architectural, and broadcast applications. For more information, visit www.etcconnect.com.

About Stories Illuminated Entertainment
Stories Illuminated brings together the efforts of over five decades of cumulative design and production experience specializing in lighting, audio, video and design, special effects, and technical direction for live production, television, corporate experiential, concert touring, and permanent architainment installations. For more information, visit storiesilluminated.com.

"This is my first year working at Okeechobee, and it's always fun to do a new project and get into your creative box to figure out something cool and unique," he stated. "When I'm designing for stages like this, I'm looking at stage size and budget, which are two major factors, but I'm also looking at the lineup and who's going to be on that stage." 

Discussions with the festival team began in the fall of 2025, with Lisle utilizing WYSIWYG to experiment with a structure he had never done before. Over the course of six months, he collaborated with producers to conceptualize rigs that upheld the festival's branding, drafted new plots that implemented 4Wall Orlando's lighting package, and created MVR files for musical acts.  

Featuring 16 different fixture types, the lighting package for the Be and Now Stages was artfully curated to complement a mixture of artists across various genres. 

"We have a mixture of rock bands, rap, and lots of EDM," he explained. "I needed to come up with a rig that really captured any of these genres and what those LDs might need for their shows." 

The Be and Stages

The Be Stage served as the festival's main stage, hosting artists such as Knock2, T-Pain, and LCD Soundsystem. It carried 10 different fixture types, with its defining feature being Lisle's robust use of U-Torm truss to create three proscenium arches - two of which carried blinder fixtures, while the third held strobes.  
 
"This rig has 76 Chauvet Strike Array 4 blinder fixtures -  definitely the workhorse of the rig for sure in terms of the visuals out front," Lisle elaborated. "In addition to those, we have 35 Chauvet Color Strike Ms. They're a great fixture. I always look for IP65-rated fixtures, and these are also workhorses in these genres right now." 

94 Elation Proteus Hybrids were also deployed to fully encapsulate the stage's dynamic, versatile structure. 
 
"They're divided amongst three trusses - the A, C, and E trusses, and they're in a straight line, so we can do big, bold bands out in the crowd," he added. "We also have them out in the wings to help accent the stage." 


 
For key lighting, Lisle utilized 4 Elation Proteus Maximus fixtures on DJs and bands, as well as 6 Robe iForte LTX Followspots, and 2 iForte Followspots - while Proteus Lucius fixtures were implemented to support the stage's side lighting. 
 
"We also used 38 ETC High End SolaPix fixtures," he added. "They're a wash fixture, and this is my first time with it. They're super bright, have a tight beam, and look really cool. We also have some Vari-Lite VL3600s sprinkled within the rig to do big, bold punches." 

 
In contrast, the Now Stage specialized in EDM acts such as Alison Wonderland, Big Gigantic, and Disco Biscuits. The rig, consisting of 8 fixture types, shared several fixture types with the Be Stage. Lisle selected Ayrton Perseo Beam, Chauvet Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash and Maverick Storm 2 Profile, Chauvet Rogue Outcast 1L Beam, and Elation Proteus Rayzor Blade L fixtures to fully embody the music genre's frenetic energy.

Lisle's History With 4Wall

With Lisle's history as a longtime collaborator and friend of 4Wall, his experience of designing stages for his first Okeechobee was seamless.  

"It's a home run every time," he said. "They always send great leadership to oversee the installation of the rig, making sure that the crew is taken care of, and that they have the information they need to build it safely and efficiently. With 4Wall, you know the fixtures are going to work. It goes through a great process of cleaning and teching before it hits the festival."   
 
Lisle's well-established friendship with 4Wall Account Executive Robby Kurtz, built through previous collaborations on festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, also contributed greatly to Okeechobee's seamless execution. 
 
"It was great working with Chris Lisle again," Kurtz expressed. "This festival has a different vibe, and felt more relaxed, which was nice. Plus, the weather was amazing, which always makes the whole experience better." 

On-Site Previs and Suite 
 
Tucked away within palm trees behind the Be Stage laid Previs and  a C-container transformed into an intimate lounge brought to life through a tight-knit collaboration between 4Wall, ACT Entertainment, and Syncronorm. Featuring two previs suites powered by MA Lighting grandMA 3 Full Consoles and Syncronorm's Depence R4, the activation welcomed lighting designers to relax, indulge in complimentary food and drink, enjoy Okee-branded swag, and connect with fellow professionals as they previsualized and updated their show files.

 
"What excites us most is the opportunity to bring real value directly to lighting designers in a festival environment," said Syncronorm Marketing Content Manager Nicolas Ganser. "Instead of a highly structured setting, this concept allows creatives to engage with tools like Depence in a practical, low-pressure environment directly within the festival atmosphere." 
 
By pairing cutting-edge previs technology with a laid-back space, Previs  and  emphasized both comfort and creativity, reshaping a work session into an unforgettable moment. 
 
"It's one thing to present software - but it's a completely different level when users sit down, try it themselves, and start creating," Ganser explained. "Being part of that creative process and enabling designers to visualize their ideas in a relaxed environment is exactly what Depence is built for."

Ahead of Rainbow Kitten Surprise's performance at the Be Stage, Lighting Designer Hunter Schneider booked a session to experiment with the show's electrifying hues. 

"On-site previs is crucial for festivals, and 4Wall's integration of Previs and is a game changer for productivity and making sure everything will transition seamlessly into my live show," Schneider said. "When I show up to a festival with Previs  and I know my day will be better thanks to all of the qualified and helpful people on site." 
 
The collective passion between 4Wall, ACT Entertainment, and Syncronorm to celebrate and provide an exceptional experience for lighting crews was the core of the activation's success.  

"The collaboration felt very natural and well-aligned - everyone involved shares the same goal of supporting designers and creatives in a meaningful way," Ganser expressed. "What stood out the most was the open and relaxed atmosphere, combined with a high level of professionalism." 

 

Lighting Designer Amanda Gougelmann, representing ACT Entertainment, brought energy and expertise to the space by preparing show files, supporting both house and touring LDs, and jumping in to solve last-minute challenges. 
 
"The most rewarding part of supporting this event is seeing how appreciative the touring LDs and their teams are of Previs  and " Gougelmann said. "It is also nice to watch old relationships rekindle while new ones grow. We always have such a great time, whether that is laughing while setting up the Previs rooms, or interacting with people who swing by the trailer." 

A Bright Future Ahead
 
Bringing the activation to a new location marked a memorable milestone for 4Wall, as it reinforced the opportunity to expand the community while elevating existing relationships.  
 
"Festivals are a great time for the LDs to work in a one-off situation, and they often have more time to hang and chat since they have limited console time at FOH," Kurtz said. "The LDs are always grateful for the work our team has put into the details to make the previs 3D translate to the stage. 4Wall Project Manager Max Lenox prides himself on making it a great experience for the programmers, and that is in large part because he has been in the LD seat many times at festivals."

With the success of Okeechobee's Previs and  the three organizations are optimistically looking forward to hosting the activation at additional festivals throughout 2026. 
 
"Previs & Chill is a great example of how the industry can evolve - moving away from purely transactional interactions toward more experience-driven, community-focused formats," Ganser said. "We're excited to continue growing this concept together with 4Wall and ACT and to bring it to more festivals and creatives in the future." 
 
From the Be and Now Stages to Previs  and creating a rewarding experience for both designers and festival attendees stood as the true measure of success for 4Wall and Lisle.


 
"When I see an LD take it and do the cool chases and effects I was hoping somebody would do, it's rewarding," Lisle concluded. "In my role, I will never get to program a song on this rig, I'll never get to run a show, but I love when the LDs come out there and I see them use the lighting rig as I had envisioned it. Also, it's great seeing the attendees out here just having a great time. This is their vacation, their escape from whatever else is going on in life. I love that they can just be out here enjoying it, and we have a little part in making that creative thing happen." 
 
To see more of Chris Lisle's work, visit his website clldllc.com and follow his Instagram page @clisle. 
 

This article was originally posted on PSLN.com and can be found here.

In January, Country superstar Blake Shelton returned to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace for his Las Vegas residency, Blake Shelton, Live in Las Vegas. When the show was announced, Shelton told the press, "We had so much fun earlier this year, I figured-why not do it again." With much of the design aesthetic based off Steve Cohen's production and lighting design for Shelton's Back to the Honky-Tonk arena tour that hit the road back in 2023. [Read more about the Back to the Honky-Tonk tour In the April 2023 PLSN] For that tour, Cohen, along with Visuals Designer Bob Bonniol, created an immersive concert environment with virtual set extensions. The format changed for the residence to fill the wider stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace's theater. Back as Lighting Directors were Felix Peralta and Scott O'Connor, as well as Video Director, Nate Fountain Jr., who all spoke with PLSN about the changes for this residency.

Lighting
Felix Peralta, Lighting Director, peraltaPRO
Scott O'Connor, Lighting Director, Four Shadows Inc.

Talk about how this residency builds off the Back to the Honky-Tonk tour design.

FP: I jumped into this Blake project with Steve Cohen and Bob Bonniol in 2022 when they were designing the tour. This camp likes to do a design and tour it for a few years before doing another design. Last year they decided to try a residency model in Las Vegas. We did that with great success with that first incarnation of the residency. We had Bob with us to prepare as we were transferring basically the arena show to The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. That was a great launch, and Blake decided to do more shows in Vegas, so this is round two of our Vegas residency.

SO: Felix and Steve brought me in early, and together we developed a creative language that's continued to evolve ever since. The Back to the Honky-Tonk concept has really been the foundation for the past four years, with refinements to the set and overall presentation along the way. It was a strong idea from the start-Steve had a clear vision for what it should be, especially the whole notion of dropping a honky-tonk bar into the middle of an arena. For the residency, that bar element is on pause, but the core identity of the show is still very much intact. What's been especially rewarding is having the chance to keep building on that original framework, while also collaborating with Blake and expanding the concept in ways that feel fresh for this room. I've been fortunate to be part of it, and to work alongside Steve and Felix, who I've respected for a long time.

How is the design different in The Colosseum?

FP: The arena design wasn't that wide; the production design was more north and south. It had the stage at the upstage end, then the long ramp with the bars alongside the runway, and the little B-stage out in the house. So, from a production design standpoint, the arena show was more like a honky-tonk bar, including the TAIT barstools they created for the tour. It was hard to sit there and find a wide shot because the design extended out to front of house. So, now we have moved to The Colosseum, and the audience can now appreciate everything all in one wide shot; one big landscape. More of a 16:9 type of image. In a lot of ways, this design photographed a lot better. The volume of the design weighed a lot more in that landscape image because it was all right there on top of the viewer.

What were some of the solutions for this one?

FP: Blake had a handful of songs that he wanted to introduce, so with Scotty and I leading the charge, we spent a few days of previz at the 4Wall shop in Las Vegas. We did four additional songs. The first time around, the biggest challenge always was, because we were reimagining the arena show, how we would recreate it in The Colosseum as best as we could. Keeping what Steve and Bob had designed, but ultimately it is a reimagining because the environment is different enough. There's a giant screen in the background and we were limited mostly to the existing fixtures of The Colosseum. We brought in the floor package of Chauvet Strike Ms from 4Wall and adapted the show to the Colosseum package. Through that exercise we did find some happy accidents, that actually, in my opinion, there are some looks that translate better at The Colosseum than in the arena version. So, that was refreshing to see.

SO: One of the biggest challenges for Felix and I was taking the existing house system and pushing it as far as possible within the limitations of the room and the schedule. It was a very fast-paced process, so the goal was to integrate key pieces of the honky-tonk visual language into a system that was already in place. The Colosseum still has a number of legacy fixtures in the rig-VL3000s, VL3500s, and Coemar Infinity XL Washes-but to the venue's credit, the house team has done an excellent job maintaining them, and the rig performed well. A big part of the process was figuring out how to make that system really deliver for this show. We supplemented it with a substantial floor package, VL3600 key lights from 4Wall, and GLP impression Bar 20s for additional texture and effects. That combination let us carry over some of the stronger visual ideas from the tour and layer them into the residency in a way that completed the overall story.

Talk about the split in Lighting Director duties.

SO: Felix and I split the Lighting Director responsibilities pretty fluidly, with both of us contributing on the programming side. Felix has been central to much of the programming work, particularly as the show file has evolved alongside the MA3 platform. We originally built this file in 2023 when MA3 was still at version 1.8, and since then the software has matured significantly, which has led to a number of updates in both structure and workflow. More recently, we've shifted further into MA's Recipe-based workflow, and Felix has really led that transition. At the same time, both of us have been involved in the design side, shaping looks and solving visual problems in real time-figuring out what serves the moment best, how to use the space effectively, and how to address areas that need more depth or support. At the end of the day, it's a very collaborative process, and the final look of the show is very much the result of that teamwork.

FP: Scott manages the day-to-day activities for the tour, Blake's one-off shows, and the residency shows. Scott has been very diligent in managing the shows as well as recreating the shows for festivals or a one-off. He's been with the camp for three or four years already. We're thrilled that he's here and is a great part of that camp; and a big part of this recipe for success. When I join in with him, we're looking at the show again with a fresh set of eyes. We're collaborating and making sure that it's a Blake show and making sure that it's going to translate the way it should to all of his fans. I've been mentoring Scott for many years. He understands the workflow, the aesthetic, etc. The nice thing is when we're working together, he'll kind of let me drive the car and get things ready. Then he absorbs it all and gets ready for me to hand the keys back to him.

Is the show run on timecode or manually?

SO: It's a hybrid of both. Blake has a deep catalog and will often call audibles, so the show needs to stay flexible. We do have certain elements on timecode, mainly to support video integration, but roughly 75% of the show is still operated live.

Talk about working with Video Director, Nate Fountain and blending lighting and video for these shows.

FP: Nate is great to work with; he's been with us from the beginning. He knows the show so well already. That's one of the nice pluses that we had, a lot of returning members of the Blake family. Nate is very easy to work with; he's very collaborative. He is great at capturing the moments. Having seen all this before, Nate knows where to put the cameras, he knows how to shoot people, so it was pretty straightforward.

SO: It's very much a collaborative process across all departments, with everyone working toward a cohesive execution of the overall story. Nate has been great to work with and is always looking for the strongest possible shots, so we're constantly thinking about how lighting can help support that. Before each show, we'll review any changes and talk through what can be improved from the previous performance. There's a real give-and-take in that process. On the technical side, the video content and virtual set extensions Bob created are triggered from my console. We're running Disguise media servers through SockPuppet, which allows me to handle playback from front of house. That setup has worked well because it keeps playback tied directly to what's happening onstage, so if the show shifts in real time, I can respond immediately and keep everything aligned.

Tell us about working with Production Manager, Chris Alderman.

FP: Chris is great; I wish there were more Chris' around in all these camps. He is such a team player and really takes care of his crew. He's one of my favorite people. He has been with Blake for two or three tours before I came onboard. He's a seasoned professional and it all starts at the top and trickles down. Blake's energy is great and so is Chris'. That all makes our job easy. We're able to come in and collaborate. We're able to solve problems without stress hovering over the whole camp. The Blake family is one of my favorites.

SO: Chris is great to work with. He does an excellent job making sure every department has what it needs and that the whole operation stays on track. More broadly, the entire camp has been fantastic, which is a big part of why this has been such a rewarding project to be part of. Everyone is pulling in the same direction and committed to putting on the best show possible, and you can feel that shared focus the moment the house lights go out.

How was the support from your vendor, 4Wall?

SO: 4Wall's support is always great. The gear always top-notch, and the crew is outstanding. That level of support makes a real difference when you're trying to execute at a high level.

FP: Impeccable as always; they're great. We're so happy to have 4Wall in our fold.

If you were speaking with an industry colleague, what would you hope that they would notice about this residency?

FP: I always pride myself that, for every song, you could say, 'wow, that looks really tasteful, purposeful, and pronounced'. I think that we had great success with this Vegas residency for Blake with putting together some incredible and unique looks for that room. Obviously, a lot of other artists have played here at The Colosseum, so that's a challenge. How can we make it look different? So, coming in with the staging that TAIT created for us, as well as the content that Bob and Steve provided; how we featured Unreal Engine a lot in the content. Really creating and trying to make the room look different. It was a nice challenge. I just think the way it looked and photographed, we're really proud of it. Scott and I thought that it was really smooth and built off the success of the first residency last year. It was a pretty rock solid show.

Video
Nate Fountain Jr., Video Director, Fake Video Co

Talk about the video systems you're using for this residency.

Caesars supplied us with their massive 110' wide x 43' tall Daktronics LED wall. Then 4Wall provided us with two 16:9 I-Mag screens as well as seven smaller banner LED screens going across the proscenium, all made from ROE CB5 panels. That helped keep the whole honky-tonk vibe from the tour. For the residency, I'm doing some of a standard I-Mag show. There are elements on the upstage wall where the I-Mag is content-supportive. Bob created content looks with mortices for my live camera feeds; it looks like a set within a set, basically.

Talk about cutting the show and blending your work with the content for the show.

Bob had created the content to be an immersive walk through a honky-tonk. Sometimes you're inside and looking up; sometimes you can look down from the roof; and there are times when you're looking in through an opening in the side or the front of the honky-tonk. I kind of imagine a kid that's too young to get in the bar peeping through and seeing the show. The challenge was that many of those cutouts were odd-shaped. Some of the elements protrude into the frame from the top; some had wider openings on the left or the right side. So, camera operators would have to frame extreme-left or extreme-right. Or have a lot more headroom than normal to make it look correct for the screens.

Tell us about collaborating with Steve Cohen and Bob Bonniol on the show.

I got the opportunity to work with Steve Cohen in the programming phase back in 2023 for the Back to the Honky-Tonk tour. That was pretty amazing for me. There are people whose names I've heard, and work I've seen throughout my touring career, but never met. So, it was a treat to be part of this process. I got to watch Steve's vision come to life along with Bob Bonniol at the helm using Unreal Engine. As we went through each song, Steve would let me know the camera framing he wanted as well as the feel of the cutting he was looking for to coincide with a particular song. Of course, Bob's a mad scientist; he makes these wild and crazy immersive worlds come to life. He knows exactly what he wants.

Talk about collaborating with Felix and Scott in blending lighting and video.

From a director's point of view, I felt I got lucky with this show because Felix and Scott do TV work. They made sure I always had key light on everyone in the band, at all times. There are some shows that I do where the LDs only focus on theatrical lighting, and the people in the background are not properly lit for cameras. It was definitely not a problem on this show. Everybody knows Felix is a very thorough lighting programmer; I never had to ask for anything; he just did it. Then, working day-to-day with Scott, who I consider a friend, was seamless. Both he and I were on the same page about the show every day, so it's a treat to work with him too.

How was the support of 4Wall for you on the residency show?

"4Wall was an integral part of the show. We got our Disguise GX3+ media servers from them, as well as ROE Visual CB5 for the I-Mag walls and LED screens and the Panasonic PTZ cameras. Working with 4Wall has always been great; both Account Exec Bob Suchocki and PM RJ Thomas were there to make sure that we had everything we needed. I've worked with Bob a few times and he's been nothing but amazing to me."

If you were speaking with an industry colleague, what would you hope that they would notice about this residency?

I would hope they'd notice my ability to represent all elements on the stage. Also, my timing and my placement. I have this saying, 'I'm showing people what they don't realize they were hearing. My directing style isn't just about covering the event; it's about finding a specific finger pluck, or that deep breath, or subtle glance that defines the moment that's happening. I constantly think about what I see when I listen to music with my eyes closed and headphones on.

Time by Luxmuralis, an immersive experience brought to life through intricate projection mapping, dynamic lighting, and evocative sound design, transformed cathedrals worldwide. Featuring new US-inspired storytelling elements for its North American debut, the vibrant showcase of humanity's history was brought to life through the landmark effort of Luxmuralis Artist Peter Walker and composer David Harper, alongside Technical Director Steve Rainsford, the Cathedral, and the lighting and audiovisual expertise of Lighting Designer K Rudolph and 4Wall DC Senior Account Executive Jana Chovanec.

"The overall creative direction for the Washington production was about truly introducing who we are in a way that feels authentic to our core aesthetic and curatorial process," said Walker. "Creatively, we're emphasizing our aesthetic, strong narrative visuals, and music that balances emotional depth with modern production. The goal isn't to over-explain who we are, but to let the audience feel it immediately."

With 4Wall standing as a trusted vendor and long-time partner of the Cathedral, Chovanec was welcomed as an audiovisual consultant on the project, working alongside Rudolph, who served as a lighting consultant. Together, they ensured Time's interplay of color, light, shadow, movement, media, and architecture enthralled a brand-new audience.

"Peter and Steve explained their desire to create small moments of individual observation and experience for the audience as they walked around the installation," Rudolph said. "Even though the projection mapping was the star of the show, each transition between the six main installations was an opportunity to look at subtler moments of color, movement, and light."

A project of many firsts, as Walker had never been to the Cathedral, the highly intimate process of adapting Time for an entirely new space required flexibility, trust, and flourishing creativity. An 8 month-long development phase was dedicated to research, brainstorming, and aligning Time with 4Wall and the Cathedral's widespread capabilities.

"We worked closely with both teams to translate the concept into lighting plots, rigging plans, and production layouts," Walker said. "This stage involved constant back-and-forth reviewing, refining planning, and adjusting designs to optimize sightlines, timing, and impact. This was achieved largely through our lead tech Steve Rainsford. But we are always flexible when we install, so it was a great pleasure that the team at 4Wall understood this curatorial and artistic requirement that the plans were guides, not fixed entities."

Immense levels of communication and confidence were vital for the project's success. From the Luxmuralis team's unique style of operation to the UK time difference, the planning period was equally as invigorating as it was complex, taking place solely online.

"Explaining our knowledge of the Cathedral's highlights and working through technical requirements virtually were unique challenges," Chovanec said. "The challenges we were facing stemmed from the artist's team not yet being familiar with our gear, in addition to the comfort level of using their own equipment to produce the artwork."

Distance and time complications were overcome through collective excitement, passion, and camaraderie from all teams.

"Initially, there were nerves as there is trust in this type of project," Walker expressed. "It is not a corporate install, fixed and rigid, but a fluid process. We were delighted that the leads K and Jana fully understood our approach, and that the project required a unique approach. It was fantastic that they had an appetite to embrace and engage with the process in the way we do."

Once Luxmuralis' creative vision, technical needs, and experiential goals were established, Rudolph and Chovanec devised a production strategy that kept the balance between artistry and efficiency at the forefront.

"Jana's and my primary goal were to provide Luxmuralis the flexibility they needed to adjust projector and lighting positions during load-in and rehearsal, while concurrently creating a firm gameplan for our crew and the warehouse so everyone could anticipate any changes," Rudolph elaborated. "With the help of our production management team Joe Jamison, Logan Duvall, Ben Demerchant, and Abby Hirsch, we created a solid foundation that we could diverge from as needed to satisfy any artistic changes with minimal shop runs."

As the Cathedral supported broader production and staging elements on site, Rudolph and Chovanec curated a gear package that upheld Walker's intent to preserve a fully immersive, uninhibited guest experience. To prepare, they researched previous cathedral installations and ensured their gear swaps resonated with Luxmuralis' typical selections.

"Having 4Wall's projection, lighting and sound tech available as our palette for the project meant we were collaborating with a team able to offer us equipment of the highest caliber, which brought the experience to life for visitors," Walker said.

Panasonic PT-RZ21K 16:10 DLP 21K Lumen Laser Projectors, Epson Pro L1755 16:10 15K Lumen Laser Projectors, and a variety of lenses were chosen to transform WNC's space into an engaging, mesmerizing celebration of history for guests to revel in.

"The crisp projector setup and plethora of lensing options chosen for this event gave Walker a significant number of options to create and change his original conception of the space," Chovanec explained. "While AV gear tends to be cumbersome, we had our warehouse create masking for our projector installation pieces. Guests were able to lie down in the center aisle and watch the projection elements change.  The gasps and awe-struck looks on their faces made this year-long collaboration worth it!"

Rudolph selected a wide range of Chauvet Professional fixtures to fully envelop the Cathedral in experimental and dramatic hues, while accompanying the projection mapping and music of Luxmuralis composer David Harper.

"I spec'd most of our stock of Chauvet Quad 4's so we could freely move the fixtures as Luxmuralis needed," Rudolph explained. "Chauvet Well Fits were utilized in areas like the High Altar where services and other Cathedral programming necessitate our ability to strike and reset fixtures for each show during the run. COLORado Solo 2 Zooms provided enough beam flexibility to provide tighter cones or broader washes depending on their placement and purpose."

Months of development resulted in only three days of setup, with Walker's first time on site occurring on the first load-in day. Despite the complexities of virtual planning, Time's execution was successful through the team's fervent efforts.

"What was great was that we could see that 4Wall's team was built through trust, friendship, and collaboration. It felt like from both sides, we adopted and became embedded in each other's teams, even when discussing from a distance." Walker said.

From online meetings to the final day of load-in, the process of bringing Time to life in the US was seamless.

"Having team leads on site who had vast experience and knowledge and a venue which fully embraces the experience, made the project far smoother than it potentially could have been," Walker concluded. "Given the potential pitfalls of the process we use and the uniqueness of this approach, it was an extremely successful project."

This article was originally posted on PSLN.com and can be found here.

iHeartRadio held its 2026 edition of its ALTer EGO concert in January at LA's Kia Forum, which featured Green Day, Twenty One Pilots, Cage the Elephant, Sublime, Good Charlotte, Myles Smith, Gigi Perez, and Almost Monday. While it's this year's show, it's actually 2025's design. Just as last year's ALTer EGO was about ready to go, the Palisades wildfire broke out and the show was cancelled, so Production Designers, Patrick Dierson and Zack Guthmiller of The Activity, brought back the design for this year's edition since it was a good, solid design. Dierson, who has been designing this iHeart show since 2017, took time to share with PLSN his thoughts on the design and some of the solutions he brought to the table for this annual alternative music concert event.

"It's a very popular show, and it does tend to sell out quickly," says Dierson, "but it has a lot of budgetary constraints. The biggest challenge is to try and make it look much bigger than it costs. That's really the main reason why I've always loved doing this show. It's one of our favorite shows to do every year. Being in January, it's always one of the first shows of the year that we get to do. It's just a lot of fun. It's really challenging because you want to try and keep it fresh and do something new each time. We try to make it look as big as possible, and by all accounts we've gotten some really wonderful praise and feedback this year. The guest artist teams coming in are usually just a lot of fun to work with and were very well put together. It's sort of a reunion show to start off the year for each of us."

Supporting the Guest Artist's Teams

The production team treat this production more like a festival show in terms of how much production the artists can bring in and the changeover time between sets. With this many acts, the team needs to keep it moving. "One of the biggest challenges for the artists is the fact that it's all done on a 48' turntable stage," explains Dierson, "it's very rapid in how the show itself is programmed for talent. We did no more than a four- or five-minute set change. There were a couple of exceptions here and there, but the turntable spins happened very quickly where we had local radio talent coming out to do the introductions, speeches, and things like that. We also ran video clips, but for the most part, our turntable spun and we're off to the races to the next artist. This year we had eight artists performing; usually we have nine or 10, but we were able to extend some of the artist's set times. The one thing we were very stringent about was that before we arrived on site, we did a full artist advance."

Diversified Production Services [DPS] produces the event for iHeartRadio. Dierson has had a long working relationship with DPS, and they included The Activity on the artist advance work for the show. "DPS has a very good methodical flow of how they present information for all of these shows to the artists in advance," says Dierson. "As the production designer, I get tapped to work with the artist's teams well in advance where I help write the artist letter, so we can set the parameters and limitations in writing to the artists, right out of the gate. So, there's really no surprises. Everything's spelled out for them. We get the design done well in advance, and that gave us the ability to check all the physical re- strictions of what's going to happen on that stage. So, for instance, the height of flown video walls that split the center of the turntable, and other elements like that. Those restrictions dictated the height of the floor packages that artists could bring in, and how we move them. Basically, everything that the artist's team wanted to augment their performance had to fit on the turntable, to get set up on the backside of it, and be ready to go for the next set change. So, it must spin into place and then spin straight off. We couldn't have things hanging off the turntable. It became a bit of a technical ballet. We gave them the actual playable area, so the artist knew exactly what they had to work with. We wanted to set everyone up for as much success as possible. The other aspect was that this all had to load-in in one day."

Dierson and the production team brought a variety of ideas to make the show look bigger while staying within their budget. "This year, we went with a lot of vertical hanging trusses," says Dierson, "and we worked with 4Wall and our Lighting Crew Chief, Matthew Weede, specifically to make that process as efficient as possible for the load-in. Vertical trusses can very often be a laborious task and a time-consuming one on site, so we had everything pre-rigged within an inch of its life. We were able to do 20' sticks staggered at different heights, moving off the stage past the PA. We were able to fill the gap between the PA and the off-stage I-Mag screens going out further. So, it just gave a very wide aspect to the overall design."

Key Equipment Choices

As for the rig, "we used a combination of Elation Proteus Lucius, Ayrton Perseo Beams, Chauvet COLORado Pxl Bar 16s, and Color Strike Ms," comments Dierson. "Then we filled out the deck. We actually took some new units out for a spin, since it was so recent to LDI. One item that I saw at the show, and was very interested in, was the ETC/High End Systems' GigaPix units, so we had eight of those as shin kickers on the deck. I wanted to take them out for a spin and try them out. After their performance, I plan on utilizing them a lot more in 2026. As we do with every brand-new unit, we relegate them to the deck so it's easy to deal with in case we find the brand-new thing is not acting right or breaks down. Thankfully, we didn't have a single issue with the units; they performed flawlessly and we were very happy with them."

Like with his festival designs, Dierson strives to limit the fixture types. He did that for ALTer EGO, while still providing "a whole complement of toys for the guest artist's teams to play with to create a lot of effects and fun chases," he says. "If we can do that, it just makes everybody's life easier. For the teams coming in, cloning their shows, and things like that, the more fixture types you add in, it's just more time and noodling about that you have to do to get things just right. We really did try to tighten it up a little bit, but we also tried to do a design that broke hings up into areas. For instance, we leaned more into utilizing the Perseo Beams on the vertical towers and then used the Proteus Lucius more on the horizontal trusses. We used Elation Picassos for our key light out in the house. It's one of those lights that's served us well over the years for key lighting in particular. It's a Swiss Army knife light; it can do a ton of other stuff as well. To make the lighting look right for the I-Mag cameras, we go to great lengths to meter everything out so that those units are matched and color-balanced to the house followspots. We used the Kia Forum's followspots for this event strictly for budgetary reasons. We're able to balance all of that and make sure we have all the value so that it's just easy to pass on to each of the artist's teams as they come in for overnight programming."

The production had a full previsualization suite onsite that was provided by The Activity's sister company, The Farm. They use Depence R4 software for the previz work. "We have that set up the whole time," explains Dierson. "So, for each of the guest artists coming in, we manage a full schedule for their soundchecks, overnight programming, etc. Everybody gets several hours of pre-vis time devoted to them, and then several hours of programming time with the actual rig. Then, day of show, we leave the previz system set-up usually right to about doors so that any guest artist can come back if they need to add something. Very often they'll get a set list change that needs to be accommodated, so we just keep it up as a courtesy for them. At that point we run it as a first come, first serve basis and everybody works around it."

Video Screens

For the video screens, the design team created a large, main hero wall that hung over the turntable and as well as a double-sided, ground-supported LED wall that split the turntable in half. "All of our LED video was done with ROE CB8 tiles," explains Dierson. "The main wall was 38' x 20' and flown, splitting the center of the stage. Then the lower wall, that measured 8' tall x 38' wide, served as a backing scenic element behind the bands. It was a double-sided wall on the turntable, so it could spin with everything. Zack did a full engineering build of a ground-support system that worked out very well. He added out-rigger pipes to go offstage past the turntable that allowed for black drapery to fill the gaps where needed because we do runoff drapes left and right of the wall. We didn't want the audience to see what's happening backstage as there was a constant flurry of activity, including massive deck changes happening back there. We tried to hide that as much as possible. For the two I-Mag screens, we had 24' x 14' rear projection screens."

In terms of video content for ALTer EGO, it was a combination of content from artists who brought their own, and some artist who relied on content from the design team to support their performances. "Manny Conde was the Media Screens Manager for this show," says Dierson. "He was running Disguise servers with a complement of stock content for those artists that didn't have their own. Also, several guest artists had specific Notch effects that they brought for their camera inputs. They did some very creative things with the cameras like specific feedback and glitch effects; things like that." iHeart produces this show in LA's Kia Forum-which pleases Dierson, as "the Kia Forum is one of our favorite places to perform. Many people have a love/hate relationship with it, but I think it's a really fantastic venue. They recently upgraded their floors and seating layout, which actually helped us this year. Also, there's another element that I've always been pleased with in the Kia Forum-and not everybody realizes or uses it-but their ceiling has a full star field of small lights that the house can turn on for you. It's something I utilize almost every time I'm in the venue because it looks fantastic on camera. It's just a slow undulation of twinkling stars above the entire ceiling, and it just gives some visual information to an otherwise black space. Much like the old atmospheric theaters from the 20s and 30s with their twinkling star ceilings. It's one of my favorite features."

In terms of challenges, Dierson notes that the team take most in stride at this point. "It's such a good team of people, and we've all done it together for so many years. It's really just a well-oiled machine working with these groups. We just know the challenges going into it already. Things like front of house being extremely tight on space when you have so many guest artists, things like that end up being very challenging. One thing that helped us a little bit this year is that there was no streaming partner. Traditionally, this show has always had a streaming partner, but not this year, so we got off easy. It was kind of more freeing in a way. We're so tuned into having everything filmed these days, so the team got a chance to not have to think about broadcast-quality and fine-tuning things for a director. It just ended up being a lot more fun because we weren't as precious about the rules and we could just roll with it and do a good, dirty rock show. It was great because I think people were just more relaxed and the guest artists took more chances with some of the things they did and the looks that they created. It was more forgiving; more about why we all got into this business to begin with; it was about the moment of just being there."

Some of the guest artists had fun with their segment. Twenty One Pilots performed a significant portion of their show out in the audience, roaming around doing different gags with them way out in the house. "The crowd ate it up; it was just so much fun," says Dierson. "Their interacting with people was really great. They really do like connecting with the audience, and their team is always fantastic; very creative. They understand the production disruption that comes with an artist wanting to do something like that, and they make it as seamless as it could possibly be. They're just a pleasure to work with. We had gear ready in the house to do those kinds of pickups and reverse things."

Vendor Support

The lighting and video were supplied by 4Wall Entertainment, who have been supporting this iHeart project for a number of years. "4Wall is always fantastic for us," says Dierson. "They really just provide such a great service. Gear is gear at the end of the day; it's about the people doing it. And they have a matching work ethic to The Activity. We expect a certain level of attention to detail to be paid to things; they match that expectation and go above and beyond it. It's fantastic because it just takes so much worry out of the mix. The phrase, 'We'll figure it out when we get there' is never thrown around ever with them. We despise having to walk in without any sort of a plan, because as I always say, 'hope is not a plan'. You've got to make sure you know what you're doing going in, and 4Wall is just right there with that same thinking; it's great support. 4Wall's leadership is fantastic, as is their team, and their response to everything is really outstanding."

The staging, including the turntable, was supplied by All Access Staging and Productions. "All Access is our go-to for all this stuff," says Dierson, "and they're wonderful to deal with. Every vendor has their own individual bag of tricks; being able to have a vendor with a bag of tricks and then have the relationship and trust with them to understand the design and what you're going for is always great. That's something that All Access brings to this show every year; really every time we work with them. In particular this year, we were using their turntable stage and one of our biggest challenges was the amount of cabling that had to go through the turntable and how it turns. What we could facilitate and what we couldn't. We met with All Access and were able to tackle that issue very early. We built a deck system about the center of the turntable that would allow us to build the video wall on top of that and gave us a gap to access to the center. Also, we were able to make the center opening in the turntable a little larger this year to accommodate more cabling as we had a lot of guest artists coming in with their supplemental pack- ages, which adds up very quickly as you go through that process. You want to build that in as early as possible. All actions that become really critical in planning it all out and dealing with the logistics. All Access was just very accommodating through the whole process, so it made it much easier."

Strictly FX was the special effects vendor for ALTer EGO, providing their services directly to the guest artists. "Special effects were artist-dependent," says Dierson. "We didn't have any special effects built in for the overall show. We pick partner vendors, in this case, Strictly FX, to handle the pyro and SFX for the show. Then we basically linked them up directly with the artist. We gave them the parameters of anything that's a no-go; whether that's based on design limitations or building limitations, and then we let them have at it. Twenty One Pilots had a significant pyro show. Cage the Elephant also came in with a fully timecoded pyro show with gerbs, comets, and some concussion mines, as well as a complement of lasers and bounce mirrors or their setup. So, it was a good variety of all sorts of aspects of production. Sublime came in with two inflatable dogs on stage that were just fantastic. They looked amazing."

Standout Solution

If Dierson were speaking with another designer or production person that had attended the ALTer EGO show, the thing he'd hope that they might have noticed was "the size of it, the visual size. It wasn't a large production, but it looked huge. I think really, it's about placement and depth. One of the things that Zack was pushing me on as we were designing this show was separating our video walls quite a bit and the placement of the lighting. One of the banes of our existence in using a turntable-every designer deals with this on most every show-turntable shows tend to look flat. Usually, you're cutting the center of the turntable. We try to break those rules as much as possible, so we separated things in the design process this year, and that created a significant amount of depth. By the time you start separating things upstage, down-stage, then offstage, and at the different heights, it didn't take a whole lot of gear to really make it look quite massive. Another huge part of that is the quality of the gear. Because of the fixtures that we were able to have this year, those beams travelled and read very far. So, we could space them out a lot more and didn't have negative space when we were pumping all that photonic energy in between those trusses. Light was able to just fill up the whole visual space. All of that helped give a bigger visual scope."

Another element that played into that depth was hanging the main video wall more upstage of the video wall on the turntable at center, as well as adding a lighting truss in the gap between the upper and lower video walls. "We did stagger back the main video wall to add some depth to the design," explains Dierson. "The lower wall on the turntable is double-sided, but it's not back-to-back; the two walls are separated by four feet of depth. So, the flown wall is trimmed directly above the upstage portion of the lower wall. Then we put a lighting truss even farther upstage to all that, since we weren't using a blow through video product. That became a lighting separator; we had some movers and strobes that could shoot from that position, separating the two walls. We wanted a visual line instead of a solid monolith of a wall. We wanted to give some visual disruption there. That lighting truss was pushed upstage, so it was right over where the next artist was set- ting up, so we needed to make sure it didn't impede them. We had to really ensure that whatever they were bringing in like lighting towers, would be able to clear it easily. That's one of those simple and often overlooked challenges when you do something like that. We always mark them on the drawings, so the guest artists catch that right away."

Applying Experience

Dierson and the production team wanted to make all of this as easy as possible for the incoming guest artists and their production teams, noting, "Like a festival run, this is just one stop for the artist team." Dierson has taken his experience working on festivals and shows like this and brings it to bear when designing and managing the incoming artist teams; to make their lives easier. "Having been there on that side of it, it's easy for things to fall through the cracks," comments Dierson. "Personally, I'm very happy in how my career has built to today, I feel a lot of that early experience of what I had had to go through, in my younger career doing festivals; I'm now able to bring that experience to these productions and basically give the heads up to things what we know will be a potential snag for them. It is great having that understanding of both sides of things."

This year's iHeart ALTer EGO came off without a hitch and the stage pictures were impressively massive looking. Yet another successful visual that fully supported all of the artists on the bill thanks in no small part to Dierson, Guthmiller, and The Activity.

Vendor View

4Wall Entertainment
Bob Suchocki, Sr. VP of Production

On supporting the design and production team:

For this concert 4Wall was pleased to be selected to provide lighting, video, and rigging solutions, along with the crew. Anytime Patrick Dierson reaches out we know we are in for a fun project. He always tries to think outside the box and come up with a fresh look. Zack Guthmiller's attention to detail in his Vectorworks drawings is extremely helpful and we work well with him to make sure what's on paper is attainable in real life.

On why 4Wall was the right vendor:

At 4Wall, we love working with the team at DPS (Diversified Production Services), we've been supporting them on most iHeart projects for the past eight years, and it's always a pleasant experience. This show, the ALTer EGO concert, is always a fun one because it kicks off the year for most artists.

From arena tours and festival stages to live broadcasts and high-profile brand launches, 4Wall continues to deliver the kind of LED-driven moments that audiences remember, with Brompton Technology's Tessera LED processors at the heart of its workflow.

"We rely on Brompton's Tessera SX40 LED video processor as one of the key tools in our arsenal, whether it's for a concert experience, shooting a television show in an LED volume, or other forms of entertainment," says Wayne Romanowski, VP of LED Services at 4Wall. "It's not only dependable under any circumstances, Tessera software features also give us a lot of creative flexibility we might not otherwise have."

Over the past year, 4Wall has utilised Brompton processing on a host of productions, from major concert touring to large-scale broadcast and live event work. Some of the notable live events included Lil Baby, Lewis Capaldi, Metallica's World Tour, NFL Draft 2025, One Republic, and Tom Grennan. Additionally, the company supported productions such as Delta Airlines' Centennial Gala, Glastonbury Festival, Netflix Fanatics Fest, New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash, Parklife Festival, Pier 80: Non Plus Ultra, and Saturday Night Live. With momentum building, 4Wall is also set to support a busy run of 2026 tours, including Bad Omens' 'Do You Feel Love' European Tour, Barry Manilow, Bon Jovi, and Pitbull, alongside many more LED-driven projects already in the pipeline.

One of the standout annual productions supported by 4Wall is New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash, a major hybrid event combining a free, large-scale public celebration with a live television broadcast from downtown Nashville, demanding robust, weather-ready systems and highly efficient workflows. In a very different setting, 4Wall also supported a high-profile brand activation for Jeep, which unveiled its 2026 Jeep Cherokee at Domino Park in New York City. The large-scale event spanned the entire length of the park with multiple stages and rigs setup with large video walls. The majority of the walls were powered by Tessera SX40 LED processors due to their ability to process 4K content with precision colour accuracy and image quality. "The ability to support up to 9 million pixels in full 4K at 60 Hz with 12-bit colour depth made the SX40 essential for the content we displayed on screen," Romanowski notes.

4Wall has also been a key partner in providing lighting and support services for NBC's iconic Saturday Night Live (SNL), including its 50th Anniversary Celebration episode. Each week, the 4Wall team works closely with the crews from both SNL and the week's musical guest to meet the show's tight deadlines, finding creative solutions to keep operations smooth and efficient.

With locations across the U.S and U.K., 4Wall is a full-service rental company specialising in audio, lighting, video, and rigging, spanning applications from television to concert touring, corporate events and more. Operating with a commitment to bespoke client support, 4Wall's suite of services includes production services from pre-show to on-site, building out custom LED volumes for virtual production projects, and equipment rentals and sales. Since its founding in 1999, 4Wall has maintained a reputation for excellence, reliability, and technical innovation thanks to close partnerships with both hardware and software manufacturers.

"The SX40 has become an integral part of our video solutions," says Romanowski. "Our technicians appreciate their flexibility and ease of use with massive video displays needing 4K content. If there is ever a question or support needed, Brompton's technical team is always available to us. 2026 has already started with a bang and we look forward to what the rest of the year holds for us!"

"That 4Wall continues to rely on Brompton processing for the high profile projects it works for is extremely gratifying and a testament to the usability and reliability of our products," concludes Webster Moyle, Technical Sales Manger (Western US).  "It's always a pleasure to work with companies such as 4Wall. It makes the effort we put into ensuring both our hardware and software deliver in these high pressure environments worthwhile, and it's what drives us to continue innovating in ways that ensure we meet the expectations and demands of our markets."

New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash took place in downtown Nashville's Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. New Year's Eve Live (NYE Live) has been happening for the past 17 years, and its Event Production Manager has been Chris Lisle since its inception. Lisle took time to speak with PLSN about his work with 4Wall on this iconic New Year's Eve production in his hometown of Nashville.

"I would say, at this point, it is one of our flagship events for the city, drawing in a couple hundred thousand attendees each year," comments Lisle. "It started out as just a live event only up until 2021 when we became a television broadcast as well. Now we're a five hour television show, but it is still a free live event put on by the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau. Doors are typically 5:30, 7 o'clock the show's live on air, and goes until 12:30am. We're on site for about three weeks total getting the stage and show loaded in." Since the production takes place in a state park, much care goes into protecting the grounds from the rigors of production. Five days of the load-in and build are just for installing the flooring and ground protection. "We start December 15, because we floor the entire park," explains Lisle, "taking good care of the park; the trees, the grounds, the statues, and the things that are part of the park. Three days into flooring, we start the stage build right up to Christmas. We go dark for four days around Christmas and come back to do production loadin 27th through 29th. Rehearsals, final touches and cleanup are on the 30th and then the 31st is the show. We walk away after the show; coming back the next morning and start loadout, which takes five days. Production comes out in a day, the stage is out in about a day and a half."

There is one performance stage along with the tower for the 'Music Note' drop that happens at midnight to welcome the new year. The stage is provided and built by Nashville-based Premiere Global Production (PGP). "The stage is built by PGP, and it's basically a 60' by 40' performance space with the added wings, crossovers, and docks," says Lisle, "and then the Music Drop tower, also built by PGP, is made from components of their Atlas stage that you see on all the big festivals. It is about 145' tall to the top of the mast where the Music Note starts."

Stage lighting and video onstage was provided by 4Wall Entertainment, with site video and broadcast support from Moo TV. "4Wall did an incredible job," Lisle comments. "They came in well-prepped in support of Bob Peterson who did the lighting design for television and for the stage. Those were intricate designs, with this one having a lot of curves and arches. They did a fantastic job; everything worked well. Then, of course, around the site, Bandit Lites handled all of our site lighting-everything not on stage, which is a pretty big scope itself, including the Music Note. They did a fantastic job as well and were well-prepped and very supportive. Then Moo TV handled all of our site video, so they brought in all the camera packages for the live broadcast as well as for the live event. They provided video screens all over the site, which is, again, actually a big lift as well. All of the vendors-PGP, 4Wall, Moo TV, Bandit Lites, Accurate, Gallagher, and the many others were very supportive of what we needed to put on this massive production."

With the show having grown to this level-both in Nashville and nationally with the TV audience, the level of artists performing at the show has risen. This year, the production was co-hosted by HARDY. When it comes to supporting the artists, Lisle explains, "For this show, we had four different artists performing along with a couple of guest appearances," says Lisle. "Like HARDY, who was one of our hosts, sang with Lainey Wilson's band and with Bailey Zimmerman's band. But really the way I have to approach it with them is that they have to treat it more like they're coming into a television show, like the CMA awards versus a festival in the sense that bring your back line, bring your console groups, but there's no added floor package. It's very straightforward. Due to the limited space we have backstage, we have to put the limitations on them that each artist is allowed one semi, that's just all we have space for backstage. So, we keep it pretty lean and mean and straightforward from the artist's end of things."

The weather at the end of December can be very unpredictable in Nashville, with many years having rain, cold, or other inclement weather, so being prepared is crucial in terms of gear. IP65 rated equipment was an important factor in choosing gear for the production. "Bob Peterson does his gear list, and he had about 12 different fixture types on there, but I will tell you that anything out in the house that was exposed was all IP65 rated, as well as all the site lighting. We used a lot of Chauvet's Maverick line as well as the Strike Ms, as well as the Elation Proteus line. Pretty much anything I spec was definitely IP65 rated."

The thing that Lisle would call out to another production manager is the balance between a live event and a television show. "This is a big, hybrid event because we draw over 200,000 people to downtown specifically for a live event; essentially a miniature festival and encompasses a good size space in this portion of downtown," says the production manager, "while also trying to accommodate a five hour live television broadcast, and all the nuances that come with that. It's just finding the balance between those two things."

Over Lisle's tenure of doing this show, it has grown quite a bit from its humble beginnings to this year the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation reported that an estimated 215,000 fans were in attendance, surpassing the previous year's record of 210,000 attendees. "I'm very proud of New Year's Eve Live," says Lisle. "When we started the show 17 years ago, we were very proud of it but to see what it has become is amazing. We started this thing on a [Stageline] SL 100 stage in downtown Nashville, and it was a one day load-in, show, loadout; and over 17 years we've grown this thing exponentially. It is without a doubt, my biggest project every year. But also, one that's very important to me, that I hold very dear to my heart. I'm a fifth generation Nashvillian and that's something I've always taken pride in, especially working on these city events. I've done July 4th for 17 years as well in a production manager capacity; that's an event my dad took me to as a kid. As I came up in the industry I was fortunate to have had a chance to jump into that role, where for many years I did both lighting design and production management. I do really love my hometown; so these city shows are really very important to me. I think they mean a lot to everyone in Nashville."

VENDOR VIEW
Gabe Thruston, Director of Live Events, 4Wall Entertainment
Michael Golden, VP of Live Events, 4Wall Entertainment

On the solutions 4Wall provided:
Thruston: For Nashville NYE Live, our team provided pre-engineered lighting, LED screen, and rigging solutions designed specifically for an outdoor, broadcast-level environment. Because weather is the largest variable on this show, extensive planning and prep at the shop were critical to keeping the onsite build efficient, safe, and on schedule. This approach allowed the design to translate cleanly from concept to execution despite a tight schedule and weather uncertainty.

One of the few challenges we faced were the Tyler GT Truss arches, which required a high density of fixtures and minimal onsite build time. By utilizing Tyler GT sliding spigots, we were able to fully preload, wire and test the arches in the shop. Once onsite, we were able to fly them as complete assemblies with minimal effort. This significantly reduced the onsite load-in time and weather-related variables that could occur during load-in. The circular truss elements required precise fixture spacing to maintain the integrity of the lighting design. During prep, every fixture was laid out, mounted, and wired in the shop to ensure consistency, accuracy, and fast onsite assembly. A few of the circular truss pieces required additional hardware to achieve the precise spacing for all linear fixtures. This advance preparation allowed the crew to execute complex builds quickly without compromising the original design.

For Nashville NYE Live, four Robe Forte FollowSpots and\ eight Robe iForte LTX FollowSpots were used for both front and back lighting. With the challenge of FOH being in a covered structure for weather protection, being able to see what the followspots see became a need for the creative team while working with broadcast. 4Wall was able to create a camera multiview feed via NDI and send it to the lighting designers at FOH so they could see exactly what the followspot operators were seeing. This small addition to FOH greatly improved cue timing, communication, and overall show quality.

On supporting the design and team:
Thruston: Throughout the project, we worked closely with Event Production Manager Chris Lisle and the creative team to\ support the design vision with practical, field-ready solutions. Our role extended beyond equipment delivery to proactive problem-solving and execution that helped streamline load-in and performance. The collaboration ensured the show remained efficient, flexible, and visually consistent from rehearsal through broadcast.

Golden: I've had the honor and pleasure of working with Designer Bob Peterson and Event Production Manager Chris Lisle for many, many years and in doing so I feel I know their comfort zones and performance expectations. In addition to that Bob brought in an incredible team consisting of Scott Cunningham as Lighting Director and for stage, Tal Kochav as Lighting Director and for Audience and Key Lighting, additionally Nate Alves as Lighting Director and for Media Servers and Screens. Teaming up with them from 4Wall, Gabe Thurston handled Project Management for the entire project and Ryan Hodge directed things on site as Crew Chief. All in all, an extremely polished and veteran team.

On why 4Wall was the right vendor:
Golden: 4Wall was the right vendor for this project because all parties had each other's backs and best interests in mind. Everyone worked together as a unified team and 4Wall's entire focus was to ensure we provided the absolute best product and service possible.

Each evening through the holiday season, the Saks flagship store transforms into a dazzling show of synchronized lights, video, and music across the street from the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Visitors from around the world gather to watch the illuminated façade, which repeats from 5 to 11p.m. through early January. Having worked on the show first in 2004, right out of college, Production Designer Chris Werner, Principal of the Lunar Telephone Company, has been back designing the show each year since 2015, for his client American Christmas. He took PLSN behind the scenes to give us insight into this year's much-expanded dazzling holiday display, which was supported by systems integration specialists 4Wall Entertainment.

This year the design process was a joint effort of Lunar Telephone Co. along with American Christmas, and Saks. The design team started looking at angular things first, morphing into curvilinear ideas, before settling on diamonds. "Ultimately, we came back to diamond shapes," says Werner. "Unbeknownst to me there was a DeBeers diamonds partnership coming together and the Saks team had chosen Rihanna's song 'Diamonds' as a part of the arrangement, so it was all sort of kismet when we eventually got to this design."

Werner had been working toward an infinity mirror idea, possibly with electrostatic glass, "the material that frosts when it's got power," comments Werner. "We did some mockups at 4Wall to explore these options, but they were getting out of our budget range. We landed on the idea of these giant infinity mirrors being the focal points. There are eight diamonds in two different sizes. The large ones are 34' tall. It is an infinity mirror with two-way mirror on the front, standard mirror on the back with LED product in between. We try to stack the effects so we can outline, glow, or have the infinity look. We then looked at different LED resolutions ultimately finding the sweet spot of definition versus cost. We had never before been able to cover the building, which has always been a goal of mine. Previously, we had lit scenery spread out over the façade, but our content was heavy in one place or another. I wanted to get the content all the way from the street to the ledge at the top and the whole width of the city block front. This year, we got there."

The 'mirror' is made up of a couple of products. "Most of the building uses Minleon's products," says Werner. "Their U.S. distributor calls them a 'Bullet,' which is a pixel on a string, every six inches. It looks like a Christmas light, but with a bigger node. That's populating the infinity mirror. On the face is Minleon's flexible neon product and then there's LED tape, from a company called Potato around the perimeter to give us the glowing edge of what we call the medallion. We also used Elation Pulsar Strobes behind the two-way mirror. They are bright on the street, but the mirror product cuts the output by 80%. The video content for the show is run on a PRG Mbox media server controlled by a grandMA3 console."

The big picture numbers are impressive: The Saks light show draws 346.2kW of power and uses 94,180 total LED Bullets for the logo, diamonds, roof panels, and tear drops; and there are 1.66 miles of LED neon product and 324m of LED pixel tape along with 134 Advatek LED control boxes and four miles of control cabling. There are control rooms are on the second and eighth floors.

The content for the show was created by Werner's team. It starts with Vectorworks for pixel placement and 3D objects. They add in the pixel data and move to Blender and "then we use Unreal Engine, the video game tool to make a 3D space," notes Werner. "That's our previz tool. We build server content in Unreal, which is mostly built with After Effects and Cinema 4D. So, when it's ready for the Mbox it also goes into Unreal that lets us look at content from any angle. We check all the sight lines. We invested in Unreal Engine this year to prepare for whatever the future may be. Like if we ever want to bring in projection or lasers, we could do a more accurate rendering."

A Team Effort

Some of the key collaborators for this project: AMA Sign and fabricated the scenery, as well as managing the physical installation. 4Wall handled the power and control infrastructure as well as testing all the systems. JTEK provided critical show support, ensuring playback and tech systems are show-ready each night. Throughout it all, the project management was led by American Christmas, whose team navigates permits, coordination, safety, and schedules. They also install all the lights into the scenic elements.

4Wall Entertainment joined the Saks Fifth Ave. project in 2015 and have supported Werner and American Christmas teams ever since. "4Wall has been a fabulous partner," comments Werner. "I work closely with Brent Pritchett, [VP of Systems Integration at 4Wall]. They know how to do it and have many of the same folks, like Brent, on the project over the years. They know the pitfalls and how to do it quickly and efficiently. They've been fabulous. We dragged in some new folks from 4Wall Vegas-Ashleigh Barrera as Systems Project Manager and Kyle Arnold as Systems Engineer this year, as they did a lot of the fabrication. Kyle was onsite the whole time. We also did a lot of testing at trial runs at their facility."

As Saks' flagship is located just across Fifth Avenue from the Channel Gardens and the Rockefeller Center Ice Rink with its iconic Christmas Tree, those gardens between the buildings provide a unique view of the whole Saks' façade and let more people view the shows that run every hour. "We adjusted the angle of the large diamond pieces for the optimal viewing for people in the Channel Gardens," explains Werner. "They are tilted forward away from the building, so you see the Rock Center tree behind you in the reflections. That took a little bit of math, but it's pretty cool. We checked the night of the test for the tree lighting and we got it right. Also, we are next door to St. Patrick's Cathedral, so our show is offset from their bells. There are a lot of unique challenges working on this project. It's a landmarked building, so we install everything in a non-destructive manner, which means someone's had to engineer and fabricate clever attachment methods, including drilling into mortar joints, not through bricks."

Werner and his team are rightfully proud of their work on this project. "The commentary on the street was really positive about this year's show. It's nice that our little show touches so many people who get the opportunity to see it and experience it each holiday season. We are very proud of our work on it."

Vendor View

4Wall Entertainment
Kyle Arnold, Systems Engineer
Ashleigh Barrera, Systems Project Manager

On the solutions 4Wall provided:
We did all the initial engineering to develop the materials for the lighting products as well as the control system, so for every scenic piece we engineered, designed and fabricated an IP65 rated control box for it and then laid the cable paths to the different server rooms. We provided shop coordination and supervision for the American Christmas team who physically installed the lighting into the scenic elements, making sure it was completely controllable, then did all the shop testing prior to going on site.

On the coordination of all the vendors:
Kyle Arnold: There is so much coordination between all of us because the product bounces between everyone. AMA fabricates the scenery then hands it to American Christmas who installs the lights. The control enclosures were fabricated in our Las Vegas facility and shipped to American Christmas for installation in the scenery. Then it comes to 4Wall for final testing and AMA delivers to the site. On site, it's back in our hands to test prior to installation. When we give it the all-clear, AMA installs it on the side of the building. The coordination and flow were quite a ballet of movements.

On supporting the design team:
AB: Chris and his Lunar Telephone Co. were absolutely amazing to work with, and very flexible, which was important as we had a ton of time constraints. We had 50 nights on site for the full installation. Some days were short as we were only there to test a scenic piece before it flew, because it's easier to fix it on the ground than in the air. Through thick, thin, cold, and wet we saw it to completion as a team.

KA: We got Chris' big vision and figured out how to make a system that could handle the power and data. It's about getting down to every little detail as we figure out exactly how all that comes together. All this equipment has to live outdoors, so it all has to be weatherized. 4Wall really supports his, and the client's vision and expectations of the overall project.

On why 4Wall was the right vendor:
KA: 4Wall works closely with our clients in the sense of catering to their every detailed need. And though we are a big enough company to support a project of any size, scale, and scope, we're also personable enough to where we're able to make the relationship long and lasting. At 4Wall we make sure that we're able to suit every single one of the needs that the client has.

AB: I honestly think we're one of the best integrators in the world. Besides all our locations, we have just a great history, experience, and deep technical knowledge with our teams-from creation to completion. I think we offer a unique service, and we can pull from our numerous locations.

On the final project:
KA: It was really fulfilling to walk down Fifth Avenue and see a Christmas display that we've been sweating over for months. There's nothing more rewarding than seeing people enjoying something you've worked so hard and tirelessly on.

AB: This relationship has been going on for 11 years with American Christmas, and they keep coming to us because we're good partners that have proven to be able to always get it across the finish line, no matter what challenges present themselves. It really is a partnership with a common goal to make Christmas magic in New York City for people to experience.

Coming right off Wetmore's European and US Headline tour, Ingegneri conceptualized a design that not only reflected the artist's western-themed aesthetic but was easily adaptable for quick changeovers while fitting into one truck. Since Wetmore served as a supporting act for Thomas Rhett's "Better in Boots" tour, Ingegneri's vision was engineered for efficiency and impact.


 
"We played a lot of different sized venues with this rig, so it was definitely a big undertaking making sure we were able to pack a punch from the smallest to the largest venues," Ingegneri explained. "In collaboration between me and our project manager Jason Blasing from 4Wall, we were able to come up with a modular truss design for easy roll on and off with cable and rigging, which was huge for the Thomas Rhett shows." 
 
At the core of Ingegneri's design was the need to reflect the energy of Wetmore's performances across a variety of venues, achieved by utilizing IP-rated fixtures and programming MA3 recipes in Mode 3 for seamless workflows in both intimate venues and larger festival spaces.  

"For the profiles, we landed on the Chauvet Storm 2 Profile," he said. "It's incredibly bright for its size and weight, especially for an IP rated body. It cuts through great on those festival daylight sets and has phenomenal color and gobos." 


 
Alongside the Chauvet Professional Storm 2 Profile, Ingegneri's deployed Strike Sabers to powerfully radiate the tour's western theme. 
 
"We also had 10 Chauvet Strike Sabers sitting behind the band risers and in front of Tuckers piano riser," he added. "They provided a great warm feel to the set, which ties into the saloon design of our backdrop, and great backlight looks for the band." 


 
ACME Pixel Line IP fixtures also played a major role in boldly amplifying the energetic aspects of Wetmore's performances.  
 
"A huge element of the design is the 24 ACME Pixel Line IP's lining our band risers and upstage truss," he elaborated. "They are incredibly bright and having the center row of strobe cells has been great for those big hits and strobe moments throughout the show."  


 
Ingegneri's gear selection enabled him to uniquely translate Wetmore's artistry throughout a dynamic range of spirited and emotional moments of the show, such as during the song, "Brunette." 
 
"I wanted to put a huge emphasis on the musicians and the amazing parts they are playing and highlight those parts from a lighting perspective," he expressed. "That then leads to a huge silhouette of Tucker going into the first verse, which is a big moment of the show. Another moment I've fallen in love with is the song 'What Would You Do.' It's a big tone shift in the middle of the show, and I was able to pull out some fun programming tricks that we hadn't seen in the show to that point. It's always a crowd favorite." 

With how fast-paced the tour was, preparation was crucial in tackling tight schedules and the artist's sold-out headlining debut at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. 

"Tucker's Ryman Auditorium headline show falling right in the middle of that week with a different production design from the previous tour was a challenge," he said. "Our rehearsals took place in 4wall Nashville's demo space, and we were able to prepare the rig in that same space as well. That was a huge saving grace when it came to the crazy timeline of that week." 


 
By working closely with 4Wall Project Manager Jason Blasing and Director of Business Development Tyler Bevel, challenges were quickly resolved through the company's abundant resources and dedication to providing exceptional service.  
 
"The service we received from Tyler, Jason, and the entire 4Wall team was next to none," Ingegneri said. "They were incredibly fast in getting us updated quotes as things progressed quickly and making sure we had everything we needed to get from prep, through rehearsals, and out on the road seamlessly." 

With precise and robust support being delivered over the months, 4Wall demonstrated an unwavering dedication to ensuring Ingegneri and the tour's success. 

"Jason was able to take what I had on paper and come up with practical solutions for easy load-in and out on show days," Ingegneri stated. "Another moment is a fly date we had in Montreal earlier in the year. Tucker is huge on ensuring we're able to bring a consistent show as much as humanly possible. When this show's routing wasn't going to allow us to get our truck there in time, our first call was to 4wall to see if they could provide a duplicate B rig and get it up to the show in time. They had it prepped 1-to-1 with our main rig, while I was able to get the show prepared in pre-viz." 


 
The seamless, long-standing collaboration between 4Wall and Ingegneri throughout the year was instrumental in delivering an unforgettable experience for every show.  

"The service we received from 4wall on not only this tour, but the entire year was world class," he concluded. "Tyler Bevel and Jason Blasing were huge in getting this off the ground and making sure me and the entire crew had everything we needed to be set up for success. 4wall's size and global scale has been a huge win for us. With Tucker expanding his international travel, knowing no matter where we are in the world 4Wall will be able to support and take care of us is a huge peace of mind to me and the entire crew!" 

To see more of Lighting Director Dominic Ingegneri's work, visit his website at dicreative.co, design Instagram page @dicreative.co, and his personal Instagram page @dominicingegneri.

Elliot Krowe: Decades of Experience Across TV/Film and

Elliot Krowe brings a wealth of experience from both the touring and TV/Film industries. After attending Columbia University in the 1970s, Krowe began his career touring with Blue Oyster Cult, which led to numerous opportunities as a road manager and lighting designer. He carried this experience into successful tenures at See Factor and BML, working with many of the world's largest entertainment acts. Krowe originally joined 4Wall in 2016 through the acquisition of BML's TV/Film division and has been instrumental in building 4Wall's New York location and expanding the company's TV/Film presence globaly as a General Manager of the northeast region.

"When I first joined 4Wall in 2016, I was looking for my next step. I was drawn to 4Wall's reputation for the newest technology and stellar customer satisfaction," said Krowe when looking back at his start with 4Wall. "I was excited to add my clients to 4Wall's existing client base and grow market share and revenue. My experience here over almost a decade of work has lived up to those expectations."

As Executive VP of Business Strategy, Krowe will maintain oversight of the Northeast region while focusing on developing larger, more comprehensive relationships with major clients globally, including studios, producers, and other entertainment industry leaders. His ability to build relationships and understand what creates successful partnerships has made him invaluable to 4Wall's growth strategy.

"I am looking forward to using the 4Wall platform to develop new revenue streams and open new markets," Krowe said. "Our incredible sales and production teams provide the best equipment and services to our clients across the globe. In my new role, I will be able to guide and mentor them, increasing customer satisfaction while providing the equipment and services 4Wall is known for. This new role will allow me to focus on working with our team to ensure that all of 4Wall's clients receive the same level of service."

Brad Hafer: Three Decades of Production Excellence

With over 32 years of experience in the entertainment industry, Brad Hafer has built an impressive career spanning regional theater, live touring, television production, and corporate events. After joining IBEW Local 743's apprenticeship program to become a licensed electrician, Hafer worked with industry companies including BML, PRG, and PSI, serving as a lighting gaffer and crew chief for high-profile productions, including the early years of the MTV Music Awards. Before joining 4Wall, he co-founded Atomic Lighting with Brad Clark and Brett Puwalski, which later transitioned to Beame and was subsequently acquired by 4Wall.

"I owe so much of how I work to Dave Neel, who started teaching me the business at age 12 and showed me how to make what you've got work," said Hafer. "Later, Mike Callahan took me under his wing and taught me how critical readiness is in what we do. He taught me about spending time in preproduction, prepping things to the point you know it all works before load-in and designing infrastructure systems that can handle changes on the fly. He also taught me to always be the solution and not the problem. I've worked under those principles still to this day."

In his time at 4Wall, Brad has been invaluable in building and expanding 4Wall's touring division and enhancing 4Wall's production capabilities across all markets. In his new role as Executive VP of Production, Hafer will lead client service strategy for 4Wall's large production clients in music and other areas while overseeing discipline specialists who will create baseline standards across lighting, video, rigging, and audio. His hands-on experience across multiple technical disciplines and his client-first approach position him perfectly for this expanded leadership role.

"Under my new role, I look forward to working with our teams that focus on corporate, touring, and tradeshows in a 360-degree manner and having them operating as one machine to improve efficiencies for our operations staff, road crews, and clients," Hafer noted. "Since so many of the clients we have work across different segments of the industry, they can expect that same level of care I put into a show whether it's music, a tradeshow, or a keynote address. To clients I have not worked with directly as of yet, I look forward to meeting them and seeing how we can become the best partner for them as well."

Leadership Perspective

4Wall CEO Wes Bailey spoke about the significance of these promotions: "Brad has shown over many years an innate ability to put our employees and the company in positions to create an excellent product. He takes care of people first both internally and externally, and I believe that always leads to a winning culture. He puts together shows and solves problems like a rock and roll touring guy, which has been a fantastic influence for us operationally."

Bailey continued, "Elliot has built our New York location as well as our TV/Film presence across the country. His industry experience and wealth of knowledge gained over years in the business make him an amazing resource for all of us at 4Wall. His ability to build relationships and understand what creates a good transaction is second to none."

Regarding how these promotions align with 4Wall's strategic vision in 2026 and beyond, Bailey added, "These promotions are the culmination of a lot of work both Brad and Elliot have been putting in since they joined the business, from Brad's perspective creating an organization that can deliver best in class production services, and from Elliot's side driving true partnerships at scale across the company.  I'm excited to continue to partner with both of them in this newest phase of 4Wall."

About 4Wall Entertainment

4Wall Entertainment is a leading provider of entertainment equipment rentals and services, specializing in lighting, video, rigging, and audio for music touring, live events, corporate functions, broadcast, theatre, and more. Founded in 1999, 4Wall is committed to delivering exceptional quality and service across all its US and UK locations.

Regarding the event's creative process, Rozenberg explained, "You take what you've done in previous shows, and what you've seen from shows you've attended, and simply build on that," he said. "For the final execution, you must have the right teams in place for all aspects, from 4Wall providing the video and lighting, to every other vendor we partner with." 



With the show taking place at the San Jose Convention Center for the first time, the venue's architecture, which featured a large footprint with low ceilings, presented a mild logistical challenge for the crew. 4Wall's organization, and flexibility were key aspects in adjusting the production seamlessly into the new space. 
 
Efficiency was crucial in staying on track with a compressed schedule, consisting of two and a half days total, including a day and a half of setup followed by long programming sessions. Clear documentation, open communication, and accessible support streamlined the workflow and kept production on track. 

 

4Wall's long-standing relationship with Rozenberg, in addition to their dedication to supplying outstanding gear, maintaining collaborative communication, and consistent adaptability, played an essential role in the success of the Give Thanks Festival. 
 
"All the gear 4Wall could make work, they made work. Good service, great response time, and open communication are all you can ask for when it comes to having everything fall into place," Rozenberg concluded. "Working with familiar faces, having everybody take part in building the show, and giving fans the best experience are the most rewarding parts of this project." 

Photos by Queen's Candid Photography

Before she joined 4Wall in 2019, Krowe built over a decade of experience in corporate and special events, initially starting on the production side and handling onsite management. Years of hands-on experience gave her a deep understanding of what goes into successful productions, from coordinating multiple teams to ensuring the right equipment and personnel are in place.  

Since joining 4Wall, Krowe has moved up through the organization, most recently serving as VP of Business Development, where she helped coordinate and manage 4Wall New York's local sales team while maintaining relationships across many clients. Her commitment to providing dedicated service for each event, alongside building lasting connections with both clients and colleagues, has shone across all her roles in the company. 

"Having been in the industry for over 20 years, I have always been impressed with 4Wall's reputation for excellence and innovation," said Krowe. "In the months ahead, my goal is to build on the strong foundation that 4Wall has established in this market. I feel very honored to be trusted with this responsibility, and I'm thrilled to work closely with so many talented people who I consider my friends. The future looks bright." 

Krowe credits 4Wall's senior leadership for shaping her management style. "Their commitment to supporting employees has inspired me to lead with empathy and purpose," she said. "I prioritize listening first, fostering collaboration, and creating an environment where every team member feels respected and valued." 

Looking ahead, Krowe is excited to continue working with the team assembled at 4Wall New York. "We have an incredibly talented group with deep expertise in every area," she said. "It's inspiring to see their growth and the projects they create. The energy and fresh perspectives from our team make this an exciting time." 

"This promotion reflects the hard work and dedication to our clients and our employees that Cassie has demonstrated throughout her time with 4Wall," said 4Wall CEO Wes Bailey. "Her industry experience, leadership skills, and understanding of our clients' needs make her the right person to lead our New York location." 

Krowe's production background, time spent managing 4Wall's New York sales team, and client-first approach position her to be successful in her new role. Her appointment highlights 4Wall's focus on promoting from within and recognizing the people who drive the company's success in the New York and New Jersey markets. 

Cassie Krowe can be reached at: CKrowe@4Wall.com 

About 4Wall Entertainment 

4Wall Entertainment is a provider of entertainment lighting, video, audio, rigging, and production services with locations throughout the United States and United Kingdom. From live events and tv and to brand activations and theatrical productions, 4Wall delivers equipment and production services for events across the world. 

The Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (MCAAD), a ground-breaking immersive venue located in five historic buildings in the heart of Washington, D.C., had its grand opening in September. The nonpartisan MCAAD is an educational organization, dedicated to betterment of health, financial awareness, philanthropy, and the key challenges facing the wider world. They've created 70,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space that explores bold ideas using powerful storytelling and immersive technology to engage visitors. MCAAD was looking for a way to provide an exceptional immersive and interactive experience for visitors to explore stories in a memorable and compelling way, and so the idea of a real-life 'Holodeck' was proposed-a space that surrounds the guests with LED screens and audio. While being a great technological storytelling tool, the concept raised numerous engineering challenges, such as how to mount a room that's completely clad in LED screen inside a historic space which had very tight weight and space restrictions, along with the need for robust entry and egress control for the visitors.

The myriad solutions to these real engineering challenges in a historic building and the realization of the Holodeck idea was the result of a tight technical partnership between 4Wall Entertainment and TAIT. 4Wall was the lead systems integrator, overseeing the technical side in terms of video, audio, and control for the entire MCAAD complex. TAIT brought their engineering and fabrication expertise to bear to make a Holodeck structure while staying in the space and weight limitations. The content for the stories told on the surrounding screens was created by Moment Factory. The result is MCAAD has created a unique visitor experience, with a 360° multisensory Holodeck-like experience that explores different American Dream stories brought to life with interactive technology. Officially titled the 'Perpetual Story Machine', visitors can learn about the diversity and spirit of the American Dream through animation, live-action video, and soundscapes in a 35-minute program.

This highly immersive, multi-sensory storytelling space is a wonderful example of the reach that the production technology industry has beyond event and entertainment productions. To learn more about the work of both 4Wall and TAIT on this project, PLSN spoke with Senior Director of A/V Systems and John Ackerman of 4Wall and Project Manager, Rawi Fayed of TAIT on the challenges and solutions to this engineering marvel at MCAAD.

4Wall Entertainment
John Ackerman, Senior Director of A/V Systems and

Give us an overview of the MCAAD Holodeck project.

The Holodeck went through a lot of planning and development. We sat down and started brainstorming-maybe we shouldn't have corners; should it be round or a ball; how do we get into reflections? If we were given X amount of people in the space, then we'd need X amount of space for support equipment to make it do its thing. We talked about adding lights, air puffers, smell-o-vision... You name it, we talked about it.

Also, the Holodeck itself moved around the building a couple of times. We ended up in the historic 1501 building and the Holodeck is in a floor that also has the job of supporting the landmarked ceiling below. Now we were talking about adding all this infrastructure with a massive restriction on what our point loads could be in terms of weight. Normally, you don't really think about it. You're going into a purpose-built event space; weight is weight. Here, weight was everything. No one wanted to trash the very expensive historical ceiling below.

We had an internal meeting and talked about a few companies we could work with on the structure, and we made the decision to partner with TAIT. Because TAIT was so busy, they chose to build it in their UK facility, so we had their great team out of the UK, where the structure itself got built.

Beside the weight limits, what were some of the other challenges with the Holodeck?

Once we got past not having to worry about not falling through the floor, the next restriction was we were out of power, before we even started. The building couldn't get anymore power from D.C., which also meant no more power, no more air conditioning. They wanted to get as many people as they could through these spaces, so they looked at robbing Peter to pay Paul to get all the AC-and the power it took-that they could in there. Of course, with weight and power in mind, they then wanted us to find a cool LED product for the screens, and it had to look good with the great content from Moment Factory.

We were choosing products at ISE in 2023 and looking at every LED panel on the planet. It was the early days of Chip On Board (COB) and too early for MIP [Micro LED in Package]. We spoke with the people at CreateLED, and they had a product that was cold to the touch. We got a sample wall demo and tested it for nine months so we could get the feel for it. It took about a year, but we were then confident we had our LED product. We went with MegaPixel processing for the LED screens. MegaPixel really saved the day on this project. We were so fortunate with the choices we made. From the time the project started to the time we purchased and made the install, MegaPixel doubled the bandwidth on the output side of the processor. It saved us a full rack of space and of switches. Also, I trust their processor's Green Mode. When you send the processor to black, five minutes later you get a green leaf on the readout, and the power draw goes down 25W per Sq. M., which is golden. That's a great feature because when you combine that with a more efficient LED product, your power when you're on is lower, and your power when off is lower. It's great.

Is every surface clad with LED panels?

Not quite every surface. All the walls, ceilings, and doors are covered in LED panels. We ran out of height and weight, so the LED floor was cut. But there is comfy carpet if people want to sit or lie down to enjoy the experience.

The whole structure is ground supported, correct? It's not touching the ceiling or walls.

That is correct. It's a box in a box. TAIT redesigned and redistributed the support points, so it's only supported on the perimeter. We had to distribute the weight that carefully. They did a great job.

What media servers did you choose to drive the content playback?

As with all things, it was an evolution. They wanted the content to be interactive. So we considered, should we go with Pixera? But Pixera Two wasn't out yet. Do we go with Disguise? How do we approach if from Moment Factory's point of view? Our experience, and our people, know Disguise. That's where they're comfortable. Also, Moment Factory really wanted Disguise. So, we went with Disguise VX3 media servers, and we used every MIP that system has. Chet Miller on our team spent months balancing and rebalancing the loads. It's a complex environment, but we got the controls down to a touchscreen tablet that the docents at MCAAD can just push a button and run all of this.

Why do you feel that 4Wall was the right company for this project?

We're the right company because 4Wall has the breadth and expertise to do a project of this scale and scope. This was all encompassing. 4Wall has this incredible team of people who have the experience, knowledge, and know how to successfully complete a project like this. We've been working on MCAAD since 2018.

Like most projects of this kind, it was a long development and install cycle. It was a really interesting project. While I've done other things in the past seven years of my life, really the last seven years of my life have been this project. It was an interesting challenge. Hard to believe it is over and now open. I am very proud of how the MCAAD project turned out. Everyone at 4Wall and TAIT are and rightfully should be. It's an excellent result, and the team did a great, great job, under demanding and ever-changing requirements.

TAIT
Rawi Fayad, Project Manager

Walk me through the TAIT scope of work for the Holodeck at MCAAD.

Working closely with 4Wall, the direct customer on this project, we provided the entire structure for the Holodeck itself that everything needed to hang onto as well as the automation for the four large doors that are the entryway into the Holodeck. We used TAIT Navigator show control for the doors opening and closing. We also provided two manual unpowered emergency exit doors in the event of an automation failure. The doors are covered, on both sides, with LED product, as are all four of the interior walls and ceiling. The LED product, speakers, LIDAR, and any other equipment for inside of the Holodeck was provided by 4Walland hung from our structure.

What were some of the challenges of working in a historical building?

That was one of the first challenges we ran into, it being on the fifth floor of that historical building with a historic ceiling below us on the fourth floor. The biggest thing for us, in addition to the weight limitations, was deflection. We had to make sure we were spreading the load as equally as possible on the floor so that we didn't cause any deflection on the ceiling below. The other challenge we had, because it's an old building, and no one knew what the steel work or structure was like, we couldn't rely on the steel work in the ceiling to rig from. It doesn't touch any of the walls, or any of the ceiling because we couldn't rely on any of that for load support. So, it's an entirely ground supported structure that has to spread its load in way that you're not deflecting the floor either. So, the entire structure basically needed to be self-supported at each stage. It had to be built ground up in this space while ensuring that we were maintaining deflection to a minimum. Also, all the structure had to be brought up in small enough chunks to go up a passenger elevator, because that's all we had access to. We'd send it up in chunks of maximum seven to eight feet, and then build it ground up in the space.

Literally like building a boat in the basement?

Yes, it really was. The advantage of that was it made it relatively easy to do a shop test. Because it's a self-standing structure that only needs a floor, we didn't have to simulate or replicate any of the walls, ceiling, or facility steel in our shop because we weren't using those in the field. So, we were able to just build it once in the shop, test everything under load, take it apart, label it, box it up, and ship it to site.

What material did you use, considering the weight restrictions?

It was a mix of steel and aluminum. Both materials are what we're used to using; at TAIT we have a lot of experience with them. Our Haverhill shop, one of our major shops in the UK, deals a lot with steel, so a lot of the steel work came out of that shop. For the elements where we were more concerned with weight, rather than deflection, we could move to aluminum. Those small sections were built in our Wakefield shop in the UK because they're more used to working in aluminum. We played to each strength of the materials, and to the strengths of our shops, to balance the use of steel and aluminum and combining the two. It's a good example of our global reach. We used a lot of our designers out of our London office and the combination of our two UK sites for manufacturing, then we used a local Lititz team for install because of the proximity to the project. So, it was very much a true TAIT global project.

Talk about some of the safety features.

The four doors that are used for show entry and exit are automated. All those doors have light curtains over the top of them on both sides. So, these detect any intrusions into the motion range of the doors. If anyone walks in while the door is moving or stops in the entry, those light curtains will detect that and will safely stop before hitting anyone. Then, in addition, there are the two emergency exit doors, which are unpowered. They're powered shut with a mag lock and a gas spring. So, in the event of either a fire alarm or power failure, that mag lock will release the latch on those two emergency doors, which are on opposite sides of the Holodeck room, and swing open automatically.

Is the frame for the LED panels similar to a touring frame, or completely custom?

It's similar, but a little different. We based it on the LED panels 4Wall were using and tried to make it front accessible for maintenance, since it is a permanent installation. We had to make sure that the ceiling wouldn't sag under all the weight of the LED on there, as well as to make it all fit nicely in the space. We were trying to push the walls out as far as possible in the volume we had, so we thought a lot about how to make the walls as slim as possible. Making everything front accessible as possible meant we didn't have to account for space to squeeze behind the wall if they didn't need to.

Why was TAIT the right company for this project?

One of the unique things that I think TAIT provided for this project was the full package nature of it. So, this was all fully custom, fully bespoke mechanical design. In addition to that, we did all the manufacturing in house. We were able to test build this in our shop from scratch and build the entire Holodeck for FAT [Factory Acceptance Testing]. We were able to combine that with the TAIT Navigator show control system that not only opens and closes the doors, but then also interfaces with the overall building show control system via the Smart Monkeys system. The ability Navigator has to communicate with pretty much any other show control system, or lighting or audio system, was one of the strengths we provided in addition to the expert bespoke mechanical construction.

It was a cool project to work on. I think that everyone involved really enjoyed working on it and just seeing it all come together. It is a great example of the TAIT system, the TAIT family of companies and our global offices, from the UK to Lititz, and ending up in Washington, D.C. We are all very proud of our work on this.

-Photography Courtesy of TAIT

The fixtures and consoles have already been distributed to 4Wall locations across the U.S. and are currently being utilized on a variety of events. These range from music tours and residencies, such as Whiskey Myers, Kenny Chesney, and BABYMETAL, to corporate, TV, and entertainment productions including Disney Upfront, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jimmy Kimme Live, Gordon Ramsay Summit, and Google I/O Developer Conference.

VL3600 Profile IP
Brett Puwalski, Senior VP of Product Strategy, noted, "The VL3600's IP65 rating, combined with its impressive 45,000 lumens output, made it a clear choice for our inventory. The addition of the LT version offers clients a fixture optimized for long-distance, narrow-beam applications."

Key Features:
- Output: 45,000 lumens
- Outdoor Rated: IP65
- Color Mixing: CMY+CTO
- (3) Effects wheels
- V*Track Calibration System: Limits unwanted movement
- Wireless DMX: Lumen Radio CRMX

VL3600 LT (Long Throw) Profile IP
The VL3600 Long Throw Profile IP offers the same feature set as the VL3600 Profile IP but is suited for extremely long-throw applications due to its larger lens and narrow zoom range of 3 - 42°.

VL5LED Wash
The VL5LED Wash is based on the classic VL5, which was one of the first ever moving lights, utilized in the 1990s and early 2000s. The VL5LED's compact form factor, wide color range, and versatile zoom are key features, complemented by its iconic diffusion blades. The VL5LED Wash was notably deployed for the Eagle's and Kenny Chesney's residencies at The Sphere, both supported by 4Wall.

Key Features:
- Output: 14,000 Lumens
- Color Temp: 1,800K - 10,000K
- Diffusion Blades: Vintage style based off the classic VL5
- LED blade light effects: Blades can be a different color than the beam
- Zoom Range: 8-35°

FLX S Consoles
The FLX S console is a compact, feature-rich board designed for smaller rigs that require robust capabilities.

Steven Way, GM of 4Wall Boston, highlighted the value of the FLX S Console, "These consoles have been ideal for rentals and events where budget and space are considerations, offering essential features typically found in larger consoles. Their compact design and ease-of-use make them intuitive for our technicians and clients alike."

Tisa spearheaded the approach with 4Wall to create a vibrant atmosphere that embodied CNA's vision throughout the event, from keynotes, discussion panels, and general sessions held at the hotel, to live performances and a cocktail party. 
"We collaborate with our technology partners to create an experience that enhances the client's event and communication goals," Tisa explained. "4Wall's lighting and video designers are critical to the process of equipment selection and system design." 
 
Essential to the event's immersion was an animated sequence that played across numerous LED walls with Absen PL2.5 Pro LED Panels and a full-video system. "The client, in conjunction with the production team, developed a thematic animation linked to a spoken-word song that anchored the event," Tisa explained. "The animation was used to introduce keynote presentations and discussion panels. A key part of the event's success was the visual experience of watching the animation on the wall-to-wall video display installed by the 4Wall team." 

In addition to the video walls spanning across both venues, themes of resilience and resistance shone through a warm color palette with CHAUVET Professional Maverick MK3 Wash, Maverick MK3 Profile, Color Strike M, and Vari-Lite VL3600 Profile fixtures. 4Wall utilized Elation Artiste Monet Profiles and Chauvet Maverick Force S Spot LEDs to bathe the Marriott Marquis' atrium in gold, red, and white while illuminating the break rooms with deep shades of red and pink.  

For Yerba Buena Gardens' stage and dance floor setup, the crew incorporated Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash fixtures, ACME Pixel Line fixtures, LED panels, and a steel deck package. "Lighting design, in conjunction with the video wall display, was central to creating an immersive guest experience," he said. "Our 4Wall LD, Devin Cruickshank, did a fantastic job working with our color and branding themes throughout the event space to create a unique and memorable space for our client." 

The installation of a larger citywide event posed a challenge for the crew, as it nearly impacted delivery schedules. Because 4Wall's logistics teams were operating both events, coordination with local IA and Teamster unions was crucial in preventing potential delays. "I love logistics, so a standout moment was watching the results of pre-production planning by the production team and 4Wall designers lead to a successful, on-time installation of the general sessions, despite a challenging timeline and load-in schedule." Tisa expressed. 

Tisa attributed 4Wall's expansive resources, expertise, and positivity throughout the endeavor as integral parts of the event's success. "One of the reasons we selected 4Wall is because of their prep work before arriving on site. Our timelines are tight and critical to our success, so prepared lighting systems, like Tyler GT Truss, were prepped, addressed, and programmed prior to site arrival," Tisa concluded. "The video wall team that vetted the system components and prepared to integrate the design with our crew ensured a quick and seamless installation. The entire team was professional, positive, and committed to being our partner." 

Lighting Design: Devin Cruickshank
Programming: David Dibbs
Photography: Queens Candid Photography

Mulvehill's professional journey began in public accounting and management consulting. In 2016, Mulvehill was named CFO/COO at Mountain Productions - a role that aligned richly to his interest in the entertainment and live event production industry. In 2021, he signed on to become Roc Nation's CFO, further bolstering his live events experience by supporting a roster of high-level clients including professional athletes, artists, and more. 

Reflecting on his new role, Mulvehill stated, "Being at 4Wall is the perfect place for me to now leverage my experience on both sides of the industry; to help contribute to the push forward." 

Mulvehill, who developed close relationships with several members of 4Wall's leadership before taking on his new position, was drawn to the company's positive, collaborative, and productive culture. 

"New ideas are constantly being presented, respected, considered, challenged, and implemented all in the shared spirit of improving the company each day," Mulvehill expressed. "In my past experiences, business environments with this sort of ethos thrive long-term and are simply just an enjoyable place to be." 

Alongside the company's culture, Mulvehill's decision was inspired by 4Wall's recent transition to a new ownership group, which took place in July.  

"The company's very recent transition to a new ownership group and subsequent recapitalization was extremely compelling to me in terms of jumping in at the beginning of this new chapter in the 4Wall story," he concluded. "With the transition came renewed energy and tailwinds in bringing 4Wall to its next significant phase of growth, and I am honored and excited to be a part of it."  

4Wall CEO Wes Bailey shared, "It's rare to find someone with Sean's financial acumen who also possesses experience across multiple levels of the industry. He knows the key drivers for our clients in entertainment and that knowledge will help improve our processes companywide.  Most importantly, he fits the culture of the company and understands the importance of people and relationships. He's a great addition to our management team and we all look forward to working with him for many years to come!" 

GPJ's Vision Becomes Reality

George P Johnson, one of the world's leading experience marketing agencies, conceived an ambitious plan for Stellantis (Jeep) that would transform the typical automotive reveal into an immersive brand experience. The Jeep 4x4 City Camp combined nostalgic installations representing five decades of Cherokee heritage with live entertainment, culminating in LL COOL J performing his hit "Mama Said Knock You Out" as part of the brand's new "America's Original Influencer" campaign.

"GPJ was looking to design an impactful event for Stellantis for the new Jeep Cherokee, hoping to integrate a more traditional product launch with a concert and a grand WOW moment," explained Will Jennings, 4Wall's Director of Special Projects. "That wow moment changed a few times during the creative process but we landed on the barge."

The production required three interconnected activation areas that GPJ designed to work in harmony: the central reveal stage in Domino Square, a concert stage in Domino Park on the riverfront, and a presentation stage built atop a barge in the East River.

"All locations were interconnected, both from a guest flow standpoint and technically they needed to be in sync," Jennings said. "At one point, we needed to shift focus from the concert stage to the barge stage and then back to the concert stage, so all video, lighting, audio and effects needed to appear seamless."

Hurricane Adds Urgency to Tight Timeline

With only two days of prep in the shop and three days on-site for load-in, programming, and rehearsals, the timeline was already tight. Then a hurricane hit New York during setup.

"We specified gear knowing it would be exposed to the elements, using IP-rated fixtures where possible and designing protection where it wasn't," Jennings noted. "We really had to watch wind speeds and have our rigging teams bring in LED screens and speaker arrays when it reached a certain speed."

The only significant damage? A couple of pop-up tents and one 85-inch display monitor that got caught by the wind. Most of the setup, from stage assembly to hanging pre-rigged truss, speaker arrays, and LED walls, still happened in a single day.

Technical Setup Across Three Venues

Working with GPJ's content team, 4Wall deployed different LED products based on viewing distances: Absen JP8, ROE CB5 and CB8, and Planar LN3.9 panels. The team built their video control center in an underground area beneath Domino Square, running all screens through Disguise media servers.

"We delivered pixel maps and content specs for each wall for the content team to build to," Jennings explained. "We were able to previsualize content as we received it with the client, so they would know what it looks like before it's actually on the wall. We then extended both video and network infrastructure over all spaces so our Disguise operator could sit at the concert stage with a view of the barge."

Audio requirements included D and speakers and amplifiers at each stage, with Shure Axient wireless systems and a mix of Yamaha, DiGiCo, and Avid consoles. Some audio equipment was specifically requested by LL COOL J and Royal Machines' production teams. Ben Danielowski, VP of Special Projects at 4Wall, spec'd IP-rated lighting wherever possible, leaning on Vari-Lite VL3600s as the main fixtures with Chauvet Pro and Elation filling out the rig. Six grandMA3 consoles were spread between the show sites.

The Barge: A Logistical Puzzle

The barge stage required months of planning with GPJ to secure permits, Coast Guard approvals, and solve basic logistics like transporting crew members on and off.

"After it was fully designed, it took about 45 minutes to get technicians by boat onto the barge," Jennings said. "There were only two boats, and they had to be very intentional when they ran, so if any of our technicians needed to go out to the barge, they were more than likely to be there the entire day."

Sharing video, lighting, and audio teams between stages separated by water became a unique obstacle to overcome. The solution involved careful scheduling and reliable communication systems between shore and barge operators, with unified wireless control allowing smooth transitions between stages during the show.

Making It Work at Domino Park

Domino Park presented its own challenges: fitting seven trailers worth of gear into a small Brooklyn park while coordinating multiple departments across multiple locations.

"We had to be extremely intentional with which departments were building at which location at any given time, which road boxes could be on the stage, etc.," Jennings explained. "While Domino Park is a lovely area and the GPJ team really utilized the space well, there are several logistical challenges."

The key to success? Communication. "Integrating all departments together cohesively comes down to planning and communication," Jennings said. "We created a very detailed schedule to make sure departments were handling tasks in a way that wasn't stepping on each other and making sure all stages got done in time."

Adapting Through Challenges

The scale of the event was aggressive from the beginning, with major design changes happening through prep and even on-site.

"This is always a difficult position to be in, and we couldn't have pulled it off without such a strong team," Jennings reflected. "It relied on consistent communication between designers, managers, programmers and crew leads."

Despite the hurricane, the compressed timeline, and the complexity of the barge operation, the event went off smoothly. The reveal was broadcast live to Times Square and on SiriusXM's Rock the Bells Radio, while thousands of fans experienced the Jeep 4x4 City Camp activation throughout the weekend.

Select Gear List

Audio

• (60) Clear-Com Freespeak II BP-19 Beltpack
• (60) Shure AD2 Wireless handheld Microphone
• (60) Shure AD1 Bodypack Transmitter - TA4
• (27) Shure Axient ADXR-A Digital PSM Bodypack Receiver
• (16) D and Audiotechnik V8 3-Way Line Array Speaker
• (14) D and Audiotechnik V Subwoofer
• (12) Meyer UM-1P Powered Monitor Speaker
• (8) D and Audiotechnik V12 3-Way Line Array Speaker
• (8) D and Audiotechnik B2 Subwoofer
• (7) D and Audiotechnik M4 2-Way Monitor Speaker
• (6) D and Audiotechnik Y12 2-Way Line Array Speaker
• (6) D and Audiotechnik Y8 2-Way Line Array Speaker
• (6) D and Audiotechnik E12X Subwoofer
• (6) D and Audiotechnik E6 2-Way Speaker
• (4) Yamaha RIO R1608 16:8 Stage Box
• (4) Electro-Voice Evolve 50 Subwoofer
• (4) Electro-Voice Evolve 50 Speaker Pole
• (4) D and Audiotechnik Y Subwoofer
• (4) D and Audiotechnik B4 Subwoofer
• (4) Shure PSM1000 G10 Dual Channel Personal Monitor System
• (3) Whirlwind PRESSPOWER 2 Active Press Box
• (2) Yamaha QL1 32Ch Digital Mixer
• (2) D and Audiotechnik D80 Amplifier
• (2) Clear-Com Freespeak II Wireless Base Station
• (2) D and Audiotechnik V7P 3-Way Speaker
• (2) D and Audiotechnik V8 2-Way Line Array Speaker
• (2) D and Audiotechnik T10 2-Way Line Array Speaker
• (2) Meyer Ultra-X40 Powered Speaker
• (2) D and Audiotechnik T Subwoofer
• (2) Pioneer CDJ3000 DJ Media Player
• (1) Yamaha QL5 64-channel mixer
• (1) D and Audio Technik D20 Amplifier
• (1) Clear-Com Arcadia X4-32P Station
• (1) Pioneer DDJM-A9 4ch Mixer

Camera

• (4) Blackmagic 4K UHD URSA Broadcast G2 2/3" Camera System
• (3) Fujinon 55X HD Box Lens XA55X9.5BESM
• (3) Canon 20X HD Lens JK20X8.2BKRSD
• (2) Panasonic Robo CAM AW-UE150 4K 60P
• (1) Panasonic AG-CX350 4K Camera
• (1) Blackmagic ATEM TV Studio Pro 4K Switcher
• (1) Sony XDCAM PXw-X70 Camcorder
• (1) Panasonic Lumix BGH1 M4/3 Cinema 4K Box Camera

Lighting

• (82) Chauvet Pro COLORado PXL Bar 16 IP65
• (52) Vari-Lite VL3600 Profile IP
• (36) Chauvet Pro Color Strike M IP65
• (32) Creamsource Vortex8 RGBW IP65
• (32) Chauvet Pro Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash IP65
• (30) Astera AX7 Wireless Spotlite Par IP65
• (19) Elation Proteus Maximus
• (15) Elation Proteus Hybrid IP65
• (15) Chauvet Pro Maverick Storm 1 Wash
• (15) Chauvet Pro COLORado PXL Bar 8 IP65
• (14) Chauvet Pro Rogue Outcast 1 BeamWash IP65
• (12) Creamsource Vortex4 325W RGBW IP65
• (12) Chauvet Pro COLORado PXL Curve 12 IP65
• (11) GLP JDC1 Strobe
• (8) Robe BMFL Followspot
• (4) GrandMA3 NPU
• (4) Elation Proteus Excalibur IP65
• (2) GrandMA3 Full
• (2) GrandMA3 Light
• (1) GrandMA3 Replay Unit
• (1) GrandMA2 Light Console
• (1) Robe BMFL Followspot LT

Staging and

• (55) Tyler Truss Black 12" x 12" x 10'
• (24) Chainmaster ½ Ton Hoists
• (15) Tyler Truss Black 12" x 12" x 8'
• (10) Chainmaster ¼ Ton Hoists
• (10) Tyler Truss Black 12" x 12" x 5'
• (9) Tyler Truss Black 12" x 12" x 4'
• (8) Chainmaster 1-Ton Hoists
• (7) Tyler Truss GT+ 5' Black Straight

Video

• (104) Roe 8.33MM Carbon CB8S Transparent Tile
• (104) Planar 3.9MM Leyard Outdoor Tile
• (70) Absen JP8 Pro LED Tile
• (40) ROE 5.77MM Carbon CB5 LED Tile
• (10) Brompton XD 10G>1G LED Distribution
• (4) Brompton SX40 4K Processor
• (2) Disguise EX3+ 2RU
• (2) Barco ImagePro 4K 6:6 Scaler
• (2) Novastar Novapro-UHD JR 4K Processor
• (1) Disguise GX1 W/Notch Playback
• (1) Barco E2 Gen2 4K Switcher
• (1) Barco EC-210 Event Master Full Controller
• (1) Blackmagic ATEM Constellation 8K
• (1) Blackmagic Smart VideoHub 40:40 12G SDI Router

About 4Wall Entertainment
4Wall Entertainment is a full-service entertainment technology company providing lighting, video, rigging, and audio solutions for live events, broadcasts, and installations worldwide. With multiple locations across the United States, 4Wall combines extensive inventory, technical expertise, and innovative problem-solving to support productions of any scale. The company partners with leading agencies, brands, and production companies to deliver memorable experiences.

Leading audio, lighting and video company 4Wall Entertainment has made a significant investment in Elation's Paragon series, adding hundreds of Paragon S and Paragon M LED profile luminaires to its rental inventory across multiple U.S. locations.

According to Wes Bailey, CEO at 4Wall, the Paragon's compact size and host of innovative features were decisive factors. "Paragon S fills a valuable need for us due to its compact size and wide feature set. The fact that it's also IP54 rated made purchasing these an easy decision."
Bailey also highlighted the fixture's variable CRI engine, multiple front lens choices, and ultra-quiet mode as significant advantages. "Previously, there were few options in this field that had these offerings. You would have to pick and choose what features were important to you and what you were willing to give up. Having these features all in one fixture was an important factor in our decision to add these."

New Flagship Series
Elation's Paragon series is the company's new flagship fixture line, reflecting years of R and development and collaboration with top lighting designers. Available in three models (S, M, LT) to suit different venue scales and needs, each fixture is IP54-rated and built with flexibility in mind. Paragon features an interchangeable lens system, Elation's proprietary TruTone variable CRI technology, and a comprehensive suite of creative design tools - all within a compact, rugged housing.

Already in Action
4Wall's new Paragon units are already being put to use across a wide range of projects, including corporate events, concert tours, television, and theatre productions. Recent highlights include the IBM Tech Conference, Dell Technologies World, NetApp Converge, Ford National Dealer Meeting, and the upcoming Dreamforce convention.

Am I Roxie?
In the theatre world, 4Wall's Paragons are currently featured in Am I Roxie?, running September 3 - October 5 at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles with fixtures supplied by 4Wall. Lighting Designer Pablo Santiago, who specified the Paragon for the play and is using them over the stage to create specials, backlight, stage textures, and kinetic movement, praised the fixture's versatility and compact design: "The reason why we chose the Paragon was first and foremost the size," Santiago explained. "We have limited fly space due to all the scenery flying in for the different scenes, so making sure it fit and was able to be as flexible as we needed the movers to be, it was the perfect choice."

Santiago added that the Paragon's brightness "is quite good for the size and doesn't fall off when in saturated color, which is very helpful. We don't feel we are compromising on lumens for a theater the size of the Geffen." The designer highlighted the gobo options and flexibility as especially useful in a theatre setting, with the standard gobo load interesting and likely to be very useful for a theatrical production. "The color chips, particularly the quad color, also stand out," he said. "And the effects and movement from the prisms and animation wheel give me a wide range of choices and evocative looks."

Paragon has also been designed for applications that require quiet operation, an important feature in any theatre setting and one that Santiago remarked on. "The play has a lot of quite intimate moments, and we haven't had any issues with fan noise which is impressive."

Bailey concludes by noting that the competitive price point were also important considerations when comparing Paragon to similar fixtures. The new fixtures join a wide range of other Elation products already in 4Wall's inventory, further strengthening the company's ability to fulfill client needs across multiple markets.

The band's team, comprised of Production Manager Jake Mann, Lighting Director John "Lucky" Lucksinger, Road Manager Ali Hocking, and Tour Manager Pablo Gamboa, was presented with a unique design request from vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons.  

"Billy Gibbons came back from Europe and gave a directive after seeing a performance from Queens of the Stones Age," the team said. "It was completely unexpected from the direction we had been taking, but of course we were going to oblige. The concept came from a video he'd shown to us, and we proceeded from there."  

With extensive experience in lighting design, Lucksinger utilized ACME Gemini, CHAUVET Pro Color STRIKE M and onAir Panel Mini IPs as the main fixtures in bringing the guitarist's direction to life on stage. The fixtures played key roles in notable moments, such as highlights on drummer Frank Beard's signature drum rolls and a dynamic closing act.  

 
The seamless coordination between the band's crew, 4Wall VP of Live Events Michael Golden, and 4Wall Project Manager Max Lenox was an integral part of delivering a vibrant experience for every performance. 

"Our production team, alongside Michael Golden and everyone at 4Wall, allowed us to experience a great space to design and package the tour's production," they expressed. "Being able to build at the 4Wall facility makes it pleasant in having such support and inventory available in the building. Michael was exceptional in making sure we had all the bits and pieces to make it happen. Max and company had a solution for any requests.  We couldn't have asked for better!" 

 
ZZ Top's Elevation tour is currently ongoing until November. Tickets are available at zztop.com/tour. 

Compact and Versatile
The MAC One BeamWash gives designers a compact yet powerful solution that seamlessly transitions between beam and eye-candy effects. Featuring a 470W white LED engine delivering over 33,000 lumens and electronic zoom from 4° to 27°, the fixture delivers exceptional output from its lightweight 52 lbs. frame. The fixture also comes with Martin's VDO Grid Mount System, providing versatility on how the fixtures can be mounted.

"The MAC One BeamWash fills a gap in our inventory for clients who need maximum impact in minimal space," said Brett Puwalski, Senior VP of Operations and Strategy at 4Wall. "We've seen increased demand for fixtures that can deliver powerful and tight beams along with engaging eye-candy effects. The MAC One fits that role well."

MAC Ones at The Sphere
For Kenny Chesney's performances at The Sphere, the MAC One BeamWash played a crucial role in meeting the artist's exacting standards. "I was looking for a compact fixture that I could line the stage edge with," said Mark Butts, Creative Director at Preset Productions. "Lighting is a big part of a Chesney show, and there are very specific dynamics and cues the artist is expecting. Since there is limited overhead lighting in The Sphere, I wanted to load these up as floor lights to get those dynamics Kenny is looking for."

Butts noted that the fixture selection was particularly critical given Chesney's preferences. "I mainly chose the MAC One because it was the only LED wash light with a homogeneous face, no visible pixels, and a large aperture given the size of the fixture. Kenny was very particular about the look of the fixture, and pixel arrays are a non-starter for him."

Industry Response

"The response from our clients that have already utilized the MAC Ones has been overwhelmingly positive," Puwalski noted. "We're already seeing repeat requests from designers who immediately recognized their potential. Starting out with hundreds of these fixtures allows us to support multiple large-scale productions simultaneously while maintaining availability for smaller events."

The MAC One BeamWash fixtures are now available for rental at 4Wall locations across the United States.

About 4Wall Entertainment
4Wall Entertainment is a leading provider of entertainment equipment rentals and services, specializing in lighting, video, rigging, and audio for live events, corporate functions, broadcast, theatre, and more. With locations across the United States and United Kingdom, 4Wall is committed to delivering exceptional quality and service to productions of all scales. Learn more at www.4wall.com.

The investment was directly driven by client requests for versatile, high-performance audio solutions capable of servicing everything from large-scale general sessions to intimate breakout rooms. Building upon a strong existing inventory of L-Acoustics products, this purchase was a logical step in expanding 4Wall's audio inventory.

"Expanding our L-Acoustics inventory is an exciting step forward, but it's just one piece of a much larger investment we're making in audio at 4Wall," said David Caulwell, VP of Live Events for Audio. "Our goal has always been to provide our clients with versatile solutions, and that means pairing top-tier gear with the right people to support it. This investment ensures we're delivering thoughtful service, reliable solutions, and a team that truly has our customers' backs."

The new equipment package includes the scalable L-Acoustics Kara II and the compact Kiva II line array systems, the full-range K3 system, sleek Syva and Syva Low column speakers, and the powerful SB15m subwoofers. This gear joins 4Wall's current L-Acoustics offerings, which include K2, SB18, and KS28 systems, X15 and X12 speakers, P1 Processors, and LA12X and amplified controllers.

This comprehensive suite of L-Acoustics products provides designers and engineers with a familiar, highperformance workflow for a wide variety of applications:

• Kara II: A powerful and scalable line array ideal for medium to large events. They provide clear and consistent sound coverage across a large area and can be flown or ground stacked.
• Kiva II: An ultra-compact and lightweight system designed for small to mid-size events and venues. They are visually discreet and provide extreme precision with their sound coverage.
• K3 Line Source System: A small, full-range enclosure that delivers big sound for mid-size events. Its design reduces the need for an amplifier, and its full-range bandwidth reduces the need for a subwoofer.
• Syva and Low: High-performance column speaker systems that deliver wide coverage and long throw in a low-profile design. The Syva Low can be paired with the Syva for applications needing low-frequency.
• SB15m Subwoofers: A versatile speaker perfect for front fills, stage monitoring, and breakout rooms.

In addition to adding new audio equipment, 4Wall is actively expanding its team of audio professionals to ensure every project receives expert support.

"We are actively evaluating our audio ecosystem, from equipment selection and system design to the technical expertise available in each market. We're currently recruiting more full-time technicians and shop staff across our locations," explained Elliot Carroll, Director of Live Events for Audio. "This approach ensures every project has the right gear and team behind it."

About 4Wall Entertainment
4Wall Entertainment is a global event technology company that provides a full range of services, including lighting, video, audio, and rigging. With a commitment to providing the best equipment and unparalleled customer service, 4Wall supports productions of all sizes and scopes. For more information, visit www.4wall.com.

About L-Acoustics
L-Acoustics is a manufacturer of professional sound systems and the inventor of the modern line source array. The company is dedicated to developing innovative sound technologies that elevate the listener experience at events and venues across the world. For more information, visit www.l.acoustics.com.

The new IP65-rated fixtures have already been distributed to multiple 4Wall locations and are being utilized by The Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live, Law and Google, and the NBA.

"As 4Wall deepens its commitment to the film, television, and broadcast community, bringing Creamsource into our inventory was important to us," said Elliot Krowe, 4Wall Senior VP and Regional GM. "The Vortex line of fixtures delivers exceptional light quality and durability, and Creamsource's top-tier customer support perfectly aligns with our promise to give crews the very best gear and service."

A key factor in the investment was the advanced control offered by Creamsource's lighting control app, Slyyd. The free iOS app gives users control over individual fixtures to mix color, fine-tune color temperature, save looks, and share projects with other app users, alongside additional features.



"We are always looking to provide clients with new technology that offers solutions to the problems they regularly face, and the Slyyd app was an important selling point for us," said 4Wall VP of Broadcast Services, Drew DeCorleto. "The app's ability to color-match and fine-tune the white light of fixtures with the press of a button adds practical solutions for a production. The fact that it also connects with non-Creamsource fixtures makes it immensely more valuable to our clients."

The versatility and practicality of Slyyd, combined with Creamsource's commitment to providing useful workflows and collaboration, make this partnership a natural fit for both companies.

Tama Berkeljon, Creamsource CEO, added, "Lighting is ultimately about community: DPs, gaffers, board ops, and set technicians working alongside rental partners like 4Wall. Our fixtures, control systems, and workflows are designed to support this collaboration, and 4Wall's strong reputation for exceptional service perfectly complements our goal to enhance the entire lighting community."

Available Fixtures:
• Vortex4
• Vortex8
• Vortex8 Soft
• Vortex24
• Space X
• Micro Colour

About 4Wall Entertainment:
4Wall Entertainment is a full-service audio, lighting, video and rigging company providing rentals, sales and production services across the entertainment industry. With 16 locations across the U.S. and U.K., 4Wall pairs a vast, meticulously maintained inventory with the technical expertise to support projects of any scale.

About Creamsource:
Founded in Sydney, Australia, Creamsource designs and manufactures high-performance LED lighting equipment renowned for durability, colour accuracy and innovative control solutions.

We are thrilled to have our new investors, led by Man Varagon, supporting 4Wall as we move into the next phase of the company's journey.

Wes Bailey, 4Wall CEO

The new ownership group, led by Man Varagon (a subsidiary of Man Group with over $13B of assets under management) has committed significant new capital to 4Wall which will create a platform for continued future investment and growth. 

4Wall CEO Wes Bailey spoke of the transaction.  "We are thrilled to have our new investors, led by Man Varagon, supporting 4Wall as we move into the next phase of the company's journey."

The entire 4Wall management team, led by CEO Wes Bailey, CMO Dan Abdalla, and SVPs Brad Hafer, Brett Puwalski, Josh Weisberg, and Lindsay Desautels, have been retained as part of the transaction and will continue to lead the company moving forward.  In addition, Elliot Krowe, Larry Mikalishen, Brian Luftig, and Darren Poultney will continue to head up their respective regions within 4Wall. 

"The most important part of this transaction is the fact that our team members will benefit greatly from it.  The new ownership group has created an environment for us to do our best work for our staff, our clients, and our partners across the industry," said Bailey. "With this transaction completed we can now turn our entire focus toward continuing to build the best possible platform for our customers to create unforgettable events and experiences across the US and Europe."

About 4Wall Entertainment
4Wall Entertainment is a leading provider of entertainment equipment rentals and services, specializing in lighting, video, rigging, and audio for live events, corporate functions, broadcast, theatre, and more. 4Wall is committed to delivering exceptional quality and service across all of its US and Uk locations. 

About Man Varagon
Man Varagon is a subsidiary of Man Group plc with over $13B of assets under management as of March 31, 2025. Headquartered in London, Man Group plc manages $172.6 billion as of March 31, 2025 and operates across multiple offices globally. Man Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker EMG.LN and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Further information can be found at www.man.com.

 
Rooted in a fully manual design approach, the tour programming struck a unique balance of being energetic and dynamic, while implementing repeatable cues. Utilizing the grandMA3 in Mode 3 for full control and the VL3600 Profile's powerful zoom range, alongside additional fixtures, were key to elevating the group's musical performances. 
 
"What we're doing with the LX is basically adding a layer of energy behind them as support," Vaughan explained. "We also used the JDC-1s to their full potential with bold color hits by projecting sheets of colored light to fill in black spaces, while Acme Pixel Lines carried a large part of the eye candy." 
 

Vaughan's intricate approach was brought to life through a collaboration with the band, 4Wall VP of Live Events Bob Suchocki and key contributions from Live-Redesigned Designer Clay Joiner. Through the team's adaptability, the show was programmed in a week and a half, followed by four days of rehearsals in Rock Lititz.  
 
"We were set on accomplishing what the band envisioned," he added. "Rather than distracting from their performances, we did the fine dance of being impactful while adding energy to every show." 

 
4Wall's flexibility, passion and professionalism exemplify the seamless process of executing the tour's lighting design. "The crew will go above and beyond to get what we need done," Vaughan said. "I love working with Bob [Suchocki] because I can talk to him about anything, and it'll happen at a level higher than what I was expecting. If something isn't possible, we all work together to find a solution, and it's always a great feeling knowing you have people behind you like that."  

Caulwell joins 4Wall from Riedel Communications, where he played a pivotal role supporting high-profile clients, including the NFL, MLB, NBA, news and sports networks, social media platforms, and space exploration companies. His experience spans all facets of live production, from mobile trucks and boutique events to large-scale productions, shaping his philosophy that exceptional audio is foundational to meaningful and impactful experiences. 

"I've always viewed 4Wall as the undisputed leader in live events, from touring and corporate functions to broadcast and theatrical productions," Caulwell shared. "Expanding their existing audio strategy to complement their expertise in lighting, video, and rigging feels like a natural progression." 

Brad Hafer, Senior Vice President of Global Live Events at 4Wall, expressed enthusiasm about Caulwell's addition. "Bringing David onboard significantly strengthens our growing audio offering," said Hafer. "His extensive industry experience, coupled with his strategic approach to audio solutions, positions us to enhance our service and support to our clients." 

Beyond technical excellence, Caulwell was drawn to 4Wall's company culture. "What really sealed the deal for me, though, is the company's culture," said Caulwell. "There's a real commitment to making every team member feel valued, engaged, and heard. In my first few weeks here, I've experienced that firsthand. People genuinely care, not just about getting the job done, but about each other. There's a real sense of camaraderie and openness. You can reach out to anyone, regardless of location or title, and be met with support." 

In his new role, Caulwell aims to leverage 4Wall's existing audio capabilities while enhancing standardization and expanding IP-based audio solutions to better serve hybrid and broadcast events. "It's about optimizing how we deploy gear, meeting evolving client needs, and empowering our teams," he explained. "We have trusted brands like Shure, L-Acoustics, d and audiotechnik, Meyer Sound, Yamaha, DiGiCo, Riedel, and Clear-Com. My goal is to strengthen our audio inventory and on-site execution to provide even greater value to our clients." 

Further bolstering the audio division, Elliot Carroll has also joined the company alongside Caulwell, bringing over two decades of experience managing audio services for significant corporate events, conventions, broadcasts, and festivals. "Elliot is the ideal addition to our team," Caulwell stated. "His expertise in tech management, strategic gear investments, operational leadership, and team welfare is exactly what we need to drive thoughtful, sustainable growth." Carroll's day-to-day role will focus on driving innovation, optimizing operational leadership, and enhancing client support across key areas like project design and warehouse management. 

"I'm incredibly proud to join 4Wall," Caulwell concluded. "The combination of world-class execution and a culture filled with collaboration and respect makes this opportunity truly special. We're ready to raise the bar even higher, and yes, I've already located the best coffee machine in the building. Priorities." 

For more information, contact David Caulwell at dcaulwell@4wall.com. 

About 4Wall Entertainment 
4Wall Entertainment is a leading provider of entertainment equipment rentals and services, specializing in lighting, video, rigging, and audio for live events, corporate functions, broadcast, theatre, and more. 4Wall is committed to delivering exceptional quality and service across all of its US and UK locations. 

Zedd, a renowned DJ, record producer, and songwriter, brings his EDM work to another level, blending electronic dance with pop and classical influences. This was on stage during his Coachella 2025 sets with surprise appearances of guest artists Maren Morris, John Mayer, Elley Duhé, and Bea Miller. The high energy performances were a highlight of the iconic festival. Bringing his signature performance style to the Outdoor Theatre stage, Zedd was supported by a dynamic visual lighting design by Production/Lighting Designer Stevie Hernandez. Hernandez, who has worked with Zedd since 2012, was in turn supported by lighting vendor 4Wall Entertainment. Both Hernandez and 4Wall shared with PLSN a bit about the design and their work on Zedd at Coachella 2025.

Stevie Hernandez: Production/Lighting Designer
On the design: This was a one-off, it was not based off the tour. For this show, I saw what the festival was providing, and I wanted to expand on that. The Outdoor [Theatre] stage is a little over 200' wide. I wanted to take advantage of how wide the space was and kind of frame in; adding in more lighting to make the show work for the looks we need for our show. For all our shows in general, we need a really high energy, really fast-moving lights. We use a lot of different fixtures to have all the sounds represented throughout our set. So, I just added those fixtures at Coachella that I thought were missing in the house package to represent the music.

On the gear choices: We brought in about 96 [ACME] Pixel Lines. We're very heavy on pixel effects. I frame the whole stage, top and bottom, the whole width of the stage with the Pixel Lines. I like that they're great pixels and they have a strobe in the middle, which adds another element. I personally like using them in full DMX mode where we have two rows of pixels per fixture, so it has 16 on top, 16 on bottom, plus the middle white strobe. They're very versatile. You can get a lot of looks out of them. I also used a bunch of [Robe] Pointes. I've been using Pointes pretty much for all my tours and shows since they came out. I love them. I love that they're fast, they're quick and bright and it's probably one of the few fixtures that can do certain looks that I like at a certain BPM. That's why we still use them, even though they are older. We also brought in these newer fixtures, the Ayrton Kyalamis. We brought in 40 of them. I wanted a small fixture to put around the DJ booth that wasn't going to obstruct people from being able to see him. So, we had the whole DJ deck just framing the DJ booth, and they were pretty cool.

On the SFX used: Our show is very choreographed when it comes to the video, lighting, lasers, and pyro. It's all well thought out and properly choreographed. We use our lasers mainly as an effect. So, they are complementing what's going on. We like to reveal the lasers on a song that's just lasers, so it has a WOW factor. The video, lighting, everything shuts off and we try to make the brightest, craziest laser look for the first reveal. We also have tons of pyro-flames and CO2. We go through every single song and figure out how we're going to use the pyro. Figuring out what type of pyro, what color, for what sounds, what hits. As I said, it is very choreographed in all the details.

On 4Wall's support: 4Wall was great. We use them quite a bit and they were great about knocking this one out of the park at such short notice. We were originally supposed to be on a different stage, and we had the design done, we had the gear, we had everything locked in. Then at the last minute we got switched to the Outdoor Stage. We had to, with like a week's notice, put together a new design, and 4Wall had to put together another lighting package for us. We were on the road, on a tour in South America. In my hotel room, I had to come up with another design that was going to work and fit the Outdoor Stage. We couldn't just drop in the other stage design onto the Outdoor Theatre one. But 4Wall was great and they went with it. Everybody on that team worked really hard last minute to pull it all together. It looked really good. It was a cool show.

Andrew Isola and Koval: 4Wall Entertainment Directors of Live Events
On what 4Wall provided for Zedd at Coachella: 4Wall's scope of work at Zedd was twofold. We provided the lighting equipment for the flown and ground packages and the robo-camera systems for Zedd at the Outdoor Theatre. We also assisted Zedd's tour management team with production plots and systems integration with the pre-existing systems for the lighting and video at the Outdoor Theater.

On the change of stages: This particular Zedd project had some unique time challenges. We initially started with a design that was on a different stage for Coachella; a design that was closer to their pre-existing tour package. As we developed the design to fit the stage, the focus went away from the tour package and went more towards a new design that they wanted to present specifically at the festival. That required us to redesign the lighting system for the Coachella show in a rapid timeline. However, as we progressed with the project, it was decided to move the artist to a different stage to allow him to have a larger presence and crowd. That required us to get the updated design and integrate it into the new bigger stage. We had great support from the festival and tour management. Everyone pulled together to make all these changes successful. Everything really worked out due to the hard work and dedication of all parties involved.

On why 4Wall was the right vendor for this project: Our adaptability, customer service, and attention to detail allowed us to make the changes they needed in the timeline allotted.

On supporting Zedd: The Zedd team was really, really nice to work with. They understand production and the challenges you face. They understand once you're working on a project that egos and opinions don't matter. The only thing that matters is that the final product turns out well and that the artist is happy. And we are pleased to have helped realize that result for the Zedd show at Coachella.