Bring Light to the Night- Seed Funding

Bring Light to the Night is an organization that works to shine a light into the darkest spaces of entertainment. In an industry that has thrived on unchecked abuses of power, our goal is to amplify the too long silenced voices of those most impacted.

The funds from this campaign will help cover the initial business costs of creating a 501(c)(3); building a business, financial, and legal advisory team; brand design & domain acquisition; and beginning content production on telling these stories.

Please join us in changing the conversation. Any help is enough and greatly appreciated. Together, we can create lasting change.

Letters from our Founders

Loreen Bohannon

Welcome! Thank you for taking the time to read this and for giving us a chance to share our stories. I am so grateful that I found my amazing partner Lizzy without whom none of this would have even gotten rolling.

My story starts when I was 16 years old, on my own after losing my mother. In the darkest night of my soul, this industry found me, took me in, and saved me from what my life COULD have been had I walked down another path. Finally in a world where I could find myself. I did, but it wasn’t without its struggles. With a background as a musician, the mixing part of my job was always my greatest talent. Finding myself amongst technology was my greatest thrill and took me into the world of live sound, where you only get a moment to create magic.

Along the way my career was riddled with setbacks and obstacles that usually resembled someone trying to abuse their position in regards to mine. Being turned down for jobs because I was a woman and the “wives” wouldn’t like that, sexual harassment, loss of opportunity due to spurned advances, and the list goes on. In an industry so controlled by what those in power think, the basis for success involved a lot of tradeoffs on the soul.

Standing here 17 years after I started in this industry, seeing things stay the same or in fact worse, has moved me to create Bring Light to the Night. The complacency under which the entire industry operates when it comes to abuse is the straw that broke the camel’s back. We are an industry that creates amazing art that this world thrives on, yet the people who produce it are expected to face some of the worst working conditions that no one knows exists, especially for marginalized communities.

My hope is that by telling the stories that we all share in the silence of an industry who doesn’t want to hear us, we can shine a light into the dark places and finally create a space where accountability and safety is found.

In choosing to finally voice my own stories in the last few years I have found enormous support across entire communities. Privately my messages are full of support from across all industries, urging me with haste to begin this discussion, thanking me for saying what needs to be said, and understanding the choice I’m making. I see myself in every person that comes into this industry. With my heart full of love, I hope to change the culture in which we operate so that we can ALL thrive without worry about our safety. Or our careers.

In choosing to finally voice my own stories in the last few years I have found enormous support across entire communities. Privately my messages are full of support from across all industries, urging me with haste to begin this discussion, thanking me for saying what needs to be said, and understanding the choice I’m making. I see myself in every person that comes into this industry. With my heart full of love, I hope to change the culture in which we operate so that we can ALL thrive without worry about our safety. Or our careers.

Thank you for being here and joining us in this movement. I truly believe that by shining a light in the dark areas of the entertainment industry we can light the way for the next generations.

-LB

Letters from our Founders

Lizzy Erickson

Hello, and thank you for taking this time to get to know me a little better! I’m incredibly grateful to be partnered with Loreen and have the opportunity to create this organization.

As is the story with many of us, my career in production started with a love for music. In my professional background as a musician, recording engineer, live engineer, and overall events production professional, it has always been the opportunity to collaborate and create magic that has sustained me. My work has taken me through many sides of music and events production, some of which have been beautiful. All of it is marked by a personal struggle to find my place in an industry that seemed to require a sacrifice that I was unwilling to pay.

My passion for BLTTN is spurred by my personal experiences with escalated workplace h*rassment within the entertainment industry and my desire to create a world where everyone can freely and safely thrive in their work creating art together.

In choosing honesty and using my voice, I have found support and community like nothing I had ever encountered. In my case, this expedited my ability to connect to mental health resources and find legal counsel, ultimately holding appropriate parties accountable for what I endured. I ought to never to have experienced what has happened to me; however, I’m a firm believer in alchemizing life’s painful experiences into something generative and life giving. I’ve known for years that I need to alchemize my experiences into creating something new in the world.

None of us are safe until all of us are safe.

Thank you for being here and joining with us in this movement for change. I truly believe that together we can create safety for all in this industry.

-LE