DREAMS IN NEON SHE BENT, SHAPED HER DESTINY, AND HER FUTURE IS BRIGHT, INDEED.Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer She has illuminated signs illuminated sign illuminate n → Leuchtzeichen nt and billboards, on streets and for the movies. She's created cities of neon, a 60-foot American flag for a Lenny Kravitz music video, background for scenes of Chinatown or red-light districts A list of world red-light districts. Africa Kenya
Morocco
filled with XXX strip clubs.She is the person credited with lighting up the Batmobile in two of the ``Batman'' movies. Every time she sees neon prominently featured in a movie or TV program, she has to check her archives to remember whether she was the person who created it. (More often than not, she was.) So, what can Lisa Schulte - neon pioneer and founder of the largest female-owned prop house in the nation - possibly do for an encore? (Hint: It doesn't involve going to Disneyland to rebirth re·birth n. 1. A second or new birth; reincarnation. 2. A renaissance; a revival: a rebirth of classicism in architecture. the Main Street Electrical Parade The Main Street Electrical Parade is a regularly-scheduled parade, created by Bob Jani, famous for its long run at Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort most summers between 1972-1975, 1977-1982, and 1984-1996. .) Nope. Schulte hopes one day to flick an ``on'' switch and have the Hollywood sign The Hollywood Sign is a famous landmark in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, spelling out the name of the area in 15.2 m (50 ft)[1] high white letters. burst into light. ``That's my one last signature piece that I'd like to say that I did before getting out of this business,'' says Schulte. ``Knowing that I was responsible for lighting that Hollywood sign and keeping it lit. I want to do it and I want to do it on the Academy Awards.'' Schulte has a file on the sign at her office. Between transportation costs, wiring and maintenance, she figures the endeavor would take $25 million to $30 million to do it right and keep it lighted. Where movie stars once donated major bucks to restore the Hollywood sign, Schulte thinks this time the studios should each kick in several million to sponsor a letter. Paramount can take an ``O,'' Universal a ``D.'' ``I think that's what this city needs, to have that sign lit,'' she says. Heck, if you're going to dream, why not dream in big, wild, larger-than- life color? Why not dream in neon? The dream Schulte is currently living might never have happened. Schulte, the subject of a documentary segment for the Romance Classics series ``Cool Women,'' walked away from a job that paid her more than $100,000 per year. She was a medical sales representative, working with the early pioneers of a medical procedure that was cutting-edge at the time and eventually attained a certain popularity. Perhaps you've heard of it: laser vision correction surgery. Her mother was newly diagnosed with breast cancer, and Schulte, still in her 20s, felt the time was right to make changes. That meant getting out of the medical research field. It also meant losing everything - house, car - and starting over. During a stint as a caterer for Along Came Mary, Schulte worked on the 1984 Olympics and helped create a futuristic fu·tur·is·tic adj. 1. Of or relating to the future. 2. a. Of, characterized by, or expressing a vision of the future: futuristic decor. b. city for an Olympic Committee event. When she discovered there was no single place she could assemble, say, a bunch of neon flamingos and palm trees, Schulte decided to create a niche market A niche market also known as a target market is a focused, targetable portion (subset) of a market sector. By definition, then, a business that focuses on a niche market is addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers. for herself: a prop house that could figure out new and inventive ways to use neon. ``Literally, I started it out of the trunk of my car,'' says Schulte. ``I didn't have any money for public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most or taking ads out. I had a great idea, but I didn't know how to facilitate it.'' Schulte went to school to learn the art of neon bending - a craft, she says, that requires seven to 10 years to master. Nights of Neon trains people in the art of bending, but you won't find a lot of people out there who can walk in and create magical lights. ``It's an old trade and secrets are kept,'' says Schulte. ``If anything, it's passed from generation to family members. They're not really receptive to teaching other people because they worry about their job security.'' Eventually, through word of mouth, she began to get work creating neon for music videos and then for film. Nights of Neon got its name because Schulte's work was generally used only for a single evening. Entrepreneurial spirit runs in her blood, says Schulte, who credits her mother with cultivating that spirit in herself and in her siblings siblings npl (formal) → frères et sœurs mpl (de mêmes parents) . ``She was so ahead of her time. She had a clothing company and an import/export business, and she raised seven kids,'' says Schulte of her mother, Lorraine, who died when Lisa was in her 20s. ``She was always telling me, 'Don't get married. Don't do what I did.' I think if my mother could have had it another way, she would have been a career woman.'' Schulte took her mother's advice, creating a business in an industry that isn't necessarily friendly to women in positions of power. Those efforts make Schulte and her business more than a little bit cool, says director/choreographer Debbie Allen, the woman behind the ``Cool Women'' series. ``I thought it was pretty amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. that here was a woman who, on her own wherewithal where·with·al n. The necessary means, especially financial means: didn't have the wherewithal to survive an economic downturn. conj. Wherewith. pron. Wherewith. , saw an opportunity and created a major business,'' said Allen, whose series was inspired by a book and also profiles a fire captain, a ballet teacher, a community activist and the staff coordinator for the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Taxi Workers Alliance. Schulte's segment, which is introduced by ``The Practice'' star Camryn Manheim Camryn Manheim (born Debra Frances Manheim on March 8, 1961, in Caldwell, New Jersey), is an American actress who is best known for her role as attorney "Ellenor Frutt" on the ABC legal drama The Practice and more popularly known today as Delia Banks of , airs at 5 p.m. Friday. ``The idea that a woman could go into a world that was so male-dominated and be so successful and learn practically everything she knows about it from men - she was a great story.'' And, Schulte hopes, potentially an inspiring one as well. ``I'm totally a behind-the-scenes person, but for 18 years, I've done a lot of really incredible things. (The `Cool Women' segment) tells me I'm going to be able to share what I do. Maybe inspire young girls.'' From an office window in the Van Nuys warehouse that houses Nights of Neon, Schulte can look out and see sculpture after sculpture of neon, lighting up a giant room. Signs, displays, animals, figures and lettering, some static, some in constant back-and-forth movement. It's neon she has created and neon she has preserved when somebody was about to destroy it. Part of her goal in creating this company - and purchasing the office space - was to be able to flick one switch and have the whole room light up. It may be old hat now to Schulte's workers, a few of whom shuttle in and out via miniature scooter scooter: see motorcycle. , but to the non-Vegas dweller, that neon- plastered plas·tered adj. Slang Intoxicated; drunk. plastered Adjective Slang drunk Adj. 1. room is a sight to behold be·hold v. be·held , be·hold·ing, be·holds v.tr. 1. a. To perceive by the visual faculty; see: beheld a tiny figure in the distance. b. . Nights of Neon may have fewer than 10 visitors a day, so the display is for the benefit of her 15 employees. And for their boss, the Neon Lady. ``It's my own world, and it costs a lot of money,'' says Schulte, 44, who shares her work space and her Hancock Park
Hancock Park is a park in Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California which is the location of the La Brea Tar Pits, the George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, and LACMA. home with an affable af·fa·ble adj. 1. Easy and pleasant to speak to; approachable. 2. Gentle and gracious: an affable smile. mutt named Harley. ``I have a big office window where I can see neon all day. This is the energy I like to have around me.'' Apparently, so does Hollywood. The neon you'll spot on screen or on television won't necessarily look as dazzling as it does in Schulte's warehouse; it's often simply part of the scenery. But keep your eyes open for neon in recently released movies like ``Coyote Ugly'' and ``Hollow Man,'' last year's ``Man on the Moon,'' and the upcoming ``Charlie's Angels,'' ``Bedazzled'' and ``How the Grinch Stole Christmas.'' Or look at those huge lighted letters in the WB network's ``Tonight on the WB'' ad campaign. It's all created in the warehouse by professional neon benders The Benders were a Sydney jazz band who existed from 1983 to 1985. The band comprised Chris Abrahams (keyboards), Dale Barlow (sax on E), Jason Morphett (sax on False Laughter & Distance), Lloyd Swanton (bass) and Andrew Gander (drums). who trap atmospheric gases in glass tubes, stimulate them with an electric charge into liquid form and bend them into shape. The glass-encased gases become restaurant signs, animals, elaborate lettering or anything else you can dream up. When film representatives come in needing X amount of neon in five days, Schulte puts her crew to work. They'll supply as much neon as they can in the time they're given, and they'll contract out to hire additional sign makers if the need arises. The work won't come cheap, but the quality will match the cost. ``We usually get very good products because there are very few places that do this,'' says Schulte. ``When you walk in here and you give me $300,000 to do seven miles of neon for a Macy Gray video and it's Tuesday and you're shooting Saturday, you're trusting me a lot.'' Schulte recently added digital graphics and printing to her business. But even with so many sign-making companies using computers to create their product, Schulte doesn't see the art of neon dying out. At least not as long as she's around to promote it. ``It always has been a magical light source,'' she says. ``Cool Women.'' What: Documentary series on women created by director/choreographer Debbie Allen. Where: Romance Classics. When: 5 p.m. Fridays; Lisa Schulte is featured this week. CAPTION(S): 6 photos Photo: (1 -- 3 -- cover -- color) tubular belle The future's looking bright - wildly, flourescently, crazily so - for Nights of Neons owner Main photo: Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer; detail photos: Hans Gutknecht/Special to the Daily News (4 -- color) Lisa Schulte's Van Nuys studio glows in the dark, burning with the various neon projects she has done, looking like old stock footage of Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. in its heyday. ``This is the energy I like to have around me.'' Schulte says. Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer (5 -- color) no caption (Neon sign neon sign n → enseigne (lumineuse) au néon neon sign neon n → Neonreklame f neon sign n → ) (6) Ricky Suarez uses fire to bend glass at Nights of Neon in Van Nuys. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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