Nathan developed a passion for lighting at an early age. This passion has guided him through the past 25+ years as he ascended the ranks in the lighting industry. Early in his career, Nathan had every job imaginable from lighting tech to sales rep to lighting designer. This breadth of experience allowed him to attain the only job he never had: owner.

Nathan founded Lighten Up in 2001 in a tiny garage (cliché, he knows), but has since grown it into one of the premier event lighting companies in Southern California.

After working for an engineering firm for many years, Keith came over to Lighten Up as the result of a conversation he had with Nathan following a softball game. It was the best decision he ever made.

Keith has a background in mechanical engineering having attended the University of Michigan and done graduate studies at UCLA. His experience in structural analysis and computer-aided design are a couple skill sets he brings to event lighting and rigging.

For the past 10 years, Keith has been involved in virtually every aspect of Lighten Up, helping to ensure our continued growth and success.

Brian is a production designer and manager with a background in circus, theater, film, television, music, and live events. He spent his early career as a lighting director for Cirque du Soleil, as well as production designer for The Hype Machine's 'Hype Hotel' at SXSW Music Festival, and has played designer on a number of Off-Broadway presentations in New York.

These days you can find him at Lighten Up Inc in Los Angeles where he specializes in design and project management for countless events.

He graduated from New York University Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Theatrical Design and Technical Theater Production.

Eric is a problem solver, who prides himself on making the jobs of those around him easier. He has been a part of the Lighten Up team since 2015. In his life prior to Lighten Up, Eric earned his degree at UC Berkeley and then entered the genomics research field where he was a contributing author on studies including publications in Nature Genetics. Ready for a change, Eric returned to his roots in production.

Initially brought on as consultant, Eric quickly became an integral part of the team, leveraging his analytical and organizational skills and eventually growing into his role overseeing operations.

Michael cut his teeth in the Entertainment Industry as an Actor, Producer, and Production Manager on a myriad of TV & Film Productions.

His technical acumen and eye for the visual led him to the run-and-gun world of Event Production Lighting, where after working his way through the cables, racks, and all the ranks, found his place as a Lighting Designer.

Now with Lighten Up for well over a decade, Michael continues to hone his craft as a Designer, while helping the company expand creative boundaries and cultivate fresh opportunities for business and partnership.

Michael is an administrative jack of all trades. He gets his hands on a bit of everything from scheduling to accounting to logistics.

Previous to Lighten Up, Michael worked in the food service industry for over 10 years. This decade of experience instilled within him two crucial qualities: a tireless work ethic and an overwhelming desire to find success in anything besides the food service industry.

He learned a lot during his time at the University of Chicago and Arizona State University, mainly to split the difference weather-wise. That’s why he lives in LA now. When he’s not at work or stuck in traffic, Michael likes to spend his time making sure his wife doesn’t bring home any more stray cats.

Jay is responsible for increasing existing business while capturing new business opportunities by identifying and attracting new clients and venues to Lighten Up.

Jay has tremendous relationships across industries and strategically leverages the same to facilitate opportunities for business partners and new clients. The key to Jay’s success is his understanding of emerging trends to best position Lighten Up as the premiere professional lighting company for all types of events.

When Jay isn’t expanding the presence of Lighten Up, he is cheering on his two daughters in competitive gymnastics and speech and debate or cheering for his favorite baseball, basketball & football teams.

Ryan graduated from Concordia University with a BA in Theatrical Light Design in 2012. He started his career designing theatrical productions, moved into gaffing for TV and Film, before ultimately landing at Lighten Up.

Joe is a lighting director, lighting programmer, and production designer with 15 years in live entertainment. He comes from the fast paced world of Hollywood nightlife and special events, where he ran the production departments, and designed for some of the premier venues in Los Angeles.

He has lit the stage for a vast array of the world's biggest artists, and has a love for a freestyle approach to live music. These days you can find him on the Lighten Up team, working alongside our powerful cast of designers, bringing a brain full of creativity to the playing field.

In his free time, Joe is an urban farmer and grows some of the best veggies in town!

Beginning his production journey as a Stagehand in Hollywood nightclubs, Gunny worked his way into the role of Stage Manager and Crew Chief for multiple sold out world tours.

Wanting to spend more time at home, though, he was happy to have found such pleasant company in the Lighten Up family and the ever expanding world of Event Lighting.

He brings with him, a keen eye for the details, a tireless work ethic born in Chicago kitchens, and let's be honest, a fair bit of dog hair from his 11 year old Shiba Inu.

Coming soon!

Joe is a techie. Put a moving light infront of him and he will happily disassemble it and put it back together again just to have a better understanding of how it works.

Although he was brought on to maintain our moving lights, his prior knowledge and experience in warehouse management made him a great candidate to lead the team in the warehouse.

While out of the shop, Joe can usually be found piecing together synthesizers and exploring sound design.