For nearly 20 years, Shawn Kaufman has been creating unforgettable environments on stage and in event spaces around the world. Shawn as been a lighting designer for opera and theater, has run the lighting departments of major production houses, and is now director of CS Lighting, a division of event production firm CS Global. He has never shied away from adopting new technologies as long as they served his purpose, and is now responsible for having created his own LED lighting fixture, the SFK.

The SFK was designed for use by CS Lighting, but is also available for rental and sale to other firms and productions. It was designed to offer the same soft beam pattern as a fluorescent fixture, but with individual control of red, green, blue, warm white, and cool white sources, as well as smooth dimming to zero.

When your host Jason Marin and co-host Theresa Unfried sat down with Shawn, we discussed how the design and manufacturing process of a new unit works. We also discussed what went into starting the CS Lighting division of CS Global from scratch and what Shawn has been able to bring to events from the theater and opera world. Finally, we talked about the value of the arts in our culture and the dangers of supporting only top-end arts presentation.

Many thanks to Shawn for joining us, and thanks to you for downloading and listening!