In 1975, Fred Foster, his brother, and two of their friends from college started ETC with their work on a lighting console. In 1990 ETC acquired LMI and added dimming systems to their portfolio of products. In 1992, the iconic Source Four fixture launched, giving ETC the market edge. They were now...
We recently announced that we're saying goodbye to Source Four PAR and PARNel, Source Four jr, and Source Four Fresnels. As we sunset these iconic incandescent fixtures, we thought it would be fun to go way back to the beginning where it all started. Here is a look at some of the first print ads...
ETC has built its legacy on combining the art and science of light into useful tools for live events around the globe. The video below tells the story of nearly five decades of inspiration, technology, and the industry.
In the winter of 1975, a planning committee began forming the first-ever Illinois High School Theatre Festival. This state-wide festival has been bringing students and teachers together from around the state for this non-competitive event ever since. The 2024 festival featured a production of She...
Olbrich Botanical Gardens, located in Madison, Wisconsin, is just a few miles from the ETC headquarters building. For the past six years, in late summer, a team of lighting designers, artists, marketing/branding specialists, and horticulturists collaborated to produce a community art exhibit called...
We find ourselves once again at the end of the year. This is the time when we look back and take stock of what we’ve accomplished, the milestones we’ve hit, the people we’ve met, the music we’ve listened to, and recount our favorite memories. We at ETC are, once again, jumping on that bandwagon...
Phil Vilar is a first-generation Latino American working as a lighting designer and educator. Born into a traditional Catholic family, Vilar felt a deep sense of duty to become successful in whatever career they chose. This just so happened to be a career in lighting and projection design. “Theatre...
There are millions of incandescent Source Four fixtures out in the world. 3.5 million to be exact. Because of their high-quality design and robust technology, a majority of these fixtures are still running strong and are revered as the dependable workhorse fixtures of their venues.
On this International Women's Day, we thought it would be a great opportunity to meet some of the amazing women in our industry.
Thirty years ago, ETC began selling the Source Four incandescent fixture. That timeline means that many of you reading this article have grown up with Source Four and may not remember the time when it was not standard in every theatre. But the fixture’s success did not happen overnight and there...