Director of Photography Maya Salganek (left) and Director/Writer Kade Mendelowitz frame a shot of “The Messenger”.

For as long as I can remember I have created. As a child I drew pictures in pencil in great detail. As a teenager I studied photography, videography and printing techniques. In my twenties I studied lighting design for theatre, as well as sound, stagecraft and scenography. In the early 1990’s I was writing a book about lighting design when I attended a one-hour seminar at a USITT (United States Institute of Theatre Technology) conference, where I was introduced to multimedia authoring – and I haven’t been the same since. I learned “this is how I want to teach people how to light!” I then took courses in multimedia development and Photoshop, then taught myself about website design, graphics, audio and more. I have developed many diverse skills – all of which come into play as a multimedia developer.

Theatre is a collaborative art. As an award-winning lighting designer, I feel that I work well as part of a team, or by myself. I have designed many standard theatrical shows including Barking Sharks for FDA (Fairbanks Drama Association), dance presentations (Nutcracker, Cinderella, Snow White and others with the Northstar Ballet), served as Stage Manager for the Mayor of Fairbanks September 11 memoriam, and musicals like Les Miserables and Guys and Dolls for FLOT (Fairbanks Light Opera Theatre). I have also pushed technical limits to assist community groups by designing a “rain wagon” for FLOT’s Singin’ in the Rain (unlike any I could find while researching other productions), designed the set for KTVF (the NBC affiliate television station) news show, and have designed the lighting for numerous Ice Carving events, including the US Ice Carving Olympic Trials. For a production of Twilight Los Angeles, a show based around the events of the Rodney King trial and riots, I was flown down to Ohio to design the multimedia projections – as I am recognized as a leader in this field.

I am a very creative, hard-working individual who is meticulously organized and extremely detail oriented. I believe entertainment should reflect the environment and circumstances going on in the world today, and using dramatic structure is the most identifiable way for an audience to see other’s perspectives. I feel people want to be engaged, not just entertained, in their environment, and that we are most effective and immersed when as many of our senses as possible are being stimulated.

With my immersion into the ever-expanding world of multimedia, I found my true art form; a collaboration of many disciplines. I have always pined for a way to personally include / merge all of my artistic skills into a single path; and with multimedia, that is what its very essence demands. I love exploring this true calling as well as my continued development as a lighting and audio designer. I bring this excitement and collaborative approach which I bring in to my classes in an effort to educate students about my field, and how it works and coexists with other areas to make a complete production.