Colin Heffernan Email & Phone Number

Greater Los Angeles Area

A proven leader in the live event production industry, safety driven, and goal oriented, I am seeking a challenging opportunity to manage and lead large projects where my advanced skills, education, and extensive training, and many years of experience can be fully utilized!Tour ready (w/ passport) No tech needed. Furthest thing from prima donna. Draw it. Build it. Run it. Repeat...

Sante Fe Springs, California

Advanced rapidly from tech to director. A full time position which started off in the shop, I would tech and repair intelligent moving light fixtures. I got settled in quickly, learning where everything goes, seeing how the shop operates. I started going out on gigs, as the lighting and dimmer tech L2 position. I learned a ton from James Sidler, Ryan Burke and Carlos Guillen, everything from tracking to pixel mapping. Wanting to LD more I asked for some time off and flew to Austin, TX to take the HOG 4 Training class which I paid for myself. I returned ready to go and full of inspiration. I asked Charlie if I could set up a visualizer station, I did so with my own monitor from home. I learned video from Reynaldo, Ryan V. and John Hall, including LED video wall set up, mapping and running live visuals on Resolume. I started getting more LD gigs, mostly the college and radio shows we did. I started meeting clients, going on walk throughs, where I would take notes and sketch something up, then draft it in Vectorworks (getting help from Joe Golden when I needed it) then create a pull list, pre rig when I could, oversee the truck pack and making sure no gear was left behind. Then I would jump on previz and program as much as I could. Then I would go on the gig and lead it, make sure the client is happy with it, and then I would LD, load out, and do it over! The company that I definitely learned the most at. Charlie and Kenny are guys I really look up to in the industry and still have strong connections with today should I have to rent some gear for an upcoming tour.

Pomona, California

Corporate style production house where I was able to get an old version of vectorworks to practice on. Mostly did small corporate style gigs, a few speakers and a mixer set ups, some uplighting, maybe a projector or 2. Not enough lights in the inventory to keep me interested and I wanted to get back to the beach!

Murietta, Ca

A company I would freelance for when I first moved to California. Alan (owner) still hits me up every now and then for a gig. I help him out when I can.

Irvine, California

Smaller, more corporate client based company where I was able to get more experience in audio, video, and lighting. I was hired and brought on as the shop manager and I pretty much did everything here since the owner was more involved with his Tequila company. Having just acquired FLEX RENTAL SOLUTIONS, I barcoded every item in the shop and entered all Inventory data into FLEX, providing a way to scan items in and out. This prevented us from forgetting gear or losing gear, as well as being able to see where the gear was and when it was due back, as you are on the phone with a client planning another gig. I prepped and loaded every pull sheet, most of the time by myself. (We had a few guys that would come in to help every now and then, but they were really unreliable) I didn't cry about it. I work fine by myself and I know how to use a forklift. After loading truck I would then drive the 24' box truck to the gigs. Where I would lead a crew of guys that I hired. While here I also started learning how to program and operate Road Hog 4 Lighting console along with Lightconverse visualizer. I ended up being the LD for a few corporate shows including one memorable one for client Amway at UCI Bren Events Center. As well as the summer concert series at Ladera Ranch. While working here I also attended the Vectorworks Core Concepts and Intermediate Concepts training class at UCLA 9/9/14-9/12/14 with owner Mike Ivey who offered to pay for half of the class and I paid the other half.

San Diego, Ca 92108

When I first moved out to California I was living in Menifee, CA with my cousin who is stationed at March Air Force base. She is a drone pilot! I contacted the closest IATSE as soon as I got here and found work right away! I get down to the gig and see a flatbed sitting there full of Staging Dimensions decks! I got lucky and was put on electrics, but I thought that was really funny. I did lighting union style for a few gigs in the Downtown Area near Petco Park before I moved to Huntington Beach and took a full time job with MI Media. The drive to SD kind of sucked but It was all new to me at the time so it was fun exploring, and the Union work helped me get on my feet out there, which I'm forever grateful for!

New Castle, Delaware

PM Andy Rougvie kind of took me under his wing. He was like a good football coach you wanted to work hard for. I remember the first time he took me out on a gig we were in the truck and he says " you don't talk much do you." I opened up a bit more on the next few, worked hard, knowing something good is gonna pop up soon. Sure enough, I walk into the shop one morning and get handed a pull list for Dew Tour. A gig so different than the rest. One that requires a lot of heart. That's what our crew had. We were just built like that. And we would build like that! I loaded up our gear, threw my snowboard in the cab of the Semi and jumped on a flight to Denver. I had never traveled for work before and had only been on a plane once. I had only skied the Poconos. I was 22 and headed to the best snow and mountains in the country to do a gig. It was all so new to me and I loved it. The reason I worked so hard was paying off, quickly. I wasn't waiting 3 more years to finish school, or an internship or apprenticeship. I was going places, now!In Breck I was in charge of the sports lights we hung on the truss towers to light up the halfpipe. Which was being aired on NBC, so the focus was important. I had to climb up one night when it was super windy. I watched Jack Murphys guys put the towers in. They drilled a big hole in the snow, put the truss in, and then poured water in there to freeze it over. I thought it was cool at the time but when climbing in the wind you could definitely notice the difference and the swing was pretty intense. I got it done. During Dew I also gave Tex a hand with the VIP hub and Josh a hand with the LED lighting for the DJ set. It was such a blast. Our condo sat right on the mountain, ski-in-ski out. So I would walk outside, jump on the chair lift, and board into work every morning. By far coolest gig I ever did. My Dad still wears my Light Action Spider jacket back home in the winter. I flew to New Orleans less than 2 months later for Superbowl XLVII

New Castle, Delaware

Scott Humphrey's staging company which was located next door to Light Action when I was working there at the time, on Industrial Blvd. My paycheck still said Light Action but the first 9 months I worked there I really only did staging. I paid close attention in the fab shop next door. I thought it was so cool, and so smart of Scott. I would go over there to use the safety speed panel saw and have a look around. So amazed at all that goes into a live concert. Something I never thought about before. Owning a company like this and having it next door was such an advantage and probably one of the reasons he's been so successful. I would get a deck back from a gig, super dirty or chipped and I could put it on the forklift, drive 50ft and get it resurfaced by the guys there. So quick. It also let the designers get creative with their stage builds. Having curved, triangle & trapezoidal pieces to choose from, and being able to mock up something real quick because it's right next door, makes all the difference in the world. They also make decking with laminate and inlays for client logos, pool covers, scaffold decks, and grated aluminum. It was all just too cool. He literally had like 50 welders coming in there working on 2 separate 12 hour shifts the month before Tower Take Off and Landing Ramp for Hot Wheels went out. I'd watch them on my breaks, I stood amazed, watching an army of welders construct a real life size hot wheels ramp, in pieces, put on flatbeds and shipped out. This company was where I needed to be, and I wanted to be on that gig so bad! Seeing that definitely made me work even harder. I asked questions, paid attention, worked like I wanted to be there. I did my staging time. It had been 9 months and I got the gig.

Wilmington, Delaware

Working here was the experience of a lifetime for me. I learned all the ins and outs of a large theatre house and everything that goes into the production of a broadway show! Including but not limited to Chicago, Catz, Anything Goes, Grease, Les Miserables, Titanic, Hello Dolly, and Mama Mia "This Victorian gem proudly remains the oldest legitimate, continually operating theatre in the country. Appropriately nicknamed, Delaware's Broadway Experience. Built to be large enough to accommodate any New York show as a "dress rehearsal venue." The location has been the key to its success, it is a part of the elegant Hotel du Pont, offering the theatre patron world-class dining, lodging, and entertainment all in one building. A unique experience in the world of Broadway national touring theatres, even today. " - DuPont Theatre History 'Celebrating 100 years of Broadway Entertainment' retrieved from http://duponttheatre.com/heritage/What is really funny is that my father was working here in his early 20's as a doorman at the hotel when he met my mother. She worked in an ice cream parlor close by so my dad would go there on his breaks. I got the job at this union playhouse because my girlfriend's father was working there on weekends just as a pusher/loader to make some extra money and asked the BA if he could bring me next time. It turns out he already knew me, as Jimmy's boy. Theatre/Production is a small world. Delaware is a small state. I knew half the guys going into here already from the Grand Opera house. I fit right in. Michael Harrington, the IATSE 284 BA took a liking to me quick. Not only did I go from pusher/loader to Lead Electrics in no time, He started giving me gigs elsewhere. continued on IATSE 284...During my time here I also completed an unpaid STAGEHAND SKILL TRAINING CLASS. I learned the Fly Rail and Rigging from Sid Root. I even slang brick on a few shows. I took a safety class too taught by the Director Mike Yocum and got my lift certification.

Wilmington, Delaware

Great experience where I learned so much working under Technical Director Bob Parker. Skills performed here included but not limited to scenic carpentry, plaster, welding, stitching, and painting. Building scenery and set pieces for all types of operas and plays considering budget and time limitations.

Bear, Delaware

Whenever I needed some extra work I would help my father (producer) out here. I did inventory a few times and some installs with Ron Casalvera and some A/V gigs with Nick Marques. Great learning experience.

Wilmington, Delaware

BA Michael Harrington took a quick liking to me. My work ethic, my size, and my smarts were just what he needed for the calls he was getting and giving out work for outside of the playhouse. Delaware being so small, but close to other major cities, it was usually the Local #8 (Philadelphia) or Local #19 (Baltimore) BA who was calling him because they needed more guys and then him calling us. He was a tough BA too, if you didn't say yes to it right away he would hang up on you, he didn't want to hear your story. And he wouldn't call you again for a long while if you didn't take it, a lot of guys never got called again after saying no to just 1 gig. I always said yes. And I got linked up with a few other union brothers who always said yes and we would split the gas and head down to Baltimore or up to Philadelphia. I loved it. I was 20 years old working a week long Billy Joel/Elton John show in the new Phillies stadium (Citizens Bank Park) making union rates. Philadelphia Freedom right! The following month I was down in Baltimore at the Merriweather Post Pavilion doing a huge scaff build for The first Virgin Mobile FreeFest ft. Blink-182 and Weezer. I was living the life! That gig actually was one of my first scaff builds and I saw a guy drop a 6 ringer from the top. Thank god it didn't kill anyone, the stage manager yelled "Get the fuck off my scaffold and go the fuck home and never fucking come back here." Which was really harsh but I would have said the same thing. That would have killed someone. You don't drop shit. I didn't want to drop anything after that, and I still haven't to this day... I worked enough hours that year to get my card. And I enjoyed that for quite awhile, But I always felt like I needed more. I needed to get more involved somehow. I wanted to be doing production every day not just a few times a month. So one day i got a call to go into the shop of a company called Light Action. I think the next day I told our BA I'm going full time with them.

Wilmington, Delaware

This theatre really hits home for me. I took guitar lessons upstairs as a kid. A cartoon sketch I did when I was 13 of Will Griffith (A1 & musical genius) is still hanging up here to this day. My father would do side gigs here on the weekends mostly so he would always bring me along. The other stagehands didn't mind because I was big for my age, and I was always a quiet kid. So I picked everything up really quick because I was always watching and listening. I started helping out where I could. Everyone there knew me as Jimmy's boy. It felt like family in there. I fell in love with it. I was a kid sitting up in the spot booth listening to a bunch of crazy stage hands cracking grown men jokes making fun of the show they were working on. I was like wow what a cool job. So i put in my time volunteering and then as soon as I was done with school I went back. It's funny actually the day I left college I packed up my dorm room and drove straight to the Grand for a gig. The show that really did it for me though, that made me fall in love with stagecraft was a year before while I was still just helping out. It was The White Stripes on July 27 2007 My birthday was 2 days earlier and my dad brought me to help out, he knew I liked them. They brought red marley with them, which every other stage hand hated because it's marley, but I was obsessed. Such a simple thing that gave such a huge change to the look of the show. The organ had red leather finish. His guitar looked like a red classic car, a chick drummer, so badass, they were pale skinned with dark hair, with that gothy dark look. The show had so much more energy than anything else I had seen. And I used to go to ozzfest every year with my friends. This was just different. The LD was great, well lit but not overkill. Their sound was raw, their look, in that old theatre, it worked. I love gigs like that. When it all just works. That show really opened up my eyes to what stage design could be. Simple.

Wilmington, Delaware

This was my first job after leaving college, and boy did it make me miss it! Not knowing what I wanted to do but thinking another skill and money will work for now. I asked my cousin if he could get me into the IW union with him. I always admired big city buildings, ever since I was a kid, and I also loved to climb. From monkey bars, to trees, to water towers, or anything else that was standing tall and presenting me a challenge. (That is actually how I got the injury which ended my college football career. Climbing something I shouldn't have. ) My cousin showed me the famous photograph of the group of Ironworkers who are sharing lunch together on a steel beam above New York City and that is all it took. I take the test, passed easily and before you know it I was those guys in the photo. The apprenticeship is what I hated about it. I didn't want to wait 3 years to become a journeyman. I had already done a few jobs with my cousin and he taught me everything. The apprenticeship classes were too slow for me, I had already learned everything from the book the first week it was given to me. I knew all my knots already from sailing with my grandfather growing up. I learned to weld quicker than anyone else in the class. It was just like art to me, it came natural. I remember being in welding shop and I would finish first so I started making some art. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. So I went to show my instructor, he didn't like it at all. In fact he was pissed! He told the business agent about it and they scheduled a meeting with me, where I told them how I felt and I asked if I could skip the apprenticeship and just take the final test now. Instead they kicked me out. I was ok with it. I didn't want to waste 3 years of my life learning something I already knew. Just to spend the next 3 years working on just 1 building. That is probably what drew me towards production, the fastness of it! And a different location almost every day. Thats me!

Hockessin, Delaware

This was a summer job I had while I was in high-school. Here I learned basic electrical, plumbing, and carpentry in a rehab and healthcare building which housed mostly senior citizens. It was a great job because I would walk into a resident's room and their face would just light up almost every time. I would fix something in the room, simple stuff like replace a lightbulb or fix a shower, and I would just have a little conversation with them, which you could tell was making their day. I was always very polite, I listened to their stories, even if they were a little out there:) I would try to make the old men laugh and the old ladies blush. It was a fun job! My mom was a nurse there at the time too so it was really cool for a summer job. I couldn't work during the school year because sports always got in the way. I should go back and visit there some day. I enjoy talking to senior citizens because I know they've been around way longer than I have so I know I can learn something. Plus I've been called an old soul many times by different people.

Undergraduate

Accepted with athletic (football) scholarship. Injured shortly after.

High School Diploma, College/University Preparatory And Advanced High School/Secondary Diploma Program

Graduation class of 2007. Received High School Diploma and an athletic scholarship to West Chester University of Pennsylvania.