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Lighting Designer (LD) working in SoHo, Manhattan
Manhattan · 10012

LightingDesigner.

InSoHo.

Vetted Lighting Designer (LD)s with NYC venue references, booked through the operating system behind MSG, UBS Arena, Barclays, Capitale, Newark Symphony. From $800/day. Pre-auth, GPS-verified hours, Stripe Connect direct deposit.

$800
from / day
6+
SoHo venues we work
500ft
geofence check-in
4.8★
avg crew rating
Stripe Connect verified
GPS-locked check-in
Direct deposit payouts
Vetted ELITE crew

The brief

Vetted lds, hired the way pros actually work.

A great lighting designer turns a stage into a moment. In SoHo (Manhattan), BookACrew's LD roster includes designers who've programmed for arena tours, Off-Broadway shows, NYC fashion weeks, corporate flagship events at Cipriani and Cipriani-tier venues, and major brand activations. Every LD has been vetted on console fluency, design intuition, and on-the-day reliability.

Boutique brand activation, fashion week pop-ups, intimate corporate events. SoHo venues are smaller (under 500 capacity typical) but premium-positioned — brands pay a premium to host here.

Estimate

What this ld will run you

Live cost estimate based on SoHo market rate. Adjust hours to see your number.

8 hrs
2hHalf-day floor (5h)Full-day cap (10h)16h

Estimated total

$1,100
per shift

Full-day rate (8 hrs): $1,100

Pre-auth holds this amount at booking. Stripe captures only the GPS-verified hours after checkout. You never pay for hours the crew didn't work.

What you're hiring for

What a Lighting Designer
actually does on a SoHo gig.

Every ld on our roster has been screened against these core responsibilities. The profile shows years of experience, tier, average rating, and on-time rate before you confirm.

Design the lighting look for each moment of the show — colors, intensity, movement, focus

Program cues into the lighting console (grandMA3, Hog 4, Eos)

Run the console live during the show, calling or busking cues

Coordinate with the LDir, video designer, and stage manager on visual story

Plot fixtures during pre-pro, coordinate hangs with riggers, and focus during sound check

Maintain show files and revise looks between performances

Lighting Designer (LD) on-site in SoHo

Console fluency

The gear they walk in already knowing.

When you book a ld through BookACrew in SoHo, you're getting someone who already knows the gear NYC venues run. This is the baseline fluency every profile in our roster meets. ELITE-tier goes deeper.

  • MA Lighting grandMA3 (and MA2)
  • Hog 4 / 4PC
  • ETC Eos family
  • Capture / WYSIWYG / Vectorworks Spotlight pre-vis
  • DMX network topology + Art-Net / sACN
  • Color theory + intelligent fixture programming

SoHo in the field

Real ld work.

From the booking dashboard

The people
who already book here.

I posted a last-minute ld call for a SoHo corporate dinner at 10pm and had three vetted applicants by midnight. The one I picked checked in at the dock on time, knew the venue cold, and the bill was exactly what the dashboard said it would be. That doesn't happen with phone-tree agencies.

Production manager
Manhattan-based corporate event company

We run two shows a week in this neighborhood and the same ld keeps applying. After three repeat bookings he hit ELITE and now he's our first choice. Saves me an hour of vetting per gig.

Owner
NYC AV rental house

SoHo venues

The rooms the crew already knows.

Vetted on local venue references. They show up knowing the dock, the elevator quirks, the union steward's name, and how long the room takes to ring out.

  • Public Hotel
  • 11 Howard
  • SoHo Grand
  • Spring Studios
  • ZeroSpace
  • The Ned NoMad

Load-in intel

What to expect in SoHo

Narrow cobblestone streets + cast-iron building landmarking = no street parking, freight elevator only, strict noise rules. Plan load-in around delivery windows (typically 7-11am).

Transit

Spring St (6), Prince St (R/W), Broadway-Lafayette (B/D/F/M), Canal (J/Z/N/Q/R/W/6).

Nearest airport · LGA (10 mi), JFK (15 mi), EWR (13 mi)

Event types we staff here

Concert / festivalCorporate keynote / general sessionGala / award showTheater / danceFashion showBrand activation / immersiveWedding (high-end production)

Frequently asked

Questions about hiring
a ld in SoHo.

What's the difference between an LD and a lighting tech in SoHo?+

The LD designs the show — colors, looks, cues, story. The lighting tech (LX1, LX2) executes the design — hang, focus, troubleshoot fixtures. For most SoHo venues, you need one LD plus 2-4 lighting techs depending on rig size.

Does the LD bring their own console?+

No. The console is provided by the venue, the lighting vendor, or the rental house. The LD brings their MagicQ/MA dongle (if licensed), their show files, headphones, comms beltpack, and a USB drive.

How far in advance should I book?+

For high-profile shows (concert, corporate flagship), book 4-6 weeks out so the LD has pre-pro time. For repeating venue gigs (church, weekly residency), the same LD on a recurring booking is ideal — show files compound week over week.

Can the LD also pre-visualize the show before load-in?+

Yes — most working NYC LDs charge a pre-vis day rate to build the show in Capture or WYSIWYG before load-in. Useful for tight load-in windows or when the client wants a preview deck before signing off.

Ready when you are

Post your SoHo gig.
Be booked by morning.

Pre-auth holds the rate. Vetted lds apply. Pick one. The rest auto-release. From $800/day.

Free to post · Free to apply · Free GPS check-in · You pay only verified hours