1st Edition
Living the Lighting Life A Guide to a Career in Entertainment Lighting
Living the Lighting Life provides practical tools and advice for a successful career in entertainment lighting.
This easy-to-navigate guide offers real-world examples and documentation from the author and key industry experts, giving readers a comprehensive overview of the lighting life. The book provides insight on:
- Different job opportunities in the entertainment lighting industry;
- Business procedures, contracts, time sheets, and invoices;
- Tips on self-promotion, networking, and continual learning;
- The lighting lifestyle, healthy living, and work-related travel;
- Maintaining and developing creativity to provide innovative lighting and solutions.
With insightful interviews from industry veterans, Living the Lighting Life is a key navigational resource for anyone considering a career in entertainment lighting or just starting out.
Part 1: The Job 1. Lighting Positions 2. Lighting Genres 3. Lighting Skills 4. Organizational Skills 5. Working Requirements 6. Ethics of Lighting 7. Best Show Ever Part 2: The Career 8. A Growing Career 9. Attitude is Everything 10. Training and Learning 11. Promoting Yourself 12. Networking with Others 13. Keep on Moving Forward 14. Giving Back 15. Moving On Part 3: The Business 16. Types of Workers 17. Business Structure 18. Personal Business Paperwork 19. Business Operations 20. Tax Form Basics 21. Getting Gigs 22. Planning for your Future Part 4: The Creativity 23. Abundant Creativity 24. Creative Inspiration Part 5: The Lifestyle 25. Why we Do It 26. Work/Life Balance 27. Allure of Celebrity 28. Healthy Living 29. Time to Sleep 30. When it Stops Being Fun Part 6: The Travel 31. Travel is Work 32. Earn the Perks 33. Air Travel 34. Tour Busses 35. Hotel Living Part 7: The Interviews 36. Cory FitzGerald 37. George Masek 38. John Viesta 39. Robert Roth 40. Ron Schilling 41. Sooner Routhier 42. Steve Woods 43. Vickie Claiborne Part 8: The Survey 44. Respondent Backgrounds 45. Employment Status 46. Down to Business 47. Shared Advice 48. Wrapping It Up
Biography
Brad Schiller has over thirty years of experience in the entertainment lighting field. A self-described "lighting geek," his deep-rooted passion for lighting began at a very early age. Brad’s career has allowed him countless opportunities to work around the globe, and across diverse facets of the industry. He is also the author of The Automated Lighting Programmer’s Handbook, now in its third edition (Routledge, 2016).
You may think that by its title, Living The Lighting Life: A Guide To A Career In The Entertainment Industry (published by Routledge, 2021), could be just another showbiz bio/memoire laced with juicy tidbits of tour bus antics and behind-the-scenes anecdotes by a well-known industry personality. You would most certainly be wrong. Though Brad Schiller's latest book includes many reflections on his successful and storied career, they all serve in support of literally guiding us readers towards creating a meaningful career path in the entertainment lighting industry.
-Daniel Bonitsky, Live Design Online, January 4, 2021
