In Memoriam: Andy Ciddor

	Andy Ciddor

Andy Ciddor, the Australian technician, educator, and globally published journalist died on March 30 after taking advantage of Tasmania's Voluntary Assisted Dying program to end his struggle with stage-four bile duct cancer.

His five-decade career began in high school, out of frustration at the state of a school production; his career spanned theatre, broadcast, production, teaching, consulting, writing, and editing -- sharing his passion and mentoring the next generation of designers and technicians. He was followed into the industry by his brothers Jonathan and Braham and, most recently, his daughter Rivka.

From working at the Melbourne-based television station GTV9 on iconic productions like Hey Hey It's Saturday, he moved to Perth to join STW9 where he earned the title "Captain Kilowatt." His teaching career began at the WA Academy of Performing Arts where he developed the theatre arts lighting and sound course into a well-regarded and independent program. Passionate about the industry and a huge advocate for it, he was also one of the founders of the Australian Lighting Industry Association (ALIA), an active member of the Australia Cinematographers Society, and sat on and contributed to standards committees to ensure the industry was being fairly represented.

The last few decades have seen him consulting and writing about his passions and contributing to industry publications around the world. (In the US, he was a frequent contributor to Lighting Dimensions.) Ciddor was the founding editor of the magazine AV Technology, which he also ran for over seven years. His technical writing credits include whitepapers, tutorials, technical and product manuals, web content, and training materials across a huge range of topics and technologies. Most recently he edited the CTS Certified Technology textbooks for McGraw-Hill and AVIXA including the Technology Specialist Exam Guide, Certified Technology Specialist-Installation Exam Guide, Second Edition, and the CTS-D Certified Technology Specialist-Design Exam Guide, Second Edition.

Ciddor was a champion for sustainability and change and developed the milliWatts program -- supporting the industry to reduce the impact that technology has on the planet with simple, careful, but significant changes to everyday work protocols.

Ciddor is survived by his partner Val, children Rivka, Lachlan, Priscila, Rhian, and Greg, and grandsons Atticus and Elijah.

A secular celebration of Ciddor will be held on Sunday, May 12 from 2pm at St Martins Theatre in South Yarra.