ANN ARBOR, MI – John Briggs announces his retirement, effective June 30th, 2015.
More details from TLS Productions (www.tlsproductionsinc.com):
John Briggs has spent his entire adult life working “behind the scenes” of both theatre, film and event production. At one time, he was the technical director and later producer of a local children’s theatre group in Michigan. Early on, he partnered with two others to create the company “Alternative Light” – which began a career of working with some of the most recognizable names both in live theatre and popular music. In 1997, Alternative Light was sold to TLS Productions, Inc., where John continued to stay active in the company and its respective industry.
As far as we at TLS Productions, Inc. are concerned, there will never be another like John Briggs. His involvement with TLS Productions, Inc. over the years can be considered as one of the cornerstones upon which we’ve built the company that we are today. We wish John Briggs nothing but the best, and we hope he enjoys his retirement to the fullest. There is so much to say about John Briggs, but we at TLS Productions, Inc. thought it would be best if those that knew him well contributed their thoughts. We reached out to many of John’s friends and coworkers, and the response we received was overwhelming. This was not surprising, considering how many people in our industry admire John and value the time they’ve spent working with him and learning from him.
“John Briggs. What can I say? I’ve worked with John since 1980. He is a walking encyclopedia of theatrical technology, from resistance dimmers to LEDs.”
“One time we were doing a rock show at the Power Center and during sound check the house lights were pulsing with the band as if they were on a color organ. I nosed around and couldn’t figure out what was going on. Called John. He crawls around and determines that a huge Jones plug on an old stage manager’s console was making intermittent contact and vibrating with the bass cabinets nearby. Voila! Tighten the Jones plug, pulsation solved.”
“I think John’s good humor along with his vast knowledge of theatrical technology has made him the “go to guy” for so many things. He has an amazing memory and seems to pull esoteric data out of his…well…some vast recess.”
“This is an opportunity to put in a plug for Eastern Michigan University’s theatre department. John came through that program with a break in Vietnam and it’s a testament to EMU being able to churn out some practical, real world folks who have done our profession proud!”
Barry LaRue
Senior Performance Hall Operations Manager
University Productions – University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
“My own John Briggs story is set in the late 80’s.”
“John always had multiple projects going on at once. We were both working for United Artists Theaters at the time… Needing to replace a couple screens at multiplex theatre, John asked me to help out. I needed the money so I said sure. Although, I wasn’t so sure about the heights and climbing the screen towers. John and I and one other guy whose name I will never remember got started. John kept lightly razzing me about my death grip on the screen scaffolding, John kept falling back into the theater wall and saying, “see you can’t fall, its fine,” the other guy was loving it. We cut down the old screen and got the new one in place and started pulling the wrinkles out of the screen, John moved to the next theatre and started taking down the next screen. Left with the other guy who had as little time at height as I did, but a much more inflated sense of his abilities, started to tell me I had to move faster and that I was too slow. While running down the scaffold plank he missed a step and ended up face first on the planks, not quite over the edge. Dude climbed down and never came back. John and I finished the 3 guy job by ourselves, and I am sure that he did the work of all 3 while literally teaching me the ropes…”
“John has always taken the time to take people under his wing, and train them on everything from electrical theory to advanced dimming and control systems. John taught me to look at problems not as an all consuming obstacle, but a challenge to be over come or worked around, and never a reason to stop… Progress is our most important product.”
Brad Hayes
President
TLS Productions, Inc.
“John Briggs is without a doubt the unsung hero of our industry. And quite possibly the nicest guy you will ever meet. I was fortunate to work for John in the early 1990’s. That period of time at Alternative Light taught me so much, and really sent me in a positive direction in my career. He certainly has forgotten more about lighting technology than I will ever know. I know he will enjoy his retirement. Lets just hope, for his sake, he can stay retired. Three cheers for John Briggs!”
Justin Juriga
Director of Client Services
Production Resource Group
“I had the pleasure of working for John Briggs from approximately 1995 to 2000, and John was easily the best boss I have ever had. John had a way of taking students under his wing (and quite often for lunch flights in his plane); he was a great mentor to me and many others. John always challenged me; my fear of heights was overcome due to John’s encouragement and guidance, my lack of programming skills at the time also benefitted from John’s talent as a natural teacher. Simply mentioning John’s name over the years has presented opportunities for me due to his great reputation.”
Yvette Kashmer
Technical Director
Belleville High School
“John is a great mentor and I’m better both personally and professionally because of his kindness, intellect, work ethic and humor. I consider him to be a statistical anomaly… and as Justin Juriga said “He certainly has forgotten more about lighting technology than I will ever know”. A statement I know many will echo.”
Brett Gross
Lighting Director
Production Resource Group
“Our plans, much like years past, are to leave for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula early July and camp around for a bit with some specific stops and some on the fly. We will return to Crisp Point Lighthouse at the end of July to act as volunteer keepers and then mid-August we will be in Copper Harbor for a month or more acting as campground hosts.”
John Briggs
The Man, The Myth, The Legend
TLS Productions, Inc.
