There are those who have dreams and it takes a lifetime to make them come true. Those who are still very young start from an incredible goal and then start playing the real game. Like Luca Toscano who, at the age of 10, in 2006, was already starting his professional career by coordinating the virtual events of ‘Second Life’, the world inhabited by three-dimensional avatars designed in 2003 in the United States. And today he finds himself, at the age of only 26, to be the CEO of the Artech group, whose companies based in Naples, Milan and Miami, offer spectacular solutions and special effects for show business in 39 countries and 3 continents. to mention the most recent, from Marracash for his ‘Persona Tour’, from the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 and currently from X-Factor. Is it worthwhile, therefore, to better understand the incredible leap of this very young entrepreneur, to understand how he came from Second Life to the special effects of the greatest events? “With a lot of curiosity, perseverance, sacrifice, commitment and a pinch of courage – he tells Adnkronos – I have never been afraid of ‘Speaking’ to approach people spontaneously to present our ideas by saying: ‘Hi, I’m Luca Toscano and I I deal with .. ‘and among the many who ignored me at the beginning there were others who listened to me and gave me a chance. From that moment on, it was our job to talk. ” How important are special effects in a show today and why? “The (real) special effects intervene to convey certain emotions, recall scenarios or, for example, simulate phenomena in a controlled manner. All things – explains Luca Toscano – impossible to achieve with the help of light technologies alone. The reaction you can read on the face of the public when a specialFX is used makes it clear that our work has a strong communicative power, it reaches the heart generating reaction. But only those who have designed and conceived a show can define how important the ‘special effects’ component is for their show. And each case is unique and different “. But does the special effect not take away the centrality of the music, of the event? “When the various technologies used in a show are perfectly synchronized, the balance that makes the difference and does not detract from centrality is obtained. Just like in the last ‘Persona Tour’ by Marracash where our laser projectors, special effects, flames and shots, pyrotechnics and smoke were integrated by Lorenzo De Pascalis not in an invasive way, but by creating a story, a real thread that unites all the ‘scenes’ that compose it “. Curiosity increases and, also if the technical issues are only for nerds or super experts, let’s try to understand how music fits with a special effect. “Just like a couturier, the work of the special effects designer is to dress the music (or the show) with ‘wow!’ Moments. Listen, interpret and transpose. What we always say is’ Tell us about the emotional journey you want to experience at your audience ‘to design unprecedented effects in a path that goes from the idea to the prototype, to the tests, to safety and to the staging “. Luca Toscano, so young, therefore opened the doors to many emotional journeys, passing from second life to important events and collaborations with international realities such as Le Mark Group, CrowdLed, Linde Gas Italia Kvant Show Production and Dronisos. And it is undeniable that this is “a source of great satisfaction”. But a more in-depth reflection is not lacking: “I realized over time that dealing with important events is not necessarily synonymous with skill or quality, so now I can only get excited when we manage to stage a product that represents us, satisfying the needs of all stakeholders involved regardless of the importance of the event “. Next goals for the future? “My main goal now is to continue the expansion of the company structure on the two Italian offices and focus on the team. They are the real engine of the project and I want everyone to be really happy to work with us. Announce some by the end of the year. exclusive products that we have designed this year and being able to go to lunch with Marco Balich. (To know him! aha) “. Well the desire to dare and tenacity are not lacking. We are waiting to know if Luca Toscano finally had lunch with the organizer of the Olympic ceremonies. (By Veronica Marino)