Podcast
Light Talk with The Lumen Brothers
Hosted by David Jacques, Steve Woods, Ellen Lampert-Greaux, and Dennis Size · EN
LIGHT TALK is a show featuring three seasoned professional lighting designers and educators who discuss the latest developments in the world of live entertainment and architectural lighting design. Steve Woods (SMU), Stan Kaye (University of Florida), and David Jacques (California State University Long Beach) offer sage, and sometimes controversial advice to professionals and students of lighting design. Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and very little makes sense.
20episodes
Episodes
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LIGHT TALK Episode 476 - "The Carnival of Wonders - Our Conversation with Chris Lose"
1w ago00:46:32Tap to summarizeIn this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister interview Lighting Director and Programmer Chris Lose. Join Chris, Ellen, Dennis, Steve, and David, as they discuss: A tribute to David Goodman; Coming up... The National Design Portfolio Review and Design Showcase West; Falling for the pretty girl in High School; Getting started with "The Carnival of Wonders"; Working at Varilite; The best bunk on the bus on the Pearl Jam Tour; Working with Journey; Learning how to program; Working at The Joint in Las Vegas; Designing the Circle Bar; Chris' console of choice; Consoles in the garage; Communicating with designers; How programmers speak to a complex console; How AI can help the programmer/console interface; "It's not AI that's going to take our jobs, it's the Designer/Programmer/Operator who understands AI better than you who is going to take your job!"; What the Lighting Director's job on the Journey Tour is responsible for; Busking vs. Time Coding and Live Operation; Dealing with the Work/Life balance while on tour; Busking... Playing Jazz instead of Classical; and "It's not about the gear, it's about the people." Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and Very Little Makes Sense.
Transcribe →LIGHT TALK Episode 475 - "Why Not 'Best Production Design'?"
2w ago00:49:16Tap to summarizeIn this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister talk about everything from Reimagining the Tony Design Award Categories, to "Total Hackdom". Join Ellen, David, and Steve, as they discuss: The St. Barts Film Festival; Ellen in her Bonnet; The Tony nominations; Why the Tony Committee does not have Projections Design as its own design category; Watching videos of previous productions of a show you are designing; Will lighting designers be replaced by AI?; "Gaffa-No-Go"; How to say goodbye to a Director; and Tungsten fixtures we will miss. Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and Very Little Makes Sense.
Transcribe →LIGHT TALK Episode 474 - "Entertainment Capital of the World?… I Think Not!"
3w ago00:38:44Tap to summarizeIn this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers talk about everything from Laughing at Your Mistakes, to Hanging Out in the Hyperbaric Chamber. Join David, Dennis, and Steve, as they discuss: Zac's new gig; David's Drone Focus Deluxe dream can now come true; Dealing with balancing the light from outdoor windows that are behind the talent; Crazy theatre nightmares; Trapped inside Vectorworks; "The Designer's Tiny Notebook of Excuses"; Will this be the show that finally exposes you as a "Hack"?; and, At what point do you say "No" to a director. Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and Very Little Makes Sense.
Transcribe →LIGHT TALK Episode 473 - "The Most Wasted Bit of Space on the Console!"
4w ago00:51:05Tap to summarizeIn this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister talk about everything from The inaccuracy of lighting console color pickers, to Celebrating the Invention of the Zipper! Join Ellen, Dennis, and Steve, as they discuss: Buying Manhattan for $24; The NAB Convention; Concerns about AI in the lighting industry; Dennis' lighting award for the Presidential Debate; How television lighting has changed in the LED era; Good color meters; Preparing for your first country music busk; "The 9 steps of focusing"; Dealing with Critical Feedback; and Looking at your show as an audience sees it. Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and Very Little Makes Sense.
Transcribe →LIGHT TALK Episode 472 - "Magic Fingers at The Homewood Suites"
Apr 2200:44:51Tap to summarizeIn this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister talk about everything from Dining with Bobby Harrell to "The Muse is Out to Lunch!" Join Ellen, Dennis, Steve, and David, as they discuss: The Bruce Rodgers episode; "Designer's Block"; How to design a "Black and White Show"; What the color of moonlight really is; David Waxing Poetic; How to get great lighting reviews; "Tales from Texas"; Good reasonably priced moving lights; What happened to VariLite; and Staying in Crappy hotels on out-of-town gigs. Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and Very Little Makes Sense.
Transcribe →LIGHT TALK Episode 471 - "Landman - Our Conversation with Bruce Rodgers"
Apr 1101:13:56Tap to summarizeIn this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister interview esteemed production designer Bruce Rodgers. Join Bruce, Ellen, Dennis, and David, as they discuss: Bruce's genesis in the entertainment business; The beginning of Tribe Inc; Working with Bobby Dickenson; Challenging moments from 20 Years of Superbowl halftime shows; Conquring the design challenges for Prince, The Who, Bad Bunny, and Kendrick Lamar; "Let's go to Plan C"; "390 connections in 8 minutes!"; Working with the artists' creative teams; Developing the idea of "The Grass People"; More sophisticated audiences; and Advice for students of Production Design. Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and Very Little Makes Sense.
Transcribe →LIGHT TALK Episode 470 - "Auto-Mark is for Beginners - Our Conversation With Kat Morrill"
Apr 400:46:17Tap to summarizeIn this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister interview Broadway lighting designer Kat Morrill. As part of Light Talk's Young Designers Series, and to begin our 10th Season of LIGHT TALK, join Kat, Ellen, Dennis, and Steve, as they discuss: Playing in the Pit; What is easy and what is difficult; Pretty Big on Punctuation; Getting started at Brooklyn College; How music came into Kat's life; Kat's process when working with a new director; Designing for cruise ship shows; Working at the SoHo Playhouse; Running Showtrax for "O"; Staying up to date with the latest technology; Teaching programming; The relationship between the designer and the programmer; The future of programming and AI; Arts and the St. Regis Mojawk Tribe; and Advice for young designers. Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and Very Little Makes Sense.
Transcribe →LIGHT TALK Episode 469 - "We Better Edit That Shit Out! - Our 9th Season Anniversary Show!"
Mar 2800:51:12Tap to summarizeIn this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister talk about everything from The Bupkis Awards, to "Kaye is Yiddish for Trebek". Join Ellen, Dennis, Steve, David, Stan, Brackley, and Zac, as they celebrate and discuss all the insanity from the 9th Season of Light Talk. They comment about the past year, the future years, and finish off with a hilarious game of "Light Talk Jeopardy". Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and Very Little Makes Sense.
Transcribe →LIGHT TALK Episode 468 - "Every Pixel in Hollywood!"
Mar 2100:52:15Tap to summarizeIn this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister talk about everything from "And the winner is..." to Girl Scout Cookies. Join Ellen, Dennis, Steve, and Zac, as they discuss: The Academy Awards Show; The Penultimate Episode of Season 9; Recomended texts about Broadcast Lighting; What is the best way to prepare to show your video projection portfolio; Zac and Wendel on "Artistic Finance"; The pleasures of working with Slide and Pani projectors; Video cues run by MIDI trigger or manually?; Merit badges for stagehands; How to stay inspired; and More of the most common mistakes that young designers make. Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and Very Little Makes Sense.
Transcribe →LIGHT TALK Episode 467 - "Trust The Process - Our Conversation with Creative Director Melody Tsang and Lighting Designer/Programmer Caleb Franke"
Mar 1400:50:56Tap to summarizeIn this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister welcome Creative Director Melody Tsang and Lighting Designer/Programmer Caleb Franke to the show! Join Caleb, Melody, Ellen, Zac, Steve, and David, as they discuss: The creative and production process for the Elation Lighting Booth show at LDI 2025; Winning the LDI Award; Learning and Programming the Obsidian lighting console; Preparing for "Plan B" changes; A 14 year-old touring with "Thorn"; Learning creative direction at the Parsons School; The new Elation automated lighting fixtures; LILI laser technology; The future of AI in lighting and creative direction; and Wise words of advice for young lighting artists and creative directors. Nothing is Taboo, Nothing is Sacred, and Very Little Makes Sense.
Transcribe →