All language subtitles for House.of.Grucci.2023.1080p.WEB.h264-KOGi.[eng]

-I´ve been often asked
the question,

"What´s so captivating
about fireworks?

I believe a lot of it has to do
with the energy.

It´s bigger than life.

There´s an edginess to it

because they know
it´s dangerous.

But it´s so dynamic
and so powerful

and sometimes so beautiful
and so delicate.

♫♫

-Fireworks By Grucci
is my life and soul.

Ready to do some work today?

-3-2-1, fire.

-♫ All my days... ♫

-A world-renowned
fireworks company.

We were dubbed
the "First Family of Fireworks."

-What´s our status?
-...family owned...

-Put the third right
next to senior --

Felix senior
and Felix the third.

-And now in the sixth
generation.

-Are you doing Vegas
for New Year´s?

-Vegas.
-The Gruccis have been

perfecting the art
of pyrotechnics

since the 1850s in Bari, Italy.
-And with each generation...

-The most spectacular event
of the night -- the fireworks.

-...it got
a little bigger each time.

The 2008 Olympics in China...

-What a stunning,
stunning achievement.

-...multiple
presidential inaugurations.

-He´s loving those fireworks.
-Guinness World Records.

-It´s up!

-It´s a medium for our art form,

but it is explosive
and it´s dangerous.

People think that it´s magic,
that it just happens,

and they don´t see the many,
many hours

that´s behind the scenes.

It´s a tremendous amount
of pressure

when you push that button.

When you hear the crowd,
the roar...

there is nothing like it.

-Come on.

-It´s not just a paycheck,
it´s not just a form of income,

it´s our life.

-And it´s the heart
of this family.

[ Firework explodes, crackling ]

Thank you.

Alright, put that behind you.

-Sink down into it, huh?

-Well, it´s a down,
so no matter what you do,

it´s gonna sink a little bit.
-Oh, yeah, that´s much better.

-Okay. Alright.

-How you doing?
-Good.

-Phil and Debbie, take 1.

-I´m Phil Grucci --

Felix James Grucci,
my formal name.

C.E.O. and Creative Director
of both Fireworks By Grucci

and Pyrotechnique by Grucci

and husband
to Debra Lynn Grucci.

-My name is Debra Grucci
and I am wife to Phil Grucci,

mother to Christopher
and Lauren Grucci, and...

-My rock.
-Yes.

But that´s for you to say,
not for me to say.

We have been married
for 32 years.

So this is my office?

This is my office right here.

-I´m not good with dates
and years.

She´s always good
with dates and years.

-You know what?
Actually it´s 33.

-It´s 33 years.

Yeah, that´s why I said,
when you said that,

I´m thinking it´s 33 years.

33 years we´ve been married.

We have multiple members
of the family

that are involved
in the business.

My son Christopher --
Our son Christopher.

-Christopher Grucci, take 1.

-Christopher just got married.

-No matter what we do,
fireworks or weddings,

there´s always
a last-minute scramble.

-Our daughter, she does
a lot of the photography.

-Um, should I start?

-Yeah.
-Okay.

-She just blessed us
with our first grandson.

-He knows he´s cute.

Yeah.

-Her and her husband, Emmett.

-Love you.

And then
we have our nephew, Corey.

-I start my morning
checking e-mails.

I´m sorry.

-There´s always something.
-Always.

-He´s on.

-We have over 400 employees
that work for us.

-Bodie´s been around since,
what, the mid-80s doing this,

with the hand fire?

-I´ve been working for Fireworks
By Grucci for 30 years.

-Although their last name
is not Grucci,

they´re Gruccis.

-I´ve done everything
but a divorce in fireworks.

I´d like to get that
under my belt before I retire.

-♫ Everybody see me climb ♫

[ Fireworks exploding ]

♫ Everybody see me climb ♫

♫ Everybody see me cli-i-i-mb ♫

♫ Everybody see me cli-i-i-mb ♫

♫♫

-We have always had
our studio office

and equipment distribution
in Bellport.

It´s about 50 miles out from
Manhattan on the south shore.

-This village is our home.

When we first started dating,

he brought me to visit
his family for the first time.

From that first day, I said,

"This is where
I would love to live.

This is where I want
to live and die."

And so far, half of it
has come true.

-Sure.
-The other half I can wait for.

[ Telephone rings ]

-This weekend we´re going to be
at the village of Island Park.

So we actually have the whole
show programmed

before we even get to site.

Right now,
I have the actual animation

for what the show
will be like this weekend.

And I can actually watch
to the millisecond

every effect that will happen.

Now you can see
that´s the opener.

Many years ago, a lot of this
was written down in a notebook.

This is showing me exactly
what is firing at each time.

So at 5 minutes, 20 seconds,
this event is gonna fire.

This is actually gonna be

a fan-shaped strobe
chrysanthemum mime

with pink Dahlia.

There it is.

♫♫

Every time we have
a fireworks show,

yes, this is where we´ll come
to pick up the trucks

and actually pick up
the fireworks.

You´re not gonna see this
on the map,

mainly because
we don´t want anyone

to really know where it is.

♫♫

These bunkers have been here
since the ´40s.

They used to actually store
ammunition for the military.

We´re gonna get a look inside.

In this bunker here,
we have our mortars.

This is a 4-inch mortar...

5, 6.

8s back here, these are 12s.

This is a 10-inch.

And when you first look at it,

some people say,
"How do you figure that out?"

But looking at these
for so long,

you pick it up quickly.

♫♫

♫♫

-That´s good.

-One of the biggest things
that everyone assumes

is we just show up 10 minutes
before a show,

load the fireworks,
fire it and break it down.

And that is absolutely not true.

-How´s it going, man?
-Good. How you doing?

-To perform at our level,

we´re there, you know,
6:00, 7:00, 5:00 in the morning.

-It´s like a jigsaw puzzle.
-Yeah.

-We´re not leaving site
until the driver comes

to pick up all the equipment
and unexpended product

and bring it back to storage

until sometimes 2:00
in the morning.

Very good.

Whether it be just one device
or thousands of devices,

it still takes
the same amount of effort.

These are wireless modules.
What this is --

Technically it´s a controller.

The panel´s the brain.

So now when I turn this on,

our wireless system
will communicate,

and it will know exactly at
what time it´s to fire

whatever circuits
we have plugged in.

If this was Mod 4, Q1,
at that very specific moment,

Mod 4, Q1 will ignite

and that we expect
you´ll see in the air tonight.

When my grandfather
was doing fireworks,

he would literally light it,
he´d run back.

The shell would fire,

and you were right next
to that mortar.

He wanted to make the world´s
largest firework and he did

and there´s an image of him

being lowered down
into the mortar with a crane

to pretty much fuse
that shell in the mortar.

Now everything we fire

is with computers
and electric matches.

We are no longer
putting any part of our body

over that mortar.

All shows on Long Island
hit a certain way,

´cause
it´s right in your backyard.

I was here with my grandfather,

I was here
with my uncles years ago.

My great grandfather
has performed here before,

and here I am tonight
carrying that torch.

-I´ve lived in Island Park
almost my entire life.

I´ve come here every summer
to see the fireworks.

-They put on an amazing show.

Everyone´s smiling
and oohing and ahhing

and you feel
that sense of community.

-I´ve been coming here
since I´m a little kid myself

with my grandmother and parents,
and we´ve come every year.

-We are less
than 30 minutes away.

Definitely have that
preshow jitters right now.

Every show, no matter how big,
no matter how small,

that last hour leading up

really starts hitting home.

So we´ll hang out here till
after the national anthem,

then we´ll hit play.
-And then we go home.

-Then we go home.
-We go home.

-It´s not that easy.

Once you start seeing
everyone gathering together

and you really hear
the audience talking

and you know, "Wow, this is it.
We´re in show time."

-It´s so exciting.

[ Laughs ]

Love it. Love it.

-They say the moment you
lose that, it´s time to retire."

[ Fireworks crackling ]

♫♫

♫♫

This is why we do it.

You know?
You hear everyone get excited.

You know, you feel that power.

You ever listen to music...

...and you feel that bass drum
in your chest, in your body...

there´s something that happens,
you know,

gets you excited.

And to hear and feel and see,
you´re getting all the senses.

The best part about fireworks
is when you hear the crowd.

The roar -- there is nothing,
nothing like it.

And you really get a feel
of what a sports athlete

or a famous rock star,
a musician would feel like

at a big event.

♫♫

♫♫

You smell all the mortars...

[ Crowd cheers ]

...like, "Oh, there it is,
the smell of success."

Like, "Wow. That´s us."

♫♫

-To understand
the development of fireworks,

you actually have to go
back to ancient China.

There was a tradition

of throwing bamboo stalks
into fires

to ward off evil spirits.

My name is Voula Saridakis,

and I am a curator at the Museum
of Science and Industry

here in Chicago.

Gunpowder was developed
out of the work

of the Chinese alchemists
who used their tools

to grind these compounds
into powders.

You begin to see more
and more Chinese

using gunpowder and pouring
small amounts of that

into the bamboo,
throwing that into the fire

and creating even
bigger explosions.

And eventually,
because of the developments

going on in the military,
they thought to themselves,

"Well, if they´re sending these
projectiles into the air,

maybe we could do
the same thing."

And that´s how you see
the birth of aerial fireworks.

When they traveled out of China,

they eventually made their way
to Europe.

Early on, the biggest
celebrations using fireworks

focused on European leaders
and the monarchs.

They loved fireworks.

Then what happens is in
the middle of the 15th century,

you have the Renaissance.

Where does that birth happen?

It happens in Italy.

But then in the 1800s,
you have a number of different

Italian families
emigrate from Italy

through Ellis Island
to the United States,

such as the Rozzis,
the Zambellis,

and, of course, the Gruccis.

♫♫

-How did we both meet?

We met in high school
in our senior year.

We knew each other in --
-From the beginning.

-Right, so there was that
slightly giddy chatter

back and forth

and I knew I was in love
with her when I saw her.

And then we went on
our senior trip upstate.

That´s where it all began.

I didn´t make my move
quick enough.

So she asked me for a kiss.

-And then our psych teacher
pulled him over one day

and said, "Are you..."
-Mr. O´Neil.

-"Are you, uh, dating Debbie?"

And Phil said,
"Um, yeah, I think so."

And he said,
"You´re done, buddy.

You´re done. It´s over."

[ Both laughing ]

[ Rooster crows ]

[ Vehicles passing ]

-I grew up with tons of cousins,
and, you know, aunts and uncles.

And we would always kind of go
to all these firework shows

as, like, a little army.

[ Chuckles ]

This one here was done
for Oswego´s Harbor Fest.

I´m a photographer.

And then this one...

Through the photography,

I definitely look at the
fireworks very differently.

It´s like a dance with them

when you´re trying
to capture them on film.

It´s a little nerve-wracking
´cause you --

you kind of have that, like,
one chance to get that shot.

Our family has always been
very, very close.

Usually at lunchtime,
we like to call Grandma.

Phe gets a lot of FaceTime
with Pop Pop, which is my dad,

and Grandma, my mom,
and he loves it.

-[ Gasps ]
-Who´s that?

-How´s my buddha bear?

-Can you say hi to Gamma?

Wanna do claps for Phelim?

Claps for Phelim.

-Oh, that´s funny, Lauren.

He´s trying to figure out
how to clap.

-With the popsicle in his hand.
-With the popsicle.

-So Phe turned one
on August 6th,

and I tried to have
a small, little get-together,

but...
-Go to Mommy.

-...that doesn´t happen
with our family.

There´s so many of us.

-That´s his little cake.

-Come on, everybody,
out of the pool!

Come on! Let´s go! Let´s go!

-I´m really happy,
and I feel really fortunate

that Phelim is gonna
grow up with

still a tight-knit group.

-♫ Happy birthday to you ♫

[ All cheering ]

-[ Laughing ]

-Just what yous are doing.
Line up.

-Are you gonna be
in the picture?

-Get in the center.
You and Mommy get in the center.

-When my great-grandmother
was around,

it was very important to us
that we always gather.

-Come on, Felix.
Look this way.

There we go.
One more.

-So, like, every Sunday,
we would get together

and we would have Sunday dinner.

-Come on, now.
Everything is getting cold.

-When I was thrust
into the Grucci family,

we had a place
at that table every Sunday.

We knew where we sat.

I enjoyed it to the point
that I made sure

I was the first one there

so that I could be
behind the stove with Nanny.

And I learned how to make
all of her traditional dinners,

her sauces.

-I mean, it was like --

If you didn´t go
to Sunday dinner,

it was, like, you know,
it was, like, a big deal.

-We´re telling war stories.

So that is the boardroom,
if you will.

-Being around the dinner
table on Sundays

is definitely where
the next generation

learns about the dynamic
of the family, what it was like.

-The first generation
of our family --

Angelo, was in Bari, Italy.

He was a produce distributor.

But yet his love and passion
was to go and build fireworks.

This is, you know,
back in the 1800s.

And then his son Anthony,
also in the Bari region,

apprenticed under my second
great-grandfather.

And they both came
through Ellis Island.

They took the journey
like many other immigrants did

and came and set their flag
right here

very close to the town
of Bellport that we´re in now.

Four generations of family
members in this village.

Okay. Alright.
Sounds good.

Alright, thanks, Shel.
Bye-bye.

Go ahead. Uppie, uppie.

Good girl.

Okey-doke.

We´re heading right now
to the four corners of Bellport

where we´re going to be
building our studio.

It´s not much right now
to look at.

You know,
using your imagination,

I look at the building
and I know what it could be.

My great uncle owned this
building before he passed away.

So he owned
the whole corner here

and then he sold it
to an independent,

not related to the family.

So that was another special part

about getting it back
into the family.

Come on, take a look at this.
This a good plan?

-These are the new ones?

-So here´s where we´re standing.
This whole corner...

And having our studio
right in the heart of that,

that´s a dream to me
to keep that here.

And then all the offices --

Danny with music and Corey
and graphic artists.

-Yeah, I like that.
That´s nice.

-My generation saw the evolution
of the technology

from going up
to the firework shell,

lighting it with a torch,
which is a little bit

more refined
than a cigar or a burlap sack,

to firing a firework
electronically,

push of a button,

just like you would flick
the light switch.

My first memory of anything
related to the business,

I was about 5 years old.

I was on the barge with my dad.

Back then, it was
an old, rickety, wooden barge,

and if my father gave me
the scissors

to cut one piece of fuse,
I was on top of the world.

That´s probably
where I got the fever

and got the attraction

and the love for this art form.

The highlights
of our family business,

in my memory, date back from --

certainly dominating,
if you will,

on Long Island firework displays
when it was very regional,

back in the ´60s and ´70s.

♫♫

Producing firework displays
at Coney Island

every Tuesday night.

Rockaways´ Playland
every Wednesday night.

Then we had that one opportunity

to put the name
on the world stage.

That was in 1979.

♫♫

We went to Monte Carlo

to compete against
four other countries --

Spain, France, Denmark,
and Italy -- and then us.

Scared as can be
to go over there

and compete
against the big boys.

My father, he was the one that
was driving this competition,

wanting to compete.

Finally, Dad was able
to convince my grandmother,

because she was the one
that really made the decision,

for us to take the chance
and go over there.

Then we put all
of our efforts to it.

We went over there
and won the competition.

[ Cheers and applause ]

So this is the medal that
we actually were presented

in Monte Carlo
when we won the --

what would be equivalent
of the Olympics of fireworks.

This medal, as important
as this was to us,

we put this in the casket
with my father,

so we, uh...

you know, we put --

we...let him stay
with the medal.

-This is a 6-inch firework,
we call it.

It´s 6 inches in diameter.

That´s how you measure
a firework, never by the length.

-In 1983, we had the highest
and the lowest year

in the history of our family.

♫♫

We just finished producing

the centennial
of the Brooklyn Bridge.

[ Patriotic music plays ]

-Happy Birthday,
Brooklyn Bridge.

Thanks
to the Felix Grucci family,

we were dazzled this week

by the most spectacular
fireworks display

this city has ever seen.

-I was in my first year
of college.

I´ve got a beautiful picture.

I´m on the top of the Brooklyn
Bridge on one of the towers,

and you see the necklace
of the Brooklyn Bridge

and the roadway below it.

It´s one of my favorite pictures
of just, like, back in the day.

-It took 6 days and 28 men
to rig the 9 launching sites

from which the shells
were fired electronically

on preset music cues.

-That was something
that was spectacular.

It set the benchmark up
as high as it could be.

-There were swimming fishes
darting over the East River,

bursts of golden palm trees,

chrysanthemums spreading
hundreds of feet

from shore to shore.

[ "The Stars and Stripes
Forever" playing ]

-When they write
about the celebration

in the history books,
they´re gonna write about Grucci

doing this mammoth
firework show

to exceed
what was done for the opening.

And that, in itself,
is a feat that --

that we´re gonna be
real proud of.

[ "The Stars and Stripes
Forever" continues ]

[ Somber music playing ]

-And then in November,

we had an explosion
in our factory

right here in Bellport.

[ Explosions ]

-Several explosions
in the Grucci compound

rock the Long Island
neighborhood this morning,

damaging over 75 nearby homes.

-Because the facility
was so small,

it basically went through
the entire facility.

-There were people running
out of their homes

with blood coming down.

Windows just blown out.

It was just a terrible sight
to view.

-We believe it was
chemically related

based on a formulation
that we were working with

at the time that was
drying in the buildings.

-officials estimate that as many
as 75 to 100 houses in the area

were so badly damaged that their
residents had to be evacuated.

-24 others, most of them
area residents, were injured.

-We lost my dad and my cousin,
the family.

Totally leveled everything.
We lost everything.

-My dad and my cousin,
it was on a Saturday.

And they were outside
of the building.

That´s what hurts even more.

It wasn´t a, you know, human
error or something like that.

They were that close to being
off the facility

when this took place.

And it destroyed us.

We were cut short.

I was 19 years old
when we had the explosion.

So I was just getting
into the time

where I would´ve enjoyed
working with my dad

side by side,
going out on many shows.

-It´s not known yet

if Grucci Fireworks
will ever be seen again.

-We had no business,
we had no inventory.

We obviously lost
two members of the family.

And I remember it
like it was yesterday --

sitting around the table

and then determining
what we´re gonna do.

So we´re, uh...

if it wasn´t for the strength
of the family...

I´m sorry.

If it wasn´t for the strength
of the family

and the people,
the employees that we had,

we would´ve never had decided
to keep going forward.

-My sister and myself
and the rest of my family,

we sat around that same table

where there was many joyous
Sunday afternoon dinners.

We found ourselves huddled
around that same table,

having to make some of the --

probably the toughest
decisions of our life,

whether or not we were gonna
stay in the business,

should we get out.

-To be completely transparent,
we´ve had bankruptcy attorneys

at my grandmother´s house
around the table

when all of that happened,
saying,

"How are we gonna afford
to pay the bankruptcy attorneys

to go into bankruptcy, never
mind go through bankruptcy?"

-The answers all came back
to the same point.

If we´re going to get out
of the business,

it can´t be left
on that negative of a mark.

We can´t be remembered
for the catastrophe,

for the explosion,
for the deaths.

-So my answer was very clear --
"We need to go forward."

♫♫

We all made the decision,
and it was all heads down

and working out of a garage,
you know, for two winters.

-It was one of those moments
that you either band together,

have each other´s back and
support each other through it,

or you fall apart
and we´re still here.

-I think he would be
very pleased to see

what has happened
and where we are.

♫♫

The first program after that,

we were called by Steve Wynn
out in Las Vegas.

He said, "Hey, I want you
to come out and do my opening."

And my brother and myself
got in a U-Haul truck

and drove from New York
all the way out to Las Vegas,

through the Mojave Desert,

breaking down five times
getting there.

And we produced this major
performance in Las Vegas,

which basically put our flag
in the Las Vegas market,

which is our
second-biggest market.

[ Fireworks exploding ]

And then multiple
presidential inaugurations.

President Bush...

...then President Clinton...

...President Trump.

And then I was commissioned
as the lead designer

for all of the fireworks
in the 2008 Olympics in China,

the birthplace of black powder.

It was a big moment
in my personal career

as well as in our family´s.

-What a stunning,
stunning achievement.

-We´re being invited back now
to the Middle East.

So it´s an exciting time.

But, you know,
the clock doesn´t stop.

The clock keeps ticking.

-Fireworks still capture
the imagination of Americans,

and especially
for the 4th of July.

It´s a tradition that goes back

to the very first
Independence Day.

On July 3, 1776,
you have John Adams,

who eventually becomes
the second president

of the United States,
write a letter to his wife,

Abigail, saying that
the first independence

of the colonies from the British
should be celebrated

with bonfires and illuminations.

And by this, he means fireworks.

And it was, in fact,
celebrated with fireworks

all throughout the colonies

and has become a major staple
of July 4th celebrations

all throughout
the country since then.

-Long story short, what they´ll
accept are these 8-inch grids.

-This is the third round
in the kitchen for breakfast.

-What time is it now?
-3:00.

-Yeah, we gotta be there
by 5:00.

What does it say,
an hour to get there?

That´s fine.

-Well, 56 minutes.
-With traffic and...

-Aha.

-Aha, aha.

-Where are you going?
You going home?

-We´re going to
a fireworks show.

-Oh, fireworks?!
-You want to come?

-You want to throw that in,
Lauren, that thing?

Just in case you want
to walk around?

-No, I have a stroller.

♫♫

-It´s July 1st. It´s the start
of the 4th of July weekend.

Yeah, load it up.

Little Phelim is there,
ready to go.

It´ll be our first sight to
see how he reacts to fireworks.

♫♫

See you later, buddy.
[ Smooches ] Alright?

You feel better?
You got a little rest?

How you doing, man?
You all ready to go?

-I´m ready.

-Copy that. All of you,
use your...

Radio should be on Channel 2
right now.

-Yes, it is.
-Who´s doing aerials?

-Kim is doing aerials.

-There´s a lot of pressure when
you go on one of these programs.

Thank you.

You have the safety aspect
that weighs heavily on you

and then you got
the entertainment aspect

to please the client,
please the audience,

and do it all safely.

-Phil´s grandmother,
a.k.a. Nanny --

-Nanny.
-Nanny. Her name was Concetta --

would sit in the command center.

And during the program,
she did the entire rosary

and she would just continue
doing the rosary

until it was over.

-She would go down --
-...see her sitting there

and the rosaries
would just start moving faster

and faster and faster-

-Like a chain saw,
it was going so fast.

-[Laughing]
Because she was so nervous.

The main thing that worries me

was all the work
and time and energy

that goes into these programs...

[ Indistinct conversations ]

...that when they go
to start that computer,

that computer doesn´t run

or something will not start
when it´s supposed to start.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

-So we´re gonna have you
right over at that corner.

Right there.
-Alright.

We´re about three and a half,
four hours from showtime.

The sun is starting to set.

-You can square off
to me a little, yeah.

-My stomach right now
is starting to churn a bit.

You know, you got
the preshow jitters.

-I am here with Phil Grucci,
CEO of Fireworks By Grucci.

They are the first family
of fireworks,

and there are 20,000 people
here to see your display.

-They are. They´re here.
They´re waiting.

They´ve been here
for a few hours now.

There is a series of things
that could go wrong.

[ Indistinct speaking
over radio ]

-Copy.

-And we have a protocol
and a checklist

on what to do if this happens,
what to do if that happens.

-Timecode is going.

-We don´t get a dress rehearsal.

If something fails then,

not only are you
disappointing yourself,

you´re disappointing
everybody in that crowd.

-Thank you very much.
Let´s hear it, Nassau County!

We are [indistinct]

We have over 20,000 people
here tonight

for the Grucci fireworks.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-Good evening.

The New 104.7 WHLI

is live here at Eisenhower Park
at East Meadow

to celebrate America...

It´s time to celebrate.

Let´s all count down together.

10, 9, 8, 7,

6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

-It´s time to celebrate.

Let´s all count down together.

10, 9, 8...

-The audience is hearing
the narration

that led up to the show.

-...5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

-But when the countdown
got to zero,

there were no fireworks
launching because the timecode

is what drives our computers
to fire the fireworks.

-I know.

Alright, so what´s the best way
to go about this now?

-You´re always running through
your mind what could go wrong

and what do you do
when it goes wrong?

-If there´s any type
of technical issue,

it´s always a little
nerve-wracking.

But I just have a lot
of confidence in my dad...

...and the crews that are
out there doing all the work

that like,
"They´ll figure it out."

-Pat, go to channel --

[ Cheers and applause ]

-During the program,

you´re looking at all
the technical aspects

and the safety aspects of it.

But when it´s all over,

and then you hear that roar
of the crowd...

[ Explosions ]

[ Cheers and applause ]

...it makes all of that pressure
all worth going through

time and time again.

[ Fireworks exploding ]

♫♫

♫♫

The number of employees we have

between the two companies
that we have

all total is over 400.

Fireworks By Grucci
is the entertainment company.

Pyrotechnique By Grucci
is the manufacturing firm.

Every day when Christopher
and that staff

that goes into that facility,

you´re hoping that
they follow the procedures

because they´re working
with explosives.

They´re not manufacturing
sneakers.

Hence the hairline
that I have here.

[ Both laughing ]

-In a week or two,
I have to go out to Vegas,

so I´m gonna be traveling again
in a couple weeks

and then again for New Year´s.
-Mm-hmm.

-I think my earliest memory
of fireworks has to be

when we were out on a beach
somewhere watching a show,

and [laughs] I actually had
to take my socks of--

Or my mom had to take my socks
off and put them in my ears

because when I was younger,

the fireworks actually
used to scare me.

They were too loud for me.
I didn´t like them.

And we had members of the family
and friends being like,

"Ah, look, the youngest Grucci
with socks in his ears

because he´s scared
of fireworks."

But, obviously,
I grew out of it.

-Most of the business that
Pyrotechnique By Grucci does

is manufacturing, uh,
with government contracts.

-Our company has a long history
with supplying our soldiers

with training devices,
primarily.

It started with my grandfather,
back during the Korean War.

He was commissioned
by the Navy to build

a atomic-bomb simulator.

-This is the simulator
my family made.

It was a big explosion.

It meant to simulate
the mushroom cloud

that you would see when
a nuclear bomb were to go off.

And it was to help with
training purposes for timings

and "When this is happening,
this is how you react."

-In 1997,
I was saying to myself,

"We have to diversify
our company."

Because we´re totally locked
into entertainment.

If there was ever
anything that happened

on the entertainment side,
the economy takes a crash,

we have to diversify
to support ourselves.

Sure enough,
unfortunately, we had 9/11.

And who was celebrating?

And then COVID came along...

-It´s now officially declared
a global health emergency.

-...no outdoor entertainment
again.

-...triggering
a new closure culture.

-March Madness games
are on hold.

-The lights have gone out
on Broadway.

-We ended up having maybe
6 shows that 4th of July.

-A Fourth of July holiday
like no other.

-The vast majority of parades
and firework shows are canceled.

-To go from 40 to 60 down to 6
for one Fourth of July

is just --

I´ve never seen
anything like that.

Then New Year´s came,

and there was no shows
for the New Year´s.

And that´s when we offered
everyone the chance

to go down to Virginia to work
on the manufacturing plant

because that plant
was running the whole time

´cause it was
an essential business.

Having that side,
the military side,

being able to keep functioning
even through the pandemic

kept everyone on board

and kept everyone having
an income during that time

when a lot of people
lost theirs.

Winnie. [ Whistles ]
Hey, come here.

-Come here.
-Here she comes.

Come on, Winnie.
-Winnie, come here.

-I just got married to Lemonia
a couple weeks ago.

-Hi, girl!

One of the first times
we hung out,

my arms got tired

and I made you row
the whole way back.

-I don´t remember that.
-Yeah.

-It sounds like you, though.

We´ve been together for a while,

but finally made it
government official.

[ Cheers and applause ]

-This is my favorite memory
of our wedding.

It was our first look
that we did before our ceremony.

The fireworks were the very
finale of the wedding night.

[ Cheers and applause ]

And it just meant so much
that it came from him

that was so meaningful.

-Hey, Siri, call Corey Grucci,
mobile.

Hey, Corey.
-Hey, how are you?

-Good. You´re here, right?
On property?

-Yeah.
-Yeah, why don´t you come over?

Alright? Bye-bye.

We´re working on a program right
now in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,

for the World Tourism
and Trade Commission.

It´s a big convention
that´s gonna happen.

Over here,
Mohammed bin Salman,

which is the Crown Prince
of Saudi Arabia,

will be sitting here
with a very keen eye,

looking at us put explosives
on their most important

historical facility
in their country.

So that ratchets
everything up another level

when it comes to the pressures
when you´re pushing the button.

-Fireworks were very limited
in color for the longest time.

Up until the beginning
of the 19th century,

for the most part, they were
orange or this amber-like color.

It´s not until the beginning
of the 19th century

that you see
the brilliant colors

that we´ve come to associate
with fireworks today.

And that´s because
instead of potassium nitrate,

they switched over

to a very unstable compound,
potassium chlorate.

-♫ Like a chandelier ♫

♫ Grateful just
to have me here ♫

-And, depending
on the metal salt,

you would get a different color.

So, for example, if you used
copper filings in your recipe,

you would get this green color
and the potassium chlorate

would make that an even
more brilliant green color.

♫♫

♫♫

-How you doing, man?

Getting ready for a good show?

This show started
about four months ago,

believe it or not --
a very short timeline.

Let´s have you look
at that one, right?

The other one I´m okay with.

Look at this one.

What if that thing fires
into those objects?

What makes this program
also very unique,

it´s a UNESCO site, so it´s
a Heritage significant facility.

Alright, next.

It´s a very sensitive location,

multiple hundreds
of years old

and a very sensitive spot.

And we´re gonna be putting
pyrotechnics on this structure.

Got that helmet on still, huh?

We have over 100
pyrotechnicians,

electricians, sound technicians,
other designers.

We´re flying drones
with pyrotechnics on it.

We have lasers
and we have lights

and we have pyrotechnics
and fireworks.

Looks pretty impressive,
doesn´t it?

No, it´s gonna be good.
-Your team is the best.

-The emotions
that go through all of us

as we prepare
for these types of programs,

we really have to focus
on the stage.

How do we bring
this building to life?

[ Speaks indistinctly ]

All of those little fine details
on top of the design,

what could we do different
on this program?

What could we do
that´s utilizing

our new technology of drones,

integrating that
into the program?

So the emotions are --
are wildly different

from intimidation, fear,
excitement, pressure.

There´s a lot of pressure to --

´Cause we can´t ask for
another week if we´re not ready.

The show is gonna start.

-Huh?
-The show´s gonna start...

-[ Speaks indistinctly ]

♫♫

-Good luck, my friend.
-Good luck.

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

-We worked so hard at it.

Every night,
we were rehearsing,

making tweaks
and cutting things out.

♫♫

♫♫

We don´t let technology
drive the design.

It´s the other way around.

The design is driving
the technology.

Continuing using
our imagination,

we´re gonna continue
to drive that design.

I think we were very successful.

We had a great team.

[ Fireworks exploding ]

[ Cheers and applause ]

Nice job.

Nice job.

You did a fantastic job.
You were ready to go.

It was a smooth performance.

♫♫

♫♫

-The fireworks aspect
of our family

has always been
a roller-coaster ride,

as any entertainment
business is.

You have one year,
it could be a great year

and you´re living off of caviar.

And the next year,

you´re having meetings
with bankruptcy attorneys.

But the true testament
behind this family

has always been the strength
to move forward

and to find a way
to make it happen.

-Everyone who is
part of the family

and working with the company
wants to be involved.

-It´s part of the job.
I´m gonna be going away a lot.

-It´s not just part of the job.
It´s just...

-Part of the family.

-Yeah.
That´s just how the family is.

The secret ingredient
that´s kept us together

and going for six generations
is the choice.

-We may have to scratch
the set pieces

because they´re requiring
75 feet.

So we´re trying.

-My dad -- the passion that
he has for the company --

I´ve never seen
anything like it.

-So drones --

So we´re not gonna ship them
to Dubai.

-Right. He knows that, yeah.

-I´m convinced at this point

that retirement phase
will never really happen.

-Okay. Alright.

-The succession is on paper...

[ Inhales ]

...but that paper´s
in the cloud.

-Okay. Thank you.

-I personally don´t think
he´ll ever completely

be uninvolved with the company.

-Got a kind of funny
10-year plan

that´s 15,
16 years old right now

that in 10 years, we would be
moving into that retirement age.

Be there in two minutes.

-[ Laughs ]

Um, I think we´re in year 20
of his 10-year plan.

-How can we dress this up
if it´s gonna happen?

Fortunately,
I still love what I do.

You know, I still get up
in the morning

with the energy
and love what I do.

♫♫

♫♫

♫♫

It´s bigger than life.

You´re not looking at e-mails.

All of the troubles
of the world kind of disappear.

♫♫

I´ve watched the audience,
and you could see

a grandfather
sitting with his grandson.

And with the exception of
the wrinkles on the grandfather,

they both have
the same look on their face.

You know, the eyes are wide
open, the mouth is open.

And then hearing the roar
of the audience, you know,

that´s -- that´s somewhat
cliché, but it´s the truth.

-Never did I ever think

that I would end up working

and being a part
of a fireworks family.

So it has just been --

As an outsider coming in,
now an insider --

-33 years,
you´re no longer an outsider.

-Oh, no longer, but I´m so
grateful to be a part of it.

-We´ve got still
a lot more to go, too.

-♫ I won´t break ♫

♫ Oh oh oh oh ♫

♫ I won´t break ♫

♫ My heart´s strong,
I won´t break ♫

♫ I won´t break ♫

♫ My heart´s strong,
I won´t break ♫

-♫ I won´t break,
nah, I can´t break ♫

♫ Waiting to get my chance ♫

♫ I got more
than what it takes ♫

♫ I changed from nothing
to the man I am ♫

♫ Waking up at 9:00 am ♫

♫ Trying to get to see
a better me ♫

♫ Every chance I am ♫

♫ They say,
"Can you just take a break ♫

♫ For your mother´s sake?" ♫

♫ I just want to see her move in
right next to a lake ♫

♫ I might bend and, yeah,
I might shake ♫

♫ But against
the strongest matches ♫

♫ Believe I won´t break ♫

♫ Never break ♫

♫ No matter what they say ♫

♫ Prepare for what comes
my way ♫

♫ I got more than
what it takes ♫

♫ I might bend,
but I cannot break ♫

♫ I won´t break ♫

♫ My heart´s strong,
I won´t break ♫

♫ I won´t break ♫

♫ My heart´s strong,
I won´t break ♫