Light Talk with The Lumen Brothers

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers discuss everything from "Playing a Hooter", to Sleeping with the Monkeys. Join Stan, David, and Steve as they pontificate about: Snow in Florida; Fires near Snoot's house;  David at NAMM and the Grammies; The Majesty of Mellotrons; Steve heading to URTA; How not to burn bridges when you get really pissed off; What is so special about diffusion?; "A...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers discuss everything from Giving it Up, to "My Dog Ate My Homework". Join Stan, David, and Steve as they pontificate about: The LA Fires; Cold weather at URTA; The Hemsley Lighting Programs Application; Distributing DMX; Improvements in wireless DMX; The importance of a high GPA when applying to graduate schools; When should you give up trying to be...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sisters discuss everything from URTA Prep to Crossbreeding Iguanas. Join Ellen, Jacqui, David, and Steve as they pontificate about: Researching graduate lighting programs; Useful skills to master; Using the library; Basic techniques in lighting musical production numbers; Creating the illusion of unobtainable lighting angles; Less is more; "Bri...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister celebrate Passing the Great Lighting Sceptre from 2024 to 2025! Join Ellen, David, Stan, and Steve as they pontificate about: Our Joys and Dissapointments of 2024; New technology that did not make it in 2024; Apple Vision; Boeing Blues; The future of the Vari*Lite Hive; The secret why David was not invited into the Vari*Lite booth; The (...

In this BEST OF LIGHT TALK episode from 2020, The Lumen Brothers and Sister celebrate the holidays with this year's Lumen Holiday Extravaganza! Join Ellen, Steve, Brackley, Stan, and David as they pontificate about: URTA audition deadline; Favorite Holiday Songs; Lighting devices for our stockings; Stan's new eyeballs; Brackley's drug store glasses; Rudolph's gender identity; What do Jews do for C...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers discuss everything from Surviving LDI to MFA Programs to Avoid. Join David, Stan, and Steve as they pontificate about: The LDI Awards; Our LDI most interesting products reports; Vari*Lite's hidden booth with "The Hive"; How to budget resources for a production; Wearing multiple hats at a lighting production company; How to handle work that you migh...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, Lumen Brother David welcomes Opera Resident Lighting Designers Michael Clark, John Froelich, Chris Maravich, and Justin Partier to the show. Join Chris, John, Justin, Michael, and David as they pontificate about: How do lighting designers meet; Followspots anyone?; The responsibilities inherent in being a Resident Lighting Designer; Discussions with visiting guest de...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers (and Sisters) present their 7th Annual LIGHT TALK LIVE show from LDI!  The Lumen Family talks about everything from AI Madness to Our Favorite Sandwiches. Join Anne, Steve, Brackley, Zak, Stan, Snoot, and David as they pontificate about: The future of AI in our industry; What will be the relationshop of lighting and video sources in the future rega...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers discuss everything from Time Warps to Bette Midler. Join David, Stan, and Steve as they pontificate about: Our big Light Talk celebration at LDI; Does it make sense to retrofit old Source 4's with Source 4WRD's?; Using AI and Chat GPT in Projects; When is a design finished; Freezing a show; "The Perfectionism Trap"; Bad Hombre Productions' "The Mis...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers discuss everything from Horrible Programmers, to "Mr. Midnight". Join David, Stan, and Steve as they pontificate about: What to do when your show sucks; Scar Tissue; "The Endpoint Effect"; Respecting and researching other cultures when you design a show; "Blue Hawaii"; What to do when your programmer disappears; Stan becoming "Tom from CarTalk"; "E...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister welcome lighting designer Christina Watanabe to the show. Join Christina, Ellen, Stan, and Brackley as they pontificate about: Early days of discovering lighting design; Hitting the pavement in NYC; The "Christina Questions"; Christina's Knights of Illumination Award project; Most challenging productions; The issues with Zactrack; Losing...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers discuss everything from Having Nothing to Say, to The Musical Box.  Join David, Stan, and Steve as they pontificate about: Election night plans; The "Lumen Family Zoom Spin Room"; Sustaining a converstion in design meetings; Picking the perfect frontlight; Getting a quick and unified blackout from a variety of sources; "The Musical Box"; The Cheeky...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister welcome lighting designer Manny Treeson to the show. Join Manny, Ellen, Stan, Brackley, and David as they pontificate about: The ongoing search for LDI Swag;  Episode 1 of "Great Failures of Artificial Intelligence"; Manny's journey as a lighting designer; Grad school at Carnegie Mellon; NYX Design; Disney Days; Designing with Generative...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister welcome lighting designer Michael Stiller to the show. Join Michael, Ellen, David, and Steve as they pontificate about: Becoming a lighting designer without any formal training in the field; Bard College; Finding gigs in New York City; Media and generative driven lighting; Experiential lighting; How disruptive will AI be to the architect...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister discuss everything from Color Pickers to Las Vegas Implosions. Join Ellen, Stan, and Steve as they pontificate about: The changing face of Vegas; RIP Gel... again!; How to meet directors and designers if you don't go to graduate school; Using the gel color picker on a console; Hoarding Gelatran; Tesla Trucks; "Tech Table Etiquette"; How...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister discuss everything from Cheese Curds to Stan's "Secret Announcement".  Join Ellen, Stan, and Steve as they pontificate about: Live Nation's new Seasonal Stadium in Toronto; Stan's LDI Business decisions; Focus priorities; Matching colors among different moving lights;  LLC, S-Corporation, or a Collective?; "Puff... The Magic Dragon Fogge...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers (and Sister!) discuss everything from Ellen's Mother-in Law's Personal Power Station, to Stan's "Table of Curiosities". Join Ellen, Stan, and David as they pontificate about:  Remembering Catalyst; Who gets paid for revisions of drawings; How clean is the energy in clean energy festival stages… and how safe are the batteries?; "Sleep Fast, Sleep De...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers (and SISTER!) welcome acclaimed lighting designer Rick Fisher to the show.  Join Rick, Ellen, Stan, and David as they pontificate about: Billy Elliot; Rick's amazing work at Santa fe Opera; Watching the sunset, and other things in the glorius vista behind the stage; Santa Fe's wonderful apprentice program; Rick's incredible journey into lighting de...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers (and SISTER!) welcome Honorary Lumen Brother Dennis Size to the show to discuss his lighting for the historic Harris/Trump Debate. Join Dennis, Ellen, Steve, Stan, and David as they pontificate about: Steve's vacation at "The Dairy Queen Nudist Colony"; Dennis rebutting David's AI Programmer comments; The history of how the debate was designed and...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers (and Sister!) discuss everything from AI in your iPhone to "Light Talk: The Book!" Join Ellen, Stan, and David as they pontificate about:  Steve on the beach; Lighting report from The Nudist Colony; Apple Airpod Pro 2 hearing software and possible theatre use; New iPhones with Apple Intelligence; Getting a job with a lighting maunfacturer at LDI; W...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers (and Sister!) discuss everything from "The Lumen Brothers' Institute of Stress-Free Living" to Keith Richards on the Shuffleboard Court. Join Ellen, Stan, and David as they pontificate about: A new floating arena idea for green performances; The good old days of touring in a van; Waiting to get paid and How to ask for your money; Architectural desi...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers (and Sister!) discuss everything from Conflict Resolution to Creative Chain Saw Techiques. Join Ellen, Brackley, Stan, and David as they pontificate about: LDI News; "Stage Managers Academy"; Time boundaries when off work; Is it wise to buy used automated lighting fixtures?; Manufacturers honoring warranties; Buying "The Latest and Greatest"; Getti...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers discuss everything from Timing Cues, to Monkeys in Stan's Bidet. Join Stan, David, and Steve as they pontificate about: Stan's Greek Cruise; Lox, Bagels, and Avocado Toast; USITT coming to Long Beach; David' Pre-tech at the San Francisco Opera; The best team ever!;  Educating yourself in architectural control systems; Assigning timing to your cues;...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister discuss everything from Lasers on Sharks, to Steve Trying to Drive to Dairy Queen. Join Ellen, Stan, David, and Steve as they pontificate about: New lighting books; What to do when your budget is cut by 50%; How many lights do you really need?; Lili's at LDI; Incorporating AI into lighting controllers; Apple Vision Pro and how it may cha...

In this episode of LIGHT TALK, The Lumen Brothers and Sister interview Tony Award Winner Lighting Designer, Jane Cox.   Join Jane, Ellen, Stan, and David as they pontificate about: Winning the Tony for "Appropriate"; Getting light into difficult spaces; Your career is a series of relationships; Working with John Doyle; How to Play in the theater; The fun and pleasure of creating lighting cues, tra...