Canadians who have a passion for the performing arts are taking to social media on Tuesday night to raise awareness about the live events industry that they say has been left on life support by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We risk not having events,” said Jennifer Hildebrandt, who helped to organize a social media campaign using the hashtags #lightuplive and #lightuplivecanada in Edmonton. “We risk thousands of people being out of work [and] we risk coming out of this pandemic and not having events, not having concerts for people to go back to.

“I think that’s the one thing that a lot of people aren’t grasping right now, is that that’s a very real possibility. Venues are shutting down all across the country. It’s been going on for six months and it’s only going to get worse.”

READ MORE: ‘The show cannot go on’: Canada’s arts scene takes hit from COVID-19 

Inspired by similar movements in Germany and the United Kingdom, the Light Up Live event on Tuesday asks venues, performers and events workers to take photos of themselves or venues with red lighting and then post them on social media accompanied by the movement’s hashtags.

“I think it will be a fantastic show,” said Christian Zeretzke, an Edmonton freelancer who specializes in rigging and carpentry for theatres. “It’s to raise awareness to the plight of events workers at the moment.

“Bring attention to this. That way we can ask the government to continue giving meaningful support… We’re writing and ready to go back to work because this is what we love to do.”

READ MORE: The show must go on for Edmonton’s arts community amid COVID-19 pandemic

Zeretzke, who came up with the #lightuplivecanada hashtag, said since the pandemic hit in March, he has only had one gig in the arts and has been forced to take other jobs to support himself.

He said from performers, lighting technicians, sound technicians, promoters, florists, security, cleaners and caterers to hospitality groups, an incredible number of people were impacted when live shows came to a screeching halt.

“The list is mind-boggling how many people it takes to put on an event,” Zeretzke said.

Organizers of the social media movement say the live events sector employs about one-million Canadians, directly and indirectly.

In Alberta, the arts — including live events — contribute to the province’s economic growth as well as quality of life, according to the provincial government.

“This is an additional $1.3 billion in GDP generated, while sustaining nearly 20,000 jobs here in Alberta,” Michael Forian, press secretary for the minister of of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women, told Global News in a statement. “Live experience events also generate economic activity through out-of-town tourism, at an average of $10 million in economic impact for larger events.

“Every $1 million in output from live performance businesses in Alberta generates 17 direct and indirect jobs. When arts and culture thrive, Alberta is well positioned to be seen as a good place to live, invest and do business.”

Over 600 venues across Canada, ranging from arenas to theatres and concert halls, are taking part in Tuesday’s social media event.

READ MORE: Ontario theatre to glow red for national event raising awareness for pandemic-hit live event industry

Zeretzke said even though some venues have been able to reopen in some areas, the limited capacity to accommodate social distancing — something he understands and agrees with — makes it very difficult to break even on a performance.

“If you have a 100-seat capacity… and 15 of those are technicians and box office staff and actors or whatever, it’s really tough to make a profit off that,” he said.

“We’re really hoping to bring awareness and bring… [more] support from government and from the public for our industry and moving forward, you know, we need to maintain support for gig workers and live event workers,” Hildebrandt said.

“We need an economic recovery plan for our industry.”

READ MORE: Hit hard by COVID-19, Ontario music venues ‘in desperate need of help’ 

People are being asked to begin taking photos and posting them to social media once the sun sets in their region on Tuesday night.

For more information, click here.

–With files from Global News’ Kendra Slugoski

View some tweets with the hashtag #lightuplive below:

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InvestorChannel’s Media Stocks Watchlist Update video includes the Top 5 Performers of the Day, and a performance review of the companies InvestorChannel is following in the sector.
Sources Include: Yahoo Finance, AlphaVantage FinnHub & CSE.
For more information, visit us at InvestorIntel.com or email us at [email protected]

Watchlist Companies:
– QYOU Media Inc. (QYOU.V) CAD 0.07 (8.33%)
– Lingo Media Corporation (LM.V) CAD 0.07 (7.14%)
– Zoom Video Communications Inc. (ZM) USD 492.60 (5.15%)
– Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR-B.TO) CAD 2.93 (2.81%)
– Adobe Inc. (ADBE) USD 486.78 (2.34%)
– Wix.com Ltd. (WIX) USD 259.27 (1.87%)
– Stingray Group Inc. (RAY-A.TO) CAD 5.38 (0.56%)
– Glacier Media Inc. (GVC.TO) CAD 0.23 (0.0%)
– GVIC Communications Corp. (GCT.TO) CAD 0.15 (0.0%)
– Media Central Corporation Inc. (FLYY.CN) CAD 0.01 (0.0%)
– Moovly Media Inc. (MVY.V) CAD 0.08 (0.0%)
– Network Media Group Inc. (NTE.V) CAD 0.14 (0.0%)
– Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (PNC-A.TO) CAD 1.60 (0.0%)
– Quizam Media Corporation (QQ.CN) CAD 0.49 (0.0%)
– WOW! Unlimited Media Inc. (WOW.V) CAD 0.36 (0.0%)
– HubSpot, Inc. (HUBS) USD 282.18 (-0.88%)
– MediaValet Inc. (MVP.V) CAD 2.10 (-0.94%)
– Slack Technologies Inc. (WORK) USD 26.41 (-0.97%)
– Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc. (TBRD.V) CAD 1.90 (-3.55%)
– ZoomerMedia Limited (ZUM.V) CAD 0.07 (-7.14%)

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Greg Quail and Jesse Fawcett’s indie production outfit EQ Media Group, formerly Essential Media and Entertainment, is expanding its global footprint with the hiring of David Freeman and Robert Hardy to lead the company’s flagship Canadian offices.

Based in Vancouver, Freeman (pictured left) boards EQ Media as executive in charge of production while Hardy (right) has been appointed as an executive producer. The pair will report directly into president and executive producer Jesse Fawcett.

“We are tremendously excited to plant our Canadian flag in Vancouver with Robert and David at the helm,” said Fawcett in a statement. “We are committed to growing this office into a premiere Canadian content supplier and that’s reflected in our significant investments in unscripted, scripted, feature documentary and animated projects.”

EQ Media Group has development and production hubs in Los Angeles, Sydney, Dallas, Auckland and Vancouver. Its offices in Vancouver were established in March 2020 and boasts a full-time staff of five.

Freeman and Hardy will oversee any future seasons of History Canada’s forthcoming unscripted series Big Timber (10 x 60 minutes), which is produced in association with Corus Studios. The series joined EQ Media Group’s stable through Fawcett’s acquisition of the property from Kew Media Group, according to a press release.

An experienced broadcast veteran, Freeman joins EQ with responsibility for ensuring all productions come in on budget and schedule. Originally from the UK, he is credited with being proficient in the financial, logistical and creative aspects of production. His past work includes serving as a line producer with Great Pacific Media on CBC’s High Arctic Haulers and as a supervising producer on History’s Yukon Gold and Klondike Trappers, as well as HGTV’s Timber Kings. 

Hardy, meanwhile, will serve as creative lead on all development and production in his new role as executive producer, with showrunners reporting to him. He holds television production experience across documentary, factual, comedy and drama, with previous stints at Force Four Entertainment and recently, with his own prodco, Perfect Day Productions. His production credits include Rust Valley Restorers for Netflix and History, CBC’s Keeping Canada Alive, W Network’s Sophie & Shannon and Border Security: America’s Front Line for Netflix and National Geographic.

Essential Media Group (EMG) was acquired by Toronto-headquartered Kew Media Group in 2018. Following the collapse of the parent company, Quail and Fawcett bought back EMG’s assets, including its North American, Australian and New Zealand operations, in March of 2020. As reported by Australian trade IF, Quail and Fawcett rebranded the company as EQ Media Group in August.

With files from Barry Walsh and Playback Daily’s Lauren Malyk

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