Rising Stars: Meet Cad Apostol of Burbank

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cad Apostol.

Hi Cad, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I love telling this story because I stumbled upon my field, lighting design, by complete accident! I come from a very Filipino family, and that means there are only two real paths in life: doctor or nurse. I never really had a choice in a lot of what I could do in school, and they kept a close eye on me at all times so I kind of floated through life–like everything I did was for someone else and never for me (which is something I am still recovering from). It all changed when I took a Creative Writing class in my last year of high school, which was really the first time and place where I was allowed to express myself. I applied to two colleges for two different majors: Biology and Theatre. At the time, I had thought Theatre and film were the same field because I didn’t bother to do research and you see movies in theaters so they must be the same field, right? I got into both but chose Theatre, and luckily, I was NOT disowned. I floated through my program until I stumbled upon the Scenic Design program, then a lighting class where I started programming on a lighting console, and I fell in love. So, in my undergrad, while it was a general Theatre program, I specialized in Lighting Design. Then, I graduated into a pandemic, pursued graduate school in the meantime since I had wanted to teach in the far future (and also used it as an opportunity to shift into Architectural Lighting Design), and I am where I am now.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Looking back, it’s hard to remember the bumps since those were things I really try to phase out of my memory, ha! It definitely has not been easy. I pushed myself physically, mentally and emotionally, in a way that, looking back, may not have been the healthiest choice to make. I was always a nervous person, which is something I work on, and I definitely got in my own way. Also, Lighting Design, especially in Theatrical Lighting, is a male-dominated field so navigating that as someone who was born as a woman, biologically, is extremely challenging, to say the least. Being in the arts also doesn’t really provide a stable income, which is something I struggled with before I decided to shift into Architectural/Themed Lighting where you work for a company. These things really taught me about my limits and where my strengths and weaknesses are as a designer and as a human being.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As of right now, I work in Themed Entertainment/Architecture as a Lighting Designer. While I was in graduate school, I really tried to broaden my horizons to try and see what Lighting can offer me and even found myself in a water feature company called WET Design through one of the dance shows I had lit. I feel like my curiosity and willingness to take creative risks for the sake of just exploring and finding out is what makes me, me. I remember being at the Hemsley Portfolio Review in my last year of grad school sitting in front of Ken Billington (one of the greatest and most prolific lighting designers of all time), who was listening to my story and looking over my resume. He had said something I would never forget, and that was: “You’ll find your way to wherever you want to go” since he had seen my background and how I jumped to try one thing after another. I cling to that whenever things get hard, and I want other people to believe that too. Don’t be afraid to explore!

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Architectural Lighting is a fairly new industry. It has walked side by side with the Theatrical Lighting industry and they’ve pulled talent from one another more often than one would think. I am very excited for the future. I am excited for more schools to offer Architectural Lighting as a course and for the practice to become more and more standardized. I am excited for the continued collaboration between the Architectural and Theatrical lighting designers to make the world a brighter place to be (without violating any Dark Sky regulations of course).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cad.lighting
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cadapostol/
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/cad-apostol-a254391a1

Image Credits
Jocelyn Soriano, Lee Grumbs, Jules Hyun, Alejandro Caminos, Cad Apostol