WorldStage Hires Three for West Coast Office

WorldStage, the new brand for Scharff Weisberg and Video Applications Inc., has announced the addition of three staff members to its western office in Tustin, California. Sean T. Glen joins WorldStage as senior project manger, Stuart Kopple as senior account executive, and Dan Leavitt as production services manager.

"It's exciting to be taking on new challenges with the WorldStage team," says Sean Glen. "WorldStage has an impressive record of accomplishments and a reputation for excellence in the industry. I'm looking forward to working with this innovative engineering team and adding my talents and expertise to the company's future achievements."

Glen brings 25 years of technical and production experience, including producing live events in stadiums, arenas, theatres, convention centers, and hotels in the US and abroad. He served as event producer for the premier of DreamWorks' Shark Tales in Venice, Italy, negotiating with the local government to build a special temporary dock on the canal at St. Mark's Square to load and unload equipment, including the largest inflatable screen ever designed and fabricated.

He also served as event producer for the Paramount Pictures premiere of Mission Impossible III in New York. Glen started STG Entertainment in 1990 providing sound design and production management for special events, concerts, corporate shows, meetings, conventions, and environmental experiences. The company was purchased in 1997 by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, where he spent the next four years as director of technical and production services. There, he provided sound design and technical management to such notable events as: the world's largest film premiere, Pocohontas in Central Park before 100,000 guests; the premiere of The Hunchback of Notre Dame before 60,000 guests at The Super Dome, which was also a live one-hour television special; the premiere of Mulan at the Hollywood Bowl; and the premiere of Armageddon at the Kennedy Space Center where Aerosmith headed the bill.

Stuart Kopple sees "great opportunities" as he joins WorldStage. "It's a company with a best-in-class reputation and fantastic capabilities, a totally scalable organization with continuing growth. I'm counting on being part of that growth process," he says.

Like Glen, Kopple brings more than 25 years experience to his new post at WorldStage. Kopple's expertise is sales management for leading event technology organizations, which have produced everything from live outdoor concerts, stadium shows, and exhibitions to Hollywood film productions, international events, satellite video broadcasting, webcasting, digital signage, and more.

For the past year, Kopple has acted as national account executive for Creative Technology where he previously served as sales manager/project manager. Prior, he held positions as a global sales manager/technical director and regional sales manager/project manager at PSAV. Earlier in his career, Kopple was senior engineer at Lion Gate AV and Local 16, San Francisco, and he has held other prestigious positions in the industry.

As Dan Leavitt joins WorldStage, he looks forward "to continuing to establish the cutting-edge brand that is WorldStage. I know I will enjoy working with all the intelligent, professional, and personable people I've already met at the company."

Leavitt has a varied background in theatre, film, television, and corporate video and most recently did camera/ENG/EFP production on a freelance basis. Among his most notable events were working with the San Diego Chargers and headliners Snoop Dogg, Sheryl Crow, Sean Paul, KC & the Sunshine Band, as well as former US vice president Al Gore. With Video Applications Inc. he participated in the Dreamforce 2011 event, LED and LCD walls for Oracle, and an interactive video wall for Intel's CES booth.

Earlier, Leavitt spent two years with Pechanga where he oversaw the opening of their major hotel working with the construction company and AV planners on the property's digital signage and its restaurants' plasmas and digital displays. Previously, he was senior video tech with Meeting Services.

"We are fortunate and excited to have each of these gentlemen join the WorldStage team," says Gregg Whitaker, president of Video Applications. "Each brings to us a unique skill set and associated experience that will support and expand our leading position in the industry."

WorldStage Inc., the company created by the merger of Scharff Weisberg Inc and Video Applications Inc, continues a thirty-year legacy of providing clients the widest variety of entertainment technology coupled with conscientious and imaginative engineering services, the company says. WorldStage provides audio, video, and lighting equipment and services to the event, theatrical, broadcast and brand experience markets nationally and internationally.