Scott

Dan Scott was one of the lucky few who knew the career path he wanted to take while still a student in high school.

His “light bulb” moment came when he watched a Walt Disney World production of “Beauty and the Beast.” He recalls seeing an audio technician control the majority of the show’s technical aspects with the push of a single button. His interest was piqued. It inspired him to initiate a similar protocol for his own high school productions at West Seneca West, where he was a part of the stage crew, Drama Club and Marching Band before graduating in 2005.

“Between my background in the Music Department at West Senior and my family’s obsession with Disney World ... I was inspired to learn all I could about the music production industry,” said Scott, 24. “But never in a million years did I think I would end up working for the company that first planted the seeds.”

For the last four years, Scott has worked as an audio engineer for Walt Disney Entertainment. His department is responsible for recording and producing all of the music and media for the stage shows, fireworks shows and parades for the Disney parks in Florida, as well as about 95 percent of the content for the parks in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris, and the Disney Cruise Line. He’s also worked with ESPN, a Disney affiliate, as well as some well-known talent to record dialogue for animated movies.

His job is the type where “you learn from experience,” Scott said, which he acquired through a Disney internship while attending Full Sail University in Florida. In less than two years there, he earned an associate degree in recording arts and a bachelor’s degree in entertainment business.

Having looked up to his West Senior instructors, Keith Ersing and John Blickwedehl, Scott aspired to be a music teacher. However, he pined for a career that could incorporate his love for and knowledge of music and his “obsession” with new technologies. Then he found Walt Disney Entertainment.

“It’s a perfect match for me,” he said. “Where else would I be able to have a parade pull up in front of me in the middle of the night and walk around the floats with an iPad to make adjustments to the music that they all play? For me, it’s a music technology wonderland.”

Today, the audio engineer has traveled to Germany twice — he’s on assignment there now — to produce various shows for two of Disney’s new cruise ships. Each one holds up to 4,000 guests that need to be entertained for up to a week at a time, sometimes longer. That’s Scott’s job.

“If it weren’t for my experiences in the theater at West, I would most definitely not be doing what I’m doing,” he said. “Being in Florida makes me realize how very fortunate I was to grow up in a place like West Seneca. A lot of communities don’t put anywhere near as much emphasis on the arts in schools. Without the amazing experiences I got at West Senior, I would have not been able to get where I am today.”

Scott resides in Florida with his wife, Amy — his high school sweetheart whom he met in Marching Band.

(Story ideas for this feature can be sent to West Seneca Bee Editor Kimberly McDowell, Bee Publications, 5564 Main St., Buffalo, NY 14221-5410, or call 204-4922.)