1906 in san francisco california founder manuel de sousa headquarters rialto california united states key people jim souza products fireworks entertainment show production souza brand fireworks number of employees 75 website https www.pyrospec.com pyro spectaculars is an american pyrotechnics and fireworks company with its primary offices in rialto california . they are one of the largest fireworks companies in the world today . jim souza is the president and ceo of the company which was founded in 1979 by his father bob souza . the company shoots hundreds of shows each year in multiple countries including the largest fireworks show in the united states each year . 1 the company also conducts a series of pyrotechnics classes and seminars intended train licensed pyrotechnicians . in 2013 pyro spectaculars formally partnered with pyrotechnic innovations a leading fireworks training and recruitment company to form a cutting edge operator recruitment training and retention program . 2 manuel de sousa contents 1 family history 2 company formation 3 regional offices 4 major shows by pyro spectaculars 5 types of pyrotechnics 6 related links 7 references family history edit the souza family formerly de sousa has been involved in the fireworks industry since the first decade of the twentieth century when they immigrated from the azores to the san francisco bay area . the patriarch of the family manuel began making his own fireworks out of his home and firing shows for local portuguese community festivals . as his business began to grow the entire family became involved in the production of fireworks enabling him to pass his trade and cookbook 3 down generationally . manuel s son alfred was recruited by the u.s. army when wwii broke out due to the chemistry and pyrotechnic skills he had gained in the family enterprise . after his release from the service he began to produce and shoot local fireworks shows throughout california . company formation edit alfred s son bob souza followed in his father s footsteps eventually creating pyro spectaculars by souza in 1979 . bob was a two time president of the american pyrotechnics association and the recipient of its lifetime achievement award . his son jim souza took over as president and ceo in 1989 . pyro spectacular by souza is currently one of the largest pyrotechnics companies in the world producing shows for events like the olympics super bowl world cup world series and macy s fourth of july spectacular . they also produce pyrotechnics and fireworks for cinema music videos and touring musical acts . the company produces pyrotechnics for hundreds of shows for smaller events as well such as community events graduations and weddings . regional offices edit the company maintains regional offices throughout the united states . these locales operate as sales distribution and production facilities ; the function of the facility is determined by the location . the major offices for pyro spectaculars located in the united states are rialto california sacramento california san diego california san francisco california fresno california half moon bay california spokane washington new york new jersey metro area hawaii major shows by pyro spectaculars edit pyro spectaculars is responsible for the annual macy s 4th of july spectacular fireworks display in new york city frequent shows at stadiums and has been contracted by film crews to design shows for movies . the company s largest film contract was for the 1998 film meet joe black which made such an impression on star brad pitt that he later hired pyro spectaculars to produce a fireworks display for his wedding to jennifer aniston . 4 some of pyro spectaculars by souza s other well known shows include macy s 4 july spectacular annually 100th and 125th anniversaries of the statue of liberty 1994 fifa world cup 1994 pink floyd concert tour 1996 summer olympics opening and closing ceremonies of 2002 salt lake winter olympic games 2004 summer olympics several super bowls disneyland and disney world six flags chain of amusement parks astroworld 50th birthdays of golden gate and oakland bridges president ronald reagan s inauguration in washington apocalypse now for which they received an oscar from national academy of arts and sciences seattle space needle new year s fireworks 1992 present world wrestling entertainment pyro 2008 present types of pyrotechnics edit pyro spectaculars by souza produces a variety of effects for different events . they create their own brand of fireworks which are only shot at their shows including a brand of hd fireworks designed with the camera in mind for television audiences . their other effects include high level shells low level effects rockets fireballs fire rings confetti cannons cryogenic effects related links edit official website pyro spectaculars on twitter facebook youtube channel tumblr flickr references edit firework not fire fun the serious jobs of pyrotechnic pros . 2016 07 04 . retrieved 2016 08 18 . pyro spectaculars partners with pyrotechnic innovations meet the family behind america s famous fireworks . retrieved 2016 08 18 . computer glitch put hitch in fireworks . seattle post intelligencer . 2008 01 01 . retrieved 2008 01 04 . technicians set off commands by hand for space needle event retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title pyro spectaculars & oldid 741739021 categories companies based in san bernardino county californiafireworks companiesrialto californiamanufacturing companies of the united stateshidden categories twitter username same as wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 29 september 2016 at 10 36 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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