Forging your own path: A perspective on success in the modern industry

Session details:

When I was a university student back in the early 2000s, my professors still adhered to the notion that you could leave theatre school and instantly start making a living in your chosen discipline. As a lighting designer this meant I would be able to make a successful and sustainable living by only working as a lighting designer which proved itself to be untrue almost immediately.

Gone are the days of leaving higher education and instantly assending to the ranks of esteemed-in-demand designer. Perhaps those days existed for a number of legacy practitioners, but the theater and the entertainment industry as a whole is a very different place in 2025.

So what IS the path to success these days, and what does that look like?

How we define success in our chosen discipline is ultimately up to the individual, but is that safe? Is that secure? Is that guarenteed? Ultimately my students want to know, will they be able to survive and will they be happy?

This session aims to put to rest the notion that there is only ONE RIGHT PATH forward in our industry with the hope of emboldening early career practitioners and university students that a successful career in entertainment is not only possible but achievable.