Nominations for KOI USA are rolling in across all categories
USA - The Knight of Illumination Awards USA (KOI-USA) is now open for nominations.
The KOI Awards, launched in the USA in April, have been celebrating the achievements of lighting and video designers working in a range of entertainment genres in the UK for 10 years, with the first US edition set to coincide with LDI 2018 in Las Vegas.
Nominations for KOI USA are rolling in across all three categories - Theatre, Concert Touring & Events, and Live for Broadcast - with five awards in each category up for grabs. To be eligible for nomination, productions must have been performed or broadcast in the USA between 1 August 2017 and 31 July 2018.
In the UK, the organisers have reported “a record number of nominations” ahead of the 30 June deadline.

Visit the relevant website for more information on how to nominate:
KOI UK: www.knight-of-illumination.com
KOI USA: www.knightofilluminationawards.com

The five awards in each category at KOI USA are:
Theatre - Dance, Opera, Plays, Musicals and Projection Design;
Live for Broadcast - Scripted Series, Unscripted Series, Awards Shows, Set & Video Design, Entertainment & Events;
Concert Touring & Events - Events, Video Content, Club, Stage, Arena.

KOI organisers, Live Design and The Fifth Estate are encouraging designers working at every level to nominate their work.
David Johnson, managing director of Live Design, comments: "It's vitally important to us that the three judging panels maintain complete independence, as they do in the UK, which is why we're lucky to have three highly respected designers on board to chair each panel. Clifton Taylor (consultant and LD) chairs Theatre; John Featherstone, lighting designer and Principal of design company Lightswitch, chairs Concert Touring & Events and entertainment lighting designer Jeff Ravitz chairs Live for Broadcast."
Jeff Ravitz adds: "I'm thrilled and honoured to be the chair of the Live for Broadcast judging panel for the esteemed Knight of Illumination Awards as it crosses the Atlantic to inaugurate a USA version at last. As a lover of light in all its forms, I will relish the opportunity to discover the best in cueing, colour, composition, angle and excitement."
Organisers have said bookings are being taken for tables and sponsorship opportunities at the presentation ceremony, which takes place at The Foundry, SLS Hotel, Las Vegas on Saturday, 20 October.
The UK ceremony takes place on at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on Sunday, 16 September.
(Jim Evans)

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