Hey, I'm Manuel

Work

Building the Lunar Shows brand

This is the biggest project I have on my plate right now. I'm working hard to establish Lunar Shows as a brand with the right online presence and the representation it deserves. That means a lot of time in web development, SEO and making sure the new website reflects the quality of the work we do on stage.

A foundational investment — invisible when done well, but absolutely critical for the next phase of the company.

Shows · 2025–2026

This year is all about light

Fire and light are the two great pillars of Lunar Shows — and this year I'm pushing hard on the light side. The Photon light show — our solo LED act — is being expanded with more fixtures and a longer runtime. The show keeps growing.

We're also in the creative brainstorming phase for a new, larger LED show that sits in scale somewhere between the solo Photon and the full Spectra light show. A format that fills a gap in our offering and gives more flexibility for mid-sized events.

On the installation side, I'm exploring more possibilities with the Tree of Life, and more broadly: we're researching new installations for our repertoire that work with unique and surprising light methods. We're also increasingly looking at integrating lasers as a visual element.

Finally, I want to do serious research into projection mapping this year — specifically how to integrate it into the live show. Not as background decoration, but as a full part of the performance: projection that responds to the movements of the performer, that embraces the space and the venue and becomes part of it. The idea is to build storylines that are fully tailored to the client's wishes, the theme of the event and the show itself. That way we can truly take the scale and experience of our light shows to the next level.

Looking back

Fire show development

Crescendo was created two years ago — our signature solo fire act. Last year the focus was on Eclipse: a deep fine-tuning process together with our pyro and lighting suppliers to program the entire show as one cohesive mix. That process taught me a lot about the intersection of technical production and performance.

Personal

Life off stage

Last year I started swimming, and I'm keeping that up this year. A good counterbalance to the irregular hours that come with this job.

I also discovered reading ebooks, especially while travelling. Right now I'm working through the books of Hermann Hesse — Steppenwolf, Siddhartha — and enjoying them a lot. There's something about reading on a train or a plane that makes the stories land differently.