Mikkhail Noel Serrano is part of the class of 2024 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick in the lighting design program. Serrano is particularly interested in using his lighting skills in multimedia design and delving into the dramaturgy to use both lighting and projection tools to best illustrate the script. His career goals include designing for live performance but also to develop an outreach program to encourage more minorities to study technical theatre and design.
The Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarships, funded by LDI and Live Design, were introduced to support the underrepresented and unique voices in the field of entertainment design and are presented in partnership with TSDCA and USITT, for undergraduate students
Live Design: Why did you apply for the Pat MacKay Diversity In Design Scholarship
Mikkhail Noel Serrano: I applied for the scholarship because after my first full year at Rutgers, I realized that any form of money could help make attending an easier process for my Mom and me. My professor Cat Tate Starmer had sent this scholarship our way due to its leaning towards diverse students.
LD: What made you interested in the field of lighting/sound/projection design?
MNS: During my sophomore year of high school, my best friend Wesley Mulero had designed the lights for our school's production of Falsettos and from there I have had an interest in the field of design.
LD: What are your career goals?
MNS: One of my major career goals is to work with the Disney Imagineering program. I am also interested in the field of live entertainment. My biggest career goal is to create an outreach program that would benefit minorities who may want to pursue a career in design and production but may not have the means/knowledge to get started.
LD: How can the industry better serve underrepresented communities?
MNS: The industry needs to stray away from being comfortable and hiring the same people. There needs to be a break in the shell that can allow for more underrepresented groups to be showcased/hired behind the scenes.
LD: Who are some of the people who have influenced you?
MNS: Es Devlin, Wesley Mulero, Peter Nigrini, and Alwin Nikolais are all influences to me.
LD: What is your number one bucket list item?
MNS: To move to London or Paris for a few years.
LD: Has the pandemic changed how you view your work or the industry?
MNS: The pandemic gave me the opportunity to truly figure out what I want to do after I graduate from Rutgers, though there was a time I looked at my work as not being worthy of what I needed it to be. Towards the end of 2020 though, I started looking at better ways to organize and portray my art to others. With that, I feel that even though the pandemic is a terrible thing, it did allow for many needed breakthroughs for myself as an artist.
Click here for more scholarship winners from 2021 and previous years.