Editors note: Amy Van Dusen is the Rental Manager at Limelight Productions. Equipment rentals are a big part of what Limelight does and the spring/summer can be a hectic time as the shop preps for, and services the busy summer theatre/festival season in the Berkshires. Thanks to Amy for taking a few moments to tell us a little bit about herself and life at Limelight. Feel free to ask Amy questions about rentals including available lighting/effects equipment, etc, or leave her a comment.
How did you end up at Limelight and how long have you been here?
While I was attending Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Limelight was recommended to me by Andy Hoar (technical director at MCLA) as a possible internship. I worked as a shop intern during the summer of ’06. I graduated in ’07 and returned as a shop technician. I’ve been here ever since! So I suppose that makes it 2 years full time, plus a summer for good measure.
What is your job title these days?
My official title is “Rental Manager.” When it came time to print business cards a while back, I was pushing for “Grand Pooh-bah” instead. That didn’t seem to stick.
As the Rental Manager at Limelight what is your typical day like?
“Typical?” That’s a funny concept. For the sake of conversation, it might go something like this:
Start off by getting an idea of what’s coming in and leaving the shop each day – what orders need to be pulled, checked in, shipped out, delivered, etc; get some invoicing done before the mailman arrives; enter sales items into our computer inventory; help with what needs to be done in the shop (check orders in/out, clean and test equipment, check-in new inventory, etc.); talk to customers on the phone and through email about current and future rentals and sales; monitor and update Limelight’s Facebook Page; and much more! Some orders involve on site installations which can last a couple of hours or several days.
Is there a lot of seasonal variation in the kind and size of rentals you deal with?
The summer is definitely our biggest rental season. The summer theaters tend to roll into town around late May. We have several large season-long rentals that kick off the summer. Our big customers keep us busy all summer with smaller show-specific rentals in addition to this seasonal rental. We also see a good amount of business from summer camps in the area, and community theatres. I’d say that the summer starts with a rush of very large rentals, and then keeps a pretty steady pace of smaller orders. The summer season keeps us quite busy into September. During the rest of the year we can count on the local schools, churches, and fulltime theatres to keep us on our toes. Fall/Winter/Spring tend to bring us more short-term rentals and special events.
What kind of “stuff” does Limelight actually rent? Is it all dimmers and lights, or is there more to it?
Oh, there’s plenty more to Limelight than lights and dimmers! We’ve got all the cable, lighting consoles, and typical accessories you would expect to find go along with the lights and dimmers. But we don’t stop there! We also have a great selection of special effects equipment, such as strobes, scrollers, blacklights, fog machines (including dry ice foggers), snow machines (for both plastic snow and fluid-based), gobo rotators, and so much more. We also have a large inventory of film/video lighting and grip equipment (including a 20KwHMI fresnel).
Are most of your clients theatre groups? What other types of clients look to Limelight for rentals?
Professional and community theatre groups are certainly a big part of our clientele. Not surprisingly, we also do a lot of business with schools (from preschool to college). Churches and other religious organizations are another big source of clients. Fire Departments rent our foggers for tests. We do a surprising amount of business with individuals who are just having an event and want to add something special (a simple blacklight for a sweet 16 party, or a full lighting installation for a wedding, etc).
Everyone in any type of rental business seems to have stories to tell. What’s the wackiest thing anyone has called looking to rent?
Around Easter this year someone called wanting to rent a bunny costume.
What would we be surprised to find for rent at Limelight?
Pipe and Drape! (editors note: Limelight offers pipe and drape rental including installation for tradeshows, etc)
There is so much in the news these days about “social networking” - as the person behind the Limelight Facebook Page, what is your sense of how that has worked for the company? Any plans to “tweet” in the future?
The think the Limelight Facebook Page has been great in terms of making a personal connection with our customers. It’s been especially nice to be able to put faces to names we have been doing business with for years. It’s nice to have a more casual setting to be able to let people know what’s going on at Limelight (including Facebook-only special offers). Keep an eye out for a lot more updates and special offers! I wouldn’t rule out entering the world of “Twitter” – but nothing quite yet.
When you’re not taking, pulling or checking in orders at Limelight, what do you do for fun?
In July, I’ll be appearing in Zombie Prom: The Musical as “Toffee” at Mill City Productions (a community theatre in North Adams, MA). I am also the set designer for the show – so that’s keeping me very busy. In addition to musical theatre, I have an unhealthy obsession with television – you don’t want to know how many TV shows on DVD I have at home.