KOI-USA 2018 Announces Judging Panel for Live for Broadcast Category

	The Live for Broadcast judging panel for KOI-USA. Clockwise from top left: Jeff Ravitz, Dennis Size, Amy Tinkham, Alana Billingsley, Cameron Barnett, and Michael Appel.

The Knight of Illumination Awards USA (KOI-USA) celebrates the achievements of international show lighting and video designers for their work in the United States, and is pleased to announce the judging panel for the Live for Broadcast category.

Panel chair Jeff Ravitz comments, "I'm very lucky to have been able to assemble a stellar panel of judges. I wanted a well-rounded mix of experienced eyes working with me to select this year's KOI-USA Live for Broadcast Award recipients, and well-rounded they are."

KOI-USA Full Live for Broadcast panel:

* Jeff Ravitz -- lighting designer and chair of the judging panel who has turned innumerable live performances into broadcast ready television shows, including for Bruce Springsteen, Lollapalooza festival, and Canadian pop star Justin Bieber
* Amy Tinkham -- creative director, producer, and writer, Tinkham has previously worked as a choreographer for artists including Madonna, Aerosmith, and Earth Wind and Fire, and has directed events including America's Got Talent Live in Las Vegas
* Dennis Size -- lighting designer and vice president of design team Lighting Design Group, Size spent 18 years as senior lighting director for Disney/ABC TV Network lighting everything from soap operas to variety shows
* Cameron Barnett -- director of photography, Barnett has worked as extensively as DOP primarily in large sensor capture in the UK, USA, and Australia on shows like The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Kevin Hart's What Now stand up special, and was the film consultant on Beyonce's US tour
* Alana Billingsley -- Emmy Award-winning art director with more than ten years experience on high profile live television events, Billingsley has worked on The Grammy Awards, The CMA Awards, The Oscars, and one Democratic National Convention
* Michael Appel -- lighting director and programmer whose selected credits include Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards, Christmas in Rockefeller Center (NBC), and In Performance at The White House (PBS). Appel has also programmed two tours for Bruce Springsteen, and under his company banner MADesign, worked with Gwen Stefani at The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for NBC, Mary Kay Leadership Conference, and the Maserati Levante Trofeo launch

"I'm very honored to have been invited as chair of the Live for Broadcast judging panel. I take it as a serious responsibility to be part of this highly-respected award process," says Ravitz.

Barnett adds: "Lighting and video design allow the audience entry into a world that the designer creates, an illusion that suspends time and space. It's magic that can only be created when these disciplines are at their best."

Nominations for the first Knight of Illumination Awards USA are open until July 31 and can be made for all three categories on the Knight of Illumination USA website at the URL below.

The panels' chosen winners will be unveiled at the 2018 ceremony and gala dinner at The Foundry, SLS Hotel, Las Vegas on October 20.