The founders of Midnight Design Ltd., which along with The Spot Co. joined the Production Resource Group of lighting companies two years ago, have left the firm. Dave Bryant and Mike Townsend plan to return to lighting design.
When the two firms joined PRG, PRG planned their consolidation with the recently established UK branch of Production Arts, and at the same time their forging a working relationship with Light & Sound Design in Birmingham. Lighting industry executive Alan Thomson was appointed specifically for that task, "and it's one we've just completed. The final shipment of equipment from the inventory of Production Arts has already been unloaded into our facility here in Croydon," Thomson says. The integration has helped PRG expand into new markets including West End theatre, “but we're all creatures of habit and some changes didn't suit everyone.”
Of Bryant and Townsend, Thomson says, "Both made a great contribution toward building the company into what it is today. But increasingly it led them away from their primary talent, the lighting designs that made them famous. As such we have determined to make a distinct change of emphasis."
Fourth Phase London, as the combined elements are now known, will function primarily as an equipment and technical facility. "We now have lighting equipment to satisfy the demands of many markets," says Thomson, "Corporate, theatre, event, we even support concert touring when LSD has need of our more esoteric gear. Fourth Phase London is a lighting company focused on cultivating the independence of talent."