News and Events
Sound design trade association formed
17th Aug 2011
The Association of Sound Designers will officially launch next month and is being created to raise the profile of sound design, promote good practice in the industry and provide members with advice on contracts, taxes and working abroad.
Whereas lighting designers have had their own trade association for 30 years, sound designers have lacked a support network.
The ASD will also offer training for sound designers to develop their skills and allow members to share details of their pay, so they can negotiate better rates in future.
Fry, who won an Olivier Award in 2007 for Waves at the National Theatre, and another in 2009 for the National Theatre of Scotland�s Blackwatch, has been elected chairman of the new trade association.
He told The Stage: �The ASD will [be] providing support not just for full-time sound designers but also to the many people who do it more sporadically. We can share our experiences and knowledge with each other to enable us to do our jobs better. Sound design is a field that has become increasingly important in theatre-making in recent years and the lack of a professional association representing it has been conspicuous.�
Fry, who most recently worked on Richard III at the Old Vic, said the idea for a trade body for sound designers had been �brewing in the minds of many sound designers for years�.
Because of this, in 2009, Gregg Fisher, lecturer in sound design at Central School of Speech and Drama, organised some meetings to discuss what a trade association might offer to sound designers. Out of this, a steering committee was formed looking at what the body should do and how it might exist.
An open letter was then sent to all sound designers in the UK, followed by a meeting held in December last year attended by more than 60 sound designers. Since then, a board has been elected and a constitution for the group drawn up. The body has also received support and advice from the Association of Lighting Directors.
The Association of Sound Designers will officially launch next month at the PLASA show, after which it will start accepting members.
Source: The Stage
