[Sweden] StageSmarts has announced the passing of its co-founder Mats Karlsson, who died this week following a battle with cancer.
A respected figure in the international entertainment technology industry, Karlsson spent more than four decades working with lighting, video and entertainment technology, combining deep technical knowledge with a constant drive to question established ways of doing things.
Karlsson began his career in Sweden, spending many years in production before moving into sales, product development and product management. His career subsequently took him to several of the entertainment technology industry’s leading companies.
At Barco, Karlsson worked as product manager for creative LED products during a period when the boundaries between lighting and video were rapidly changing. He later joined Martin Professional as technology manager for the Visual Solutions unit, where his work focused on the emerging field of LED video and visual technology before moving on to VER and later AC Entertainment.
Throughout his career, Karlsson was known not only for developing technology but for explaining it. He contributed numerous technical articles to industry publications, including Lighting & Sound International and other specialist titles, and was a regular speaker and participant in industry seminars.
In 2015, Karlsson founded StageSmarts with Erik Davidson. The company grew from a shared belief that power distribution for live entertainment needed to change – that lighting, video and other production technologies had developed dramatically, but that the systems supplying them with power had not kept pace. That willingness to challenge the status quo became central.
The approach resulted in StageSmarts’ smartPDU intelligent power distribution system, which received a PLASA Award for Innovation in 2017. StageSmarts products have since gone on to be used in demanding live entertainment applications around the world.
Erik Davidson, co-founder of StageSmarts, says:
“Mats never had much interest in doing something a certain way just because that was how it had always been done. He challenged assumptions, asked difficult questions and wanted us to make decisions and move forward. That way of thinking shaped StageSmarts from the beginning, but it also made working with Mats enormously rewarding. His knowledge and experience were exceptional, and even during the last period of his illness he continued to contribute, advise and challenge us. I have lost a business partner and a close friend, and our industry has lost someone who genuinely helped move it forward.”
Karlsson’s influence extends well beyond StageSmarts. Over a career spanning the transition from conventional stage lighting through automated lighting, creative LED and large-scale video, he was involved in technologies that helped change the visual language of live production. Colleagues throughout the industry remember him for his technical insight, attention to detail, directness and his ability to see where technology was heading.
For those at StageSmarts, his legacy is also present in something more fundamental: a way of approaching problems. Question the accepted solution. Understand what is really needed. Make the decision. Build it properly.
Mats Karlsson will be greatly missed by his colleagues, friends and the many people throughout the entertainment technology community who worked with him over the years.
- AV/Video
- Lighting
- People
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