The Women in Entertainment Lighting Sessions are a full-day event that offer inspiration, education, motivation, networking, personal and professional development and the opportunity to be part of and also support the growing community of women in lighting.
For the fourth year running, the event will take place at the Ayrton HQ, Paris and will feature a unique line up of female speakers from different lighting backgrounds. This year, we have speakers from Architecture, Art, Live Events and Concerts and also from the world of Entertainment Parks. There is also the opportunity to see the latest innovative technologies from Ayrton in a special demonstration.
We are thrilled to invite you to an inspiring full-day + evening event of connection and conversation at the Women in Entertainment Lighting x Ayrton session in Paris on November 25th.
Come meet and mingle with fellow lighting professionals, students, and creatives — and get inspired by four leading voices in the industry:
🎤 Anouk Wipprecht
🎤 Rachael Flint
🎤 Tracy Eck
🎤 Sooner Routhier
Whether you’re just starting out or have years of experience, this is a chance to share stories, exchange ideas, and celebrate the women shaping the future of entertainment lighting.
✨ Let’s shine together — we can’t wait to see you in Paris at our new showroom!
To ensure we can provide the best experience for all attendees, we kindly ask you to register in advance.
Please note:
Travel and accommodation costs are at the participants’ own expense.
However, we’d be happy to recommend several hotels located near Ayrton HQ to help you plan your stay comfortably and conveniently.
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need suggestions or assistance with your travel arrangements — we’re here to help!
More about Anouk:
https://www.anoukwipprecht.nl
Rachael is an Associate at Michael Grubb Studio with over 15 years of experience across the UK and Australia. Her work spans cultural, commercial and public projects, and she brings a strong narrative focus to her design process. Alongside leading projects, Rachael plays a key role in mentoring, knowledge-sharing and shaping studio strategy. She regularly speaks at industry events and contributes to the wider lighting community through judging, advocacy and collaboration.
More about Rachael:
https://www.michaelgrubbstudio.com/
Tracy enjoyed a remarkable 33-year career at Walt Disney Imagineering, Paris. Starting in 1990 as a Show Lighting Imagineer for the creation of Disneyland Paris, she illuminated the resort’s parks, hotels, and Disney Village. Her favorite projects include Crush’s Coaster, Toy Story Playland, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, Sleeping Beauty Castle, and the World of Disney flagship store. In 2002, she was named Theme Park Lighting Designer of the Year by Lighting Dimensions International for her work on Walt Disney Studios Park.
After 20 years in lighting design, Tracy became Art Director for the iconic Disneyland Park. In this role, she maintained and grew the park’s creative vision, relevance, and storytelling, leading a multidisciplinary team of specialists in animation, special effects, graphics, landscape, audio, lighting, and architecture. She worked closely with partners across entertainment, marketing, operations, maintenance, food & beverage, and merchandise to bring new magic to the park. Tracy was named a Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) Master and one of blooloop’s Top 50 Theme Park Influencers. She also appeares in the Disney+ series Behind the Attractions.
Since retiring in 2023, Tracy has returned to her theatrical roots, lighting La Mécanique des Roses in the Paris area. She remains deeply involved in the themed entertainment industry as a mentor in the NextGen Showcase program, 2024 chair of the TEA Masters group, and member of the Showlight 2025 organizing committee. Outside of design, she is a dedicated yoga practitioner and certified Yin and Restorative Yoga teacher.
A native of Chicago, Tracy earned a BA in French Language and Literature from the University of Wisconsin, where she discovered a passion for contemporary French theatre. After an internship at the Théâtre National de Strasbourg, she pursued theatre design in the MFA program at the University of Michigan and worked in theatres in New York and France before joining Disney.
Sooner Rae Routhier is a 2X Parnelli, Live Design Achievement, Live Production Summit Pinnacle, and multi Top Dog award winning Designer. Her work has been viewed by millions all around the world and has appeared on major screens such as Jimmy Fallon, The AMA’s, The Ellen Show, The Voice and The Billboard Music Awards. She has developed, produced and helped create some of entertainment’s most recognizable performance moments for some of today’s most celebrated headlining artists including, Coldplay, Panic at the Disco, The Weeknd, KISS, Imagine Dragons, The Lumineers, Rhianna, Pentatonix, Jay-Z, Halsey, Motley Crue, G-Eazy, Muse, Alessia Cara and Depeche Mode.
Sooner’s story began in 1999 where she worked as a lighting technician and lighting director for Rainbow Concert Productions while attending Emerson College in Boston. She launched her career as a Lighting Designer for the rock band Chevelle and In 2007 Sooner teamed up with legendary production manager Robert Long to form SRae Productions. While growing SRae Productions, Sooner was also able to cultivate new creative talent that emulated the team’s strong creative visions. Sooner and the SRae team joined forces with World-Renowned Composer Ramin Djawadi and together in a Live Nation / HBO partnership brought the world of Westeros to life and launched the “Game of Thrones – Live Concert Experience.”
Routhier’s newest venture, Sooner Rae Creative, launched in 2019 and her work has continued with projects including Lighting Design for Coldplay’s Music Of the Spheres World Tour, Panic at the Disco’s Viva Las Vengeance Tour and Wang Feng’s Unfollow Tour. She has also created full show design for Evanescence, Vance Joy, Trivium, and The Lumineers and art direction for the band Ghost.
Sooner has not only made her mark in the entertainment industry, but she has also become a respected leader in her field and along with her colleagues helped pave the modern landscape of entertainment lighting, design, and production.
In 2020, the live entertainment industry came to a very abrupt halt due to the onslaught of the COVID 19 pandemic. Sooner teamed up with several industry peers to form EVEN – an organization that seeks to create a more diverse and inclusive live events industry through outreach, training, mentorship, networking and job placement.
More about Sooner:
https://soonerrae.com/
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