LDI 2017

Gareth has been in the business of making scenery move for more than 15 years, but theatrical automation hasn’t always been his passion. At age 3, after loving encouragement from his parents to be anything he wanted, he decided he wanted to be a whale. Whales are really neat. By age 5, he had recovered from that obvious disappointment and excitedly asked for a set of “real” tools for Christmas. The heartbreak at receiving plastic “toy” tools served only to inspire. Luckily, Gareth eventually got his hands on real tools, dove into theatre and became hooked on automation. Years later, Gareth had acquired experience automating scenery using a range of mechanical and electronic techniques (some of which are better left forgotten) for clients from regional theatres to automation giants including Disney and Universal. After working with budgets ranging from dozens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, he was convinced he could create a system of automation components that would reduce the cost and complexity of scenic automation. That conviction inspired Creative Conners, Inc., and it’s been the most fun job yet. Even better than being a whale.