Yves Pépin is one of the world's leading creator of multimedia shows and large-scale events including the multi-awarded Eiffel Tower Millennium Show. His peers in the Themed Entertainment Association

Themed Entertainment Association

The Themed Entertainment Association is an international non-profit association that represents creators, developers, designers and producers of themed entertainment...

, the international industry body for creators of compelling places and experiences, presented him with the 2006 THEA Lifetime Achievement Award – making Pépin the first non-American recipient in its 12-year history.

Early life

A native of Bordeaux, France, Pépin pursued a specialist music education up to age 16. He later took a French postgraduate degree in economics and politics, and also received a French government bursary to attend a two-year, full-time education program at the Center for Research and Arabic Studies in Beirut. After working as a French radio and TV producer, in 1974 he founded ECA2, a design and production company, which has been part of Publicis Events Worldwide Group since 2002.

Leading ECA2

Under his direction, the company designed the logos for Concorde

Concorde

Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...

 and Air France

Air France

Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...

, among others, and produced the first interactive visuals for the Musée d'Orsay

Musée d'Orsay

The Musée d'Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture,...

 and the Louvre, before shifting its focus to the production of multimedia shows. In 1989 Pépin, a keen innovator, created and developed the process of Cinema on Water Screen (AQUASCAN®), a system subsequently adopted by Disney

The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...

 and Universal Studios

Universal Studios

Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....

, among others.

Yves Pépin has built a worldwide reputation as a designer and producer of ground-breaking multimedia entertainments for one-off, semi-permanent and permanent performance.

Events

• EuroDisneyland Opening Ceremony,
• Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1998 Football World Cup
• Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2004 Paralympic Games.
• Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
• Seville Universal Expo in 1992
• Yamaguchi Expo in Japan in 2001;
• Toyota's "Opera of the Future"
• Aichi World Expo 2005 in Japan
• "AcquaMatrix" at the Lisbon World Expo 1998
• Eiffel Tower Millennium Show
• Toyota Group Pavilion in Aichi World Expo 2005

Theme parks and permanent shows

• Sea World
  Sea World
  Sea World is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, and theme park located on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It includes rides, animal exhibits and other attractions, and promotes conservation through education and through the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured or orphaned wildlife. The...
  
  
• Planète Futuroscope
  Futuroscope
  Futuroscope, or Parc du Futuroscope is a French theme park based upon multimedia, cinematographic futuroscope and audio-visual techniques...
  
  
• Tokyo Disney Sea
• "El Tajin
  El Tajín
  El Tajín is a pre-Columbian archeological site and was the site of one of the largest and most important cities of the Classic era of Mesoamerica. The city flourished from 600 to 1200 C.E. and during this time numerous temples, palaces, Mesoamerican ballcourts and pyramids were built...
  
  " history show at the archaeological site in Veracruz State, Mexico
• Magical Sentosa
  Magical Sentosa
  For the information on the show`s structure see Sentosa Musical Fountain.This article is about the former Sentosa attraction. For its soundtrack see Magical Sentosa Soundtrack....
  
  
• Songs of the Sea
  Songs of the Sea
  This article is about the Sentosa attraction. For the attraction`s soundtrack, see Songs of the Sea Soundtrack.Songs of the Sea is a multimedia show located at Siloso Beach on Sentosa Island, Singapore. Designed by ECA2 founder, Yves Pépin, Songs of the Sea started its operations on 26 March 2007....
  
  

Awards

• 2006 THEA Lifetime Achievement Award – the first non-American recipient in its 12-year history.
• THEA Award in the Live Event Spectacular category: for "AcquaMatrix" at the 1998 Lisbon World Expo 1998,
• THEA Award in the Live Event Spectacular category:Eiffel Tower Millennium Show in Paris,
• THEA Award in the Live Event Spectacular category: for the "El Tajin
  El Tajín
  El Tajín is a pre-Columbian archeological site and was the site of one of the largest and most important cities of the Classic era of Mesoamerica. The city flourished from 600 to 1200 C.E. and during this time numerous temples, palaces, Mesoamerican ballcourts and pyramids were built...
  
  " history show at the archeological site in Veracruz State, Mexico *THEA Award in the Live Event Spectacular category: Toyota Group Pavilion in Aichi World Expo 2005, Japan

External links

• [www.eca2.com ECA2 Official Website]