13/09/2026
Up next in our Social Spotlight series, is one of our favourite people from across the pond. He is a long time Avolites user, the proud owner of the first D7-215 in Tasmania, as well as installing the first D3-110 at Elizabeth College in Hobart. Heโs an awesome designer and brilliant human, introducing.. Mr Gareth Kayโs !! ๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ฅณ๐ฅณ
Iโm Gareth Kays; Iโm the owner and creative director of โGK Productionsโ based in Hobart. I handle all the day to day admin, plus I lead my team out in the field. I also design all the large theatre productions we do.
My passion has always been musical theatre, Iโve always enjoyed it, but from a creative perspective, itโs being able to do something scripted knowing whatโs coming next and creating those magic moments.
I was 10 years old when I was involved in my first theatrical production with a youth drama group, I assisted with backstage, before taking on the audio and lighting duties not long after.
I was first introduced to Avolites by the former Tassie production company โProduction Worksโ while at college. I ended up working there for 12 years running their lighting department. They had just purchased a Pearl 2000 Rollercue and a Sapphire 2000, having just sold their Diamon 3.
The first product I purchased was a Titan Mobile, I still use it as a backup. I often program smaller shows we do on a console and then leave a Titan Mobile in place for an operator. During the production week I network a Mobile or T3 to either our D7-215 or Quartz consoles allowing me to do fixes on the fly while the operator manages the cuing.
Avolites just makes sense to me. The first computerised console I used was an ETC Express 48/96, I knew it very well, but control of moving lights was very much an afterthought. I find Avolites so intuitive, no need for memorising syntax or numerous modifier key shortcuts. There are so many ways to operate the console, and once youโve learnt the basics of Titan you can follow the same process to undertake many more complex operations.
The recent acquisition of the D7-215 has been great, having a console with more real estate and extra screens has sped up programming, and having some extra dedicated but