KCACTF Award for Sound Design Excellence

Intoduction and Purpose

The purpose of the KCACTF Award for Sound Design Excellence is to provide student designers with feedback from professionals working in the field; to give outstanding student designers national recognition; and to provide the opportunity for student designers to attend the national festival at the Kennedy Center.

The KCACTF Sound Design award is focused on the ideas behind, and approach to, a design that supports a production, and not on the equipment in the original venue. 

The KCACTF Sound Design award is National-eligible, meaning the participants may be selected to advance to the National KCACTF Festival in April.

Who Is Eligible

Students who have designed sound for a KCACTF associate or participating entry are eligible for the KCACTF Award for Sound Design Excellence. Schools should include names and emails of student designers on the Production Entry Form submitted to KCACTF when entering a production as an associate or participating entry.

Nomination Process

A respondent (or respondents) will be assigned to view a production once a school has registered it as an associate or participating entry. After viewing the production, the KCACTF respondent will inform the production's director and the regional chair of any student design nominees from the production they have viewed. After such nomination, the regional design & technology chair will invite the student designer/s to the regional festival. Nominations from any faculty member from the entry's school may also make a nomination directly to the regional design and technology chair.

Student designers of Participating Production entries may be nominated to attend the regional festival as regional Barbizon nominees regardless of whether the production itself is selected for the regional festival.

It is not mandatory for nominated designers to attend the Regional Festival. Designs may be sent to the festival hosts. Mailed designs will be displayed and responded to, time permitting. In order to be eligible for nomination to the national KCACTF Sound Design Awards, however, Regional nominees must attend the regional festival and display their designs.

The Regional Festival

This information is specific to Region III.

Nominees will be asked to prepare a display showing their design at the Regional Festival. KCACTF Sound Design nominees should include the following:

• At least two representative production photographs, in color, labeled as to scene/locale, and including appropriate identification of an accompanying sound cue and/or effect.  At least one photograph should illustrate the entire setting and show the world for which the sound was created.
• Visual materials which serve to show research and any other sources of inspiration that demonstrate the designers’ process and evolution. 
• A one-page statement of the design approach to the production; included separately from other materials. 
• Script w/cues and notes from meetings with the director.
• List sound choices with pertinent recording information, artists, recording dates and background.
• If sound cues are engineered by the designer, explanation of 
  methods and types of equipment would be helpful for the respondents to understand the student’s design process. NOTE: Process can be best documented by illustrating how cues were built. Samples of layering one effect upon another can easily communicate procedure.
• Paperwork (such as sound plot, board hook-up, speaker placement, etc., illustrating how the design was implemented) is critical. All drawing and schedules should be prominently displayed.
• Sound effects may have been recorded using any medium: CDs, minidiscs, etc.
• CD Players will be available at the Festival to allow respondents and guests to listen to the deisgn. To facilitate this, designers should bring copies of sound burned onto CD's. Name and phone number of designer should be included on both the disc and the disc case.

For an explanation of how to mount and present these materials, please visit Region III Exhibit Format page >>

The designer is responsible for developing a suitable method of shipping display materials to and from the regional festival. It is strongly recommended that students bring their materials in person to the design exposition space at the specifically scheduled time for installation of all exposition materials (see top of page). Those who cannot bring materials in person may send materials to the festival host. The designer is responsible for providing the appropriate mailing and insurance charges.

At the Regional Festival, guest designers will respond to the work of all regional KCACTF Sound nominees in a session open to the public. Designs will be appraised on the basis of quality, effectiveness, and originality. One regional KCACTF Sound finalist will be selected. The selection of national Barbizon finalists shall be made by the guest design respondents; the selection process may include other guest respondents as determined by the regional design & technology chair.

The regional finalist will then be invited to show his or her display at the National KCACTF Festival in Washington DC as representatives of the region.

The National Festival

KCACTF will provide national finalists with travel, shared hotel accommodations and per diem for the period of the KCACTF national festival in Washington DC (normally Tuesday through Saturday). Regional Finalists will be asked to display their designs at the Festival. A national winner will be selected from the Regional KCACTF Sound Design Excellence finalists by the designated design respondent/s during the national festival.

The national sound design winner will be awarded a design fellowship at the O'Neill National Playwrights' Conference, where they will serve as a design assistant to the resident designer; the award includes travel, housing, and tuition waiver to the month-long summer program.

Attendance at the national festival is not mandatory; however, the KCACTF Sound Design Excellence Award is determined by a student's work and participation in workshops and master classes while at the national festival.

If regional KCACTF Sound finalists are not able to attend the National Festival, they may send their design. Finalists are responsible for shipping their design to and from the national festival, including providing the appropriate mailing and insurance charges.

Faculty mentors are not able to observe workshops or master classes held during the national festival week.

Regional KCACTF Sound finalists are welcome to bring their portfolio to the national festival at the Kennedy Center. National design respondents may be available, time permitting, to examine portfolios.