UC grad Travis Hagenbuch award-winning lighting director, University of Cincinnati

UC grad Travis Hagenbuch award-winning lighting director

a scene on the ice from the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver winter Olympics

Travis Hagenbuch oversaw all lighting for the winter 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. He won an Emmy in lighting direction for the three-hour televised opening ceremonies. Photo/Full Flood Inc.

Travis Hagenbuch poses with all three of his Emmy statues.

Hagenbuch with the first two Emmys he won.

Hagenbuch's first two Emmys

Hagenbuch with the first Emmy he ever won.

Hagenbuch's first Emmy

Brilliant lighting design shines on CCM alumnus

by Deborah Rieselman

Only six years after graduating from UC’s College-Conservatory of Music, Travis Hagenbuch has been nominated for his fourth primetime Emmy as a lighting director. He had previously won the trophy three times, but leaving the ceremony empty handed on Sept. 22, 2013, did not diminish the fact that he is a shooting star within an elite group.

The 2007 grad has found his niche directing lighting for live televised events, including the Olympics, President Obama’s inaugural celebration, a Super Bowl halftime show with Tom Petty, the Academy Awards, the Grammy Awards, the Tony Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, BET Awards, as well as TV specials for Lionel Richie, Betty White’s 90th birthday and Celine Dion. The three Emmys he nabbed were for the Vancouver Olympics’ opening ceremony in 2010 and for two Grammy ceremonies in 2011 and ’12.

Originally from Ottawa, Ill., Hagenbuch works at the design firm Full Flood in Los Angeles. His attraction to lighting began in the fifth grade when a teacher noticed his interest in electricity and asked him to rig lights for the school talent show. Later, in high school, he controlled the lights for plays and other productions.

In September 2013, he joined the "Queen Latifah" show as lighting director and director of photography. “I helped design the show over the summer,’ he says, “and so far it has been a nice change of pace from all the travel and late nights involved in the award shows and primetime TV specials — though I still plan to get out and do other shows now and then to keep things interesting.”

LINK: See Travis Hagenbuch’s extensive list of credits.

The Academy Awards ceremony from February 2013.

The 2013 Academy Awards ceremony, for which Hagenbuch was a lighting director. Photo/Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

A scene from the Superbowl halftime show from 2008.

Hagenbuch directed lighting for the 2008 Super Bowl halftime show with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Oscar ceremony 2013

Televised events on which Hagenbuch was a lighting director

A scene from the Grammy Awards in 2013. Photo/National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

A photo of the stage at the Country Music c Awards.

The Country Music Association Awards stage in 2011. Photo/CMA

Seth McFarlane as host of the 2013 Academy Awards, with lighting design by Haugenbuch.

2013 Academy Awards with host Seth McFarlane. Photo/Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences

Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen play instruments together

Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen play at the Obama Inauguration Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial in 2009.

The 2008 Academy Awards ceremony. Photo/Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

2013 overall stage view from Academy Awards

Overall stage view from 2013 Academy Awards. Photo/Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Overview of the stage at the 2013 Academy Awards, bathed in a red light.

Lighting helps change the appearance of the stage during the 2013 Academy Awards.

Another stage treatment for the 2013 Academy Awards.

2013 Academy Awards presents a "Les Miserable" number. Photo/Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Hagenbuch's first Emmy: Vancouver '10 Olympics Opening Ceremonies

A sled rider shoots through a display of the Olympic interlocking circles.

Canadian snowboarder Johnny Lyall leaps through a set of Olympic Rings during the opening ceremonies of the winter games in Vancouver. Travis Hagenbuch received an Emmy for lighting director on the televised program. Photo/Full Flood

A giant ice bear on the ice rink with skaters around it.

One of the largest puppets ever made represented one of the constellations of the Four Directions. Below him, performers stood on a simulated ice floe.

Interesting lighting around the silhouette of a man walking toward the liglht.

To start the cultural segment of the show, a man wearing a native American costume pounded a staff on the floor, which lit the floor like rippling waves.