People Who Make The Difference
Our clients benefit from the varied technical expertise and experience of our staff. Your project will be designed and implemented by architectural and lighting designers, electricians, riggers and managers of professional theatres and performance spaces. Many of our designers and staff have been working together as a cohesive team for years. Brawner & Associates is made up of highly trained professionals, leaders in the field, all working for you.
Donnie Brawner, President, Principal Designer & Consultant
Donnie Brawner Profile PDF
In September of 2000, Donnie and his wife Karen started Brawner & Associates, a lighting design, consultation and production firm that would continue to grow with work for Fortune 500 companies, theatrical stage productions and new facility design projects. In addition to Donnie’s role as the President and principal consultant / designer of the company, he spends time cultivating business opportunities and studying current project and industry practices to insure a superior product for his clients.
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Karen Brawner, Vice-President Design Services
Karen’s responsibilities with Brawner & Associates require the ultimate in multi-tasking and management skills. Karen oversees all of the company’s CADD and design assistance paperwork for a multitude of projects. As the Vice President of the company, she works alongside Donnie in setting and implementing company direction & problem solving, developing future entertainment projects and managing the CADD and office staff. Karen is the liaison between the CPA and the bookkeeping department, as well as the lead in setting policies and dealing with retirement plans and insurance. Karen’s twelve years of experience in administration, assistance and support of the entertainment industry makes her the most crucial element in the success of Brawner & Associates.
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Dave Loftin, Project Manager /Consultant
Dave Loftin brings over 30 years of experience to Brawner and Associates. Dave operated a scene shop in upstate New York, producing sets for regional opera companies, and designing lighting for numerous operas, musicals, dance, and drama productions. His experience includes teaching technical direction and lighting design at the University of Illinois and Southwest Missouri State. During this time he worked with the USITT, helping to develop the recommendations for Stage Rigging Standards. He served as Co-Commissioner of Health and Safety, presenting seminars and workshops in rigging and shop safety while coordinating and managing the first Masters Rigging Workshop in 1988. Dave then moved on and served as production manager and technical director for one of the largest and longest running shows in Branson, MO, Shoji Tabuchi. Read more...
Ron Robertson, Lighting Designer & Consultant /Programmer
Since 2002, Ron has been a partner with Brawner & Associates President, Donnie Brawner in a secondary company, “Radiant Creations,” which produces lighting and laser special effects shows. Ron now works with Brawner & Associates on a regular basis assisting Donnie as the programmer and lighting director of multiple corporate events. Ron also works as a designer, programmer and consultant on a wide range of projects. Ron is the primary WYSIWYG programmer for the company and spends time on a lot of projects working in the virtual lighting world for both production and technical consultation. Read more...
Heath Lane, CADD Specialist, Design Assistant
Heath Lane comes to Brawner and Associates from Lincoln, NE where he designed both educational and professionally as principal designer for Black Dog Productions, his own production company. Along with freelancing as a Lighting/Scenic Designer he worked as Head CAD Technician for Masport Inc.Heath holds his MFA from The Penn State University; which he received in the spring of 2003. His main thrust of study and research was in theatre technology in various forms including: technical direction, production management, and lighting design. Read more...
Tracie Watts, Administrative Assistant, Office Manager
Tracie works to maintain the books for Brawner & Associates on a daily basis reporting to the Karen Brawner and the company’s CPA. Tracie also however has a myriad of other responsibilities including the booking and arranging of the company’s travel needs, coordinating large print orders for projects, logistics coordinator for crew bookings and payroll reporting, marketing tasks, daily administrative assistance to Donnie, Karen and Dave as well as general office management. Tracie has an Electronic Arts Degree from SMSU. Read more...