Name: Steven Young
Title: Principal Lighting Designer
Years Worked at VT: Since 2007!
Favorite Project: This is a Sophie’s Choice question! I love them all. I’ve always loved Dragons Wild Shooting at Lotte World, and Top of the Rock in New York.
Funniest or most memorable memory at Visual Terrain: Eighteen years means a lot of memories. Celebrating our former general manager’s becoming a US citizen, flying kites in the lot in front of our offices, performing a mockup at the phantom of the opera soundstage, and trying to cook steak on a dangerously hot stone in Frankfurt.
Favorite Aspect of Lighting Design: The transformation. Construction work lights turning to the final installed lighting. I love that moment when anything is possible and the lights turn on and it looks exactly like how you had imagined it would look.It’s just the best feeling ever.
What/Who Inspires You: I have to get out of the house. I love a bustling sidewalk in a busy city, it recharges me and fills me with ideas. It gets me out of my head and able to receive new thoughts and design ideas.
Fun Fact About Yourself that No One Knows: I know where George Burns is buried. Not in an organized crime way, but in a “I visit cemeteries and find where famous people are buried” way. I have a list of cemeteries I want to visit and check them off!
What is your favorite part about being a lighting designer? Meeting people and learning what makes them tick. I’ve met SO many people over the 18 years – from celebrities to construction workers, and I always learn something remarkable that surprises me. Their families, their backgrounds, it all colors the way they see the world and what they bring to each project.