Larry Hitchcock
Master Planner & Experience Design Consultant
Large-Scale Entertainment Environments
1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games
Opening & Closing Ceremonies
The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics brought together Hollywood, music and large-scale live production on an extraordinary stage. Working with FM Productions, Larry Hitchcock put together the team that brought live-entertainment production experience for arenas and stadiums to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. This team allowed a scale of production on the demanding event schedule for the first time.
The dramatic Olympic flame sequence culminated with the torchbearer climbing the steep staircase, igniting the Olympic rings and sending the flame upward to the cauldron. The Closing Ceremony ended in spectacular fashion with Lionel Richie, athletes, performers, music, staging and fireworks filling the Coliseum.
Additional selected work:
Live Aid • US Festival • Farm Aid • Democratic National Convention & Statue of Liberty ReDedication
FM Productions | Large-Scale Live Entertainment & Production
Live Entertainment & Show Design
Major Concert Tours & Large-Scale Productions
Before his work in themed entertainment, Larry Hitchcock built his career in the world of major concert touring and live production. Working at the intersection of creative design, staging and production, he helped create environments for some of the world's most recognizable performers.
That experience required ambitious ideas to work in the real world—on stage, on schedule and in front of thousands of people night after night. It became an important foundation for Larry's later work in themed entertainment and large-scale experiential design.
Selected artists include The Rolling Stones • David Bowie • Billy Joel • The Who • ZZ Top • Pink Floyd • Reba McEntire
Live Entertainment & Show Design
Creative Direction & Development
Pleasure Island — Walt Disney World
Walt Disney Imagineering | Executive Producer
At Imagineering word came down that as they were expanding Walt Disney World to create a larger "Downtown Disney" they wanted to develop an adult attraction just outside the park. Free during the day but with a cover charge and over 21 at night.
As Executive Producer and Creative Director, Larry led a multidisciplinary team of approximately 40–60 writers, artists, architects, engineers, attorneys, and other specialists, guiding the project from its original concept through two years of creative development.
With an approximately $250 million budget, Pleasure Island required far more than designing individual venues. Larry's role was to hold the larger creative vision while coordinating the many disciplines required to turn an ambitious idea into a functioning entertainment destination.
For Larry, this is what Creative Direction & Development means: taking an idea that doesn't yet exist, assembling the right creative and technical people around it, and leading that idea toward reality.
Creative Direction & Development
Themed Entertainment & Attraction Design
Themed Entertainment & Attraction Design
Master Planning
Master Planning