ABOUT US

Christie Lites Bios

Huntly Christie
CEO

Known for his fast pace and referred to by many as “The Hurricane”, Huntly has spent more than 3 decades in the stage lighting industry continually honing his craft.
His job is defined as "determining the future of Christie Lites and taking action to make sure that future happens". He is a big believer in the importance of focus and constantly looks at ways to simplify the company, tighten its operations and innovate.

Full Bio

Huntly Christie
CEO

Known for his fast pace and referred to by many as “The Hurricane”, Huntly has spent more than 3 decades in the stage lighting industry continually honing his craft.

His job is defined as "determining the future of Christie Lites and taking action to make sure that future happens". He is a big believer in the importance of focus and constantly looks at ways to simplify the company, tighten its operations and innovate. He spends his time on the company's infrastructure and client relations.

Beginnings......

In the early '80's Huntly was trying to make a living playing the drums in a rock band. As was the case with many drummers working the club circuit, his responsibilities included loading trucks, setting up sound and lighting equipment and helping out with a variety of production details.

After a fun but unsuccessful attempt to build a career as a musician, Huntly turned his attention to the stage lighting industry. In 1985 at the age of 25, he founded Christie Lites in a small garage at his father's house in Toronto, Canada.

At its inception Christie Lites was the only company in the Toronto area dedicated exclusively to stage lighting. Huntly's narrow focus on this singular aspect of the production market intensified the company's growth such that in the span of 13 years Christie Lites emerged as Canada's largest and most successful stage lighting company.

In 1998 Huntly made the decision to move himself and his family to Orlando, Florida so he could expand the company and establish the first American presence for Christie Lites.

Huntly's focus and determination have supported his efforts to expand Christie Lites beyond North America and into the United Kingdom.
Christie Lites Coventry established in 2017.
Huntly is pleased to welcome our United Kingdom colleagues and excited about the future and global opportunities to further support our valued clients around the world.

Ken Alexander
VP Relationship / Business Development

Full Bio

Ken Alexander
VP Relationship / Business Development

Ken's stage lighting career spans 54 years now, not bad for someone born in 1957.

Starting behind the scenes in elementary school, Ken worked backstage through high school and college and eventually graduated with honors from the Theatre Department of Western Washington University. During University, Ken spent time at the Julliard School and Minnesota Opera. After graduation he returned home to Vancouver where his college interest in dance (and dancers) was the ticket to his next engagement.

Ken was LD and TD for various groups including The National Ballet of Canada, Ballet British Columbia, The Anna Wyman Dance Theatre and others. These groups offered many years of international touring and a chance to see the world on someone else’s dime. While at home, various TD, PM, and LD projects led to Ken’s first foray into equipment rentals.

In 1991, while in Toronto as a guest LD for the National Ballet, Ken met Huntly Christie and the original CL team. After a successful premiere Huntly and Ken shook hands and agreed to stay in touch. Thus was launched the idea of expanding Christie Lites beyond its home city.

Christie Lites Vancouver officially opened in 1992 with Ken as one of the founding partners. During the early years he continued to tour while back home the CLV family grew and prospered.

Ken is now the VP Relationship / Business Development for Christie Lites. He still spends much of his time on the road with a focus on supporting the Rental Rep team and their continually expanding client relationships.

Home is just outside of Vancouver, Canada - with the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. Personal time off includes trips to Seahawks and Mariners games and exploring the world with his wife Tracy. They are between dogs at the moment, but on the hunt for the next member of their ‘pack’.

"I enjoy the gifts of good health, good friends, and good luck. Being able to combine a creative life with continually growing business opportunities – whilst living in an incredible corner of the world with such a wonderful partner – what more could one ever ask for"”

Michael Rawson
Treasurer

Full Bio

Michael Rawson
Treasurer

I began my accounting career as a clerk in an advertising agency and assisted in the media buying department. I have held accounting positions ever since, always learning more about the profession and how businesses operate. I have worked for both private and publicly traded companies. I got my feet wet in this industry working for an Audio/Visual staging company where I learned all the aspects of how gigs were executed and funded. I came to Christe Lites in 2004 and have been steadily challenged, which makes my time here rewarding and satisfying.

In my spare time I like to spend time with my wife. I also like to ride on any vehicle that allows me to challenge its limits.

Dan Souwand
VP Equipment, Systems & Warehousing

Before working with Christie Lites Dan worked at several regional theaters around Ontario such as Victoria Playhouse Petrolia, Huron Country Playhouse and Sudbury Theatre Center.

Full Bio

Dan Souwand
VP Equipment, Systems & Warehousing

Before working with Christie Lites Dan worked at several regional theaters around Ontario such as Victoria Playhouse Petrolia, Huron Country Playhouse and Sudbury Theatre Center.

Dan's first contact with Christie Lites was an interview in the early 90s with Huntly for a job as a salesman. Not wanting to tie himself to a desk at that time Dan declined the job only to be contacted a few weeks later by Huntly with the offer of a tour in Northern Ontario. Who could resist 2 months in a cube van in the winter traveling from Kenora to Iroquois Falls"

After this first run of shows he never looked back taking any and every gig that Christie would send his way. He spent the next 8 years doing every thing from sweeping the shop floor to touring around the world with Julio Iglesias and Harry Connick Jr. Somewhere along the road Dan decided it was time to trade in his bunk for the comfort of his own bed (Queen sized with matching sheets that he never has to wonder whether the driver actually washed).

The timing could not have been better. The position of Operations Manager in the Toronto Office became available and Dan jumped at the opportunity. Ironically the job included the desk that Dan had traveled thousands of kilometers to avoid.

In 2006 opportunity knocked again. This time it was the position as the Head of Operations. The chance to work with the Operations Managers to build the strongest, most efficient operations team seemed too good to be true.

He currently lives in Toronto with his wife Kirsten and son Zie. In his spare time Dan is working on a cure for the common cold and a perpetual motion machine. Unfortunately, Dan now has even less spare time than he did as the CLT Operations Manager.

Paul Dhingra
VP of Software Development

Full Bio

Paul Dhingra
VP of Software Development

Paul's career began in 1989, when at the age of 17, he decided to force his way into Radio. By repeatedly and continuously calling the request lines at Toronto radio station CFNY (several times a day for over 6 months), he was eventually given a daily 30 second bit on the morning show, followed by a brief internship in the music department. 2 weeks later, Paul was hired as Assistant Music Director, a position he would hold for the next 4 years. During his time in the music department, Paul branched out to learn about many aspects of running a radio station, and had the opportunity to participate in activities such as on-air production, studio/commercial production, and on-air hosting.

In 1992, Paul started Club 102 the first time that music of this type was played in a nightclub of this size, and the first time a show like that was broadcast on the radio. Paul DJ'd on Saturday nights at the Phoenix for the next 7 years. Shortly thereafter, similar shows (also with music chosen, mixed, and played by Paul) were started on Fridays at the Kingdom in Burlington, and Sundays at Whiskey Saigon - Retro 80's night. (Incidentally, all of these shows continue to be broadcast today).

In 1994, Paul decided to DJ full time, and started his company Music Sucks. By the end of 1994, he was working in nightclubs in downtown Toronto and across Southern Ontario, 6 nights/week. He was also often doing extra gigs after his nightclub gigs at raves and after-parties.

Also in 1994, Paul began his career as a professional skydiver. It wasn't long before Paul became an instructor, and progressed to many different areas of the sport, including everything from teaching first-time jumpers to freefly (sit, stand, head-down) coaching at a higher level. Paul participated (and won a few medals) in several competitions. He then became interested in demo-jumping, went through the difficult licensing process, and was hired to do things like commercials, and jumping into Air Shows, Football Games, and Ontario Place. Paul has jumped out of over 30 types of aircrafts, including helicopters and hot-air balloons, in many places throughout North America.

In 1999, after the birth of Paul's son Koen, he decided to change careers (jumping out airplanes and hanging out at nightclubs until 5am wasn't really appropriate anymore), and found Christie Lites through a lighting operator at a nightclub as well as one of his skydiving students. Paul taught himself how to run computer networks, was hired as IT Manager, and left the world of radio, nightclubs, and skydiving behind.

After completely redesigning Christie Lites' computer network, Paul implemented many new systems, both hardware and software, to support Christie Lites Toronto's business operations. He then continued to make changes and upgrades, and, not satisfied with working with one office, he expanded the department to cover all Christie Lites locations.

During this time, Paul learned the intricacies of software development, including everything from Clipper to SQL to .net web services, and was recently named Christie Lites' Systems and Software Development Manager. Paul and his department are responsible for several exciting areas of growth for Christie Lites, including data warehousing, data mining, and procedural/operational development.

Paul lives in Mississauga with his girlfriend Colleen, and their children Kyle, Danielle, Andrew, Koen, and Gabriel (that's right, there's five of them, but they haven't realized they outnumber us yet). And two cats, and a dog too!

Joel Van Netten
VP Asset Management

Full Bio

Joel Van Netten
VP Asset Management

Joel began his technical theatre career at the tender age of sixteen under the guise of a sound technician for such musicals as Bye Bye Birdie and Fame, the musical. From the beginning, he was hooked.

After a short but sweet stint as a student at Ryerson University's Technical Theatre program, Joel landed a job working in the warehouse at Christie Lites Toronto.

His next step was to move from prepping the shows to teching the shows. Joel started his show tech career with a cross Canada tour with Jann Arden. From there, the gigs kept on coming. From Barrage to The Barenaked Ladies; from The Much Music Video Awards to the Wow Awards, Joel has excelled in the capacities of dimmer tech, crew chief, and operator.

Now Joel has moved forward again, accepting a role as Operations Manager for the Toronto shop of Christie Lites. Here he hopes to combine experiences as a technician and his years in the Christie Lites organization to overcome any challenges that come his way.

Shane Gillespie
VP Information Technologies

Shane Gillespie began his technology career eighteen years ago in the United States Marine Corps. Shane was stationed at Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity at Camp Pendleton, California.

Full Bio

Shane Gillespie
VP Information Technologies

Shane Gillespie began his technology career eighteen years ago in the United States Marine Corps. Shane was stationed at Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity at Camp Pendleton, California where he served as a network engineer supporting various Windows, UNIX, and Banyan Vines servers and Cisco-based networks.

After serving four years in the military, Shane and his family moved back to Orlando, Florida where he began working as a systems engineer in the timeshare industry. After a year in the timeshare industry, Shane began working for a consulting firm providing network and system support to large organizations including Hughes Supply and Watkins Truck Lines.

Shane comes to Christie Lites from Tempus Resorts International where he served as the technical architect for over twelve years. Shane was responsible for the design, installation, and support of the company’s technology infrastructure. During his tenure, the company grew from a single office location with fifty employees to a multi-location enterprise with over twelve hundred employees, fifty servers and five hundred desktop computers.

Shane currently lives in Davenport, FL with his wife Kimberly and their three children Brady, Brett and Brandy. He enjoys playing guitar and drums with his two teenage boys and spoiling his wife and daughter.

Karina Mendoza
VP Show Management

Karina considers herself a native Floridian despite being born in Queens, NY because her family moved to Orlando when she was very young. She considers the move a blessing because her Colombian blood cannot handle the cold weather or snow!

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Karina Mendoza
VP Show Management

From a young age, Karina was always very driven. At age 14, she started an internship at an attorney’s office. By the end of the summer, the attorney hired Karina over a full-time paralegal because he loved her dedication and work ethic. By the age of 16, she had graduated from High School and by 18, she had her Associates degree in Business from Valencia Community College.

Although Karina enjoyed her time at the legal firm, she decided she wanted to explore the world of International Business. International Business always interested her, and she felt it would be the perfect combination of travel, vendor relationships, and contract negotiations. Karina began working various jobs to hone her skills and gain the experience that the college classroom just couldn’t offer her. In late 2009, she decided to put college on hold when she and her husband decided they wanted to start a family. Karina credits her first daughter, Liana for giving her a good excuse to leave college behind!

After having her second daughter, Karina decided she wanted to rejoin the work force. Having several years of experience in Trucking and Logistics, Karina pursued an opportunity with Christie Lites, who was building its new Transportation Team and looking for Trucking Coordinators. Karina was determined to get her foot in the door and work hard to prove her value. Karina quickly learned and thrived in this new environment. Christie Lites ended up being the perfect fit for Karina, and she fit right in with its result-driven, no-nonsense culture. After running the Transportation Department, Karina took on more responsibility, including the Purchasing Department where she found her niche! In 2017, after being with Christie Lites for 5 years, she became the Vice President of Purchasing. Karina truly enjoys what she does every day and feels that her career has come full circle. She has found a place where she gets to pursue her passion of Business and gets to travel, negotiate, and build lasting business relationships.

When Karina is not working she dedicates all her time to her family, especially her two daughters, Liana and Aliyah. She loves every minute of raising them and watching them grow. So all the time spent taking them to school, dance classes and other activities is well worth it to her.

Pete Hulin
VP Operations

Full Bio Forthcoming

Full Bio

Pete Hulin
VP Operations

Full Bio Forthcoming

Tim Haack
Western Regional Operations Director

From over 20 years ago, I knew the Entertainment Industry was where I wanted to be. I have been quite involved in the music industry for years and have worked at many show and performance venues.
I started a Promoting company in Colorado and also here in Seattle, Washington. Working at Christie Lites has allowed me to get in behind the scenes and see all of the involvement and processes needed to get a production on the road and stay on the road!

Full Bio

Tim Haack
Western Regional Operations Director

From over 20 years ago, I knew the Entertainment Industry was where I wanted to be. I have been quite involved in the music industry for years and have worked at many show and performance venues.

I started a Promoting company in Colorado and also here in Seattle, Washington. Working at Christie Lites has allowed me to get in behind the scenes and see all of the involvement and processes needed to get a production on the road and stay on the road! A true commitment from all parties involved leads to the success of a production.

I enjoy getting out to shows as much as possible, traveling and play is equally important as the dedication and commitment I have had with Christie Lites for over 13 years.

Gord MacFarlane
Project Manager

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Gord MacFarlane
Project Manager

Gord began his stage lighting career in high school. He attended Red Deer College Technical Theatre Studies program and then went on to work at the college as a Stage manager and Technical Director. From there Gord left to attend the Banff Centre for the Arts lighting work study program.

In 1998 he moved to Calgary and worked for various small theatres as a technician and lighting designer.

In the summer of 1999 Gord started work for Christie Lites as a freelance technician. Shortly after that he accepted a full time position and went on to become part of the Tech Rep program. Most of his time as a technician with Christie Lites was spent touring the globe with 'Barrage' as a programmer and head electrician.

In 2005 he joined the Operations team and has been enjoying his new role as Operations Manager and now his updated role as Show Manager ever since.

Robert Irving
Project Manager

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Robert Irving
Project Manager

Like most people I chose my career in high school after taking over as the lighting tech. Even though Gordon Graydon wasn’t into putting on plays or musicals, they still kept me busy. From there I decided that I should work as a co-op student at Jack Frost before spending all kinds of money on college for a career I knew little about, but was determined to work in.

I ended up loving the work so I enrolled in the Theatre Production program at Humber College. I spent my first year like most just trying to learn as much as I could before having to run crews during the second year. After graduating, I moved on to take my first professional job at the Blyth Festival as Head of Sound for one season. I have to say I hated the hours but I wouldn’t trade them for the anything.

After the summer of 2002 in Blyth, I decided I would prefer working regular hours. This brought me to Christie Lites. I started in the Toronto shop in the Conventional department. From there I worked my way up to department head, then onto the Dock as department head, then Operations Coordinator, and finally on to my current post as Show Manager.

Eric Jensen
Show Coordinator

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Eric Jensen
Show Coordinator

Eric has been interested in lighting since he ran the follow spot in grade six for his school play.

This year marks Eric's 22nd year working professionally in stage lighting. From his early years working at West Coast Stage Lighting, to Westsun, Freelancing, GM Place and of course Christie Lites Vancouver, he has learned all aspects of the lighting field. He uses all this knowledge towards his job as a Show Manager for Christie Lites Vancouver.

Eric has been with Christie Lites Vancouver since its beginnings in 1993. He was one of the first employees to help build the company from its stock of 8 Intellabeams and 2 controllers, working out of the back of another lighting company's shop to where it is now.

During the past years, Eric has been proud to be a part of the monumental growth of the Christie Lites organization. He finds new and exciting challenges everyday in his role at Christie Lites.

Fred Foster
Warehouse Manager

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Fred Foster
Warehouse Manager

It's been quite a journey to get to this point. I was born on a small farm in Western New York and spent 18 years in the same area, pretty much isolated from everything in the rest of the world. Like most people in the area I sought out the military to escape from the seclusion of the rural life.

After four years in the navy, which included a stint in the Persian gulf during the first Desert Storm, I returned to New York to enter into school and find a career that suited me. Graduating from Alfred University with a BFA in sculpture and drawing with a minor in education I started looking for a teaching position in Arts. My search brought me to Orlando with my future wife packed in an 88 Ford Festiva.

I soon realized that teaching was more of a hobby than a career to me. I then entered the entertainment business, hoping to utilize my art degree and knowledge. My prior job was as a show lead for an event company specializing in entire event packaging. Our clients included Pfizer and Bristol-Meyer, among many others. This was my door into lighting and the other aspects of the industry.

Upon the news that my wife was pregnant I sought out a company that would keep me in Orlando more than out of it. In my search, a friend contacted me about a possible opening in rigging with the company he was with, Christie Lites.

I received my chance and soon became rigging dept. head, using my knowledge of mechanics, fabrication, and technical ability to increase the efficiency and safety of the department. Soon opportunity called again when I was offered the position of Warehouse Manager, and I accepted the job.

When I'm not working I can be found in the gym, on my motorcycle, or with my wife Dawn and daughter Malaya at home.

As with all my previous jobs, I hope to pull from my reserve of knowledge and physical skills to create a shop in which the workers and clients feel at home and appreciated. Though this position is a forest unto itself, I still realize it's the leaves that make the trees.