Technical director and lighting designer. grandMA2 / grandMA3 specialist. On stages for thirty years.
It starts at the Casino de Montréal : a first grandMA1 and a hundred hours of training. Since then, over thirty years in live show and event production : starting out as an electrician, then lighting designer and grandMA operator since 2009, technical director and tour manager since 2006. Tours across Québec, Switzerland, Belgium, Morocco, Dubai and Mexico, spanning circus, comedy, musical theatre and corporate galas.
Twenty years alongside Rachid Badouri shaped the path in particular : a long collaboration that built as much rigour as speed of execution. And over fifteen years training other grandMA operators — passing on what took years to learn.
Gold Light brings these three trades under one roof : a simple name, for a golden light. What still drives it today is a deeply creative craft, powered by programming, technology and software. The design is shaped by live experience : what gets drawn is what can actually be built, in the time available, with the crew and gear that are really on hand.
What productions come looking for : rigour in the documentation, speed of execution in the room, and someone who slots into a demanding technical crew without needing to be managed.
Alongside Gold Light, Benoit also runs ON THE AIR, a photography, video and drone piloting company.
Tools & Software
Time in the room is the most expensive part of a production. Whatever can be decided beforehand, is.
Rundown, venue constraints, filming, scenic elements, budget. We define what the light needs to say before talking about fixtures.
Layout, patch, general notes, fixture legend. A package the integrator, the rigger and the venue can execute without back-and-forth.
Console and 3D visualization. Palettes, groups and show structure already exist by the time the first fixture turns on.
Checking angles and trims on site, adjusting looks, syncing up with sound, video and production.
Running the console, reacting to whatever comes up, then handing over the documented showfile — ready for your team to pick up.
Drone pilot certified for advanced operations (Transport Canada), with over 1,200 flights and 2,000 flight hours. Video and photo capture, photogrammetry, flight planning and permit management.
Useful when an event needs footage as much as it needs light : site scouting, capturing the load-in, content for partners and broadcasters.
Full design, extra hands on programming, on-site operation or grandMA training : tell me where you're at.