From tiny Davis, West Virginia, through Purdue to New York City, Robert Kovach (MFA’00) has parlayed small-town sensibility into Big Apple success. Whether he’s designing a General Motors launch of a new vehicle or setting the stage for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from off-Broadway to theaters across America, Kovach has built a reputation on the creative possibilities of collaboration on a live event.
The 40-year-old owner of KOV Entertainment, Kovach says running a full-service design and production firm has its advantages. Currently most of his business is found through repeat customers and word of mouth. Not having to pound the pavement in search of his next project even allows some flexibility in choosing whom he might work with. His own mixed skill set, able to function as art director, designer, project manager, or producer, has helped him blaze a lively trail through theaters and convention halls, as well as arenas, ballrooms, and just about any place you can stage something. And with budgets ranging from $100,000 to well over $4 million, he has indeed reached the big stage.
The diverse working background is by design — a learned philosophy he credits to Van Phillips, the Purdue professor emeritus of theater who served as his mentor. “Van encouraged me to do things outside of the theater department,” Kovach says. “He talked to chairs in other departments, and after satisfying some prerequisite reading requirements, I took classes in business, architecture, and engineering.”
In his first job out of Purdue, Kovach worked for Chicago Scenic Studios Inc., gaining a greater understanding of the corporate world as he worked on productions for high-end projects including the Democratic National Convention and the Oprah Winfrey Show. On the side, he continued designing sets for the likes of Chicago Shakespeare and the Drury Lane Theatre.
From the corporate launch to an evening at the theater, Kovach says, “You don’t want to deprive an audience of a wonderful experience.”
Kovach made the move to full-time freelance work in New York City in December 2006 — and not just for the bigger media market. He changed the status of his long-distance relationship with his girlfriend, now wife, by moving east to join her.
With advice from Phillips echoing in his head that work should not only be profitable, but mutually beneficial and fun, Kovach knew his success depended upon not simply his creative spark, but also his ability to connect and work with clients.
Call it small-town karma, but perhaps those West Virginia roots paid off. “Moving never really scared me,” Kovach says. “Growing up in a small town, you make do with whatever you have.”
Learning how to read people, even simply being polite, has helped Kovach pitch powerful executives on million-dollar productions and work with directors on new works and traditional theater. “That’s my favorite part of the process,” he says. “I’m very collaborative, and that’s what makes the creative process fun.”