View from the Top: Ben Saltzman, CEO, ACT Entertainment

Ben Saltzman, CEO, ACT Entertainment, shares how his experience in Broadway theatrical sound informs how he leads his company into the future.

To help production pros find the right tools for their jobs, you have to appreciate what the work entails. For Ben Saltzman, CEO of ACT Entertainment, his understanding runs far deeper than most, because he comes from a production background himself.

“I got my start in production back in high school, mixing sound and lighting for dances in the gym,” he says. Immediately hooked, he attended SUNY Purchase and then broke into the Broadway theater scene, working on musicals like The Who’s Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Victor/Victoria and Beauty and the Beast. After moving on to varied project management work at ScharffWeisberg, PRG and 4WALL, he joined what was then known as ACT Lighting in 2007. “At the time, founder Bob Gordon invited me in with a long-term plan for me to help run—and ultimately buy—the company,” Saltzman says now. “I officially acquired ACT in 2014 and today, I serve as CEO of ACT Entertainment.”

Saltzman’s real-world experience has contributed to how ACT runs at every level. “It gave me a real understanding of what our customers face every day: how shows actually run, how gear behaves and what technicians need,” he says. “This shapes every decision I make, because I understand how important reliability, training and support are. It also defines ACT’s broader culture, which emphasizes delivering legendary service and solutions for our customers.”

Those customers are plentiful, too, as ACT Entertainment’s portfolio covers lighting, audio and video solutions, along with the interconnects and infrastructure products to support them. He explains, “Our structure includes distribution for those technologies in North America and the U.K.; manufacturing solutions through Lava Cable, ProCo Sound, RAT and AC Power Distribution; and industry advancements through acquisitions like tvONE and Green Hippo, which we sell through distributors worldwide. Our exclusive distribution partnerships with companies like Avid, Ayrton, MA Lighting, PK Sound and Visual Productions, among others, help further drive our mission to be a full-service live event business.”

Given the company’s early focus on lighting, it’s not surprising that the market remains roughly 60 percent of ACT’s business, but audio represents 30 percent and video accounts for 10 percent. Sound and video are not afterthoughts either; in fact, they’ve become major growth sectors for the business, and Saltzman cites ACT’s partnerships with major brands like Avid, Green Hippo, PK Sound and tvONE as key drivers for the company’s expansion in those areas.

As its markets have grown, so, too, has ACT Entertainment itself. “I’m incredibly proud of the team we’ve built—600 dedicated people, plus the supplier partners and thousands of technicians and creatives who rely on our technology every day,” says Saltzman.

Chris and Tom Lord-Alge Team for NAMM TEC Tracks Event

Helping ensure that the company’s offerings keep customers on the cutting edge, ACT recently added industry veterans Bob Bonniol as the new Director of Innovation for Video, and James Oliver as VP of Strategic Partnerships. Saltzman notes, “We brought them on to help drive innovation and interoperability, to ensure our technologies work seamlessly together. They are both deeply involved in exploring how AI will reshape the way people interact with lighting, media servers, audio systems and tracking technologies.”

While ACT keeps up to date on technology advancements, it’s crucial that its customers do, too. That’s led the company to place an emphasis on support and training, offering courses online (at www.academy.actentertainment.com) and in-person at its many offices, including its R&D Innovation Centre in Maidenhead, U.K.

Discover more great stories—get a free Mix SmartBrief subscription!

Looking ahead is a large part of Saltzman’s work, whether identifying up-and-coming technologies and ensuring ACT evolves ahead of industry shifts, or enacting strategic partnerships and innovation plans. While he’s focused on the future, however, he still maintains the enthusiasm that he’s had ever since starting out: “I feel the same excitement I had in high school when I fell in love with this industry; and I’m grateful. I had great mentors and a lot of good fortune along the way. Being able to help shape the tools that power live experiences is a privilege I don’t take lightly.”