EPISODE 188:

CAREER FINANCES AS A PROJECTION DESIGNER WITH SVEN ORTEL

Host: Ethan Steimel
Release Date: 5/14/2025

LISTEN HERE

Projection designer Sven Ortel talks about career finances.


Topics:
⭐️ Being persistent 
⭐️ Insisting you get credit for your work
⭐️ Organizing your taxes and writing it down
⭐️ Separating the production budget from the design budget

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Links and Resources

Video Version
https://youtu.be/YDxUvU-in4U


Artistic Finance
https://linktr.ee/artisticfinance


Sven Ortel
https://www.svenortel.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/svenortel/
https://www.instagram.com/svenortel/


Is the credit "Projection Design" or "Video Design?"
https://www.projctn.com/about-projection-design


Projection Design Costs
https://www.projctn.com/projection-design-costs


Trudy C Durant
https://tcdurant.com/home.aspx


Notion
https://www.notion.com/


Caite Hevner Episode
https://www.artisticfinance.com/93.html


Since 2000, Sven Ortel has been exploring and advancing the use of imagery and projection in the live arts. His primary interest is how digital and emerging technologies can create engaging narrative experiences. He is particularly drawn to complex scenic and production design challenges that place live audiences at the center of the experience, and he enjoys collaborating with other experts and creatives.


Originally from Cologne, Germany, Sven earned his BA in Lighting Design in London, where he designed media for Simon McBurney’s seminal production of *Measure for Measure* at the National Theatre in 2004. He then created many projection designs for opera, dance, musicals, and plays across Europe and eventually in the US. In 2012, he was nominated for a Tony Award for his work on Disney’s *Newsies*. In 2014, he received a Drama League nomination for his designs in Julie Taymor’s *A Midsummer Night's Dream* at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn.


Notable recent projects include NHKS4220 at New York’s Artechouse, *Thoughts of a Colored Man* (Broadway, Drama Desk nomination), *Parade* (Broadway, Outer Critics Circle nomination and winner of Best Revival of a Musical), and *Once Upon a One More Time* (Broadway), as well as the multimedia installation *Lamentations at Liesbeck*, which premiered at Mesa’s Mix Center.


Sven always seeks innovative ways to tell stories through media and create cohesive visual environments that fully engage live audiences.


He has worked at public research universities for the past ten years, focusing on educating the next generation of designers, artists, and thought leaders. His work in academia focuses on adapting effective creative processes prevalent in the performing arts, particularly projection design, to address the design challenges found in other live experiences, especially in emerging forms of rich media like immersive and XR productions. This research is central to his role as a professor of practice in immersive and entertainment design at Arizona State University and as a faculty member at Mesa's innovative multidisciplinary Mix Center.


Outside of his professional work, Sven is a passionate landscaper dedicated to restoring and stewarding the land. He also loves camping, running, hiking, and mountain biking—more info at svenortel.com or linked-in.


Instagram Handles
@svenortel
@ethansteimel
@nicolevsteimel