About Lights for Ukraine
Lights for Ukraine was created by Jim Norris, President of Entertainment Marketer and Kevin Young (Freelance Writer, founding member, and keyboardist for Canadian alt. rock band Moist), in collaboration with Ukrainian production firms Alight and Real Music Ltd.
Lights for Ukraine grew out of relationships formed by Young as he researched a series of articles detailing the challenges faced by Ukraine’s production/entertainment industry since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
In the face of the largest military mobilization in Europe since the Second World War, one that has displaced millions of people and claimed untold thousands of lives and a conflict most people believed would be brief and hopeless, those working in Ukraine’s entertainment/production industry have not been idle.
On a day-to-day, night-to-night basis, technicians, engineers, lighting and sound designers, and Ukrainian musical artists have worked tirelessly to raise morale and much-needed funds to support the war effort and ordinary citizens caught up in the conflict.
Those efforts range from mounting charity concerts deep underground in Metro stations and other venues nationwide, including recaptured territories and even the frontlines.
Their stories are inspiring and saddening in equal measure. Their work is a study in courage and perseverance, a means of providing solace through music, raising funds, and collecting and distributing material support to frontline soldiers, Ukrainian aid services, and civilians alike. Among them, medical supplies, generators and batteries, laptops, and tablets for distance learning for Ukrainian children and students, and even a fire truck purchased and sent to the liberated territories for emergency services.
Much of their efforts were (and are) centred on providing aid and funds for basic needs for Ukrainian civilians and military; hot pockets, gloves, surveillance drones, medicine, and other supplies.
Increasingly frustrated by the inability to do more other than share these stories while working on a piece about ‘Lighting vs. Drones,’ Young reached out to Jim Norris in the hopes Norris and his company could leverage their deep experience and extensive contacts in the global production industry to facilitate a means for others in our industry to make a tangible contribution to saving innocent lives threatened daily by Russian air attacks.