The 11th Knight of Illumination Awards UK (KOI) landed at London’s famous Eventim Apollo Hammersmith on 16 September 2018.
Hot on its heels comes the first ever KOI Awards USA, all set to be staged at The Foundry inside Las Vegas’ SLS Hotel and Casino on Saturday 20 October 2018.
Both events recognise great lighting and video design across Theatre, Concert Touring & Events, and Television (named ‘Live Broadcast’ in the USA).
Nominations for the 2018 UK Awards have reached record levels. KOI-USA has hit the ground running and is gaining momentum as the deadline draws near.
“The vision for KOI has always been to champion both the craft of lighting and video design and the creativity of the designers,” said Pio Nahum, CEO of headline sponsor Claypaky. “In the UK, and across Europe, I believe KOI has dramatically raised awareness and appreciation of lighting and video design and continues to do so. We’re thrilled that we are now able to bring this to the USA.
“Thank you to the industry for your overwhelming support for KOI on both sides of the Atlantic.”
In the run-up to the 2018 ceremony, Britain’s ‘longest-serving theatre critic’ Michael Billington, who writes for the Guardian and is a KOI-UK Theatre judge, penned an article highlighting his new-found appreciation of how “lighting design can enhance, enrich, and even explain” our experience of a show or performance.
Previous KOI winners have included Patrick Woodroffe and Adam Bassett of Woodroffe Bassett Design, Fabiana Piccioli, David Hersey, and Lucy Carter. Winning a KOI Award has fuelled success for younger recipients, who are starting out on their careers, and given credit where it’s due to those who have been pushing creativity and professionalism forward for years.
This year’s shortlisted lighting and video designers can be found on the KOI website.
The judging process has always been a key part of the KOI Awards’ integrity. Nominations are submitted through the KOI-UK and KOI-USA websites, and each category’s nominees are evaluated by an independent panel of expert judges. The judges exhaustively review the shows and supporting materials, narrowing the field to a final shortlist of three designers per award and, finally, agreeing on the winner. Both ceremonies also present a Lifetime Recognition Award.
For KOI, critic and broadcaster David Benedict chairs the Theatre panel, lighting director and chair of the Society of Television Lighting and Design (STLD) Stuart Gain chairs the Television panel, while Jess Allan, owner of Productionomics, chairs the Concert Touring & Events panel.
The UK ceremony was hosted by lighting designer and KOI co-founder Durham Marenghi, with entertainment courtesy of BBC Comedy’s ‘mind-reader’ magician, Chris Cox.
David Johnson, managing director of LDI, compèred the USA Awards.
