BECOMING AN INDEPENDENT
LIGHTING DIRECTOR

By Bill Lotzko

After many years of struggling up the “chain ladder”, so to speak, I had finally made the step to independent LD! It is a scary experience at first. No weekly check to fall back on, no shop work or maintenance to fill in the very empty spaces (monetarily speaking) between tours. I was scared and psyched.

Soon, I would be taking my rightful place next to all my heroes of lighting. That special aloof breed of people that slept late, came in for lunch and focus, played with the board a little, then left for that nap before the show, and never got dirty! You know, the “white gloves” crowd. Oh, and don’t forget about getting to walk away, as soon as the show is over, with some beautiful audience member, for that special trip to the back lounge, or a local bar.

Bill Lotzko

That was the life for me, no load-ins, no load-outs, no truck packs, and no “fix that right now!” oar “this defies the bloody laws of physics! What are you thinking, you WANKER?” One day it would be me shouting at the crew, “Come on, get this rig up, NOW! I am going to miss my nap at this rate!” I do not know when, if it was carrying a 100 pound coil of four-ought, sweating as if I was in Hades, on a beach gig, sand permanently imbedded into my shoulder, or hanging in harnesses, legs numb without circulation, dealing with some ACL problem, but when I looked over at the non-sweating, clean-handed LD, making his decision to go back on the bus until we were ready for him, I knew!

Yes, I knew in my heart that I was going to be that person someday, that was my reward for all the years of cable humping, truck loading, soggy rain soaked days, that was why I was doing this. So I could change my accent at will with each tour - what would I be today, hmmm? Should I be a stark raving mad teabag, or perhaps a Southern gentleman? Oh, I was going to have so much fun!

Getting the locals to find me the best strip clubs! Being at FOH, instead of hanging off some greasy chain motor, 25 feet up in the air, with a group of brothers in a $10 card game. This was my plan circa 1987.

Well let’s fast-forward to today, 2001. I went through the last 14 years quite rapidly, and in quite a bit of a blur. I made the jump to the secret society of moving lights. Something I did not find as easy as some of my counterparts. Remember this was a time before the industry standard was DMX 512 after being raised strictly as an analog PAR can kind of guy.

I was given too many options, and I simply could not make up my mind as to what to do first. You know the old adage, a kid in the candy store! I did many major tours, events, and videos. I had my first motion picture experience, yeah, the money was good, but it takes too damn long, this coming from someone with a touring background. You know, get it in, do the show, and move it out, all the same day! I even was in on President Clinton’s first inauguration, although you would be hard pressed to find a lighting person who wasn’t in D.C. for that.

All these experiences were under the wings of a lighting company. I was still not independent. When I say I was not independent, I mean that I worked for a lighting company but I still took those one-off club gigs, or whatever would drift my way.

Independence came out of left field, totally unexpectedly. I was deep in that void of the no work zone. Sitting at home alone one night because I could not afford to do anything else. It was about 11 pm,I remember because I thought it was a strange time for a phone call at home. On the road I would not have given it a second thought, because you never know who will call at what hour out there.

There was a voice at the other end asking: “Are you Bill? Are you working?”

“No, I am at home where you called me,” I replied. “Do you want to do a short tour, you know about two or so weeks?” “Who is this?” I inquired. The gentleman gave me his vitals and answered all my questions about the tour.

We agreed on a price for my services, and he told me it was some sort of Latin music gig. I was thinking salsa music, then we both admitted to never having done this kind of music before, had a laugh and hung up. It was then that I realized that we had not even talked about lighting! I thought, damn, I wonder if he knows what I do? So I called back and made sure we both agreed on the position (LD) I would be filling. Well the performer turned out to be a big South American rocker, the small tour was great, and it opened up many doors for me, allowing me to proceed to the point that I am at today in my career as an independent lighting designer.

Of course, the business has changed and the crews have gotten smaller, and hardly anyone that isn’t currently HUGE carries production anymore, so in a way I am right about where I have been all along, except a whole lot happier! Well, we just rolled up to load in and it is time for me to go, and see what surprises lay ahead for me today.