News & Notices
Brodie Receives Rising Star
Projection designer Daniel Brodie received the seventh annual USITT Rising Star Award, sponsored by LDI2011 and Live Design magazine. It will be presented at the opening night reception Wednesday, March 9 at the 51st Annual Conference & Stage Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Mr. Brodie is a freelance New York-based projection designer and multimedia artist. He was the projection designer for puppeteer Basil Twist in productions of Behind the Lid Arias With a Twist. In 2008 Arias won critical acclaim with a seventh-month run in New York, an international tour, and a rave in The New York Times. The production became the subject of Arias With a Twist: The Docufantasy, which premiered in February 2010 at the Berlin International Film Festival. Mr. Brodie received recognition for his work with the 19th Annual Ticketholder Award for Best Video Design 2009. On Broadway, he has served as associate or assistant projection designer on The Pee Wee Herman Show and Lombardi and Elf: The Musical. He earned a BA in theater from Arizona State University.
The Rising Star Award recognizes excellence and artistic achievement in the areas of scenic, lighting, sound, and projection design, or the convergence of these design disciplines. The award is given at the beginning of a career to a young designer in the first four years of professional, non-academic work, following the completion of the candidate's highest degree.
In a letter of recommendation, Basil Twist said, "One of the strongest impressions I got from him early on is that he has a rare quality of being both deeply artistic and firmly tech-savvy. He has been and will continue to be a valuable member of my team, and it brings me great pleasure to watch his career grow and expand."
"It is exciting to see the broad range of young talent that this prestigious award is attracting. Since we see the work of past Rising Star winners on Broadway, we look forward to Daniel's designs having a similar impact as his career progresses," said David Grindle, USITT Executive Director.
David Johnson, publisher of Live Design, added, "It is very exciting that this year's Rising Star Award is going to a projection designer for the first time, especially one as talented as Daniel Brodie. He represents the next wave in theatrical design, embracing digital technology as the basis for his work."
LDI and Live Design have endowed USITT's Rising Star Award in perpetuity, with the winner receiving a $1,000 prize plus Conference registration. For additional information about the Rising Star Award, visit www.usitt.org or Live Design at www.livedesignonline.com.
Rising Star Winners 2005 -2010
- 2010 Ben Pilat, lighting designer
- 2009 Sean Savoie, lighting designer
- 2008 Elisheba Ittoop, sound designer
- 2007 John Horan, lighting designer
- 2006 Justin Townsend, scenic and lighting designer
- 2005 Kelly Hanson, scenic designer
