Amusement parks:Overheard at IAAPA, Las Vegas

Friday, November 20, 2009 Amusement parks:Overheard at IAAPA, Las Vegas Seen and heard by Blooloop's Judith Rubin at the biggest annual trade event of the Themed Entertainment Industry.

The era of instant journalism fostered by the Internet has sparked a new watchfulness on the part of the industry. It seemed that practically every time I took out my notebook or thumbed the keys on my mobile phone over the past three days, someone would half jokingly inquire with a certain amount of nervousness what was being recorded or transmitted. I like to think that the ability to publish rapidly has not affected my judgment as an editor. It has never been my goal to be the Louella Parsons of the themed entertainment industry. I hereby present some news snippets and observations gathered during the IAAPA show in Las Vegas, which is closing today. You can read on without fear of encountering scandal or premature reporting. Should you find any inaccuracies here they are probably the result of not being able to read my own scrawl from the notebook. Yves Pepin and Jean-Michel Louis, long associated with ECA2, have both moved on from that company. Pepin departed last year to focus on being an independent creative with more control over his agenda, and continues to collaborate with ECA2 on such projects as the State Grid Pavilion for Shanghai Expo 2010. Louis departed last month to join Le Public Systeme, an event production company. The new CEO of ECA2 is Jean-Christophe Canizares. Also taking the independent path was lighting designer Pat Gallegos. The former TEA president was most recently with X-nth. Gallegos specialized in themed architectural lighting design, an art he mastered on the job in the creation of Epcot, as a theater grad learning the ropes at WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering). Milwaukee-based lighting designer Marty Peck worked on a project lighting the Mitchell Park Domes, that has contributed to Milwaukee's downtown revitalization. The trio of existing horticultural domes was spiced up for new evening programming with LEDs and floods from Color Kinetics, controlled by an ETC Pharos system. The project budget was a thrifty $550k. TEA International Board member Christine Kerr attended the show with her son Alex, a recent graduate who after a lifetime of hearing his mother talk about the industry, has decided it might be the place for his own career, too. As a major in biochemistry and a minor in drama, he is already the embodiment of science theater. We ran into Dan Martin of Market Feasibility Advisers at the Elvis-themed party hosted by BRC Imagination Arts. The company has a new project in Saudi Arabia. Recent work includes helping to solve an unanticipated overcrowding problem at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, strategizing the re-opening of the Statue of Liberty to the public and sorting out visitor flow at the US Capitol Visitor Center. Martin's company frequently collaborates with another company, Orca, which is made up of Disney operations veterans. Jon Corfino of Attraction Media & Entertainment Inc. was pleased to report a signed deal with Blue Man Group to create a 4D multimedia attraction that will be produced by Charlotte Huggins. The Themed Entertainment Association held its annual meeting to evaluate the past year and look ahead. Steve Thorburn of Thorburn Associates Inc. was confirmed for a second term as TEA president. Membership numbers are up. The Europe/Middle East Division new head is Alan Wilkinson of Electrosonic (Kevin Murphy of Event Communications Ltd., outgoing). In the US, the Eastern Division's new head is Brian Morrow of SeaWorld (Steve Birket of Birket Engineering, outgoing) and David Aion of Aion Themed Environments is the new head of the Western Division, with Daren Ulmer outgoing. Back on the show floor, Michael Needham and David Needham of SimEx-Iwerks were promoting, on the heels of much success with the SpongeBob 4D attraction, forthcoming releases in various stages of production: a Dora & Diego 4D attraction (the deal brings together SimEx-Iwerks with Paramount and Nickelodeon) being produced by Super 78, a Happy Feet 4D attraction (we saw a rough cut), a 4D Wizard of Oz experience for which the original Warner Bros. film footage is being edited and converted to 3D, and the new SpeedRacer ridefilm which packs an impressive amount of storytelling into a very high-paced animation adventure. Janine Baker of nWave Pictures reported that the company has secured rights to the classic children's book, The Little Prince, and will begin work on a 3D animated film version for wide release. Pirates Treasure 4D from nWave opens March 2010. The company that gave you Fly Me to the Moon is now having good success with its sea turtle movie package in multiple markets, with museums, aquariums and theme parks all enthusiastic about booking TurtleVision 4D, to the point where some special venues are installing 3D theaters specifically to open with that show. Ben Stassen fans take note: the man himself will be on the IAAPA floor today. More news to come about the people, companies and projects of the themed attractions industry – watch for Part II of my IAAPA show report tomorrow. See also: Themed Design: Lagasse's Stadium hits a home run for sports-themed restaurants Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) Announces 16th Annual Thea Award Recipients
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