Author: Lori Rubinstein

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Support the LRLR Altimeter Tour

Support the Long Reach Long Riders on the 2019 "Altimeter Tour"

The Long Reach Long Riders announce their 16th annual charity motorcycle ride. The ride, appropriately dubbed “The Altimeter Tour” begins on July 6 in Denver, Colorado and returns there on July 13. The route winds through the Rocky Mountains where the riders will encounter breathtaking mountain passes, awesome mountain valleys and jaw-dropping mountain peaks. Some of the highlights along the way will be Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, Rocky Mountain National Park and, of course, Pike’s Peak. Most of the ride will be spent between 10,000’ and 14,000’ At 14,114’, Pikes Peak is the second highest spot we’ll see on the ride.

Jon Kirchofer, ride marshal for The Altimeter Tour noted, “The mountains will provide scenery galore and the route will present a wide variety of roads to satisfy everyone’s expectations. Pike’s Peak and Rocky Mountain National Park are great spots for a motorcycle ride and we’ll take full advantage of all they have to offer”.

The Long Reach Long Riders annual charity motorcycle ride benefits Behind the Scenes and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. What began in 2004 as a single event immediately turned into an annual ride that has raised over $650,000.00 for the two charities. Please visit http://lrlr.org for more information on the 16th annual ride. Support a rider today!

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ETC’s iRFR and aRFR Apps – Continuing Fred’s Legacy of Caring

ETC's iRFR and aRFR Apps – Continuing Fred Foster's Legacy of Caring

Kate Foster presents a check to BTS Board Members Rick Rudolph and Tobin Neis

Continuing Fred Foster’s legacy of caring for entertainment technology professionals in need, ETC presented Behind the Scenes with a check during USITT for $14,937.81, representing the most recent proceeds from the company’s iRFR and aRFR (Radio Focus Remote) applications. Since the launch of the iRFR in 2009, ETC’s mobile app sales have now generated almost $370,000 in donations.

The iRFR and aRFR mobile apps enable convenient, touchscreen-based remote control for Eos family consoles and controllers. You can learn more about the apps from the ETC website and download them from the iTunes or Google Play stores. 

“Behind the Scenes provides great relief to members of the extended entertainment production industry family who are dealing with financial hardship due to injury and illness,” said Kate Foster, ETC’s marketing scenic designer, upon presenting the check on the USITT show floor. “We at ETC are proud that our app sales can continue to support their efforts.”

These funds come at a critical time for the charity, which is experiencing a significant increase in applications for assistance, with many from individuals in extremely dire circumstances. “We are seeing so many individuals with medical bills that have wiped out their savings, and their inability to work due to illness or injury means they can’t cover even the most basic expenses such as rent and utilities,” commented Rick Rudolph, Chair of Behind the Scenes.

Upon accepting the check, Rick expressed the Foundation’s deep gratitude for ETC’s ongoing commitment to its mission, “Fred was our champion from the earliest days of the charity, as he immediately understood the need for it, and we are so grateful that the entire ETC organization has become such a strong supporter. By showing others the care and respect Fred showed them they are carrying on his legacy and creating a lasting memorial.

Members of the Foundation Board of Directors also updated Kate about the recent scholarship awarded in Fred’s honor. The Fred Foster Scholarships help children of grant recipients continue their educations despite their families’ financial hardships. In Leena’s case, her father’s diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia and subsequent bone marrow transplant left him unable to work and to keep up with basic expenses. That meant the family couldn’t afford her tuition so she could complete her last year of nursing school. Behind the Scenes paid her tuition bill so she could.

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The LRLR Raise Funds at USITT Raffle

The Long Reach Long Riders Raise Funds at USITT Raffle

The Long Reach Long Riders (LRLR) celebrated their upcoming ride with a raffle and live auction to benefit Behind the Scenes during the USITT Stage Expo last week in Louisville, KY. A myriad of activities including sales of raffle tickets, a live and silent auction, challenge grants, swag sales, and sales of Neal Preston’s books, posters and prints raised over $18,000 for the charity. The LRLR 2019 ride, dubbed the Altimeter Tour, starts on July 7th in Denver Colorado. The riders cover all their own expenses so everything they raise goes to the charity. Sponsor a rider today at www.behindthescenescharity.org/lrlr.

The booth featured a display of some of The Lightpower Collection’s iconic photographs by Neal Preston including those of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Robert Plant, Bob Marley, Ray Charles and others. Neal’s books “In the Eye of the Rock’n’Roll Hurricane” and “Exhilarated and Exhausted” and posters of some of his most famous images were also available for sale.

Raffle festivities led off with the traditional kazoo parade led by Bill Sapsis and Eddie Raymond (yes, they were the T-Rex’s), and many of the LRLR. Following the parade, BTSPledge-a-Product partners ETC (irFR and aRFR application for iOS and Android devices), ACT Lighting (The dot2 Series of Lighting Control Solutions from MA Lighting) and InCord (Theatrical Safety Netting Systems) presented checks from the sales of their products pledged to BTS.

Live auction items included a hand-tooled seam ripper and serving tray created by Shan and Trish Ayers, a special pack of Amberient’s industry trading cards which included a signed Richard Pilbrow Rookie card, and a hand crafted pen and pencil set donated by Indianapolis Stage in association with Penchant4.com. Amberient also held a silent auction in their booth throughout the show featuring custom furniture made from old lighting equipment including a recliner made from a Kliegl Dyna-Beam. Bob Scales’ ever popular ghostlights were sold out by the end of the show.

Bill Sapsis (Sapsis Rigging) and Reid Neslage (H&H Specialties) announced their challenge grant to the crowd just before the raffle began and the attendees ponied up to make sure they had to pay.

The winners and their prizes are:

  • Grand Prize, Vectorworks Spotlight with Renderworks won by Matthew Easley
  • BTS Ghostlight from Altman Rentals won by Sara Gable
  • $250 American Express Gift Card from Barbizon won by Christian McKinney
  • Prostar 300lb capacity 115 volt, 10ft lift with chain bag won by Carolyn Satter
  • Event Safety Summit 2019 Registration from Event Safety Alliance won by Jennifer Estremera
  • Nespresso CitiZ Espresson Machine with Milk Frother won by Paul Winnick
  • Stagehands Dream Kitfrom Monkey Wrench Productions won by Kim Pelle
  • $250 Gift Certificate to musson.com from Musson Theatrical won by Alexi Carlson
  • $250 Gift Certificate from Sapsis Rigging won by Heather Brown
  • USITT 2019 Full Conference Registration from USITT won by John Mitchell

Special thanks go to USITT for making our presence at the show possible; to The Lightpower Colllection, Neal Preston, Giulia Calani and Shepard for making the exhibition of Neal’s work possible;  to Moe Conn, Kim Craigie, Mark and Alison Heiser, Alice Neff, Greg Williams, and Bill Sapsis, for their invaluable help; to the donors of our fabulous prizes; and to all who bought raffle tickets, auction items, and swag.

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ACT Lighting Supports BTS Through Pledge-a-Product Program

ACT Lighting Supports BTS Through Pledge-a-Product Program

ACT Lighting, a Behind the Scenes Pledge-a-Product Partner, demonstrated their support for their colleagues in need by presenting a $5,000 check to the charity at the recent USITT show. The donation reflects proceeds from the sales of the dot2 series of lighting control solutions from MA Lighting. The dot2 range consists of the lighting consoles: core, XL-F, XL-B; playback expansion wings: F-wing and B-wing; the Node4 1K network output node; onPC console software; and 3D visualization software. Designed for small and mid-sized projects and venues, dot2 offers advanced functionality with outstanding ease-of-use. Full tracking backup is available via plug and play networking. Learn more about the dot2 Series.

Upon presenting the check, Darius Seabaugh, Sr. VP of Marketing – ACT stated, “We are thrilled to be able to take part in contributing to such an important initiative for our industry. We hope this contribution will help those families of entertainment technology professionals in their time of need.”

Behind the Scenes Board member, Tobin Neis, accepted the check saying, “Behind The Scenes greatly appreciates ACT Lighting for their donation to BTS to help industry technicians in time of crisis, these ongoing donations help the charity to make a difference and that’s pretty wonderful.”

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Neal Preston’s Iconic Rock’n’Roll Photography to Benefit BTS at USITT

Neal Preston's Iconic Rock'n'Roll Photography to Benefit BTS at USITT

Behind the Scenes is thrilled to announce that the work of famed Rock‘n’Roll photographer and author Neal Preston is coming to the USITT show, March 21-23 in Louisville, KY courtesy of The Lightpower Collection. Neal’s iconic pictures will be displayed in the BTS booth #1253 and his books Exhilarated & Exhausted andIn the Eye of the Hurricanewill be available for sale. Posters, including his famous images of Freddie Mercury and Robert Plant, will also be available for just $10 each. Sales of books, posters and prints will benefit the Behind the Scenes charity. Behind the Scenes would like to thank The Lightpower Collection, Shepard, TMB, and USITT for making this exhibition possible.

Neal will be present in the Behind the Scenes booth to sign books and posters on Thursday and Friday from 12-1pm and 4-5pm. He’ll be available throughout those two days to talk about his work and for press interviews. To schedule an interview, contact [email protected] or call 212-244-1421.

Neal Preston is one of the most highly respected photographers in the history of the music business and his legendary images include some of the most memorable ever made of rock’s most iconic stars. His career in photography, which started in high school and continues to the present, has spanned well over four decades. His photographs have appeared in every conceivable media outlet: on the covers and pages of world-class magazines and newspapers, to books, television shows, feature films, Broadway show programs and billboards, vinyl, CD and DVD packages … literally everywhere. Through his body of work Neal has made a significant contribution to the pop culture histories of multiple generations.

Neal’s client list is a virtual who’s-who of rock royalty and his archive is regarded as one of the music industry’s most extensive and significant photo collections. Rock fans know him best as the photographer who has toured with Led Zeppelin, The Who, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, and countless others. In 1985, Preston was chosen as one of the official photographers for Bob Geldof’s “Live Aid” concert at London’s Wembley Stadium. In 1988 his association with Bruce Springsteen helped land him the job as official tour photographer for Amnesty International’s landmark “Conspiracy of Hope” tour.

Neal is also a gifted sports photographer, the most-assigned photojournalist in the history of People Magazine, with almost 700 shoot days to his credit, and a member of the International Cinematographers Guild, for which he worked as the unit and special photographer for feature films like “Almost Famous” and “Vanilla Sky.”

Lightpower was founded in 1978 in Germany as a lighting rental company. Since then Lightpower has grown to be an internationally established distributor for stage and studio lighting equipment. The Lightpower Collectionwas born out of a company culture that has grown over several years with a passion for collecting Rock’n’Roll art. The collection features photography and album cover artwork from many of the world’s greatest photographers and designers. Neal Preston’s Rock’n’Roll photography represents the core of this collection and comprises over seventy large-format original fine art prints. 

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Gray Matter Visual Becomes Behind the Scenes Pledge-a-Service Partner

Gray Matter Visual Becomes BTS Pledge-a-Service Partner

Behind the Scenes is pleased to announce that Gray Matter Visual has become a Pledge-a-Service Partner by pledging to donate a percentage of their design fees to the charity. Gray Matter Visual is a lighting and production design firm working on corporate and special events, concerts, television, benefits, and more. Founded in 2010 by Brendan Gray and based in Brooklyn, New York, GMV works with clients all over the US and beyond to realize their visions.

Upon announcing the pledge, Brendan Gray, Principal Designer and President, stated, “I became aware of the Pledge-a-Service program through fellow designer (and friend) Herrick Goldman’s involvement. Joining sounded like a great idea, but one that sat on the back burner for a while. The recent sudden loss of a friend and colleague prompted me to take action. I hope that other designers and business owners will follow suit and support this worthy cause.”

Rick Rudolph, the Chair of Behind the Scenes, commented, “We are delighted to welcome Gray Matter Visual as a Pledge-a-Service Partner. It is so important to us to have the design community involved in our efforts. Designers, by the very nature of their work, come into contact with so many industry members that they can be enormously helpful in spreading the word that help is available to those in need. We thank Brendan and his team for their wonderful commitment.”

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The LRLR Raffle, Auction and Boutique Benefit BTS at USITT

The LRLR Raffle, Auction and Boutique Benefit BTS at USITT

The Long Reach Long Riders and Behind the Scenes will host their annual fundraising raffle at the USITT Conference March 21-23 in Louisville, KY. This year’s raffle will celebrate the 16th Anniversary of the Long Reach Long Riders annual charity motorcycle ride. The Riders who have raised over half a million dollars for charity in their years of touring will be riding July 7-13 on the Altimeter Tour through the Colorado Rockies.

The prizes, provided by our generous donors, are: Grand Prize, Spotlight with Renderworks from Vectorworks; Ghostlight from Altman Rentals; American Express Gift Card from Barbizon; Prostar 300lb capacity 115V, 10ft lift with chain bag from CM-ET; Event Safety Summit 2019 Registration from the Event Safety Alliance; Nespresso CitiZ Espresso Machine with Aeroccino Milk Frother from IA Stage; Stagehands Dream Kit from Monkey Wrench Productions; $250 Gift Certificate to musson.com from Musson Theatrical; $250 Gift Certificate from Sapsis Rigging; and a USITT 2020 Full Conference Registration from USITT.

Tickets for the raffle are an affordable $5 each or 5 for $20 and can be purchased at the Behind the Scenes booth #1253 throughout the show. Winning tickets for nine regular prizes and one grand prize will be drawn at 1pm on Saturday, the final day of Stage Expo.

This year we are introducing the “BTS Student Doubler” designed to double a student’s chances of winning. It’s a great way for companies to support the charity, get more prizes into the hands of students, and introduce your company to the next generation of industry professionals. Purchase at least $100 worth of tickets and BTS will put your company name on each ticket. For the first five tickets a student buys during the show, he or she will receive a free ticket while supplies last. If you’d like to participate, purchase your tickets by March 13th at www.behindthescenescharity.org/donate. Be sure to put “student tickets” in the “In celebration of” field on the online donation form. Behind the Scenes will publicize the sponsored tickets to students prior to the show, at the booth, during the raffle draw, and in post-show releases and articles.

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Westview Productions Makes First Pledge-a-Service Donation to BTS

Westview Productions Makes First Pledge-a-Service Donation

At the recent NAMM Show, Westview Productions presented a check for $5,162.32 to Behind the Scenes as their first donation to the charity as a new Pledge-a-Service Partner. Westview is an entertainment, energy, and immersive technology solutions firm headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Their unique project process encompasses all aspects of design that integrates with all construction trades to ensure a cohesive and seamless project experience. Westview has global experience in lighting, motion control, audio and A/V systems, media, and architectural systems allowing them to provide comprehensive services as a sole solutions organization.

Upon presentation of the check, Eric Bloom, President, stated, “I feel so strongly about the Behind the Scenes Foundation’s efforts, that it’s a great pleasure to be able to support the foundation this way. Helping to support our colleagues in a time of need, especially with funds from service work that came directly from the industry is really special. We are just pleased to be able to give, even in a small way, to such a beneficial organization.”

Rick Rudolph, the Chair of Behind the Scenes, commented, “We were thrilled to receive such a wonderful first-time donation from Westview. Their generosity sets a benchmark for other service companies and helps to ensure we will be able to assist the many people coming to us for assistance. We thank them for their commitment to the program and challenge other service companies to follow their lead in caring for our colleagues in need.”

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Lightpower Neal Preston Collection

The Lightpower Collection of Neal Preston’s iconic Rock’n’Roll photographs has been displayed around the world with the proceeds from the sales of fine art prints, books, and posters going to support charity. 

Neal Preston is one of the most highly respected photographers in the history of the music business and his legendary images include some of the most memorable ever made of rock’s most iconic stars. His career in photography, which started in high school and continues to the present, has spanned well over four decades. His photographs have appeared in every conceivable media outlet: on the covers and pages of world-class magazines and newspapers, to books, television shows, feature films, Broadway show programs and billboards, vinyl, CD and DVD packages … literally everywhere. Through his body of work Neal has made a significant contribution to the pop culture histories of multiple generations.

Neal’s client list is a virtual who’s-who of rock royalty and his archive is regarded as one of the music industry’s most extensive and significant photo collections. Rock fans know him best as the photographer who has toured with Led Zeppelin, The Who, Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen, and countless others. In 1985, Preston was chosen as one of the official photographers for Bob Geldof’s “Live Aid” concert at London’s Wembley Stadium. In 1988 his association with Bruce Springsteen helped land him the job as official tour photographer for Amnesty International’s landmark “Conspiracy of Hope” tour.

Purchase Neal Preston’s books and pictures from Behind the Scenes

Lightpower was founded in 1978 in Germany as a lighting rental company. Since then Lightpower has grown to be an internationally established distributor for stage and studio lighting equipment. The Lightpower Collection was born out of a company culture that has grown over several years with a passion for collecting Rock’n’Roll art. The collection features photography and album cover artwork from many of the world’s greatest photographers and designers. Neal Preston’s Rock’n’Roll photography represents the core of this collection and comprises over seventy large-format original fine art prints. 

Learn about the debut of the Lightpower Neal Preston Collection at MusikMesse 2015

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