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
In major theme parks, attraction themes are generally based on films, animations and characters. In some instances, like WDW's EPCOT, the attractions and designs are based on geographical locations, like France, Italy and Mexico. Others are sponsored by major corporations featuring emerging technologies.
Other theme parks are based on environmental themes, like Animal Kingdom.
Larry has produced and contributed to many of these projects for Disney and Universal Studios and Lucas Films
Themed Entertainment & Attraction Design
Master Planning
Masterplanning is the most challenging and, for Larry, the most engaging phase. It is literally the "blank page." Everything - the "who, what, where, and how" has to be considered.
Master planning establishes the overall vision and organization of a destination—bringing together the site, attractions, entertainment, circulation, operations, infrastructure and future development into one cohesive plan.
An Executive Producer/Creative Director can originate the concept and lead the multidisciplinary team that develops what that destination actually becomes.
Master Planning