Features
Getting To Know Your Pollstar Live! Panelists: Tina Farris, CEO/Owner Of Tina Farris Tours
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Pollstar Live! is set for Feb. 7-9 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, marking the return to the conference’s traditional February calendar slot after the 2021 edition was pushed to June in light of the pandemic. The conference is the world’s largest gathering of live entertainment professionals and the flagship event for Pollstar magazine. You won’t want to miss the networking, insightful discussion and the Pollstar Awards honoring the best in the biz.
Pollstar Live! kicks off with Production Live!, the one-day companion conference that features panels on all topics related to staging live events including lighting, video, stage management, sound technique, concert production, video, regulations, security and more.
Click these links for the Production Live! schedule and the Pollstar Live! schedule.
Register for Pollstar Live! here. All registrants will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination prior to gaining entry to the conference.
Getting To Know Your Pollstar Live! Panelists
Tina Farris, CEO/Owner, Tina Farris Tours
Production Live! Panel: “Staffing Up with Expertise, Skill & Inclusivity”
Date/Time: Monday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m.
The pandemic global shutdown of touring created a situation where hundreds of seasoned professionals were forced to pivot in their careers, and many of them found new gigs that were more palatable than a life on the road. Beyond that, a general labor shortage across the U.S. and beyond makes finding any suitable labor a challenge, much less experienced, dependable pros who possess the unique array of skills necessary to be superior concert production specialists. Most importantly, the live entertainment business is laser-focused on diversity and offering opportunities to those who have undoubtedly been under-represented among those doing the work that makes live music happen. In many ways, live is being reborn, infused with more new blood than since the infancy of the modern touring business. This panel will focus on how to staff up with the best people while at the same time demanding inclusivity across the board on the touring team.
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Moderator
Todd Dyer | VP of Sales | Venues, Music Tours & Live Events | CAPS, A Cast & Crew Company
Speakers
Fanshen Cox, Development Executive & Producer, Pearl Street Films
Tina Farris | CEO/Owner | Tina Farris Tours
Kalpana Kotagal | Partner | Cohen Milstein
Robin Shaw | Co-Founder | Upstaging, Inc.
Malcolm Weldon | Production Manager | Just A Guy Pushing Boxes
Since being invited to join the touring family of the Legendary Roots Crew back in 1999, Tina Farris hasn’t looked back, amassing a client list that has included some of music’s hottest acts including Chris Rock, Lil Wayne, Queen Latifah, Jill Scott, Maxwell, Nicki Minaj, Solange, Ella Mai and Anderson .Paak just to name a few. A quick look at some of the most successful tours in the past six years would reveal that Farris was at the helm of many of them.
The force that is Tina Farris managed the highest-grossing tour in the history of hip-hop, Lil’ Wayne’s “America’s Most Wanted Tour.” The following year, she hit the road with The Black Eyed Peas, guiding the group through 15 countries, 76 cities and 99 sold out shows before 1.3 million attendees, grossing more than $86 million dollars along the way. She rejoined Lil’ Wayne when he and Nicki Minaj headed out on the “I Am Still Music Tour” – then broke from Wayne to build Nicki Minaj’s solo touring career.
Following this success, she used her masterful skills to guide the elusive D’Angelo during his critically-acclaimed comeback run in Europe and the United States. In 2018 she led the Chris Rock Total Black Out tour selling 500,000 tickets worldwide. She is also a producer of Queensfest, ESPN Live Nation Women’s, Global Citizen South Africa, and The Roots’ annual Grammy Jam (which has amassed a cult-following.) This is a night of who’s who clamoring for a single show ticket and has been heralded as the must-attend event during Grammy week! From Steve Lacy to Solange…Tina leaves no talent untouched. There is none other like Farris. Dave Chappelle’s “Artist Whisperer” is a tour de force and was recently, rightly chosen, as one of Pollstar’s Top Tour Managers of 2019. Since the onset of COVID-19 Tina pivoted into digital production, with Roots Digital Picnic, Black Star Live! and Planet Afropunk just a few of the events she produced in 2020.
What tent poles are you most proud of in your career?
Tina Farris: Servicing the music community with quality service and amplifying artists’ needs first. Additionally, being a role model for tons of Black and brown tour managers – women and men – in the music industry.
Why must everyone go to this panel?
It’s a powerful panel with a lot of heavy hitters and hugely different perspectives.
What story will you tell during the panel?
How to build and grow the professionals you need.
What’s the story you won’t tell?
Uh … can’t tell you.
What may cause tempers to flare?
Telling me no.
What was the best part of your 2021?
Chris Rock going back out.
Can you give us a prediction for a highlight of 2022?
Chris Rock world tour and getting my nieces and nephew into an Olivia Rodrigo concert. Just one. ONE city. I KNOW someone in here has that pull!
Tina Farris is also moderating the Production Live! panel “Stranger in a Strange Land: Road Managing in 2022.”