Ben Pilat

Assistant Professor of Theatre

Fine Arts Division, Seaver College

AFC

Biography

Ben Pilat is a lighting designer and educator with a wide range of experiences and design credits. Beginning in 2009, he began work as the Resident Lighting Designer and Lighting Supervisor for the Los Angeles Ballet where he has created designs for nearly a dozen world-premiere ballets and supervised existing lighting designs for dozens more.

Before joining the Pepperdine faculty, Ben worked as an independent lighting designer in New York City. He was previously the Resident Lighting Designer for The Attic Theater Company and has recently designed for Juilliard, Yale, Commonwealth Opera, and Manhattan Theatre Source. Assistant and Associate design credits include the Broadway productions of Master Class and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, as well as major television studio installations.

Ben is drawn to light as a designer because of the power it has to transform time and space, enriching the theatrical experience. His goals in theatrical design and teaching are to create images that linger in the mind, enhance natural beauty, and illuminate thought-provoking ideas.

Education

MFA, Lighting Design, Boston University, 2008
BFA, Theatre, Emporia State University, 2005

Awards

Member, United Scenic Artists
Member, United States Institute for Theatre Technology
Rising Star Award: United States Institute of Theatre Technology, 2010
Outstanding Recent Graduate (past 10 years) given by Emporia State University, 2010
Barbizon Lighting Design Award: The United States Institute of Theatre Technology, 2009