One of Adam Klein’s first construction projects was a seven-foot-long skateboarding and biking ramp. He was seven years old. Growing up in North Miami Beach, Adam had watched his architect father build all sorts of things, so he decided to make something himself. “The first time, my dad let me build the ramp and then he destroyed it and said it’s never going to work,” Klein says. “And that’s when he started teaching me about angles and dimensions.”
Klein was an eager student, and went on to learn from others he worked with early in his career. He started as a dancer with Jimmy Jam Productions, a Miami event production company, but quickly realized his outgoing personality and “six left feet that were all conjoined” made him better suited to be a DJ and MC. Occasionally he helped colleagues build sets and props, and started transitioning into that line of work. Three years ago, he decided it was time to create his own production company, A&M Productions. Klein calls Jimmy Jam owner and president James Conway his biggest event industry mentor. And the 29-year-old still turns to his father for advice when building complicated sets and props. “But he’s so paper-oriented. I know [what’s] in my head and [I] just build it. My dad still doesn’t comprehend that,” he says.
Since launching in 2008, his company has steadily expanded the scope of its business, growing from small lighting jobs to doing the decor, props, entertainment, and audiovisual production for monthly events at Seminole Casino Hollywood. Larger projects require larger production facilities, so Klein has moved several times. He now works out of a 3,000-square-foot North Miami Beach warehouse with two full-time employees and several part-timers. A&M offers a full-range of production services, including sets, props, furniture, custom draping, lighting, sound, and DJ services.
For the Seminole Casino, A&M has the task of transforming a tent on the property for monthly themed player-development events. One month it was a mansion theme, so Klein and his team dressed the tent with champagne-colored velour drapes and oversize picture frames, mirrors, and columns. They also
built an eight-foot-wide semicircle bed and a koi pond. For February, the theme was pig races, so A&M gave the tent a country feel with bales of hay and trussing to create a race track.
“They have a great response rate and they take pride in what they do,” says the casino’s director of marketing, Robert Dearstine. “Whenever I need something, no matter what time of day, they always deliver. And they will always make sure I’m happy before they leave.”
Another regular client, Epicure Market event coordinator Caron Cole, says A&M’s ability to do beautiful work within a budget keeps her calling. Cole has hired Klein for several in-store events, and this year she recommended him to several fellow event planners who needed lighting design for the Food Network South Beach Food and Wine Festival. “He sees what your concept of the whole evening is, what kind of feel, and he’ll find a way to make it work,” says Cole. “He is really good at working within budgets and being creative. It’s truly a talent of his.”
Klein says he thrives on a challenge. “Give me 12 hours to build a prop, and we’ll be up all night to get it done right,” he says. “My father used to tell me, ‘Don’t depend on nobody for nothing.’ He’s always in my head.”
