Average LD salary

Your paid a lump sum gig to gig. Salaried lighting designers do not exist, at least not that often in the theatre world. Your paid a sum that does not have taxes, social security, medicare, or whatever other charges are taken out of your paycheck. Added to that, your not getting any benefits or retirement. You might bring in 50k a year if you are good, but that gets eaten up quick come tax time. Added to that, you have the overhead of buying a computer, paying an accountant, keeping software up to date, incidental travel expenses, paying an assistant if needed, keeping an apartment that you will never see, or whatever else you can think of.

Most gigs can pay from 100 to 5,000 per show. Usually it takes about a 2 weeks worth of time to put up a show. That time can be spread over months, but your going to be spending at least 14 days working on the show from pre-production to opening. That can change depending on the theatre and the caliber of the show. Broadway LD's still do 10-15 shows per year.

To "make it" as an LD, most people want to be doing at least 2 shows a month, if not 3. In order to pull that off you not only need to be working at multiple theatres but also be working in multiple cities.

Its a hard road to get started at. If you can get your USA829 card it get a bit easier and the money gets better. Still though, its a hard road to go up. Working as an assistant in between gigs for other designers is the way to get started.

So, as far as a salary goes... there is no way to predertermine it. Of all of my freinds that are soley designers in NYC, none of them are only doing that. One has a temp job in an office, another does the waiter thing.

Because LD's can work so many shows a year, they are less in demand then scenic and costume designers. A costume designer or scenic designer has a good year if they do 5 or 6 shows. They are paid much more but they are usually on site for much longer.

If you want to do the M.E and LD thing all rolled into one that opens a few doors for you at smaller companies. That can also close doors for you later on. It has been said that when you move to NYC you have two choice, your either a designer or a technician and once you pick one don't look back. You can argue that one however you want, but I am just throwing it out there.
 
It's kind of difficult to give an accurate "average" for a career that can take you to maaaany different areas. The range is going to be anywhere from a few thousand to several hundred thousand. It might be easier if you pick an area that you think you would like to pursue. Do you want be a lighting design teacher in a High School? or College? or do you want to me a resident designer in regional theater? Freelancer? Off-Off and Off-Broadway? Broadway? or do you want to do corporate and event stuff? or be a big time concert designer like the likes of Willie Williams?
 
I would love to be a concert LD/ME if I could make enough money to get by, but I would be happy in any field that you listed, xander. Thanks for that insight.
 
Don't overlook community theatres either, some are horrible, some are amazing. But at the very least they'll give you time to expiriment. It's not a bad start, especially if you're bored. I've made some good contacts with some that I've worked for, glad I did because those come in handy later.
 
There's a lot of money to be had in the music and corporate areas, far more than theater. It is also a bit of a different skill set. Not to say that the properties of light change, but the way you go about it can be pretty different, i.e. lots more movers, busking vs cue stack, etc. I don't have any experience in concert lighting, but I am sure there are some good CBers out there that may have some insight.

-Tim
 
I went back and forth on whether to include community theater or not in the (not intended to be extensive) list, but I finally settled on not because working in community theater isn't really a career. I am not trying to be demeaning in any way. Community theater can be great and plays a crucial role in the business/communities. The fact is though, most people working in community theater are either getting their career started, or do it voluntarily. That is what community theater is.

end tangent
But, if theater is what you want to pursue, community theater is a great place to get started.
 
Which is why I brought it up, I'm assuming the OP is still in highschool. It's not meant to be a career generally, but as I meant, and as you said, it's not a bad place to start.
 
Tim,
Your post has gotten me curious. I attended a Rush concert about a year ago, and the lighting was very much like it is on the DVD. It looks like it was done with cue stacks. How much of concert lighting is busking and how much is actual cue stacks?
 
Arez said:
Which is why I brought it up, I'm assuming the OP is still in highschool. It's not meant to be a career generally, but as I meant, and as you said, it's not a bad place to start.
Click to expand...

I am working at a community theatre right now. Granted, we have 3 people full time and pay our SM's, Directors, and Designers. I am making a pretty good living here and getting benefits and retirement. It is not the norm for a community theatre, but it works. This job allows me to still go do summer work and pick up work at other places while still pulling in a steady pay check and keeping up benefits for myself and my wife.

Anymore, a gig is a gig. If you are working and have benefits and consistent hours its hard to leave that. There are way too many people out of work right now to be choosy.
 
Depends on the concert.
 
All this talk about the issue of benefits, if only America had a public healthcare option........:twisted:
 
Yes, I am a sophomore in high school. As for the seven years of college, well, nobody ever said it was going to be easy, but seven years? That surprised me. I knew I would at least want a bachelor's degree, but I did not know that the education for working in this industry would extend past that. What kind of degree should I get?
 
Footer said:
I am working at a community theatre right now. Granted, we have 3 people full time and pay our SM's, Directors, and Designers. I am making a pretty good living here and getting benefits and retirement. It is not the norm for a community theatre, but it works. This job allows me to still go do summer work and pick up work at other places while still pulling in a steady pay check and keeping up benefits for myself and my wife.

Anymore, a gig is a gig. If you are working and have benefits and consistent hours its hard to leave that. There are way too many people out of work right now to be choosy.
Click to expand...

Which is why I emphasized generally, your company, and the handful of others like it are great careers. However, they are a different breed of community theatre, as you said.
 
derekleffew said:
According to the USA829 LORT rate schedule, minimum design fee per show varies from $2458-$5776 depending on the size of the company. It is unlikely that many, if any, are doing more than ten shows per year. See also the article from Live Design: You Can't Afford To Be A Lighting Designer.
Click to expand...

If you are USA and working LORT houses 10 shows is a lot. If you are working smaller theatres or summerstock, you need to do a lot more to pull it off. I know one guy in Kansas City that does nearly every dinner theatre and summerstock in a 200 mile radius to Kansas city.
 
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