Zito

Meet this year’s Parnelli winner for Patrick Stansfield Production Manager of the Year

A few months back, I got to speak with the Parnelli Award winner of the Patrick Stansfield Production Manager of the Year category — Zito, the well-respected one-name moniker production manager for concert touring and live events. “It’s my last name, but it’s like Bono, Cher.” On his way to take Green Day overseas to South Africa, he spoke with me about building his career and spending time giving back in mentoring and advising the next generation of production personnel. He’s production managed from small acts in a van all the way up to the likes of Green Day, Ariana Grande, Josh Groban, Babyface, Backstreet Boys, OneRepublic, and many more. Zito recently joined 340 Productions to production manage and direct top 25 tours as he works all around the globe.

How did you end up in concert touring?

I joke, “a series of bad decisions, and a lack of other options.” I went to school for music and played in bands in the late 90s. I took a couple of audio classes at college and was naturally proficient at it. There was a small band — yet big to me — that we’d open for at clubs around Chicago. I was like, ‘Hey, if you ever need a sound guy, let me know.’ Their bass player’s brother was the sound guy, who owned the gear, but couldn’t travel. We were doing regional shows up to Wisconsin and Michigan. It was a big deal to me, so I went and told my band that we we’re breaking up. I had no idea what I was doing, so I started faking it for a long time. I kept going and became the road manager, then the production manager. I did everything in the early days and kept moving up to bigger and bigger bands. Then, the next thing you know, it’s been 25 years and here I am. I feel lucky that I got to go through some of the early days in small venues and dealt with bus and trailer setups. It was an interesting way to come up in the business. I have kids these days on my crew that went to work for vendors like Clair, PRG, or Eighth Day fresh out of the shop. They get a tour as the 10^th lighting guy on Beyoncé or U2. That was your first tour? I slept on the floor of a van for days. It blows my mind; but I’m definitely glad though that I got to experience the former. When I started, it was before the Internet. I had no idea what the jobs were. I didn’t know really about the industry. I just did what needed to be done.

What’s an important trait or quality that needs to be at the core of being a production manager?

This is actually something that I think is most overlooked — and is probably the most important thing — is leadership. I tell people, managing production is easy; managing people is hard. A lot of people in my job, myself included in a lot of ways, got the job because they’re technically proficient. They know a little bit about everything, or a lot about everything. There are definitely production managers that can tell you about every dimension for every airline pallet, every truck dimension, and can go over the specs for every stage roof, but they’re not great leaders. I think, more than anything, we need to have good leadership. You have to be able to inspire your team. Touring in 2025 is very different than it was five or six years ago, and you can’t lead the same way. It’s something that I’m super passionate about, trying to be a good leader for my team. I ask them to do really hard things, and I think to me, being a good leader is being conscious of the team and what I’m asking of them and that is more important than the technical proficiency.

Were there moments or particular jobs that you think really set you on the course of your career?

I worked for Backstreet Boys when they were doing a lot of dates around the world where we were just every kind of country imaginable. That job was very instrumental in my career. Getting through that process with them in executing these shows on local production really helped to hone my skills. Then I worked for OneRepublic in 2013 as their production manager, right when “Counting Stars” came out and that went to number one in like 90 countries around the world. That was like a rocket; the song exploded, and we immediately found ourselves leapfrogging all around the globe. I was brought in to help them grow. The first time we played London was Shepherd’s Bush, and then the second time we played the Royal Albert Hall, and the third time was at the O2, and the fourth was Wembley. We had three rigs leapfrogging around the globe. That, to me, was really when I honed my logistics because it took a lot to execute that tour. They didn’t say no; they wanted to strike while the iron was hot. It was super exciting, but it was definitely challenging.

Is there an experience, a show, or a moment that you think is an example of what production management’s all about?

I think the execution on a large scale. Like doing the stadium run we just did last summer; that to me encompasses the whole package of being a production manager. You’re dealing with complicated logistics, you’re dealing with multiple crew movements, you’re dealing with multiple gear movements, and on such a large scale. You’re having to not only deal with these fine details of executing the technical aspect of the show, but you’re also having to go through really challenging schedules. You’re having to keep a team inspired and keep them working despite long days in crappy weather; you’re having to deal with constantly making decisions about the weather, decisions about safety all while trying to be a good human and a good leader. That, to me, really encompasses what good production management execution looks like.

Please share an experience that was unique, memorable, or stands out in your career and why?

There are two that were fun and come immediately to mine. One was in 2012, when I was asked to take Top Chef to the Middle East. So, that was cool. I took some of their chefs and did a program for the troops in Afghanistan. That was crazy; flying on C-130s and working with chefs — it was a totally different thing. That was a fun experience. Then, OneRepublic performed the first western concert in Riyadh in 2018, when they had just opened up. It was actually my last show with them. That was such a memorable experience of the first time the Saudi Arabians allowing a show with western artists, men and women in the crowd, and just seeing the power that music had. That was a really special moment. I stood on the stage watching people sing and you put aside all the parts of the politics, religion, and everything else; the underlying tone of just unity through music was a super powerful and a memorable moment for me.

What’s something about your job that people might not understand or know?

I was actually just having this conversation with somebody last night. Green Day is just heading out now to go do a run across South Africa, Dubai, all over Asia, Australia, Japan, and India. As we know, the only thing I’m going to see is a hotel, a venue, and an airport. To me, it’s inconsequential, whether that’s in Milwaukee, LA, Singapore, or Japan. I’m there to do a job. So, I live at a gig, I sleep at a hotel, and the airport moves me from place to place. It’s not like it was with smaller bands. When you’re on the scale of a larger artist, there are no days off, no time off. That’s what you’re committed to. So, I go and do; I’m at the gig and that’s why I’m there.

What do you enjoy most about your career?

I still love music. For me, one moment I never miss during any show is when the house lights go off and that moment when you hear the audience roar for the first time and the band’s taking the stage. It doesn’t matter the artist, that is a rush that is irreplaceable and it’s so addicting. I started out my career as a front of house guy, so being at front of house, you’re in the audience with the audience facing the stage, so I never fully appreciated what it was like to be from the perspective of being on the stage and you have literally 40, 50, 80,000 people facing you singing out the words to a song. As the band is starting, that is just such a special moment and it’s something that I live for with every artist.

Who are some of the people whose support has been key to your success, perhaps as mentors?

Jimmy Pettinato has been a huge friend and mentor of mine. He now production manages a leg of TSO. He’s an amazing production manager, and an amazing leader. I have worked for him, and one of the coolest experiences was getting to hire him to be on some of my tours, as one of my advance guys. That was such a special moment to take somebody that has poured into me and actually get to then turn around and bring them on to my team. Also, Opie [Dale Skjerseth], who is the Stones and AC/DCs Production Manager, who has been a really great friend and mentor to me. He’s one of the guys that wrote the book on modern stadium touring, and he has been so gracious in sharing his knowledge. Anytime I have a question about how to do something or whatever, he is willing to lend his advice. He’s honest about it all.

Is there a piece of advice you got at the start of your career that you still find applicable today?

People will always walk away remembering not the job that you did, but the way you made them feel. So, the way that you treat people in your interactions with them is as important — if not more important — than what you’re trying to do. You still have a job to do, but the way that you do the job is what will leave an impression.

What advice would you give to someone who’s in the early stage of their career in touring?

Prioritize your friends and family. This is just a job and it’s a really cool f*cking job, but it’s just a job. I always tell people ‘You have to find the balance for you.’ We’re not saving lives. We’re supposed to be entertaining people. And yes, we tend to make the job more important than it needs to be. I think there’s a lot more space in the industry now to allow people to prioritize their family and their health, and I think you have to home in on that early. Don’t sacrifice something you’re going to regret later. You’re never going to get the chance to go back to a wedding, or a funeral for a loved one, so know what you’re giving up.

What has surprised you most about your career path?

I think one of the things that I have — and is a common reoccurring theme of my peers — is that we all sort of have this imposter syndrome. I’ve mentioned this often — you get the job because somebody sees something in you, or at some point you’re like, ‘I want to be a production manager.’ You literally put on your resume ‘Production Manager’ and somebody hires you as a production manager, and now you are one. That doesn’t work anywhere else. A doctor doesn’t say, ‘You know what, I want to be a heart surgeon.’ And then goes around and starts booking jobs as a heart surgeon. An accountant doesn’t start filing company reports just because he says he’s an accountant, and a lawyer doesn’t go to court because he says he’s a lawyer. There’s training and processes and all these things in place, and we don’t have that in the entertainment industry.

It’s a massive multi-billion-dollar industry with no formal training. My peers, none of us went to school, none of us have formal training; there’s no certification for doing this. That’s why the leadership thing is such a big deal to me, and why I think that’s lacking amongst my peers. We never had training, but most people that are CEOs have had training — MBAs, other leadership programs that they’ve gone through. That has been very surprising to me. Because of that, I’ve struggled with imposter syndrome. Am I a production manager? What does this mean? And at some point, oh sh*t, I’ve been doing this for 25 years. ‘Yeah, I guess I am qualified. I do know what I’m doing.’ There’s no piece of paper; there’s no test that I took. But you learn as you go and at some point, you’re executing the gig.

Tell us how you feel about your new role at 340 Productions.

These guys at 340 are awesome. We worked together on a really crazy tour with Anita Baker. They were hired to produce the tour for Live Nation, and they brought me in to do the production. We just had the same ethos about how we worked, about the way we support each other. So, my coming on board, it was really a no brainer. They’re really great people that want to support great people. Now, I have a whole team of people that can support me, that I can share the workload with and share the vision of what we’re trying to do on the road. They helped me out a ton last year with Green Day. It feels like a real natural partnership and we’re super excited to bring some more clients on and really share our expertise.