Phil Banks - Alumni Spotlight

Phil Banks (’06) has called Calgary AB home since graduating from OIART’s audio production program. He now is employed by Arts Commons as a Production Systems Technician. Every year, Arts Commons is home to over 180 groups and organizations. They host over 1800 performances to audiences of over 600,000 guests at six performance venues book-ended by the World-Class venues – the Jack Singer Concert Hall and Max Bell Theatre. With so many users and visitors it is critical that every performance goes off without a hitch. Phil works closely with all of the resident production teams to make sure that all of the sound, lighting, video and stage rigging systems remain in peak operating performance.



In the time between graduating and starting at Arts Commons, Phil worked as an AV technician for Sharp’s Audio Visual and Centre Street Church, in addition to freelancing as a technician for several local Lighting, Video and Audio Production Companies. During his freelancing time, Phil worked as A2 and Monitor Tech or Video Systems Tech for several festivals with acts such as Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Pat Benatar, Def Leppard, Bachman and Turner, along with many other Canadian and internationally acclaimed artists. Phil has also toured as Video Systems Tech and Cameraman with Billy Talent, Pitbull and Flo-Rida, and The Tragically Hip.

Phil enjoys being faced with new challenges and learning opportunities every day. “I get lots of satisfaction from walking into a repair job with no previous knowledge of a system or how it was supposed to work and figuring out how it needs to work and what needs to be done to fix it or replace it with a newer, better system. I know that my experience at OIART has given me the skill set to apply to any troubleshooting situation. I am thankful for the journey that has gotten me to where I am today, all because of my willingness to adapt to the situation in front of me.”

Congratulations Phil!!