DEFYING THE IMPOSSIBLE DESIGN & PRODUCTION ALUMNI BRING NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN ENTERTAINMENT TO LIFE WITH INDUSTRY GIANT TAIT
The Weeknd, 2022
By Lauren Whitaker
Apple Music Halftime Show featuring multiple Grammy Award winner Rihanna. The 118.7 million viewers were also watching the work of UNCSA alumni as employees of industry giant TAIT, one of the world’s most innovative suppliers of live entertainment experiences and an employer of numerous alumni of the School of Design and Production (D&P) at UNCSA. In 2022 alone, TAIT accelerated the worldwide return to live entertainment with clients as diverse as Adele, Lady Gaga, the Royal Opera House, Time Magazine’s 100 Summit at Lincoln Center, Harry Potter Forbidden Forest Experience, MSC Cruises and countless others. TAIT employs creative engineers, fabricators, producers and technologists across 20 offices worldwide and has worked on projects in more than 30 countries across all seven continents. D&P Dean Michael J. Kelley, an alumnus of the scene design program, says the school has built a strong relationship with TAIT that benefits students before and after graduation. For example, TAIT employees have presented workshops at Intensive Arts (a traditional two-week period devoted solely to arts projects), including one where they taught students how to fly actors onto a set. “That was a big wow,” Dean Kelley said. “The students loved it.” TAIT nearly always attends D&P’s annual Job Fair, and students have gone to the company’s career day at its global headquarters in Lititz, Pennsylvania. “Our alumni love working there; I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Kelley continued. “The School of Design and Production is proud of its excellent track record in employment for our graduates. TAIT is just one example of the incredible industry connections and networking opportunities that UNCSA offers — and we are so proud of our many Pickle ties to the groundbreaking work TAIT is doing in the global entertainment industry.” Currently, about a dozen UNCSA alumni work at TAIT, bringing to life never-before-seen live entertainment experiences.
Photo courtesy of TAIT
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