Phil Murphy Scholarship Fund

Phil embarked on a 46-year career in the broadcasting and entertainment industry, starting as a radio station production manager at Indiana University's WFIU. He then transitioned to become a television news photographer and on-air reporter at WLWI/WTHR, eventually moving into TV ad sales locally in Indianapolis with WTHR. Phil relocated to Los Angeles with Blair TV as a national representative. He established an independent company dedicated to producing subscription TV programs, leading him to assume the role of heading Operations at Paramount Television. In this capacity, he oversaw 85 technical professionals responsible for the worldwide distribution of TV shows. Following the corporate split of Paramount and CBS, Phil's operations department transitioned to CBS until his retirement in May 2010. With the freedom to pursue his former hobbies full-time after retirement, Phil returned to designing theatre stage lighting, a passion he had previously pursued at Footlite Musicals in Indianapolis until the 1980s. In January 2011, Phil accepted a position on the Board of Directors of Coyote StageWorks in Palm Springs. Alongside his partner of 29 years, Robert McCracken, he became a key supporter of the newly formed Desert Rose Playhouse, where Phil oversees lighting design. He also contributes his lighting expertise to productions at DezArt Performs and the International Date Festival Pageant, a ten-day outdoor production in Riverside County, California. Recognizing his outstanding contributions, the Desert Theatre League nominated Phil for five lighting designs in the past two years, and he secured victory in the professional lighting design category in both 2012 and 2013. Phil's most recent lighting design project was for Lucie Arnaz: Latin Roots' performance at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert.