Giggs Podcast

Recorded in Nashville, TN, this special docuseries episode of The Giggs Podcast steps inside Kingfisher Production Studio, the new virtual production offering from LEO Events. Nikki Sanz walks through the space and talks with the team behind it to see how virtual worlds are built, lit, filmed, and finished.
This episode is worth your time if you work in production, post, creative, live events, or brand storytelling and want to understand what virtual production actually takes. The team breaks down how Unreal Engine, motion tracking, lighting, editorial planning, and post all work together to create worlds that feel real on camera.
You’ll also hear why this kind of studio can open new options for corporate shoots, music content, branded storytelling, and location-based concepts without the same travel, permitting, and logistics challenges of a traditional shoot.

We highly recommend watching this one on video on either Spotify or YouTube for the full episode experience.
What you’ll learn:
How Kingfisher uses virtual production to build believable environments
Why lighting and motion tracking matter as much as the digital world itself
How Unreal Engine fits into the production pipeline
What post-production teams receive after a virtual shoot
Why pre-production planning still matters in a “limitless” environment
How this workflow can save time, travel, and location costs
What kinds of skills help people thrive in studio, animation, and editorial roles
About Kingfisher:
Kingfisher by LEO Events is a virtual production studio based in Nashville, Tennessee, built to help brands, creators, and clients tell stories in flexible digital environments. 
In this episode, Nikki Sanz talks with members of the team behind the space, including Stacey Ladd, Sr. Director of Media Production, Brett Clark, Director of Studio & Editorial, Tyler Montanino, Video Production Specialist, Matt Dimodica, Senior Media Animator, and Josh Ickes, Senior Editor. Together, they walk through how Kingfisher blends creative development, lighting, motion tracking, Unreal Engine, and post-production to turn ideas into polished visual stories.
To learn more about the Kingfisher Production Studio and LEO Events, visit https://leoevents.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kingfisher.made and https://www.instagram.com/leoevents/
Find your next Gigg: https://www.giggs.live/

Stay up to date:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giggs.live
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giggs-live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giggs-llc/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giggs.live

Host: Nikki Sanz

What does real support for music professionals actually look like when the gigs stop, the bills pile up, or the stress gets too heavy? In this episode, Nikki Sanz sits down with Theresa Wolters, Executive Director of MusiCares, to talk about the health, financial, and emergency realities facing people across the music industry.
They get into the gap between how glamorous the industry can look from the outside and how vulnerable it often feels from the inside. Theresa shares how MusiCares helps with rent, therapy, medical bills, substance use treatment, and disaster relief, and why better data is finally helping the industry confront what so many people have lived for years.
This conversation also digs into the Wellness in Music Survey, why preventive care and health coverage remain major issues for freelancers and touring professionals, and what meaningful change could look like from here.
What you’ll learn
What MusiCares actually does day to day for music professionals
Why so many people in music still lack stable health and financial support
How MusiCares responds to emergencies, from lost gigs to natural disasters
What the Wellness in Music Survey is revealing about stress, money, and health
Why Theresa believes sustainability is now one of the biggest issues in music careers
How friends, coworkers, and managers can help someone reach out before things get worse
Take the Wellness in Music 2026 survey: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8718804/scs-2026-Wellness-in-Music
The survey is completely anonymous, and participation directly contributes to shaping resources and support for the community. The survey is open from April 6 – 17th.

Qualifying music professionals can reach out to MusiCares for support at any time at https://www.musicares.org/get-help
A minimum of five years employment in the music industry (three years for disaster relief), OR six commercially released recordings or videos (singles)

For more information on MusiCares or to donate, please visit www.musicares.org
Theresa Wolters bio:
Theresa Wolters is the Executive Director of MusiCares, where she leads the organization’s mission to provide a critical safety net of health, human, and social services for music professionals. She joined MusiCares in 2022 as Vice President of Health and Human Services, a role that built on her two decades of global leadership expanding access to health, financial, and emergency services.
Find your next Gigg: https://www.giggs.live/

Stay up to date:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giggs.live
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giggs-live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giggs-llc/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giggs.live

Host: Nikki Sanz

Recorded live at Rock Lititz, this episode features Patrick Ledwith, Managing Director of North America for ES Global, reflecting on a career that spans nearly four decades across touring, staging, and large-scale live production.
Patrick takes Nikki Sanz from his start as a 17-year-old stagehand in London to building stages on U2’s Joshua Tree run, managing major tours, and eventually stepping into executive leadership. Along the way, he shares what has changed in live events, what has not, and why fan experience still sits at the center of great shows.
For anyone working in touring, production, project management, or live entertainment, this conversation is a grounded look at how careers are built over time. Patrick talks about problem solving, leadership under pressure, the evolution of stadium-scale production, and the values that still matter when the trucks get bigger and the timelines get tighter.
What you’ll learn:
How Patrick got his start as a stagehand and found his path into touring
What it was like building stages during U2’s Joshua Tree era
Why the best artists stay obsessed with fan experience
How production managers think about responsibility, morale, and problem solving
What separates entertainment builds from traditional construction
How tours like Iron Maiden and Beyonce scale from creative vision to live execution
What legacy means after a lifetime on the road
Patrick Ledwith Bio:
With nearly 40 years in the events, music and film business Patrick amassed a wealth of experience working on numerous different large scale projects and ceremonies around the world. Patrick’s structural and technical background in the business has set a solid foundation for a career as a Production/ Project Manager and Technical Director working with many of the largest production companies in the world including, Balich WS, Five Currents and ES GLOBAL. After working for ES GLOBAL on and off since the 1980’s it was an easy decision to join the company full time. Touring work in the entertainment business has, among others, included world tours with the U2, Van Halen, Grateful Dead, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Scorpions, Metallica, Guns n Roses, and Iron Maiden.
Find your next Gigg: https://www.giggs.live/

Stay up to date:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giggs.live
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giggs-live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giggs-llc/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giggs.live

Host: Nikki Sanz

Recorded live at Rock Lititz, this episode features Kyana White, a tour manager and production manager whose path into touring did not start on a bus. It started in TV, in internships, in low-paid PA work, and in learning how major productions actually come together behind the scenes.
Kyana walks Nikki Sanz through the real story: how she went from the WME mailroom and award show production into touring, how cold outreach helped her land opportunities with Janelle Monáe’s camp, and how those early one-off gigs turned into bigger roles with Ari Lennox and beyond.
This one matters if you’re trying to break in, level up, or understand what separates people who stay stuck from people who create their own lane. Kyana gets specific about preparation, advocacy, transferable skills, and why calm leadership matters so much in live production.
What you’ll learn
How Kyana moved from TV production into touring
Why cold emailing and using your network still works
What transferable skills matter most when changing lanes
What a small touring crew actually needs at the club and small-room level
Why being both a tour manager and production manager can be such an advantage
What Kyana is learning now as she looks toward arena and stadium-level production
Kyana White bio:
From Atlanta, currently residing in New Orleans, Kyana’s start in touring was unconventional. She got her start in entertainment when she landed the WME Mailroom gig in 2013 the summer before graduating from UAB. She returned to LA summer of 2014 and landed an internship at Octagon Entertainment where she worked on a tv pilot there and decided she wanted to do tv. In the summer of 2015 she did her last internship with Jesse Collins Entertainment on the BET Awards. From there she worked as a PA, coordinator, and Executive Producers Assistant on award shows (Grammy’s, Hip Hop Awards, Billboard Awards, Emmy’s, Oscars, etc) until 2018. She decided to leave LA because she had set a goal to buy a duplex by 30 and realized moving up in tv wasn’t going to happen fast enough to achieve that in LA. She started sending cold emails out to people in touring and this woman named Kim responded saying she loved her resume and wanted to keep in touch. She had ties to Janelle Monae’s camp and in fall 2018 Kyana did her first one off touring gigs in Janelle’s camp as a PA. Early 2019 she was back working on the Grammy’s when she got a call to work a 2 week underplay tour as a coordinator with Anderson.Paak so she quit the Grammy’s and went on her first bus tour. Summer 2019 she became road manager for Ari Lennox and by end of 2019 she was her Tour & Production Manager. She’s been a TM+PM ever since and she currently works with Tank & The Bangas, noname, Kiana Ledé, and Samara Cyn.
Find your next Gigg: https://www.giggs.live/

Stay up to date:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giggs.live
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giggs-live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giggs-llc/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giggs.live

Host: Nikki Sanz

Behind every tour is a whole other job happening offstage: parenting, schedules, safety, emotions, and the quiet pressure of “don’t make this harder for them.”
In this episode, Nikki Sanz talks with Rachel Smith and Rhyan Shirley, founders of Stage Wives—a support community built for women navigating life while their partners work in the touring industry. They share what this lifestyle can do to connection, communication, and family rhythms—and the practical tools that help couples stay aligned when time, sleep, and distance are working against you.
You’ll also hear the frameworks they lean on in real life, from how to start hard conversations (“facts, then feelings”) to the one question that can stop a fight before it starts.
What you’ll learn:
Why touring families can feel isolated and what actually helps (community + real tools)
A simple communication order: facts → feelings → “listen or fix?”
How touring impacts kids (and why ages 3–4 can be especially tough)
Staying “present” from the road with routines
The “two-week / three-week” approach some families use to stay connected mid-run
What to do when therapy isn’t built for the realities of touring life
The resources they’re building for stage families (Touring Tales + The Invisible Backpack)
Check out all Stage Wives has to offer as well as The Invisible Backpack pre-sale info: https://www.stagewives.com/
Check out Stage Wives on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stagewives 
Stage Wives bio:
Stage Wives is a Nashville-based support community for women whose husbands or significant others work in the touring industry—including musicians, artists, sound engineers, lighting techs, stage managers, road managers, and crew members of all kinds. If your partner tours, Stage Wives exists for you.
Stage Wives was founded by Rachel Smith and Rhyan Shirley, two women who know firsthand the unique challenges and emotional demands of life on the road.
Rachel Smith has spent over ten years as a tour wife. She is a pyographer aka wood-burning artist and the owner of Cinder Bella Studios and Raye Ann Pyrography. Her husband has toured full-time since they were married, and together they are raising their five-year-old daughter.
Rhyan Shirley is an award-winning songwriter and recording artist. In addition to writing full-time and leading Stage Wives, she is a single mom to a four-year-old son. Rhyan was a stage wife for ten years, during which her former husband toured an average of 300 days a year. In spite of her personal journey, she has developed a deep passion for strengthening families and helping marriages not only survive, but thrive, within the demands of touring life.
Together, Raye and Rhy are committed to empowering women to step out of isolation and victimhood and into confidence, wholeness, and emotional health. Their heart behind Stage Wives is to support the mental and emotional well-being of women at home while also strengthening marriages by ensuring touring husbands feel supported, loved, and at peace knowing their families are cared for.
At its core, Stage Wives, their podcast Offstage and On Duty, and the other resources they provide are built on the belief that prioritizing women’s mental health is essential to creating healthy stage families.
Find your next Gigg: https://www.giggs.live/

Stay up to date:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giggs.live
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@giggs-live
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/giggs-llc/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@giggs.live

Host: Nikki Sanz