By Mary Guthrie
You know you’ve got a good thing going when your brand-new podcast gets 7,000 downloads within three months. And the subscribers are tuning in from all over the world. And you get an invitation by the world’s biggest lighting convention, LDI, to live-stream your podcast at their next conference, which will be attended by 13,000 lighting designers from over 80 countries. It’s then when you realize your lighting design colleagues had been waiting for a podcast exactly like Light Talk to come along.
Steve Woods, professor and head of stage design in the M.F.A. Theatre program at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, is one of the show’s three hosts, collectively called “The Lumen Brothers.” Inspired by the light, fun and entertaining tone of NPR’s of Car Talk, Woods and fellow lighting pros David Jacques (California State University Long Beach), Stan Kaye (University of Florida) and their guests hold forth — or, according to Woods, “rant, muse and pontificate” — on the latest developments in the world of live entertainment and architectural lighting design. The seasoned professionals share their considerable experience and perspectives and offer shop talk and advice to professional lighting designers and students.
Light Talk caught the ear of LDI (Live Design International) and featured the show and its hosts in an article on the LDI website, saying “The format is like a fireside chat. These three guys are pretty funny, their lighting anecdotes and kernels of information interspersed with personal ramblings …” Light Talk, says the article, “… is a cross between Lake Wobegon and Greater Tuna, with a 45° lighting angle, lighthearted banter, and some nuggets of serious info infused. Listen in to Light Talk. You’ll be amazed or amused, and might even learn how to make a really good pot roast!”
You can hear their free podcasts on the Light Talk website or tune in through iTunes.
Learn more about SMU Meadows Professor and Head of Stage Design Steve Woods