Christian Epps
Christian Epps’ career as a lighting designer has spanned more than two decades covering the range from major motion pictures, broadcast television, live theater, music videos and special events. A few of Christian’s television highlights include: “President Clinton: Live at the White House,” “United Jewish Communities host Al Gore,” 1996 Centennial Olympic Games (competition and press areas), for TNT; "The Black Movie Awards," for HBO; John Leguizamo’s “Freak” (on Broadway), for Turner Broadcasting Systems; “Dinner & A Movie” and “Man-Made Movie”, "The Source Awards", "The Stellar Awards", for Black Entertainment Television: "Comic View” and “106 & Park”, for Showtime Jamie Foxx's "Laffapalooza", "The Tom Joyner Show". On film, Christian’s passion for dramatic lighting has been put to use with notable directors including Spike Lee, Hype Williams, and Nick Castle. Spike Lee selected Christian for ‘Mo Better Blues’ to bring the feel of a live stage event to the big screen. In the fast paced music video format he’s contributed his design work to such artists as: Michael Jackson, P. Diddy, Notorious B.I.G., R. Kelly, Whitney Houston, Queen Latifah, Branford Marsalis, Me'Shell N’degeocello, TLC, The Indigo Girls, Boyz II Men, and many, many more. Live events and theatre have provided an opportunity for Mr. Epps to help audiences make dramatic, emotional connections to the production. Christian has created spectacular designs for “The American Black Film Festival”, “The St. Lucia Jazz Festival”. The Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, Jubilation, the Indiana Repertory Company and The Williamstown Theatre Festival.
He’s worked on productions from “Fiddler on the Roof,” to “Tambourines to Glory.” Christian’s work in the theatre has been recognized by the 2007 LA Drama Critics' Circle Career Achievement Award, the ’09 Backstage West Award, and most recently, the ’09 NAACP Theatre Award. He has been commissioned to work with such global powerhouses as Nike, IBM, Sprite, McDonald’s, Buena Vista Television, GE Capitol, Home Depot, and Panasonic. Christian is honored that his work has been showcased in legendary venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kodak Theater, The Kennedy Center, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Apollo Theatre and The White House. Christian’s work has been seen across the United States as well as eight countries and three continents.
Christian grew up on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He began his career in creative lighting design volunteering in high school. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Technical Theatre: Lighting and Scenery, from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Christian was awarded a scholarship in Lighting Design at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.