Andy Ciddor’s passionate and committed career in technology, production and live performance of over five decades came to an end on March 30th after taking advantage of Tasmania’s Voluntary Assisted Dying program to end his struggle with stage-four bile duct cancer.
Starting as many of us do 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 GTV9 on iconic productions like Hey Hey It’s Saturday and various tonight shows, he moved to Perth to join STW9 where he earned the title ‘Captain Kilowatt’. Andy’s teaching career began at the WA Academy of Performing Arts where he took the Theatre Arts Lighting and Sound course and developed 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.
His contributions to the entertainment industry have been profound.
The last few decades have seen him consulting and writing about his passions, contributing to industry publications around the world. Andy was the founding editor of the AV Technology magazine, 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.
Andy 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 what we do every day.
Andy is survived by his partner Val, children Rivka, Lachlan and Priscila, Rhian and Greg and grandsons Atticus and Elijah.
A secular celebration of Andy will be held on Sunday, May 12th from 2pm at St Martins Theatre in South Yarra.
Below are a few testaments from colleagues and friends. Feel free to add yours in the comments.
“I remember when I was thinking about going to WAAPA and he told me to trust myself and give it a go. The amount of time spent having great conversations via the ALIA forums, he always had time for everyone. The forums opened up the world of lighting to this little tassie guy.”
David Szoka
Andy came to Tasmania and was involved with the 10 Days On The Island Festival, in 2002 he came into contact with (now defunct) Production Works at the Gone South Festival, soon after he joined PW and we became colleagues and worked together for a number of years.
Andy was an incredible asset, and full of wisdom and knowledge, some of it he happily volunteered was useless but always interesting nonetheless!
Such as Q: what lamp base does a Par 64 use? A: An extended mogul end prong!
He was always great to have on the team to fight the good fight against officious types who didn’t understand the standards etc (such as Test & Tag of which he had been on the committee!)
Post PW! In my own business, Andy continued to be a mentor, generous with his time and knowledge, always up for a chat whether at the local post office or when I just encountered something bizarre!
Whatever challenges he took on from TV and stage lighting, Dynalite, manual writer, magazine editor, computer servers and phone systems, tutor and educator, he conquered them all.
Andy Ciddor was kind, it was an honour to regard him as a friend. I wish we had the opportunity for more extended chats and I’ll always regret I never got to share more of my work with him. He is a great loss to our industry. It may be an easy pun, but it’s true the world is darker without Andy Ciddor lighting it up.
Gareth Keys
My personal lifetime experiences with Andy began in my last years of high school when he counseled me into continuing my education by attending Perth Tech, a decision he probably regretted frequently. I had the opportunity to serve on ALIA as secretary and once again saw his passion for a professionally recognized career path in entertainment lighting and a fierce determination to not allow government regulation to be detrimental to the industry. For me, he was a coach, mentor, friend, and father figure, someone I should have said thank you to more than I did. I will carry gratitude in my heart for a man who set me on my path and helped me in times of need.
His legacy is huge, and all of us in the entertainment industry owe him a debt of gratitude and acknowledgment of his positive ongoing commitment and influence.
Joseph Mercurio
Andy was one of the friendliest guys of his generation in our industry. He was always happy to stop and have a chat whenever our paths crossed. Andy had a genuine passion for teaching others and improving the industry and the way we do things using technology. The world needs more Andys!
Jeff Shoesmith
Andy was a true gentleman in an industry where ego usually rules. He was more interested in sharing with and teaching others than seeking glory. In the twenty plus years I have known him, he has assisted the industry in many ways. From working on the ‘Tag&Test’ standard where he saved us all from the original unworkable draft, to helping establish ALIA with Cat as well as providing many great articles and teaching aids, Andy was always putting back in to the industry he loved so much. Thanks Andy.
Richie Mickan
Andy came from a strong lighting family, although he preferred not to talk about it. We bonded initially swapping stories about GTV 9 and his place on the GTV Lighting Memorial brick wall in the Studio 9 Lighting Cage. His was the highest on the wall.
We became friends, colleagues, committee buddies and professional sounding boards. When he settled in the Apple Isle, I tried to catch up with him every time I was down there which wasn’t frequent enough. He reminded me often, that one of his roles in the Lighting industry to paraphrase Don Chip’s (Liberal defector and creator of the Australian Democrats) was to ‘keep the bastards honest’. He certainly did that.
His list of achievements is long and varied but he was a constant advocate for the advancement of technology and ensuring the future of this great industry was in good hands. To me, he was the guy who invented the Kilowatt Company stencils (the younger members will need to look that up) and was my source of ‘Lighting Wykapeadia’ before it ever existed. I owe much of my knowledge to late-night conversations.
We as an industry don’t celebrate our pioneers very well (we should fix that), but Andy was one of them – a pioneer, a silent achiever and a huge supporter of our industry. Everyone who works in our industry today would be experiencing the benefit of Andy’s backroom work over the years.
RIP Andy, you ended your life the way you ran it…..by the balls.
Rohan Thornton
Andy was someone whose name I knew a long time before I met him. When I finally did meet him I found him to be incredibly inquisitive, genuine and humble. Although our paths only crossed briefly, Andy left an indelible impression on me.
Paul Rigby
