Access All Areas Supplements The Next Generation Supplement | Page 17

NOVEMBER 2018 | THIRTY
The thirty
Stuart Webb, Fisher
Productions
Currently senior commercial events manager
at the National Theatre, Shahail manages both
internal and external client events covering a wide
range of industry sectors, and whether it’s an event
for 10 people or 1,000 every event is executed with
the sharpest eye for detail and guest satisfaction.
He has been instrumental and fully immersed
himself in leading the operational development of
the newly rebuilt rooftop events space, The Deck
at the National Theatre. To be trusted in this role
at such a young age goes to show how committed
and respected he is within the National Theatre.
Performance has always been a passion for
Shahail, after graduating with a performance
honours degree in musical theatre he has excelled
in theatre and events ever since. Nothing would
deter Shahail from succeeding, whether it was
working two jobs as a theatre usher and retail sales
assistant, he moved quickly up through positions
within one of London’s largest West End venues,
the Lyceum Theatre, that saw 2,130 guests walk
through its doors 8 shows a week.
Shahail knows how to lead a team, having led
the bars and beverage sector of the venue while in
his position as duty manager, he was there until
he moved on from service and joined the National
Theatre as hospitality and commercial events
manager in 2017. In a short space of time with the
National Theatre he has already been promoted to
senior manager.
Shahail is that rare breed who does everything
with a smile, and he’ll happily, of course,
challenge anyone who says you can’t sell anything
with a smile.
Myles Wynne-Pedder,
ForceFX
I think my biggest career highlight
would be working, rigging and firing
parts of the fireworks display on a
barge in Sydney for the NYE fireworks display
in Australia, its lovely shooting fireworks in 23
degree heat.
Since I have been back in the homeland I
have taken the position of Head Technician at
ForceFX. One Highlight stands out in particular.
I have been project managing Mutiny festivals
SFX since it began in 2014. As the festival
has grown I’ve been able to scale up what we
can provide for their artists across the festival
including flames, CO2, confetti, streamers &
stage pyro, but by far I love sitting down and
designing the huge pyrotechnic finales for the
headliners and seeing it come to life in the sky. I
get a huge rush pressing the button, hearing the
bang, seeing everyone’s faces illuminate with the
colours in the sky hearing and thousands of people
scream. There is so much satisfaction in that!
I do worry that there are a lot of small ‘festivals’
cropping up more and more in towns. Generally
named after the town its held in with ‘fest’ bolted
on the end!
I think that these can be great community
events, I have attended a couple as a tech and they
do have a very cool vibe to them providing corners
aren’t cut because of low budgets.
For our industry we will see a big change in
what we have to provide for example, my heart
sinks every time we do a big confetti hit and we
throw 30+kg of paper in to the crowd, yes it looks
amazing but what a waste.
Recent highlights for Stuart as lighting designer
for Fisher Productions have included ‘An evening
inspired by Swan Lake’, an exclusive event for
high end jewellers Van Cleef & Arpels’ top 100
clients in the Tate Modern Tanks, working
alongside the Royal Opera House and the Royal
Ballet for the live show elements; ‘I Love You
Cindy’ a filmic, immersive UK launch event
for fashion brand Reserved’s SS18 collection in
collaboration with Cindy Crawford, the Royal
Academy Summer Exhibition Preview Party
(2013-2018) and the 2018 Awards Dinner for
leading hair industry magazine ‘Creative Head’ at
the Natural History Museum.
Recent developments in LED lighting have
totally changed the way I think as a lighting
designer, allow me to create designs that just
weren’t possible when I lit my first show over 15
years ago. There are great sustainability benefits
to be had too - I expect to see a lot more interest
in the environmental impact of events and event
technology. I think we’ll see huge leaps forward in
the integration of lighting, video and automation
within the next few years, and I look forward
to delivering more and more complex technical
designs, presented in an even simpler friendly
manner, driven by advances in technology. I fully
expect that bespoke, responsive event designs will
become the norm.
Shahail Woodcock, National
Theatre