Craig Housenick

Emmy Award-Winning Operations Leader  |  Multi-Million Dollar Budget & Team Management   |  Live Broadcast & Events

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

About

Craig is a results-driven Operations leader with over 25 years orchestrating complex, high-stakes live productions for network television. He is a three-time Emmy Award winner with a consistent record of zero budget overruns across an impressive career spanning late-night, reality competition, and large-scale live events. Craig brings proven expertise in multi-million-dollar budget oversight, cross-functional team leadership, vendor negotiation, employee task delegation and real-time crisis management to any role. He is equally fluent in creative vision and operational execution, bridging the gap between artistic intent and resource reality. A strong team leader, Craig excels in real-time crisis resolution, cross-functional stakeholder coordination, live broadcast operations, process improvement, talent & artist relations, and union crew management.

Experience

  • Lighting Designer at Jimmy Kimmel Live
    Nov 2020 - Present · 5 yrs 8 mos

    • Oversee an annual production budget of $1.5M–$2.1M, encompassing crew wages, equipment rentals, and vendor services; sole decision-maker with $20k in annual discretionary spending authority. • Lead a core team of 7 full-time direct reports, scaling to 20+ on high-demand production days through delegated personnel management. • Serve as the primary interface between production, creative teams, and vendor network by translating artistic vision into actionable, cost-efficient technical briefs. • Operate as the operations nerve center in a live broadcast environment where technical failures require immediate resolution: no pauses, no second opportunities. Lead real-time resolution for technical failures in live broadcast environments, maintaining 100% uptime through decisive leadership and team oversight.

  • Lighting Director / Designer at Independent Productions
    Dec 2006 - Present · 19 yrs 7 mos

    • Managed single-event production budgets ranging from $75k-$250k across experiential, broadcast, and live events for major brands and networks. • Selected credits: Amazon Juneteenth (2023), Amazon Winter Ball (2022), Tom Segura: Sledgehammer (2022), Spotify/Rap Caviar (2022), Generation Gap ABC (2022), Paula Abdul Live (2022), The Cube TBS (2022), MOCA Geffen (2024), COD Zombies/Activision (2020), World of Dance NBC (2020), Hannah Gadsby: Douglas Netflix (2020), RuPaul's Drag Race VH1 (2019), Miss America NBC (2019), A Little Late with Lily Singh NBC (2019), Jabbawockeez: Timeless MGM (2020), Puma/Balmain Media Event (2019).

  • Lighting Director on The Voice at NBCUniversal
    Apr 2012 - Nov 2021 · 9 yrs 8 mos

    • Directed lighting operations on NBC's highest-rated reality competition series across 18 seasons. Weekly production budget represented approximately 40% of operational production cost. • Functioned as operations middleman between the lighting designer's creative vision and vendor execution: translated design intent into cost-efficient specs, identified value-engineering opportunities, and communicated creative trade-offs back to the design team. • Mentored junior crew members through hands-on production experience. Ex: A former reporting Technician subsequently advanced to Media Server Operator and earned multiple Emmy nominations. • Received 7 Emmy nominations and 3 Primetime Emmy Awards (2013, 2015, 2016) for Outstanding Lighting Design/Direction, peer recognition representing sustained excellence across multiple seasons.

  • Volunteer Operations Coordinator at CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort)
    Mar 2020 - Apr 2020 · 2 mos

    • Volunteered with Sean Penn's pandemic relief organization (CORE) to help stand up UCLA's COVID-19 drive-through testing center during the first weeks of the pandemic. • Applied production operations methodology to a crisis logistics environment: built daily throughput systems from scratch, ran end-of-day retrospectives, and iteratively refined the process; by utilizing process optimization scaled capacity from 200 cars/day to 200 cars/hour within 2 weeks.

  • Director of Technical Services at El Portal Theatre
    Jan 2003 - Dec 2006 · 4 yrs

    Ran all technical operations for a working theater company.