Richard Cody Elles

Helped with wrangling Background, getting paperwork signed, retrieving props, assisted camerapeople and sound, running of various errands. Basic PA stuff.

Club Vodka was a monthly, high-energy concert series, that stacked 24 of Southern California's heaviest bands on three stages at the now defunct LA Knitting Factory. I was in charge of editing, printing, and distributing tickets to pre-sale acts, VIP wrangling and guest-list management and, when the show began, I'd oversee one of our three stages while managing crew breaks and putting out the myriad fires that arose throughout the night. As a monthly production with a larger-than normal lineup, we had a monthly production pipeline. Each event's cycle would begin the day after the most recent event. We would reach out to recent acts and favorite performers to work out the details of their pre-sale agreement for the coming show. As the bands filled in and our schedule filled and I'd print each act a batch of custom tickets with their bands logo, set time and stage number. In the run-up to the show, I'd Photoshop together our monthly print ads (LA Weekly mostly) and fill in any scheduling gaps that arose, courtesy of our show's large database of performers. On the day of the show, we would arrive behind the club and start loading in our extended PA, three stages worth of backline equipment, run inventory on any equipment in need of repair or replacement, and build out the mini-stages for our go-go dancers. Once the stages were set, I'd make sure that our production crew was adequately prepared for the event, that break schedules were assigned and communication equipment (surveillance radios) was charged and assigned the appropriate channels. Once the doors opened up, I oversaw communications between front-of-house services, venue/security staff and box office while managing one of our three stages for a crisp 15-minute turnaround between bands. I was usually the last one to leave, as it was my job at the end of the show to make sure all vehicles were loaded, all equipment was accounted for and the venue was locked and secured. Follow-up calls were made to all 24 bands to make sure they had a good event, hadn't lost or left anything behind, and to see if we could get them in on the next show. The last four months of my time with Club Vodka also saw me oversee the production of the 5 day Hollywood Rock Convention at the Key Club on Sunset. I had similar responsibilities at this time, but also handled database management, talent acquisition and media outreach.