Nearly impossible, it would be, to turn on your TV at any given time, on any given day, anywhere in the world and not bear witness to their brilliant designs, in all their glory illuminating your screen.

Dennis Size alongside the infamous, Dick Clark.

A wise man once said, “If you don’t have the proper lighting on a television set, you might as well just be on the radio.”  Said wisdom from the mind and lifes work of Dennis Size, Senior Vice President of the Lighting Design Group.

The Lighting Design Group is the largest lighting company in the Entertainment Industry.  The MAGNITUDE of that statement needs to be reiterated and expounded upon. The  “LARGEST LIGHTING COMPANY IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY” written here not for effect, rather, to properly put into perspective the level of talent, professionalism, innovation and management skill,  both artistic and “hands on” literally across the globe.

Ferro was priveledged to sit down with Dennis at LDG headquarters in Midtown Manhattan to discuss his journey to success in the often characterized, “wacky” world of show biz.

Mr. Size was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  His father owned a middle class bar in town, Dennis shares, “My parents wanted me to escape the blue collar life.  I was supposed to become a doctor.”  Similar to most children, young Dennis took his parents advice and set his focus on becoming a doctor.  In the meantime, however, he was learning a whole lot about entertainment as he spent time hanging out in his fathers bar.  In which, there was a big stage with lights, live music and dancing…

In addition, Dennis shared:

“There were a lot of carpenters and electricians that hung out in the bar.  My father would have these guys bring me to work with them so that I could stay out of trouble.  I got good at that stuff and my dad eventually wanted me to use those  skills to make the bar nice; lighting the stage, strobe lights… stuff like that.  So yeah, I got my start lighting the stage at my fathers middle class bar in Scranton, PA.”

As the years progressed Dennis found himself enrolled as a Pre-Med student at the University of Scranton.  Still intrigued by the performing arts and entertainment, he joined the theatre program, which became a creative outlet to decompress himself a bit from the inevitable pressures brought on by his demanding major.  By junior year of college Mr. Size had quite the revelation and made the switch from Pre-Med to a double major in English Literature and Communications.  He simply couldn’t deny his love for entertainment any further.  “It’s all about telling a story, entertainment is.  Orson Wells didn’t know a thing about film, but he knew how to tell a story and that’s what I wanted to learn.  I knew that the English major would teach me content and Communication major would teach me how to deliver it to the people.” And it was EXACTLY THAT revelation which propelled him forward and to the top!

Upon completion of his studies at Scranton, the ambitious college graduate attended Penn State University and earned his MFA in Scenery and Lighting Design.  The knowledge and credentials earned at Penn State were undoubtedly invaluable for Dennis’ future, however, the network of people he associated with proved to be the stepping-stone that brought Mr. Size to the next level.  He explains, “ My Lighting Design professor from Penn State called me and informed me about this summer relief program that was going on at ABC” he continued, “ When I went to ABC for my interview, it turns out one of the engineers that did lighting worked on one of my crews during grad school at Penn State.  He put in the good word for me and the rest is history.”

***REMEMBER: It’s all about the network!***

On-location at the 2012 Republican National Convention, this photo captures Mr. Size on stage preparing for the event.

The summer relief gig was a great success, seeing that Dennis was hired as full-time Lighting Designer for the Soap Opera “Ryans Hope.”  Six years and an Emmy Award later (Yup, an EMMY), the twenty-nine year old moved on to other Soap’s such as “All My Children” and “One Life to Live.”  And, soon enough Dennis said he, “ Wanted more experience, more challenge.  So, I left the entertainment division of ABC and moved on to lighting design for Special Events.”  The Special Events included the Olympics, Presidential Conventions, and the Emmy’s.

It seemed as though Dennis Size had reached the pinnacle of his career.  Where does one go from this point in order to achieve elevated greatness and accomplishment?  Well, following an outstanding lighting set-up at the Emmy Awards, Mr. Size found himself in Chicago, Illinois with the up-and-coming TV sensation, Oprah Winfrey. Mr. Size redid the lighting design for Oprah’s television studio in Chicago and also went on the road with the crew each and every time they went out for a special.  This new “freelance” gig is the ultimate driving force that led Dennis to leave ABC; subsequently the same driving force brought him to the Lighting Design Group.

Young designers listening carefully as Dennis Size shares his wisom.

Currently , “ After forty years of doing it, I’m having fun.  Doing shows, training young designers, it’s a blast. LDG is a very specialized company providing a very specialized service, and I’m loving every day of it.”  Dennis Size has continued to elevate himself and conquer massive challenges in the industry, recently designing the lighting for the Republican National Convention.  So now I ponder, what’s next for Dennis Size?  History tells us: Dedication and outstanding performance.  Dennis tells us: Educating the youth.

“I tell the kids to learn it all.  You are not going to be a pro right out of school, so just forget that idea.  The more skill sets you have, the better off you’ll be.  I just caution them not to be the jack of all trades and not the master of any trades.”

That sage wisdom seems to be carried forward to LDG’s hiring process.  They continue to assemble a team diverse in style and experience;  each bringing his or her unique flair to the project.  This diversity allows LDG to “design” or tailor a design group to fit the client and their needs perfectly.  Whether it’s the massive live stage at the Emmy’s or a single news desk in Hyderabad, India… the LGD team is well prepared and probably already there.

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