Jim Moody has many vocations, but despite an amazing career so far, producing a head-spinning list of great rock acts he’s worked with, there’s one role that he puts above all those: Mentor. “I’m a big believer in mentoring,” he states. “I tell all my students that finding a mentor is important.” Moody himself still has a mentor in GAM Products founder and president Joe Tawil, and both Moody and Tawil continue to mentor scores of prolific professionals in the field. “Joe was that person for me, and I’ve done it for many others. I started a mentoring program at USITT — we had a famous lighting designer sitting there, and I overheard some kids stop and say, ‘Isn’t that so-and-so?’ followed by, ‘Oh, we couldn’t bother him.’ I thought, ‘I bet he’d love you kids to ask him something.’ It’s important to have someone encourage a younger lighting designer and have someone to call to ask a specific questions … or just talk to. I still take those calls myself.”
Jim Moody, as quoted by Kevin M. Mitchell for “Industry Perspective,” PLSN, Jan. 2012
