GTCC graduate Kevin Neff’s career at Walt Disney Resort takes magical turn

"I think going to GTCC was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” Kevin Neff says.

When we left Kevin Neff a couple of years ago, the graduate of Guilford Technical Community College's entertainment technologies concert, sound and lighting program was just getting settled into a job with Walt Disney Resort in Florida.

Neff is still with Disney, but how things have changed for the former Winston-Salem policeman.

Two years ago, Neff had just started as a lighting technician at EPCOT, running shows and maintaining equipment at the American Gardens Theater.

Neff is now working at Magic Kingdom, and his job is truly magical.

He is part of the nighttime spectacular at the Magic Kingdom, the end-of-the-day lighting, laser, and video show down Main Street, U.S.A. that mesmerizes and entertains thousands of park goers every night. He is in line to take over the lead role in the video portion of that show in the near future.

“Every once in a while, I like to go out and watch the show. I love being out there listening and watching the crowd. There are tens of thousands of people every night. I like being part of that. It is very rewarding,” said Neff. “My mom came to visit in December, she asked if I ever get tired of this. I told her no, every night, the feeling you get from the crowd is amazing.”

Working from a studio in one of the many operational tunnels running under the Magic Kingdom, Neff and his team operate 26 projectors to inundate the castles and Main Street, U.S.A. with a flood of colors and video.

“For the nighttime spectacular, we have one room that is filled with screens and monitors. We run all of the lights and video from there. It’s a lot of fun,” Neff said.

Neff was ready for a change a few years ago. After a decade as a policeman, he decided to step away and re-invent his professional life. He had always been interested in sound and lighting, and when he discovered GTCC offered such a program, he made a leap of faith. Two years later, associate degree in hand, Neff was searching for a job when he discovered there was an opening at EPCOT that fit his field of study. Sort of on a whim, he applied. It wasn’t long before he, his wife and two small children headed to Orlando, Florida.

After almost two years of helping run daily musical events at EPCOT, Neff decided it was time for a move. Actually, it was more of a transfer than a move. He had filled in working the nightly extravaganza at the Magic Kingdom, and when he heard there was a job opening on that team, he quickly switched parks, from EPCOT to the Magic Kingdom. He entered the job as one of several team techs but has quickly assumed the position of video crew chief for the Magic Kingdom.

“I pretty much work the nightly show every night,” said Neff. “I do that and I’m also doing a lot of project time, trying to work on better documentation of our systems. We come in early in the afternoon, get equipment up, then run a test show for that night. We basically are looking to see if all the servers, all of the equipment is all working and doing what it is supposed to do.”

Neff says he has soaked up an incredible amount of sound, video, and lighting knowledge since beginning work at Disney, but understands, if not for GTCC, he would not have made it to Disney.

“Going into (GTCC) I didn’t really know anything about lighting or audio, other than thinking it was really cool,” said Neff. “I didn’t know anything about anything. The program, the school, got me to the point where I am now. The variety of what they teach… I work with people who have four-year degrees, and I feel more well-rounded than them. I think going to GTCC was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

Visit our web site or more information on GTCC’s entertainment technologies program.