History of Our Owners

Hollywood Lights, Inc. was founded in 1948 by Don Cameron and George T. Howard to provide theatrical lighting rentals and searchlight advertising in the Portland area. Another person, Willis Holland, joined the company as a partner in 1951. Mr. Howard left the company in 1953 and went on to establish a theatre consulting firm. One of his projects was the MGM Grand Hotel in Reno, Nevada.

Mr. Holland left the company in 1957 and continued to work as a stagehand until his retirement in 1980. He was the house man for more than 20 years at the Paramount Theatre, which has since been restored and renamed the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Tom Neal joined Hollywood Lights in 1969. Mr. Neal holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University. He worked at Boeing in Seattle for 12 years as a research and development engineer on the Bomarc, Minuteman, DynaSoar and Saturn Programs. While at Boeing, he started his own lighting company and did rentals and shows in the Seattle area. Prior to joining Boeing, Mr. Neal worked his way through college as a stagehand in Portland.

Richard Fuller started at Hollywood Lights in the rental department in 1973. Mr. Cameron decided to retire in 1978 and Mr. Fuller bought into the business, becoming a partner. In 1989, Mr. Neal retired, selling his share of the company to Mr. Fuller.

History of Our Company

When Hollywood Lights was first started, the main emphasis was on searchlight advertising. The searchlights were purchased as war surplus from the government. At that time, they were the "in thing" to use in Hollywood, adding glamour to the big movie premiers and grand openings.

Mr. Cameron, being from the Los Angeles area, decided to purchase several of the searchlights and start a Portland searchlight advertising company. Because their use developed in Hollywood, he named the company "Hollywood Lights". Searchlight advertising became very popular in Portland as businesses started using them for grand openings at store and automobile showings.

During the 1950's, theatrical lighting and trade show electrical became a larger share of the business. Most of the events were done at the Portland International Livestock and Exposition Building, Civic Auditorium (in the basement), and the Masonic Temple. In 1959, Hollywood Lights provided electrical services to the Oregon Centennial Celebration held at the P.I. Building (later to be renamed the "Portland Exposition Center"). In 1960, the Portland Memorial Coliseum opened, providing another facility requiring service.

By the early 1960's, searchlight advertising had dropped to a low level and it was decided to sell the equipment and focus more on convention and trade show electrical services. Hollywood Lights continues to provide electrical services at the Coliseum and Portland Expo Center. In the early 1980's, electrical services were expanded to include Tacoma, Yakima, Vancouver and Seattle, Washington.

Theatrical lighting was still a minor part of the business until the late 1970's. With the disco craze came heightened interest in lighting equipment which increased sales dramatically! Disco didn't last long but it started a trend of using more lighting equipment in local entertainment establishments; thus, Hollywood Lights continued to add product lines and started to advertise more aggressively.

With that came a more diversified product line, adding makeup, scenic paints and muslin, stage hardware, pyrotechnic products and an expanded lighting and dimming line. The company now has 2 catalogs: one for theatrical and one for film, video and photography, and an 800 number for ordering and national advertising.

Hollywood Lights also entered the television lighting business in the 1960's, starting with political campaigns. Later, in 1990 Hollywood Lights started Pacific Grip & Lighting Inc. to supply grip and lighting in Portland. In 1993 Pacific Grip & Lighting purchased the Cine Companies in Seattle. With that purchase we became the largest grip and lighting company in the Northwest. The film business slumped and in 1998 Hollywood Lights sold Pacific Grip & Lighting, Inc.

The Seattle Connection

In 1994, we opened a Seattle office to service rentals and sales for our northern customers. Today, we have a 9200 square foot showroom and warehouse between Safeco Field and Boeing Field. The showroom will make more supplies, expendables and equipment available for rental and sales to the theatre, church and event community of Puget Sound. In 2002 we opened a Production Lighting Department in Seattle and now provide those services to the theatre and corporate world.