Alberto Kellner has been active in the entertainment industry since 1985. He first worked in PR and event organizing for a show agency in Milan. Since 1987, he has worked with lasers. In May 1988 he founded Laser Entertainment srl, which in 2013 reached its 25th anniversary year.

The focus of the company was to use and promote lasershow among the entertainment industry and related markets in Italy and in southern Europe, since spreading to the Middle East. Also, from the beginning Alberto has been fascinated by the use of lasers together with other media techniques (video, lights, special effects) to create a real "multimedia show".

Since the first large scale waterscreen installed in Gardaland in 1995 (ILDA Award first place, Multimedia, in 1996), Laser Entertainment has received more than 30 international awards and recognitions between ILDA and other first place prizes from groups such as the European Lasershow Festival, BEA, and the Pepsi Award.

Alberto and his creativity team have been pioneers in graphic lasershow creation using different software platforms (Laser System Magnum, LOBO Lacon 3, Pangolin), bringing and sharing high quality "state of the art" lasershows to the industry. Furthermore he has developed and assembled innovative laser products, including:

• The first 2 watt RGB DPSS solid state projector presented at ILDA in Las Vegas 2004 and winner of the ILDA Award for DPSS laser of the year called "Flash 2 watt RGB"

• The first laser projector with both integrated wireless DMX and Pangolin Flashback to allow show recall and play via wireless DMX, finished in 2007 and presented at the ShowWay 2008 exhibition in Bergamo, Italy.

This document is for formally nominating Paul McCloskey, CEO of Laservision in recognition of those who helped build significant laser display-related businesses.

With over 32 years at the helm of Laservision, Paul now plans to step back into a chairman role. He now entrusts the next generation of talented and creative engineers and artists to continue in his dream, propelling Laservision further into the future. It is because of his intense dedication, innovative vision and true passion for the art of laser and entertainment that we wish to bestow him this honour. In recognition of his accomplishments, this award would mark this his well-earned transition into the next phase of his life and career.

Over nearly four decades, Paul has been a pioneer in the development and growth of laser technology in the entertainment industry and has established Laservision and it’s laser and display technology as one of the world’s most respected permanent, multi-media tourism attraction specialists in the world.

Since 1984, CEO & Founder, Paul McCloskey has been inventing and patenting his ideas within the laser and entertainment technology spheres. rough this constant innovation, Laservision now has an impressive range of technology solutions to meet market demands and is represented with established offices in Sydney, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong and Dubai.

Raised by Edwin McCloskey (an Engineer, Colonel and Diplomat with the Australian Army), Paul spent his formative years traveling around the world immersed in his father’s love of invention and technology. Having attended 13 schools globally and living in remote locations such as the mountains of Papua New Guinea, Paul experienced a multitude of exotic locations and colourful cultures.

Beginning his career in the officer training program at the Royal Australian Army, he later found himself as a free spirit who wanted to explore new frontiers rather than following the status quo. Paul began a career within the television industry, before establishing an entertainment technology company for nightclub and event installations.

Like the basement inventor ‘Q’ from James Bond, Paul was keen to develop a business that could do genuine research and development so he could explore some of his own unique dreams and concepts. His earliest research and development took place within the garage of his suburban home before purchasing a 5 acre compound with the vision of creating an advanced research and development facility. By the late Eighties his dream was realised. By the Nineties the Australian Federal Government saw great promise in the technology being developed and swiftly approved the facility for government grants which have since amounted to millions-of-dollars.

Paul is credited with producing, designing, supplying and installing a number of world leading tourist attractions including: Singapore’s Sentosa Island, Korea’s Everland, Hong Kong’s Symphony of Lights, Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, Russia’s e Pearl of Sochi and the newly opened Dubai Festival City Attraction, IMAGINE. Paul’s life work in creating ground-breaking technology for laser experiences has now touched tens-of-millions of people.

At his heart Paul McCloskey is a visionary, inventor, free thinker, storyteller, artist and natural leader. He paints cities and skies across the world with light, bringing awe and delight to the masses. He prefers multi-coloured crushed velvet jackets to business suits, chooses bare-feet over leather shoes, and chooses to work in the bush rather than a boardroom.

Additional information such as photos, patents and selected shows are listed on a PDF document.

Paul’s company, Laservision, is an ILDA Corporate Level 1 Member for 2018.

Laser shows were first popularized by Laser Images Inc. through their “Laserium” shows in planetariums.

Laser Images’ Glenn Thomas pioneered the art of live performances of abstract laser imagery with music. During his 27(!)-year career as the senior laserist for Laserium at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles from 1975 to 2002, Glenn performed approximately 12,500 live shows that both inspired and influenced those of us who followed in his footsteps.

Laser shows were presented very differently during Glenn’s career. They were performed in the totally darkened environment of a planetarium theater with a single ion laser powering the innovative Laserium projector. It had four X-Y scanner pairs and an extensive array of optical effects that even today have never been equaled. The original Laserium shows consisted entirely of abstract laser imagery that was performed live. The laserist controlled all aspects of the image composition (such as harmonic frequencies, size, position, movement, color, optical effects, etc.) from a sophisticated console which was similar to an electronic music synthesizer — with a multitude of potentiometers, switches, and even joysticks.

Glenn played the console just like a musical instrument and elevated Laserium shows to become synonymous with visual music.

In a very real sense, the laserist was the star of the show. A talented laserist was a lot like a rockstar guitarist who would drive audiences wild with their virtuosity. Similarly, audiences at live planetarium laser shows would erupt into applause after an especially exciting performance by the laserist.

And Glenn was the most renowned, and accomplished, laserist of this bygone era of live laser shows. He was a master of his instrument – like Yo-Yo Ma is to a cello.

Laserium founder Ivan Dryer, honored as the first recipient of the ILDA Career Achievement Award, remarked after one of Glenn’s performances that it wasn’t just entertaining but that it was a transformative experience. Pretty high praise!

It should also be noted that Glenn was sent to Laserium planetarium installations worldwide to teach other laserists how to perform. Consequently, his influence was experienced by literally millions of audience members.

Considering Glenn Thomas’s lengthy career and unique artistic accomplishments, he is most deserving of ILDA’s highest recognition.

Please use this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oWAbJ7ZEQw to view a short documentary of Glenn’s job as a laserist back in the 1970’s.

Neither Glenn nor his former company, Laser Images, is a 2018 ILDA Member.