Bemusement - The Attractions Industry Blog

Jonathan Katz

Jonathan Katz, CEO of Cinnabar Inc., commenced his design career in high school, building floats for the Pasadena Rose Parade. Eventually he managed the whole process for a float design and construction company. He shifted gears in the 1970s and went to work for then-California Gov. Jerry Brown, helping implement key Brown initiatives such as the Office of Appropriate Technology and the California Conservation Corps. Returning to the world of design & production, Katz founded Cinnabar in 1981. The company started out creating scenery and special effects for television, movies and commercials, then expanded into retail, theme parks and public venues.

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Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Museums: An Outpouring in Paper and Pencil - Visitors to Calif Academy Get to the Point on Climate Change    For the new California Academy of Sciences, my company, Cinnabar Inc., produced the exhibit “Altered State,” which focuses on climate change and California....View more

Thursday, February 05, 2009 Museums and Green Building: Look at the big picture to create a truly sustainable facility and establish a basis for meaningful decisions    The term “green building” is something of a misnomer because the heaviest environmental impact comes after construction, with the behavior and consumption of the building's occupants. When you look at the life cycle and total cost of a green building, the vast majority of the expenditures involved are connected to the people inside it ......View more

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 This Is - and Isn’t - Your Grandfather’s Science Museum    Update from Jonathan Katz, CEO of Cinnabar, and executive producer of 35,000 square feet of new exhibits for the Kimball Natural History Museum at the new California Academy of Sciences....View more

Friday, August 29, 2008 Giant Tortoises and Museum 2.0: Cinnabar Installation Diary    We’re now completing installation of exhibits on the east side of the Kimball Museum of Natural History at the new California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Those exhibits include “Islands of Evolution,” some 10,000 square feet of displays illustrating Academy research expeditions to Galápagos and Madagascar, while explaining key concepts about evolution and biodiversity....View more

Saturday, August 23, 2008 Museums: More news from the installation front!    Here is the latest entry of Cinnabar’s installation diary, by Jonathan Katz (Executive Director) and Jeannie Lomma (project manager)...View more

Monday, August 11, 2008 Cinnabar Installation Diary: The California Academy of Sciences    Here’s a report from Jonathan Katz in San Francisco, where his company, Cinnabar, is in the process of installing new exhibits at the California Academy of Sciences. This will be a weekly diary for the next several weeks (the new Academy opens Sept. 27).
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