by Judith Rubin
The inventiveness of the themed entertainment industry, its team-oriented culture and sense of humor will assert themselves even in COVID lockdown. Here are two inspiring examples, from Miziker Entertainment and John Huntington.
“Zoom 2 the Beat” is an upbeat, short video in which the Miziker Entertainment collaborates as a percussion ensemble via Zoom. The company specializes in parades and live entertainment for theme parks and produced the Journey of Lights parade for Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, which was honored with a TEA Thea Award. Watch here: https://vimeo.com/417028471
The Popsicle Kitteh Pandemic Entertainment System (pictured at top) is somewhat more involved. This remote class project was spearheaded by John Huntington, who teaches show control at the City Tech Entertainment Technology department in Brooklyn, and organizes the Geekout gatherings during InfoComm. A number of sophisticated show control software and hardware elements, including Medialon Manager, are integrated with a pet treat delivery system that engages Huntington’s tuxedo cat, Popsicle, who is also a rising star on Instagram. See the full case study and more pictures here: http://controlgeek.net/blog/2020/5/8/popsicle-kitteh-pandemic-entertainment-system-show-control-class-project
