In 1998, Nick Zgradic began his career in motion picture lighting by landing an inside sales and operations position at a then, small lighting manufacturer in North Hollywood by the name of K5600 Lighting, Inc. There, Nick was exposed to HMI lighting technology through the vast lens of knowledge of Gilles Galerne, designer and engineer of the now industry standard Joker-Bug HMI lighting kits. It was here that Nick’s passions for technology, image making and business began to develop. It was also here that a solid commitment to customer satisfaction was instilled as a key element to the success of a business and a product.
1999 was the year that Nick picked up a 35mm Minolta camera for the second time (the first time being when he was a young boy, but didn’t know what to do with his dad’s Minolta camera) and immediately became enamored with creating editorial images of beauty, fashion and personal expression through the relationship that a photographer and model share. Every photograph in this portfolio of images was meticulously designed and thought through from a combined technical and emotional stand point. This lead to the absolute adherence of carefully positioned lighting and composition of models, elements, locations and effects. This near fanatical combination ushered in various exhibitions, publications and awarded accomplishments for many of the images he produced.
After nearly nine years of service at K5600 Lighting, Nick Zgradic resigned from his post there and founded a small lighting accessory business named Empire Sales & Service in 2006. Servicing primarily the motion picture lighting industry, Empire Sales & Service was a manufacturer and distributor of various lighting components, most notably stainless steel wire diffusion (scrims), apple boxes, barndoors and lens rings, sand, shot and scrim bags, custom cases, electrical connectors, cable assemblies, etc.
After about two years of founding stages for Empire Sales & Service were completed, the keys were handed off to investors who took on the products and added to other growing enterprises. Starting in the summer of 2008, Nick Zgradic joined in the founding and development of a small studio lighting distributor in Los Angeles. Nick engaged in every aspect of small business development in order to develop the operation into an efficient and respected dealer of professional equipment. Nick parted ways with that project in early 2019 after accomplishing a long list of business development successes there.
After about two years of founding stages for Empire Sales & Service were completed, the keys were handed off to investors who took on the products and added to other growing enterprises. Starting in the summer of 2008, Nick Zgradic joined in the founding and development of a small studio lighting distributor in Los Angeles. Nick engaged in every aspect of small business development in order to develop the operation into an efficient and respected dealer of professional equipment. Nick parted ways with that project in early 2019 after accomplishing a long list of business development successes there.
The years of 2012-2013 brought about the development and launch of a unique studio lighting fixture developed and designed by Nick Zgradic known as the SpaceBox. The SpaceBox is touted as an "updated idea to a classic studio lighting solution," and has since been known as "the NEW space light" for the motion picture and television episodic / broadcast worlds. The SpaceBox started of as a fluorescent system, and while remarkably efficient, like many other traditional production lighting tools, the SpaceBox has transitioned into an LED variant.
The SpaceBox LED, SpaceBox ULTRA and SpaceBox HORIZON are all enjoying great success in both the sales and rental worlds for both entertainment and corporate environments.
The SpaceBox LED, SpaceBox ULTRA and SpaceBox HORIZON are all enjoying great success in both the sales and rental worlds for both entertainment and corporate environments.
The Lighting | Architectural Firm and SpaceBox Lighting Systems are both owned and operated by Nick Zgradic and work through strategic professional relationships throughout the entertainment and industrial realms.
The future looks bright… Particularly with the advent of the new Blogger pages coming soon designed to be a beacon of technical information for all of the latest LED lighting systems in the entertainment and industrial worlds. Be sure to subscribe to this blog to stay updated on how bright that future will indeed be!
Also be sure to visit www.thelafirm.com the next time you need help with a broadcast studio lighting project for entertainment or industrial applications. We're here to help!
