The Association for Lighting Production Design announced the winners of its 2022 Awards at the New Technology Showcase at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama today, Friday 27th January
This event, jointly hosted by White Light, the ALPD and RCSSD is an opportunity for lighting professionals to explore and compare the latest lighting technology available on the market.
The ALPD awards are open to emerging lighting designers, production electricians and programmers who graduated no earlier than 2020. Entrants submit evidence of their collaborative process, paperwork and images to a panel of experienced lighting practitioners in portfolio form for judging. Award winners receive a £500 cash prize, a 512 ETCnomad™ Package, a Vectorworks licence for 12 months and a 6-month mentoring scheme with an industry professional to run alongside the initial stage of their career.
The Michael Northen Award is this year awarded to Charly Dunford. Charly graduated from LIPA in 2021, and is already in demand as a Lighting Designer and an Associate. This award is sponsored by the Mousetrap Foundation. Michael Northen was the first credited lighting designer in the UK and his work on The Mousetrap can still be seen in the West End today. Charly is from Somerset and began work in theatre volunteering at the Brewhouse in Taunton. She said “I’m thrilled to have won the Michael Northen Award for Lighting Design! It means the world to me to be able to work with many other brilliant creatives for my job. I have had some fantastic and constructive feedback from my application which has made me very excited for my future projects - it’s a great step in progressing my career.”
The WYSIWYG Programmers Award, sponsored by CAST goes to Stanley Olden. This year is the first year this award has been made. Stanley discovered a passion for programming whilst still at school. He’s now studying at Guildhall and looks forward one day to be programming shows for the West End and on tour. He said, “I'm honored to be receiving the award, thank you all at the ALPD for organizing and running it and to everyone who has inspired me to do lighting.”
The ALPD would like to thank all their sponsors: The Mousetrap Foundation, CAST, Vectorworks and ETC, as well as all the lighting professionals who so generously give their time to adjudicate, advise and mentor.
The ALPD continues to develop its Awards program with plans for new categories in future years.
An exhibition of this year’s entrants is being prepared to showcase the work of these emerging lighting practitioners, while encouraging other young people to consider a career in lighting.
The Association for Lighting Production and Design (The ALPD) is the body representing all those who work in or are interested in the creation of lighting for live performance and events. It is an association that welcomes lighting designers, technicians and programmers across the full range of performance lighting disciplines.