EPISODE 164:
PAY NEGOTIATIONS FOR LIGHTING DESIGNERS
Host: Ethan Steimel
Release Date: 09/23/2024
Release Date: 09/23/2024
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A panel of theatrical lighting designers discuss pay negotiations. If this sounds like a frightening topic, make sure to listen because this is a positive and calm take on the process.
Topics: ⭐️ Determining a rate ⭐️ How to conduct yourself ⭐️ How to advocate for yourself ⭐️ When to use an agent and what they do ⭐️ Using the union, USA 829, resources, whether you’re a member or not |
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Links and Resources
WORKBOOK
Video Version
EPI Family Budget Calculator
Cost of Living Calculator - MIT
Spoleto Festival
Isabella Byrd
Isabella Byrd is a New York-based designer working in live performance. Select and recent credits include ~ Broadway: Cabaret and An Enemy of the People (both designs 2024 Tony nominated). Off-Broadway: Infinite Life (Annie Baker), Primary Trust (Eboni Booth), Epiphany (Brian Watkins), Sanctuary City (Martyna Majok), The Good John Proctor (Talene Monahon), and many by Will Arbery: Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Corsicana, and Plano. Many productions with: Clubbed Thumb, Caitlin Sullivan, and dots. Awards: Drama Desk Special Award, three Lucille Lortels, two Obies, Henry Hewes, and featured in The New Yorker. Proud USA829 member and pay equity and sustainability advocate. www.isabellabyrd.design
Jen Schriever
BROADWAY: Mother Play, A Strange Loop (Tony Nom), Death of a Salesman (Tony Nom), 1776, Birthday Candles, Lackawanna Blues, What the Constitution Means to Me, Lifespan of a Fact, Eclipsed, Ghetto Klown. SELECTED OFF-BROADWAY: Spain, White Girl In Danger, To My Girls, SuperHero (Second Stage); Which Way to The Stage, Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties, School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play (MCC); The Moors (Playwrights Realm); A Bright New Boise, My Broken Language, Thom Pain, Night is a Room (Signature). SELECTED REGIONAL: The Preacher’s Wife (The Alliance Theater), The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical (ACT), A Transparent Musical (Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles). OPERA: A Thousand Splendid Suns (World Premiere, Seattle Opera), Die Fledermaus, Pearl Fishers (Metropolitan); Faust, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Traviata (Mariinsky, Russia); and The Pearl Fishers (ENO). Obie Award for sustained excellence in design. Adjunct Professor, Purchase College. Mom: Henry. www.jenschriever.com.
Ken Billington
Ken has designed more than 100 Broadway shows, has been nominated for 9 Tony Awards for Best Lighting Design, and won for the musical Chicago. Ken spent 25 years as the principle lighting designer for Radio City Music hall, lighting their Christmas and Easter Spectaculars. He founded KB Associates, Inc. an international design and production firm that has created hundreds of theatrical shows, television specials, architectural environments. From nightclubs in Japan, to theme parks, to the Vienna State Opera, to Disneyland’s Fantasmic, his lighting has been seen across the world and has earned him a spot in the Theatre Hall of Fame. https://www.kbany.com/
Aja M Jackson
AJA M JACKSON is an interdisciplinary Lighting Designer with a focus on the stage. Some credits include Off-Broadway: A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, and Rock and Roll Man. Broadway: Fat Ham (associate). Regional (selected): Hear Word (American Repertory Theatre / The Public Theater Under the Radar Festival). Lost In Yonkers, The Art of Burning, Pride and Prejudice, Simona’s Search (Hartford Stage). The Art of Burning, The Band's Visit (Huntington Theatre Company); Associate: Goddess (Berkeley Rep). Assistant: Real Women Have Curves and Queen Of Versailles. Dance: Hubbard Street Dance, Modern Connections; Resident Lighting Designer for movement company, HoldTight. Awards: OEAA Outstanding Lighting Design - Kinky Boots (2022). Teaching: Boston University, National Theatre Institute. Proud member of USA 829. www.ajajacksonlighting.com | IG: @ajamjackson
Heather Gilbert
HEATHER GILBERT (Lighting Designer) is a Chicago based lighting designer. Broadway: Parade (Tony Nomination, Drama Desk Nomination), The Sound Inside (Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Tony Award Nomination), Cult of Love (Second Stage). Off Broadway Dead Outlaw for Audible at Minetta Lane (Drama Desk Nomination). Chicago: Steppenwolf, Goodman, Writers Theatre, Northlight, Victory Gardens, Court Theatre, Steep Theatre, and many, many storefronts. Regional: The Muny, Center Theatre Group, Studio Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alley Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Magic Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pasadena Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Olney Theatre Center. She is the Head of Lighting Design at Columbia College Chicago and received her MFA at The Theatre School at DePaul University.
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
JEANETTE OI-SUK YEW is an award-winning Lighting & Projection designer for theater, dance, opera, musicals, music performances, art installation, immersive experiences and digital productions. NY Times described them as “clever” and “inventive”. As a collaborator, she aims to create a visual environment that is organically integrated into the landscape and language of the production through these mediums. Aside from being a designer, Jeanette is a puppetry artist with a strong background in devising interdisciplinary and collaborative productions. Recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program and Associate Arts Professor/Head of Lighting Design training with NYU Tisch Drama’s Production & Design Studio. www.jeanetteyew.com; @jeanette_yew
Natalie Robin
[email protected]
Natalie (she/her) is a lighting designer, labor organizer, and educator. She is the full-time organizer for United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE, of which she is a proud and longtime member. Previously she taught at several institutions of higher education. She believes everyone should have the protections of a union and is committed to deconstructing the traditional capitalist, hierarchical, ego-driven collaborative structures in theatremaking. https://www.natalierobinlighting.com/
Instagram Handles
@isabelllaa
@natalierobinld
@jen.schriever
@ajamjackson
@htglights
@jeanette_yew
@unitedscenicartists
@ethansteimel
@nicolevsteimel
Video Version
EPI Family Budget Calculator
Cost of Living Calculator - MIT
Spoleto Festival
Isabella Byrd
Isabella Byrd is a New York-based designer working in live performance. Select and recent credits include ~ Broadway: Cabaret and An Enemy of the People (both designs 2024 Tony nominated). Off-Broadway: Infinite Life (Annie Baker), Primary Trust (Eboni Booth), Epiphany (Brian Watkins), Sanctuary City (Martyna Majok), The Good John Proctor (Talene Monahon), and many by Will Arbery: Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Corsicana, and Plano. Many productions with: Clubbed Thumb, Caitlin Sullivan, and dots. Awards: Drama Desk Special Award, three Lucille Lortels, two Obies, Henry Hewes, and featured in The New Yorker. Proud USA829 member and pay equity and sustainability advocate. www.isabellabyrd.design
Jen Schriever
BROADWAY: Mother Play, A Strange Loop (Tony Nom), Death of a Salesman (Tony Nom), 1776, Birthday Candles, Lackawanna Blues, What the Constitution Means to Me, Lifespan of a Fact, Eclipsed, Ghetto Klown. SELECTED OFF-BROADWAY: Spain, White Girl In Danger, To My Girls, SuperHero (Second Stage); Which Way to The Stage, Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties, School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play (MCC); The Moors (Playwrights Realm); A Bright New Boise, My Broken Language, Thom Pain, Night is a Room (Signature). SELECTED REGIONAL: The Preacher’s Wife (The Alliance Theater), The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical (ACT), A Transparent Musical (Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles). OPERA: A Thousand Splendid Suns (World Premiere, Seattle Opera), Die Fledermaus, Pearl Fishers (Metropolitan); Faust, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Traviata (Mariinsky, Russia); and The Pearl Fishers (ENO). Obie Award for sustained excellence in design. Adjunct Professor, Purchase College. Mom: Henry. www.jenschriever.com.
Ken Billington
Ken has designed more than 100 Broadway shows, has been nominated for 9 Tony Awards for Best Lighting Design, and won for the musical Chicago. Ken spent 25 years as the principle lighting designer for Radio City Music hall, lighting their Christmas and Easter Spectaculars. He founded KB Associates, Inc. an international design and production firm that has created hundreds of theatrical shows, television specials, architectural environments. From nightclubs in Japan, to theme parks, to the Vienna State Opera, to Disneyland’s Fantasmic, his lighting has been seen across the world and has earned him a spot in the Theatre Hall of Fame. https://www.kbany.com/
Aja M Jackson
AJA M JACKSON is an interdisciplinary Lighting Designer with a focus on the stage. Some credits include Off-Broadway: A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, and Rock and Roll Man. Broadway: Fat Ham (associate). Regional (selected): Hear Word (American Repertory Theatre / The Public Theater Under the Radar Festival). Lost In Yonkers, The Art of Burning, Pride and Prejudice, Simona’s Search (Hartford Stage). The Art of Burning, The Band's Visit (Huntington Theatre Company); Associate: Goddess (Berkeley Rep). Assistant: Real Women Have Curves and Queen Of Versailles. Dance: Hubbard Street Dance, Modern Connections; Resident Lighting Designer for movement company, HoldTight. Awards: OEAA Outstanding Lighting Design - Kinky Boots (2022). Teaching: Boston University, National Theatre Institute. Proud member of USA 829. www.ajajacksonlighting.com | IG: @ajamjackson
Heather Gilbert
HEATHER GILBERT (Lighting Designer) is a Chicago based lighting designer. Broadway: Parade (Tony Nomination, Drama Desk Nomination), The Sound Inside (Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Tony Award Nomination), Cult of Love (Second Stage). Off Broadway Dead Outlaw for Audible at Minetta Lane (Drama Desk Nomination). Chicago: Steppenwolf, Goodman, Writers Theatre, Northlight, Victory Gardens, Court Theatre, Steep Theatre, and many, many storefronts. Regional: The Muny, Center Theatre Group, Studio Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alley Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Magic Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pasadena Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Olney Theatre Center. She is the Head of Lighting Design at Columbia College Chicago and received her MFA at The Theatre School at DePaul University.
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
JEANETTE OI-SUK YEW is an award-winning Lighting & Projection designer for theater, dance, opera, musicals, music performances, art installation, immersive experiences and digital productions. NY Times described them as “clever” and “inventive”. As a collaborator, she aims to create a visual environment that is organically integrated into the landscape and language of the production through these mediums. Aside from being a designer, Jeanette is a puppetry artist with a strong background in devising interdisciplinary and collaborative productions. Recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program and Associate Arts Professor/Head of Lighting Design training with NYU Tisch Drama’s Production & Design Studio. www.jeanetteyew.com; @jeanette_yew
Natalie Robin
[email protected]
Natalie (she/her) is a lighting designer, labor organizer, and educator. She is the full-time organizer for United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE, of which she is a proud and longtime member. Previously she taught at several institutions of higher education. She believes everyone should have the protections of a union and is committed to deconstructing the traditional capitalist, hierarchical, ego-driven collaborative structures in theatremaking. https://www.natalierobinlighting.com/
Instagram Handles
@isabelllaa
@natalierobinld
@jen.schriever
@ajamjackson
@htglights
@jeanette_yew
@unitedscenicartists
@ethansteimel
@nicolevsteimel
