Adam Karasik is a freelance touring lighting and video designer, programmer, and operator who works out of Toronto. He started his career in the entertainment industry when he was in high school, dividing his free time between stage managing theatrical productions, working as a arcade game technician at Dave and Busters, and designing flash based websites. He then went on to Ryerson University to complete his BFA in Performance Production.
During his time at Ryerson, Adam worked at the Vaughan City Playhouse. He started there in 2007 and has been a member of their team since. As a technician at the theater he has worked on many theatrical productions, concerts and dance competitions. In his final years at Ryerson he narrowed his focus to media servers and lighting, which inspired him to explore possibilities outside of school and complete an internship at Midnite Hour, where he had a chance to work with Coolux Pandoras Box, a wide variety of video gear, and an amazing group of people.
After finishing his degree at Ryerson, he started working for event staging company Phase 3 AV, first as their head of video and lighting, and later as their operations manager. During his time at Phase 3 AV, he also worked as a video mapper – mapping content to 3D objects, as well as architectural projections and mixed media displays.
Over the last 15 years, Adam has gained a working knowledge of the many aspects of a production and how each piece works together to create a show or event. He has worked in the full spectrum of live entertainment, including but not limited to theater, concert touring, festivals, corporate conferences, galas, award shows, and charity events, as well as dabbling in film and television, which has given him a strong understanding of how the entertainment industry works and is evolving. Adam has focused his career on the visuals aspect of live, live to air and pre-recorded productions and works both domestially and abroad. He is always looking for new opportunities to learn and collaborate with people, as well as work with new types of media servers, lighting consoles, and innovative visual, XR and interactive technologies.
As technology has become more diverse, Adam has developed custom media controls to help integrate multiple systems to allow for the easiest operation possible. He is an innovative and creative person whose positivity and sense of humor make even the longest days pleasant and is dedicated to making sure whatever show or project he is working on is accomplished while exceeding expectations.
Adam's passion for visuals started as a child, during a production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Hummingbird Centre in Toronto. He was captured and amazed, not just at the spectacle before him but by the effect it had on the people in the audience. It gave them an escape to grab their minds from the everyday and flush out the worries of the outside world, if only for a couple of hours. It also gave each and every person a memory embroidered with emotion, which, one hopes, will last a long time, if not a lifetime.
The reason Adam got into the entertainment industry and the reason he does what he does, is to collaborate on events and shows that will give people memorable moments that they can share with others, and hopefully remember for years to come.