It all started with a glass gobo...

...followed by the desire for good quality equipment. Add a black wardrobe and copious amounts of coffee and a company is born.

In the beginning

In 2004, still in high school, Lyle was light designing Our Town and dreamed bigger than a high school budget would allow. When he realized his school could not provide all the equipment that was necessary, he had an idea. Lyle bought the gobos he needed and thus, Desired Effect (then called BOW Productions) was born.

Growing

That first gobo led to a vast array of theatrical equipment to serve every need the production has. By purchasing whatever was needed for the specific production, Desired Effect grew quickly. First one garage was filled until it was overflowing, then two, then a public storage space, then an even larger public storage space.

Now (Still Growing)

Having helped clients find the desired effect for hundreds of different shows and events, Desired Effect is now a full service theatrical production company in the San Francisco Bay Area. We offer equipment rental in Lighting, Sound, Costumes, Props, Special Effects, and even some Sets as well as full service design and custom special effects. Together with our clients, we’ve created undersea worlds full of bubbles and smoke, light up wireless pinball machines, pirate ships made of stars, light up dancing pianos and more! We have everything needed to turn an empty room into a full theatrical space, or just what you need to add one special effect to a show you have already planned. If you’re in the process of planning a show, contact us.

Environmentally Friendly

Desired Effect is making theatre and events more environmentally friendly while continuing to be rock solid reliable.  All rental packages now include rechargeable batteries for no additional charge. Our re-chargable systems are also available to rent for your systems for less than the cost of consumable Alkaline batteries.