The LDI 2023 awards were presented on Monday evening, December 4, on the show's main stage, next to LDI's iconic Circle Bar, in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
LDI show director, Jessi Cybulski, hosted the awards with help from members of the LDI and Live Design team and technical theatre organizations USITT and TSDCA, as well as from the lighting design firm Lightswitch.
The Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarships
The ceremony began by introducing the recipients of the fifth annual Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarships. Carolyn Satter, president of USITT, presented certificates to this year’s lighting recipients, Deandra Bromfield and Darius Evans. She then introduced former diversity scholarship winner, Nina Field, who is on the executive board for the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association. Field said, "The TSDCA is an organization that provides a space for camaraderie, education, and advocacy for the sound design & composition community. As part of our mission, we work to encourage and uplift new sound designers and composers, through our educational seminars, advocacy work, and through our work with the Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarships." Field presented the Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarship to the sound recipient, Alyssa Gil-Pujol.
Lighting design firm Lightswitch sponsored the Diversity Scholarships this year, and principal Tyler Elich was on hand to congratulate the award recipients in person, along with his colleagues Maia Gomez and Tanner Funk.
Battle Of The Busk Awards
This year, the intensive training and nail-biting competition of the Battle of the Busk, for both lighting consoles and media servers, took place on the show floor with a large audience of professionals - pressure much?
In addition to the lighting consoles as noted, the video buskers all used a Pixera 4-RS media server.
Most Cohesive - Spectral Shapers (MA Lighting grandMA)
Lighting: Paige Borak & Andrew Matthews
Video: Jordan Gilliam & Eli Suarez
Most Creative - Team Lighting (High End System Road Hog 4)
Lighting: Daniel Salazar & Lilly Pierce
Video: Brian Rotschild & Cody Luketic
Most Unique - The Lighty Ducks (Chamsys MagicQ-500)
Lighting: Jerry Padilla & Shawn Southard
Video: Zarian Santiago & Doster Chastain
The Jaw Dropper - DMX Dropouts (Obsidian Onyx NX-4)
Lighting: Parker Buckley & Ashton D'Avanzo
Video: Andrew Grange & Jennifer Gonzalez
Industry's Choice - The Lighty Ducks
Lighting: Jerry Padilla & Shawn Southard
Video: Zarian Santiago & Doster Chastain
As Jessi said, "If you missed the Battle of The Busk last night, you missed the best show on earth."
LDI Awards
This is the fourth year we are presenting the LDI Sustainibility Award, which goes to The SGM P-3 Vision. Incorporating a direct view LED pixel grid together with a top-quality illumination LED engine, the P-3 Vision® is a game-changer in entertainment lighting. With these two LED engines in one viewing plane, designers can reproduce pixel content and provide illumination in ways never before possible. P-3 Vision is a new type of lighting solution and a building block for creating exciting lighting effects and video content in ways never seen before. Jason Osterman accepted the award on behalf of SGM.
LDI sales director Kelly Turner presented the 2023 booth awards:
Best Creative Use of Light was awarded to Glow Motion. The judges said that the booth draws you across the floor like moths to a flame with effective use of dynamic lighting and an understanding of light in motion. Daniel Slezinger accepted the award.
The Best Product Presentation Award was given to Robe, for a compelling theatrical experience with a show highlighting the brand's latest offerings and incorporating traditional theatrical storytelling. Nathan Wan accepted the award.
The award for Best Small Booth was awarded to SGM for its excellent use of a corner space, drawing attendees into the booth with visual arrows of light. Any skill level can interact with the full feature set of the fixtures through a simple stream deck. Jason Osterman accepted the award.
The Best Large Booth Award was scooped up by Theatrixx, for its oasis of quiet respite from the whirlwind of the LDI show floor. The judges called it an exceptional example of simple, yet effective, booth architecture. Alexandra Tessier accepted the award.
Hannah Kinnersley, Live Design content manager, presented the awards for Emerging Products
The T8 Robotic Line Source Element by PK Sound was honored with the award for an emerging product in sound. The product provides the sound engineer the ability to immediately adjust the elements while still in midair, allowing the engineer to utilize their time more efficiently. Ralph Mastrangelo and David Johnson accepted the award.
The Widget Award was presented to City Theatrical for the Wing Nut Socket. This product makes the electricians job easier and safer. Making the bolt easy to tighten, while protecting the electrician from skinned knuckles and injured fingers. Gary Vilardi accepted the award.
Finally, the Special Effects Award was given to the HazeBase Touring 2 and the Cube, highly efficient and powerful hazers in two form factors. Their vegan hazer fluid is odorless and consumed at a low rate. Andrew Strain and Bruce Bandy accepted the award.
Industry icon Ellen Lampert-Gréaux announced that, "Contrary to the rumors, my demise at LDI is not as imminent as tomorrow, and you’ll be stuck with me again next year. Although I am at the age where you start to shrink so I had better retire before you can no longer see me behind this lectern…" She then presented the following awards:
Staging and Rigging Award
Rose Brand, the ADC ConTour Winch SDR and its Axis1 Touch Controller. The ConTOur Winch is a SIL3 compliant, compact, spot-line winch that lifts up to 50lbs and provides circuits for power and data through its flat cable Smart Data reel. The control agnostic system Axis1 Automation Platform allows the unit to be programmed via Modbus TCP, Art-Net, sACN and to be integrated easily into other systems such as OSC, or TwinCat. Josh Alemany, Nate Cross, Eric Foster, and Kevin O’Grady accepted the award.
The Video/Projection Award
Colorlight Cloud Tech Ltd, for the ColorAdept+Z8t. The committee was impressed with the color calibration and intuitive videowall patching and think this product enables more individuals the ability to set up high end video walls. Moore Huang accepted the award.
Lighting Awards
The judges find this a hard category with myriad new products that continue to improve the tools available to designers and technicians, such as E-Frost, being integrated into lighting fixtures. Narrowing it down to just two is always a challenge.
The first Lighting Award in the category of control was awarded to City Theatrical for the Multiverse Connect Module, which shines a spotlight on technological collaboration across manufacturers. While expanding and solidifying the successful Multiverse control system as an industry leader, it simultaneously invites competitors in and furthers innovation beyond an individual company. Gary Vilardi accepted the award.
The winner in the fixtures category was the Martin MAC ONE. A compact and versatile beam/wash/eye candy fixture. It's four-bar system makes rigging and transport simple while offering a wide range of creative possibilities for lighting designers and technicians. Wouter Verlinden accepted the award.
In closing, Jessi Cybulski thanked all of this year's sponsors and reminded everyone to come back next year to LDI 2024 in Las Vegas, from December 7-10, 2024.