Corporate Event Lighting · grandMA3 Programming
My dad's Cannon Stage Lighting legacy gets me in the door. Thousands of gigs keep me there. I bring a creative eye and fast, elegant programming. I got my grit as the first one to dive into the worst jobs, from pulling feeder to coiling a mud-soaked snake at the end of the night, and I'll never ask anyone to do something I wouldn't do myself. When the lead is calm, everyone's calm.
When you hire me, you're not just hiring an LD. You're hiring peace of mind for the entire lighting side of your event. When Cannon is on the crew sheet, you're taken care of.
How I work
Whatever happens, the show goes on. Live events don't always go to plan, and that's when I do my best work.
01
Doors are open, a fixture drops out, the timeline just changed. I stay steady, so the room stays steady.
02
I've been through it all. When something goes sideways, I usually already have a solution in mind.
03
I'm great at running crews, and I keep everything clean and organized, from the cable runs to the show file.
04
Long days go better when people enjoy them. I keep morale high and make sure everyone leaves with a smile on their face.
Work
Show reel video coming soon
Services
01
Clean, on-brand looks for general sessions, galas, awards and launches.
02
Engineering and show prep: plots, paperwork, labels and programming done before load-in. No surprises on show day.
03
Show files built, organized and busked or timecoded on grandMA3.
04
Lighting design and live operation for tours, one-offs and festival sets.
05
Hit-driven cueing timed to the routine, so every stomp and freeze lands.
06
Lighting for school and university showcases that makes young performers look like headliners.
Career highlights
A few of the festivals I've worked.
Clients
Placeholder: other clients and a testimonial to be supplied by George, with permission
About
I'm a freelance lighting designer and grandMA3 programmer. I've been programming grandMA consoles since 2015, from grandMA2 to grandMA3, and I've been running MA3 since the v1.9 days. I grew up in my father's shop, Cannon Stage Lighting in Baltimore, and I've been around stages, cable and fixtures for as long as I can remember.
The Cannon Creative is my own company, built from scratch to carry that work forward for concerts, corporate events, step shows and student showcases.
From tying into ballroom basement panels and generators to reaching that last inch from the top of a scissor lift, I've done it all. It made me the lighting Swiss Army knife I am today.
Placeholder: past jobs and career highlights from George
Everything I do is for my wife, Stacie, and our kids. Our favorite place to be together is Disney.
Stacie gave up her job as a childcare director for a harder one: raising our three kids, often on her own while I'm on the road. I couldn't do any of this without her. She's my rock and my best friend.
Legacy
My father, George Cannon Jr., has run Cannon Stage Lighting in Baltimore, Maryland since January 1981. That shop is where I learned what light can do for a show.
When I was in elementary school, my dad pulled me out of class so I could turn on the lights for the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl championship parade.
George Cannon Jr. starts Cannon Stage Lighting in January 1981, first at 6707 Dogwood Road in Baltimore.
On January 30, 2001, Baltimore celebrated the Ravens' Super Bowl XXXV win with a parade downtown. I was the kid my dad brought along to turn on the lights.
Cannon Stage Lighting moves into a 12,500 sq ft shop at 1717 Whitehead Road in Woodlawn.
In November 2012, PLSN credited Cannon Stage Lighting for Journey's benefit concert for the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at the Lyric in Baltimore, with George Cannon Jr. and George Cannon 3rd both credited as lighting techs.
A new company carrying the family name and the craft into the next generation.
From the shop floor
I grew up on the 120k: double-hung truss upstage and downstage, loaded with 120 1,000-watt PAR 64s. Focus meant climbing out across the truss, sweat sizzling on the cans.
Contact
Bring me in and you get a calm, organized lighting lead and a crew in good spirits, whatever the night throws at us. Tell me about your event and I'll get back to you.