Wally Russell Fund Elects Two New Board Members

The Board of Directors of The Wally Russell Fund is pleased to announce that two new members of the Board of Directors were elected during the recent Board meeting held at LDI – 2006.

The first new member of the Board of Directors is Pat Mackay. Pat was the inventor of LDI and one of the original publishers of Theatre Crafts, which as now morphed into Entertainment Design. She was a close confidant to Wally during his early years at Strand Century, and was one of the inspirations for the founding of the Wally Russell Fund shortly after Wally’s death.

“We were thrilled that Pat accepted our nomination”, commented Rusty Brutsche, founding Board Member.

Pat can currently be contacted at:


Patricia MacKay
Editorial Director
Company: Ones & Zeros Media
7373 Pyramid Place
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Bus: +1 (323) 646-9937
Bus Fax: +1 (323) 874-6471
E-mail: [email protected]

The second addition to the Wally Russell Board of Directors is also a long time supporter of the Wally Russell Fund having helped the foundation directly in its early years while she was a manager at ETC, Entertec, and Vari*lite. Anne Valentino, principle of Quest Com, a software development company, as also agreed to join the Board of Directors.

Anne can currently be contacted at:


Anne Valentino
Quest Comm
474 Sagamore Avenue
Teaneck, NJ 07666
201.530.9350
201.289.0410 (cell)
[email protected]

“I have known Anne from the early 80’s and I am excited that she accepted the Board Nomination.” Commented Tom Folsom, founding Board Member, “I am confident that her highly valued input will be a great benefit to the Foundation as we move forward and continue to expand our reach.”

The Wally Fund relies on donations by industry companies and individuals to move it forward as it supports the LA Opera internship program, Broadway Master Classes, and the Safety Certification Program. It also sponsors the Wally Russell Award, which honors outstanding lifetime achievement in entertainment technology, and a Newcomer Award for an innovative person in the industry. A list of winners can be found online in the Awards section of the Foundation's website. The non-profit organization is in the process of creating a similar intern program in cooperation with the Canadian Opera Company.

Wally Russell’s friends and business associates created the Wally Russell Foundation in 1992 to honor the memory of Russell—a visionary in lighting design, product innovation, theatre design, technical direction, and general management—whose frequently unrecognized impact on the profession was profound.

Russell helped bring about the first commercially successful mini-computer based lighting system; brought automated lighting to the LA Opera as their technical director; and designed many theatres, including the modernizing of Buenos Aries’ Teatro Colon.

The Wally Russell Foundation Board of Directors are Donna Appleton, Phil Bernard, Rusty Brutsche, David Cunningham, Tom Folsom, John Howe, Pat MacKay, Philip O’Donnell, Richard Pilbrow, Brian Russell, Glen Russell, Robert Schiller, Anne Valentino, Jennifer White, John Wiseman.

Donations can be made to the Foundation in the following levels:

Wally Patron: $2,500 and above
Platinum Circle: $1,000 to $2,499
Gold Circle: $100 to $999

Donations can be sent to:
The Wally Russell Fund
2061 Hoefner Ave.
Commerce, CA 90040
USA

For further information, please contact:
Thomas L. Folsom
The Wally Russell Fund
2061 Hoefner Ave.
Commerce, CA 90040
323-722-7022
[email protected]