I joined Enormous Time Waster, I mean Facebook, last winter. Why they allowed me in I have no idea. Aren't I too old for this sort of thing? Shouldn't they have rejected me and suggested I move to one of the more mature, middle-aged social nets? Luckily, there appear to be others from my generation on there too, a mix of designers, technicians and educators who also bravely gone where those over 40 normally don't.
What's been fun, however, is tracking down so many of the talented artisans we profiled in the pages of Entertainment Design under the moniker "Young Designers to Watch." Remember those? We did it for several years in ED, from 2000-2004, as well as a roundup of lighting professionals in Lighting Dimensions called 30 And Under in 2004 .
It makes sense, really. Most of those young designers are the key demographic for Facebook, so it's no surprise that I've find as many as I have. (It's probably also no surprise that they have about 10 times as many friends as I do, but that's another story).
Curious as to who's out there? Here are some of those alumni I've found:
Class of 2000
Set Designer Klara Zieglerova
Class of 2001
Projection Designer Michael Clark
Sound Designer Jill DuBoff
Lighting Designer DM Wood
Class of 2002
Costume Designer Constance Hoffman
Set Designer Michelle Malavet
Lighting Designer Thom Weaver
Class of 2003
Set Designer David Korins
Lighting Designer Jason Lyons
Class of 2004
Lighting Designer Brian Bembridge
Sound Designer Leon Rothenberg
30 And Under 2004
Lighting Designer Nic Phillips
Projection Designer Jake Pinholster
A few of these folks, like Hoffman, Korins, and Rothenberg, I haven't heard back from yet (why have they forsaken me?). And there are several on the list who I think are on Facebook but can't tell for sure, either because of really common names, like sound designers Paul Adams (Class of 02) and Elizabeth Rhodes (Class of 03), or obscure photos (is that crayon drawing really you, sound designer Josh Schmidt?)
But it's been great getting back in touch with some of these folks and finding out what they're doing. It's actually quite gratifying to see so many of them doing so well in their chosen career. If you're among those we profiled as a Young Designer to Watch who I haven't yet stalked on Facebook, please drop me a line. I'd love to hear what you're up to.