INDIANAPOLIS — Creative Works, an entertainment industry manufacturer, is celebrating its 25th year by creating a free gift for you to experience at Circle of Lights starting Friday.
CW operated out of three facilities in Mooresville before recently consolidating into a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility near the Indianapolis International Airport. The company prides itself in specializing in creating the “Wow Effect.”
“CW is like...if Ferrari and Willy Wonka decided to start making family entertainment attractions. And this is where it all happens,” said vice president of sales Russ Van Natta.
The company recently added 20 new employees and plans to add 30 more workers by 2023.
In-house design teams develop the concepts, while builders, artists, and engineers bring them to life on the manufacturing floor.
“We have a bunch of mad scientists that we've either stolen from Disney or trained in their likeness,” Van Natta said.
Large characters like gorillas, snakes, and skulls are created with dense Styrofoam. A super-sized 3D printer aids the process. The attractions are painted, sometimes graffiti style, in specially designed rooms that accelerate the drying process.
The designs are used for features for a variety of concepts – from bowling alleys, to miniature golf, escape rooms, and laser tag arenas.
“Indianapolis is unofficially the headquarters of laser tag. We're the largest builder of laser tag arenas in the world. We do more than the next two to three manufacturers combined. And so we've done over 500 arenas over the last 20 (years). But you also have two of the biggest equipment manufacturers that make the best lasers here in Indianapolis as well. And so if it's laser tag, there's a 90% chance that it's in some shape or fashion having some business being done in Indianapolis,” Van Natta said.
The team assembles each project in-house and troubleshoots any bugs before taking it apart to wrap up, ship out, and install onsite. While the company’s first big project was a bowling alley on the south side of Indianapolis, now their clients are all over the world.
“I've been to Dubai for mini golf projects. We've done incredible laser tag arenas throughout Europe,” Van Natta said. He estimates 98% of all orders are shipped outside of Indiana.
But since CW got its start and established its headquarters in Indianapolis, the company is celebrating its 25th anniversary by giving the city a gift.
Designers dreamed up a gift box, a one-of-a-kind space where you can take photos with your family at Monument Circle with a superhero theme similar to Captain America.
“The Circle City captain is going to be the theme for this photo op. The state of Indiana is his crest and the circle is on his shield,” Van Natta said. There are props including a big shield, a torch with a flame, and every detail custom designed inside the 10-foot tall by 6-foot wide feature.
“When you step into the box, you become a Circle City captain, you've got your shield and your torch behind you. You can take that action pose as you might see for an action figure in the box. If you've got a larger family with you, there's plenty of space for the whole family to get in and enjoy that and be part of the package,” said head designer Mike Ficarra. "I hope that there's a huge line of people who want to be the Circle City captain of the hometown, and they get a memory that they can share on social media and just be a part of our holiday celebration.”
The superhero gift box will be installed on the northwest side of the monument on Friday morning and remain in place through the weekend – weather permitting – as a gift from Creative Works to you.
For those who can't make it to Monument Circle to view the lighting in person, WTHR will broadcast it at 7 p.m. on air and on WTHR+, which is available on Roku and Fire TV. It will be hosted by 13News anchors Chuck Lofton and Felicia Lawrence, live from Monument Circle with Santa Claus.
Among the performers will be Morgan Taylor of Carmel, Indiana, who appeared on NBC's The Voice and entertainer Kelly Clarkson, from her studio.