Professional Lighting & Production - Spring 2020 | Page 26

PL&P P 26 PL CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF MDG FOG GENERATORS PRESIDENT & CEO MARTIN MICHAUD (2 ND FROM RIGHT) & THE TEAM AT MDG FOG GENERATORS By Andrew King A sk virtually any live production pro about their favour- ite aspect of their industry and you’re almost certain to hear it’s some variation of: “the people working in it.” Martin Michaud is a prime example. “This isn’t a very old industry we’re in, and it’s also a very people- driven industry, which is something I love most about it,” says the longtime President and CEO of Montreal’s MDG Fog Generators Ltd., and that ethos has driven his company’s success through much of its 40-year history. Professional Lighting & Production recently sat down with Michaud to discuss the past, present, and future of the industry-leading Cana- dian manufacturer. MDG Fog Generators Ltd. 10301 Pelletier Ave. Montreal, QC H1H 3R2 514-272-6040, FAX [phone] [email protected], www.mdgfog.com While MDG was registered in 1979, the company’s first formal sale of a Max 3000 fog generator came in January 1980 – hence the 40 th anniversary celebrations throughout 2020. The company was founded by brothers Marc and Daniel Gingras (which inspired the acronymic moniker), though Daniel left the picture early on, leaving his brother to launch the business. “I was in lighting and touring with different French bands in the area at the time, and that’s how I met Marc,” begins Michaud. Gingras approached the 19-year-old in hopes of getting some real-world input on what would become MDG’s first prototype. “I told him it needed to use as little fluid as possible, but what it produced should hang for as long as possible,” he recalls, and that became a pillar of the company’s approach to product development. The result of those early collaborations was MDG’s Max 3000 fog generator – a game-changer then and still an industry-standard to this day. Gingras asked Michaud to formally join the company, though he wasn’t interested at the time; however, he would bring his own MDG fog machine to gigs and give one of Gingras’s business cards to any- one that asked about it. Because it boasted a good output, extended hangtime, and no unpleasant scents, a lot of people did, and MDG was soon a trusted name throughout Quebec. In 1993, Gingras once again extended his offer. Michaud had become quite successful with his freelance lighting firm, Concept