“I don’t recall a day where I woke up and thought ‘I want to play with lights and LED screens.’ I started as a musician.” Paul shares. “I loved music and all that surrounded it. I worked for DJ for a while setting up his lights and operating them for his dance parties. From there it grew to corporate events and from there to bands and more specialised events including television.”Paul kept working with lighting from then and it has taken him far. “I’ve found myself on just about every continent of the planet at some point because someone liked the way I worked with light. If that’s not strange I don’t know what is!” he laughs.
“One of my proudest moments was working with a great team of people to build and execute a large outdoor opening ceremony for a Soccer tournament in Abu Dhabl in the U.A.E.” he says. “From green light to show day was less than four weeks. Considering we spent almost a year on something like the Commonwealth Games Ceremonies in Melbourne, this was a mammoth feat” he says. “It proves that with a great team of people you can achieve anything.”
But it isn’t the only international sporting event Paul has been involved in. He was one of the only foreigners involved in the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. “It was an honour to be involved in the 2008 Olympic Games Opening and Closing ceremonies in Beijing.” He was originally asked to design the lighting control system however over time, his duties grew to encompass broadcast lighting among other things.
The best part of it, Paul says, was living and breathing China. “The media in the western world did such an appalling job of portraying what the real China was all about. I am glad I’ve had a chance to see exactly what it’s like. The people are fantastic, the food is amazing and so diverse that anyone’s taste can be satisfied.” Paul says, “The Chinese person on the street is an amazing humanitarian. They care deeply about those around them. Not just the special guests to their country but the people they work both with and for. It’s an amazing place that the rest of the world could really learn a thing or two about.”
“I’ve always been taught that you can learn something from just about every situation you find yourself in.” Paul says. “When you accept a job to work on one of the biggest events in the world you definitely ask yourself at some point if you are up to the task. It’s nice looking back at it thinking that there really was no point during the project where I felt like I was out of my depth” he says. “The Chinese approach was very simple. The ceremonies were technically one of the simplest shows I’ve ever worked on (at that scale.) I definitely learnt to respect that you don’t need to have the latest and greatest technology and use it to it’s fullest extent to entertain people.”
Paul says he’d like to keep going and work on more events of a similar nature. “On the other hand I’d like to spend a little more time at home in Australia. As far as my career goes I see lighting and video converging. I have a lot to learn about that aspect of our industry so I’ll need to dedicate some time to learning some new skills.”
But Paul’s job isn’t just creating lighting at international events. His day-to-day tasks are a very different experience, with no two days the same.
“A day could involve meeting after meeting. More emails than you can imagine. Phone calls and Skype calls. Sitting behind a computer finalising designs or filling in spreadsheets. More often than I like, it could include an airport or two” he says.
“If it were an event or install day it would normally involve lots of coffee. We can start onsite anywhere from 9am to 4pm and work through until midnight or sunrise. Duties could include liaising and co-ordination, massaging of egos and tedious logistics balancing. Then some more coffee” he laughs.
There is also a huge amount of logistics and scheduling that is required, Paul ads.
Someone looking to start in the industry must be happy to work up from the bottom. “There are no short cuts. There is a lot to learn. You’ll find you’ll need to be constantly learning an educating yourself on new technologies and ways. There are some great formal education options available now that weren’t around when I started. These are a great start however you’ll still need to put in the hard yards once the courses are complete.”
It is a greatly rewarding industry however it can also take a lot, Paul says.
He recommends that anyone wanting to enter the industry should think if they are up to the conditions of the job: patience and dedication.
“Patience. Dedication. Patience and some more dedication. The entertainment industry is an all consuming industry. We don’t finish work at 5.30pm everyday. We don’t get weekends off and we certainly don’t get public holidays off.”
What is the most challenging part of the job?
Being away from home for long periods. Loosing contact with friends who I grew up with just because I don’t get enough time to see them and just hang out.
The other aspect that is hard is the interaction with different types of people. Sometimes you need to be a psychologist to deal with different people who have varied wants and desires.
What is the best part of the job?
The Variation. I like how in one week I can be in Brisbane working on a television show and then the following week in New Zealand working on a dance show and then the next week at home working on a small corporate show. I know it’s the variety of my job that keeps my going. That and the broad range of people I meet. Generally the people that work in our industry work extremely long hours. This means for the most part people are very dedicated to high standards.
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