Dave Loftin

Dave Loftin is the most senior member of the team, with over 50 years of experience. He first joined the industry in 1968, building circus scenery for Ringling Brothers. He spent years holding multiple positions as a rigger, scenic artist and technical director for regional operas, concerts, ice shows and circuses in New York and eventually at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois. In 1990 Dave accepted a position as Production Manager for the Shoji Tabuchi Show in Branson, MO with the directive to help make it a “World Class Production”. Dave directed the installation of new scenery, costumes, lighting, audio, lasers, flying tracks, pyrotechnics, and several other special effects. The show became the hottest ticket in Branson all through the 1990s.

In 1999, Dave worked with DHP Productions in Nixa as a technical director and lead rigger on several live event entertainment projects before joining the burgeoning Paragon 360 team in 2002. Early projects with Paragon included Technical Direction for the Prestonwood Dallas Christmas Festival, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular in Branson, and large-scale corporate meetings for Wal-Mart, the largest corporate meetings of the time. Today, Dave leads the rigging design effort at Paragon 360 for its projects nationwide.

As a member of the USITT Health and Safety Commission in the 1980s, Dave helped to write the “Recommended Guidelines and Practices for Theatrical Rigging”. Dave also started the first Master’s Rigging Workshop in 1988 with rigging industry leaders such as Jay Glerum, Rocky Paulson, Peter Foy, and Randall “Dr. Doom” Davidson. This workshop series spread across the country and grew to inspire the creation by ESTA of the Entertainment Technician Certification Program that is in place today. As part of this program, Dave was asked to serve on the 12-member Subject Matter Expert panel from The United States and Canada to write the ETCP Entertainment Electrician Examination.