Joe Champelli Email & Phone Number

Newburgh, Ny, Us

Las Vegas, Nv, Us

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Louisville

Louisville, Ky

Entertainment Project Services provides design and project management, fabrication and installation coordination for the entertainment industry. We have recently completed turn-key projects for Major theme parks in California and Florida as well as custom special effects for Nickelodeon. We specialize in permanent installations of large scale custom mechanical effects. In addition to over 25 years combined experience in Theme parks, we complete projects for Hotel-Casinos, cruise ships, arenas and traditional theater installations. At EPS we enjoy assisting producers, creative and technical teams, as well as end-users in bringing new projects and productions to life.

Louisville, Ky

General Manager and Mechanical DesignerDuring my tenure at ZFX we successfully expanded operations and increased revenue including purchasing and relocating a fully operational CNC machine shop with associated employees. We also expanded and improved offices, storage, shop, and rehearsal spaces, increasing usable square footage in existing ZFX headquarters. During this time, over 7,000 square feet of office/shop space was created by redesigning / re-purposing existing space. HVAC was added to the rehearsal / show prep studio (a.k.a. "The Dojo") As part of this renovation we created the largest green screen in North America coming in at 32' high by 168' long. While at ZFX, in addition to operations management I was also lead mechanical designer. Under the directive of the owners, we began by focusing on upgrading existing stock equipment and quickly moved into developing new solutions. While I had prior experience with flying performers, working for ZFX was the first time I had the pleasure of focusing on performer flying as the core daily business. In addition to the stock product improvements and development of new stock products, I designed and managed the build of some very large flying hoists that were used in filming the movie "Hangover 3". Other duties included site surveys and on-site installation management of installation crews, Ironworkers and union crews as needed for custom installations. In February of 2012, as part of my ongoing association with ESTA's Rigging Working Group and while representing ZFX I proposed the creation of a new performer flying standard. ANSI E1.43 was published in 2016.

Executive VP, COO, Mechanical Design, Business Development.FTSI, Inc. started as a 2-person company in 1998. I was fortunate enough to be that other person. Scott and I grew FTSI from a 3,500 sq. foot storefront/warehouse space to one of the largest Automation companies of its time. At the peak, FTSI had over 100 employees. We were fortunate enough to have Cirque Du Soleil as one of our first clients and we quickly focused the business on high speed / custom automation projects. In the early days I wore many hats, installation supervision, project management, etc. A full line of stock hoists and control systems soon followed. In later years I focused on stock product design and business development. The innovative "Navigator" Automation control system and associated machinery developed by FTSI continues to be used worldwide. FTSI was acquired by TAIT Towers in 2011.

Las Vegas

ECS started as a part-time endeavor while working at Siegfried and Roy. One of my first customers was Flying By Foy where I had the pleasure of working directly for Peter Foy providing CAD design. ECS customers and operations were rolled into the early operations at FTSI in 1998.

The highlight of my time at Siegfried and Roy was working on special projects. It was at S&R that my mechanical engineering coursework at Penn State met real-world problem solving. It was a pleasure to work as part of a team at S&R to create high-speed hoists, custom winches, and deck track solutions. It was at S&R where I embarked on my first foray into 3D CAD modeling for a custom automated illusion. Working out complex mechanical solutions in 3D AutoCAD was almost as exciting as watching the tiger disappear.

Mfa, Technical Production

Activities and Societies: Graduate student in Technical Production with coursework in School of Engineering and BusinessThe degree.

Bs, Design For Entertainment

Technical Direction, Scenery Design, Lighting Design, Sound Design, Stage Management