Vale Andy Ciddor

So long, and thanks for all the fish

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.