Seattle program gives students a taste of A/V production career

SEATAC - The rumble of the light rail arrives in waves at The Roadhouse, a low hiss and metallic rush that slips through the open doors beneath the Angle Lake Station platform. Inside, the venue feels more like a living room than a transit stop: couches gathered in front of a small stage, lights casting a soft purple glow from below and yellow from above. Students drift in before instructor Alex Wren calls them into a semicircle.

"I like to call this ‘brain files unlock,' " Wren tells them, asking students to share what they remember from the previous session. Soon, the room fills with scattered answers about lighting angles, color theory and stage design.

The students are part of the inaugural Cultural Workers Program at The Roadhouse, a community arts venue being piloted in the space beneath the Angle Lake light rail station in SeaTac. Run by Show Brazil Productions with support from the city of SeaTac and Sound Transit, the program pays high school and college students to learn audiovisual production skills, from lighting and soundboards to the basics of design. Organizers say the goal is not only to expose students to careers in live production, but also to teach broadly transferrable skills in teamwork, communication and problem-solving.

For Eduardo Mendonça, a longtime Seattle-area musician and co-founder of Show Brazil, the workshop grew out of a desire to create more opportunities for young people in South King County while also introducing them to a side of the arts world that often stays hidden.

"We needed to pave opportunities," Mendonça said. "This is free, but it's not just free. We are paying the young people to learn."

The workshop itself is structured as a five-session introduction to live event skills. Wren, a production manager and teaching artist who has worked in theater, film and corporate production, built the curriculum around what he calls the "four pillars of production": vision, structure, management and connection. Students receive $25 per session attended, with an opportunity to work at Roadhouse events in the future.

The classes take place inside one of the region's more unusual arts venues. The Roadhouse, located at the base of the Angle Lake Station parking structure, opened nearly three years ago as a pilot project exploring what a community arts venue could look like inside a transit hub.

Show Brazil Productions - the organization behind Seattle Center's BrasilFest - manages the space and programs it with free concerts, jazz nights, cultural events and outdoor markets. On market days, vendors line the promenade outside in full view of commuters.

Mendonça said he wanted the Cultural Workers Program to focus specifically on the work of technicians, stage managers and production crews who support performances and events.

At the same time, he said the lessons extend beyond event production itself.

"The skills they carry through this experience … they can take away any other thing they decide to do in their lives," Mendonça said.

Students learn not only how to operate equipment, he said, but how to think critically, collaborate with others and adapt in real time.

Standing beside a table covered in lighting equipment during a recent class, Wren held up gel - a colored filter used to change the hue of a conventional stage light - while students leaned in to examine it.

"There are over 200 shades of this," he told them.

A few minutes later, as another train rattled, students gathered around a square LED light. Their faces glowed in orange.

The sound engineering section of the workshop was similarly structured. First, Wren showed students the analog version of a soundboard, then hopped up to a DJ booth where he demonstrated a digital soundboard, tweaking the settings while speaking into a microphone.

By the end of the workshop series, students are asked to design their own event using the concepts they've learned - from stage layouts and lighting choices to scheduling and audience flow.

"It's not just someone coming and doing a job," said Wren, speaking about the importance of cultural workers. "It's someone coming in and creating an experience with the artist (and) with the community."

For students, the workshop serves as an appetizer to a wide-ranging menu of future opportunities they may want to explore.

Binyam Hegano, 23, is studying biology and chemistry at Highline College and hopes to pursue nursing. But he signed up after seeing an email about the class and recognizing a chance to strengthen skills he already uses volunteering to help with his church's sound systems.

He said he immediately started applying what he learned about audio mixing in class to help prevent feedback from the mic at church.

He said some of the lighting tips from Wren also helped with photography gigs.

For 15-year-old Loveah Torres Cisneros, a freshman at Mount Rainier High School, the program offered a chance to explore an interest she had mostly observed from the audience at her church and watching her sister in plays.

Lighting has become her favorite part.

"It has such an impact," she said. "Depending on how fast the tempo goes, the color changes, or it might change for mood."

Students who complete the workshop may also have the opportunity to assist with events at The Roadhouse, helping with sound checks, stage setup and production support alongside professionals.

The interest has been strong. More than 80 students applied for roughly 16 spots in the first round of workshops. For many of them, it's their first glimpse backstage.

Organizers hope to continue offering the program in the future, if the pilot of The Roadhouse continues into something more permanent.

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