Brandt, 42, a Dells native, is the new creative director of entertainment at Kalahari Resorts, but he owes his impressive career in the entertainment business to Tom Diehl and the Tommy Bartlett Show.

"That was the start of it all for me," Brandt said, "I owe it all to Tom Diehl."

Brandt worked in the sound room, ran the ski show, sold popcorn and beer and was the first employee in the control room when Robot World opened in the early 1980s.

Since leaving Tommy Bartlett, Brandt has gone on to do many great things.

He worked at Sea World of Florida as a member of the creative entertainment team and wrote, produced and executed park events. He then worked for ESPN’s Outdoor Products for five years as a producer.

After that he spent 13 years as a show director and writer — one of only eight on the property — at Walt Disney World. He executed hundreds of events including the largest property-wide event at Disney, the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, in which 60,000 people participated.

Along the way he has worked with big names like Hillary Clinton, Richard Branson, Beyonce and Britney Spears. And his work with the Stars of Florida Show Team has taken him around the globe time and again.

This spring, Brandt’s career came full circle when Diehl called him to write a script for this summer’s show.

"After the lake drained," Brandt said, "Tom called me at Disney and asked me to bring the show back to life, revitalize it."

Brandt worked with an old friend from Sea World to write the script. While he was here for two weeks in May implementing the show, he toured the area to see how things had changed and visited a few resorts.

He said Kalahari was a "natural fit" for his talents, so he talked with his old school friend Todd Nelson, owner of the resort.

"I said, ‘Here is what I would do if I worked for you,’ and I pitched it to Todd and the Board of Directors," Brandt said. "I was hired an hour and a half later."

Brandt started Oct. 1, and said he really had no desire to leave Disney when he visited this summer. But, he said, "I have family here, and this felt like a way I could give back."

As far as he knows, Brandt is the only creative director of entertainment in the Dells area, and said starting with a blank slate is a rare opportunity.

Brandt credits his hiring to Nelson. "Without Todd’s vision, I don’t know if anyone would’ve added a me."

After working at Sea World and Disney World, Brandt said Kalahari has a "cruise ship on land environment." People come to the resort, and don’t have to leave because entertainment, food and lodging are in one location.

"That’s the driving factor for why I’m here," he said. "To get people here and keep them here."

As he circled the nearly year-old indoor theme park on the Ferris wheel, he said, "This will be great for two or three years, but what will bring (people) back?"

It’s Brandt’s job to think of ways to draw people to the resorts, here and in Sandusky, Ohio, again and again.

He is kicking around a number of ideas, but is scarce on some of the details as copycat syndrome is commonplace in the Dells.

He did share, however, an idea for "friends of Kenya" characters to be unveiled soon, a half-marathon next fall and a Flowrider surfing competition.

He is also looking for ways to get children more involved with ideas like teaching them about African culture, and how to scuba dive, surf or swing a golf club.

He wants to highlight the great chefs the resort has, with an iron chef competition.

With his many celebrity connections, he is also planning celebrity question-and-answer sessions where a limited number of guests can ask big name sports and entertainment stars whatever they want.

When he isn’t working or spending time with his wife and daughter, who are still in Florida until his daughter graduates next spring, Brandt says there is one thing that helps him clear his mind: skydiving.

Brandt is a professional skydiver with 3,600 jumps to his name.

He said he was sitting at home one day in 1991 flipping through the Yellow Pages and saw skydiving and decided to give it a try. He has been jumping about two times a week since. He loves it so much he named his daughter, Skylar, after it.

Brandt also likes to go underwater — he’s a certified scuba diver — play music on the piano, write creatively or thumb his way through a game on his Xbox.

When he left Disney, the president of the company talked with him one last time. "(He) said, ‘You are creating something from scratch that no one has tried yet. Take advantage of that, because in two or three years, everyone is going to have a you,’ " Brandt said.