Jim Shumway is a Senior Project Manager at TAIT. Over his eight-plus years with the company he has delivered unique solutions for clients of all sizes and markets including arena/stadium concert touring, theme parks, award shows, brand activations, and permanent installations. 

 

His portfolio includes productions for clients such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, P!NK, Bruno Mars, The Metropolitan Opera, Disney, and Universal Studios.

 

Before joining TAIT Jim traveled the world with Cirque du Soleil on four shows over five years, participating in two creations, reaching the role of Head Rigger. He is an annual guest lecturer at the Yale School of Drama speaking on acrobatic rigging and performer flying, and is the author of Automated Performer Flying: The State of the Art, published in 2019 by Routledge. 

 

He holds a BFA from Emerson College in technical direction. He is ETCP certified in both arena and theatre rigging and is also an ETCP Recognized Trainer.

 

All of this is available in his LinkedIn bio, but what it doesn’t tell you is why Jim decided on technical theatre in the first place. He joins me to chat about his early years, why he chose technical theatre for college, and how his first jobs prepared him in different was to tackle the “real world” of work. 

 

This is a two-part series dedicated to what it takes to become a Senior Project Manager for one of the largest live experience entertainment solutions in the industry. Listen in to part one to hear all about his early years, his first jobs out of college, and why you don’t need to specialize to succeed.

 

In this episode:

[00:56] Welcome to the show, Jim!

[01:43] What inspired him to get into technical theater.

[04:21] High school fundamentals apply to every other show you do.

[05:54] Jim speaks about doing high school and community theaters while working at McDonalds.

[07:27] Jim talks about how he believes working at McDonalds helped him with his love of theater.

[08:58] The biggest thing he took away from his time at the carpet cleaning company is that reality doesn’t matter, how your customer perceives it is what matters.

[12:07] Emerson College is a well-known college for people in the film and theater industries.

[15:10] When looking at a college, get to know the staff and professors to make sure this is where you want to spend your money.

[18:47] Jim discusses the curriculum you should look for if you want to get into technical theater.

[20:08] Jim shares what made him a deck one sub for the Blue Man Group and what being a deck one sub means.

[24:24] Jim talks about the top most helpful courses required from his BFA program.

[28:10] If you are going into technical theater in any capacity you definitely should take a computer rated drafting course like AutoCAD or Vector works.

[30:59] Listen, as Jim shares, how he would improve Emerson's BFA program.

[32:58] TAIT doesn’t care where you went to college, they want to see attitude and amplitude.

[34:42] Jim says don’t be afraid to ask for help is rule number 1.

[34:50] Rule number 2 is never make anyone else ask you for help, because you should see that they need help before they ask.

[35:45] Listen as Jim discusses the process from start to onboarding of becoming a Cirque du Soleil employee.

[38:15] If you really want to work for Cirque, be willing to go where no one else is willing to go.

[41:38] Jim talks about finishing the theater and building the show for Cirque in China.

[45:27] He wrote the rescue plan for ZAiA while putting the show together in China.

[48:22] Jim discusses the position at New York City Opera he accepted but never happened in part because of the housing crisis.

[51:03] When you are an up and coming professional in any industry, it’s important to have a broad set of skills.

[54:00] Listen next week for part II of this amazing interview with Jim Shumway.

 

Links and Resources:

TAIT

TAIT Performer Flying 

TAIT Take Over

TAIT Talks

TAIT Group of Companies

Navigator Training

Mechanical Design for the Stage

ETCP Certifications

IATSE Local Union Directory

One Shot Training

Emerson College Pre-College Programs

Emerson College Undergraduate Programs

Yale University School of Drama - Technical Design and Production

California State University - Fullerton

North Carolina School of the Arts

New York University

University of Nevada - Las Vegas

 

Connect with Jim:

Book - Automated Performer Flying: The State of the Art

TAIT Take Over - Jim Shumway, Project Management

 

Connect with Siobhan: 

Industry Explorers
Industry Explorers Facebook Group
Industry Explorers on Facebook
Industry Explorers on Instagram
Industry Explorers on YouTube
Industry Explorers on TikTok
Book a Connection Call

 

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