William Cusick is a video artist, filmmaker, and projection designer based in NYC. His films and video designs for theater, opera, and dance have been seen across the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan. Cusick is the recipient of the 2007 Henry Hewes Design Award for Projections for his work on Tom Stoppard’s THE COAST OF UTOPIA on Broadway, directed by Jack O’Brien. Cusick is a 2009 recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for American Theater Designers.
Recent video designs include projections for the world premiere production of Sharr White’s THE OTHER PLACE for MCC at The Lucille Lortel Theater, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Laurie Metcalf. The production was subsequently re-mounted by Manhattan Theater Club on Broadway in the 2012-2013 season. Cusick designed the video projections for BARE: THE MUSICAL at New World Stages in 2012, directed by Stafford Arima.
As the resident video artist for the NYC experimental theater company Temporary Distortion from 2004-2012, Cusick created video designs for five stage productions, two video art installations, and all of the company’s online video content. Temporary Distortion’s stage production AMERICANA KAMIKAZE opened at Performance Space 122 in October 2009 to raves in the NY Times – “Mind-blowing video images,” and TimeOutNY Magazine – “Cusick’s ravishing, cinematic video.” Temporary Distortion’s 2007 project, WELCOME TO NOWHERE, was featured in the international journal TheatreForum, along with the complete published script. In 2010, Cusick directed an experimental film adaptation of Welcome To Nowhere (Bullet Hole Road). The film premiered at the LES Film Festival in 2012 and has gone on to win awards at 2012 Dreamland Film Festival and the 2013 The Queens World Film Festival in NYC.
Past work includes the original American opera ARJUNA’S DILEMMA, written by Douglas Cuomo and starring performance artist John Kelly. The production premiered as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival 2008, produced by Music Theatre Group and directed by Robin Guarino. Excerpts were shown at The Kitchen in NYC in April 2011. Cusick directed and designed the video projections for Rasta Thomas’ original production of ROCK THE BALLET which toured extensively through Europe, North America, and Australia from 2008-2012. In 2006, Cusick designed the Off-Broadway Premiere of Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House at Lincoln Center Theater. Also in 2006, Cusick designed the world premiere production of Sheila Callaghan’s Dead City at 3LD Art & Technology Center.