Beginning with hand-building laser graphic projection systems, then performing his live LaserDreams laser light shows (1978-1986), Geoff Puckett tapped the science of Silicon Valley, artfully blending brilliant, multi-hued gas ion lasers with dimensional visual effects for live concerts, dramatic theater and special events.

Geoff’s decade with Walt Disney Imagineering (1988-1997) took him to Paris, Tokyo, and Orlando, FL, developing concepts, special effects and imaging displays for theme park attractions within the Disney-MGM Studio Tour and EuroDisneyland (today’s Disneyland Paris), followed by EPCOT and Tokyo DisneySea theme parks. He scripted and directed Buena Vista International’s live cinema showcase at Amsterdam’s 1997 Cinema Expo, then traveled to Broadway to collaborate with Tony Award®-winning director Julie Taymor – creating projection effects for Disney’s original stage production of The Lion King.

Founding his own consulting firm, EffectDesign, Inc., Geoff took on CEO duties in 1998 to create immersive learning experiences for Washington, DC’s Smithsonian Institute, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Science Fiction Museum, Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, Silicon Valley’s Intel museum, the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco and others. He led teams providing storytelling environments for Schweitzer Mountain Resort’s Stella-themed ski lift, the Clement Intercontinental Hotel in Monterey, CA, and several Tuacahn Performing Art Center outdoor summer shows – including Disney’s Aladdin and Mary Poppins.

As the writer and creative producer of New York City’s Times Square 2000 millennium celebration, Geoff’s international storytelling entertained 1.2 million people in the live audience at the famous Crossroads of the World, while more than 2 billion watched via global television and internet. Messages of time, place and culture were conveyed without a single spoken word throughout two dozen live sequences spanning 24 consecutive hours. The magic of music, pageantry, video imagery and crowd interaction captivated the urban audience – noticeably reducing the number of police incidents across the unprecedented gathering. At that time the event was the largest in the city’s 336-year history – covered extensively by the New York Times, on NY1 and CNN television, all the while broadcast over dozens of international media outlets.

BEYOND PROJECTS

An engaging speaker at San Francisco’s Commonweath Club, Silicon Valley’s SETI Institute, Association for Corporate Growth, entertainment industry conferences and corporate events, Geoff explores our individual need to develop imagination to champion a meaningful future. His diverse professional achievements demonstrate idea creation and development realized through value-oriented implementation – entrepreneurial cornerstones for success.

Geoff has led concept design sessions within leading corporations such as Seagate Technologies, Intel, Microsoft, IBM, Ghirardelli Chocolate, and Coca-Cola, evolving core brand messages into memorable, immersive experiences. His approach applies the foundations of cognitive and perceptual psychology, interaction design, new media and theater arts to emotionally engage participants, a time-honored technique empowering the human quest for discovery.

An avid traveler across 38 countries, Geoff continues an adventurous journey, sharing with future generations while mentoring aspiring writers, production designers and producers.

EDUCATION AND INSPIRATIONS

Geoff was educated in Environmental Design at Pasadena, California’s Art Center College of Design, preceded by studies in Dramatic Arts at San Diego State University. He is largely self-taught in the entertainment and experience design industries.  Geoff values authenticity, applied imagination, passion, intuition, empathy, transparency, patience and follow-through. Those who have inspired Geoff include Walt Disney, Edith Head, Mark Twain, Marie Curie, Nikola Tesla, Margaret Mead, Stanley Kubrick, Mary Blair, and Sir Richard Branson.