OUR HISTORY
Owner History
Hollywood Lights, Inc. was founded in 1948 by Don Cameron and George T. Howard to provide theatrical lighting rentals and searchlight advertising to the Portland area. Willis Holland later joined the company as a partner in 1951. Mr. Howard left the company in 1953 to establish a theatre consulting firm. One of his most notable projects was the MGM Grand Hotel in Reno, Nevada.Mr. Holland left the company in 1957 and continued to work as a stagehand until his retirement in 1980. He was the houseman for more than 20 years at the Paramount Theatre, which has since been restored and renamed the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
Tom Neal joined Hollywood Lights in 1969. Mr. Neal holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University. Mr. Neal worked at Boeing in Seattle for 12 years as a research and development engineer on the Bomarc, Minuteman, DynaSoar and Saturn Programs. While at Boeing, he started his own lighting company, offering rentals and lighting shows in the Seattle area. Prior to joining Boeing, Mr. Neal worked his way through college as a stagehand in Portland.
Richard Fuller started at Hollywood Lights in the rental department in 1973. Mr. Cameron decided to retire in 1978 and Mr. Fuller bought into the business, becoming a partner. In 1989, Mr. Neal retired, selling his share of the company to Mr. Fuller.
Company History
At its founding, Hollywood Lights’ main emphasis was on searchlight advertising. With the war recently ended, numerous searchlights were available for purchase as government surplus. Due in large part to this surplus, searchlights became the "in thing" to use throughout Hollywood, California—adding glamour to the big movie premiers and grand openings.Mr. Cameron—being from the Los Angeles area—decided to purchase several of the searchlights and start a Portland searchlight advertising company. Because their use developed in Hollywood, he dubbed the company "Hollywood Lights". What began as a trend in L.A. quickly became very popular in Portland, as businesses began using searchlights for grand openings at store and automobile showings.
During the 1950's, theatrical lighting and trade show electrical gradually began to form a larger share of Hollywood Lights’ business. The 1960 opening of Portland’s Memorial Coliseum attracted more events requiring Hollywood Lightings’ expertise.
By the early 1960's, searchlight advertising had begun to decline and the decision was made to sell the equipment and focus exclusively on convention and trade show electrical services. Hollywood Lights continues to provide electrical services at the Coliseum and Portland Expo Center. In the early 1980's, electrical services expanded to include Tacoma, Vancouver and Seattle, Washington.
Theatrical lighting remained a minor part of Hollywood Lights’ business until the late 1970's, when the advent of disco brought with it a heightened interest in lighting equipment. While disco didn't last long, it initiated a trend of using more lighting equipment in local entertainment establishments. To meet this increased demand, Hollywood Lights continued to add product lines and started to advertise.
Hollywood Lights also entered the television lighting business in the 1960's, starting with political campaigns. Later, in 1990 Hollywood Lights started Pacific Grip & Lighting Inc. to supply grip and lighting equipment in Portland. In 1993 Pacific Grip & Lighting purchased the Cine Companies in Seattle. With that purchase, Hollywood Lights became the largest grip and lighting company in the Northwest. The film business slumped and in 1998 Hollywood Lights sold Pacific Grip & Lighting, Inc.