Projection designer Daniel Brodie is the recipient of the seventh annual USITT Rising Star Award, sponsored by LDI2011 and Live Design magazine. 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 their highest degree. The 2011 Rising Star Award will be presented at the opening night reception comprising Young Designer Awards, on Wednesday, March 9 at USITT’s 51stAnnual Conference & Stage Expo in Charlotte, NC.
Daniel Brodie (brodiegraphics.com) 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 and Arias With a Twist. In 2008 Arias won critical acclaim with a seventh-month run in New York, international tour, and rave in The New York Times. The production became the subject of Arias With a Twist: The Docufantasy, which premiered in February of 2010 at the Berlin International Film Festival. Brodie received recognition for his work on Arias 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 with Jake Pinholster, and on Lombardi and Elf: The Musical with Zachary Borovay. He earned his BA in Theater from Arizona State University.
In a letter of recommendation, Basil Twist said about Brodie: “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,” says David Grindle, USITT executive director.
David Johnson, publisher of Live Design, adds, “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 $1000 prize. For additional information about the Rising Star Award, contact USITT at 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
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