Chris Bolton

Chris was born and raised in Durban, KwaZulu Natal.

Music and performance was always in his bloodstream as a child … via his father who was an international touring musician.

He developed an appetite for theatre whilst still at school, initially as an artist / actor. Whilst working at Durban Playhouse after school, when Chris first stepped onto the boards with lights, flybars and scenery … and knew the stage and theatre was THE career for him!

His first contact with lighting was also during this period, working as a follow spot operator at the famous Sneddon Theatre in Durban.

He studied Electronics Engineering at college, continued performing and then switched the further education focus to Performing Arts Technology to be more in tune with ambitions to work in theatre. He left in his final year to take up his first professional engagement, which was as a sound engineer in Johannesburg!

Generic lighting didn’t really appeal at the time to the technical in Chris, but the first time Chris saw moving lights – some big old SGM Galileo 4 mirror scanners – being programmed properly for a show, it fired his imagination! His company in Johannesburg had some Clay Paky Tiger Scans, so he started teaching himself moving lights after finishing work in the audio department!

As soon as Chris started doing lights, his career developed quickly and his reputation as a lighting designer and programmer grew.

He founded Keystone Productions in Johannesburg in 2003 with Warren Liss and Jonathan Le Roux. They have worked for a variety of elaborate corporate events and brand activations which have been challenging, stimulating and a great forum for Chris’s sense of drama and creative ideas.

As Keystone Productions, Chris has helped shape many ground-breaking shows and events as a lighting designer and production director, while running the company has taught him the benefits of good organisation. Over time he’s developed a unique MO that fuses technical precision with creative style.

Chris is a great communicator and enjoys seeing all the elements of a production harmonise and unite into an incredible end-result for the audience.

Keystone Productions is also a partner in Bradley Hilton’s company Pixel Native which specialises in video and projection systems design, direction and content production.

Chris loves spending any ‘down’ time chilling with his family, and if he gets a moment or two he also enjoys fishing – both sea and fresh water – and its many challenges!