Pyro Productions
Pyro Productions was a professional fireworks display company based in Adamsville. The company was started in 1995 by Debbie Foster, the daughter of Crazy Bill's Fireworks founder William Cairns, with master pyrotechnician John Lathrop as production manager. Independent film producer Jeff Neu joined the company in 2000. He and Foster were married in August 2001.
The company provided full-service design and production of traditional aerial pyrotechnic displays as well as "sky concerts" which combine pyrotechnic shells with computer-controlled theatrical lighting and lasers, stadium displays, set-pieces, musicals and indoor and theatrical pyrotechnics. The company, which kept over 150 technicians and crew on call, also had an in-house videography department which provided fully-edited multi-camera video productions of their displays.
Pyro Productions produced large-scale fireworks displays for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans, Pink Floyd's 1994 world tour, and the opening of the Paris Casino in Las Vegas. Their local productions included Thunder on the Mountain on Red Mountain (from 1998) and major shows at Visionland, American Village in Montevallo and concerts in Moody, Alabaster, Florence, Hoover, Helena, Talladega, Mobile, and Decatur. The company also provided displays for sporting events such as the Senior Bowl, Iron Bowl, Birmingham Barons games, and indoor pyrotechnics for the Birmingham Steeldogs and Birmingham Bolts.
The company's facility on Poplar Lane in Adamsville included specially-built storage bunkers for their warehoused inventory. In 2016 the company was acquired by Pyro Shows Inc. of LaFollette, Tennessee. The Alabama division continued to operate separately as Pyro Shows of Alabama. Jeff and Debbie Neu retired from the business.
A Houston County-based company, led by Charles McKinley, was incorporated in 2019 as Pyro Productions of Alabama.
References
- Kemp, Kathy (November 8, 1998) "Alabama woman a rarity in fireworks industry." The Birmingham News rpt. in Spartanburg Herald-Journal
- Downing, Catherine (July 2, 2000) "Light Up the Sky". Anniston Star
- Reynolds, Ed (July 5, 2001) "Wedding Extravaganza." Black & White
- Bassing, Tom (September 19, 2003) "The rocket's red glare." Birmingham Business Journal
- Gray, Jeremy (July 1, 2005) "Crazy Bill's daughters go pop for business." The Birmingham News
- Caddell, Marlin (July 5, 2005) "Celebrating freedom with a bang." Birmingham Post-Herald
- Norb, Garrett (November 9, 2006) "In with the Neu" San Clemente Times
- Featherston, Emily (June 22, 2017) "Thunder on the mountain, fire in the sky." The Homewood Star