Where Are They Now? Ryan Grossheim ’05

Making It Look Easy

Ryan Grossheim ’05 tackles the tough tasks while bringing big time productions to life.

—Brendan J. O’Brien

Grossheim on the set of Grease: Live in 2016.

When discussing artistic expression, beginning with the GOAT is a good place to start. William Shakespeare reveled in the unspoken beauty and importance that lives beneath a story’s surface. Juliet, one of his most enduring characters, knew when assessing something BIG – true love, for instance – the casual observer will miss a great deal if focusing only on what’s right in front of them.

Turns out the same is true when watching a movie. Or television show. Or studying a credit line. Scroll down on the IMDB page for Amazon’s Utopia, past the cast and producers, past Series Music and Cinematography, past Film Editing and Casting and Series Production, and there it is.

Series Art Direction by Ryan Grossheim (8 episodes, 2020)

Stop there and you’ll miss everything fueling this man’s success, all the passion and hard work percolating under the surface, the creativity and commitment responsible for his continued ascent up the art direction ranks.

“My particular facet of the creative process isn’t always as highlighted as others,” says Grossheim. “Prairie had a thriving Technical Theater program under Bob Sagadin and I know many of us have gone on to do this work. It tends to be we only see the performers. I think it’s good to see who is working backstage as well.”

And work it is. His typical day is one rooted in uncertainty as he oversees everyone responsible for making a set – and ultimately, a show – come to life. Assistant art directors, graphic designers, set designers, illustrators, storyboard artists, production assistants: it’s Grossheim’s job to keep them all on track. Despite endless preparation, it can turn into a seat-ofyour-pants process, one he describes using the example of a theater set.

“What an art director does in a stage build is make sure the drawings from the set designers are understood by the construction team, while simultaneously having a really acute eye so you can make sure little details are not missed,” he says. “It’s a highly collaborative process, and most people don’t understand how much prep goes into even the smallest thing. I make a plan and a notes list so that everyone in the department knows what we need to get done. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. A lot of my job is creative problem solving.”

‘YOU WORK YOUR WAY UP’

Since 2010 he has worked on productions such as The Voice, Grease: Live, Billboard Music Awards, Hairspray Live!, Castle Rock, and Veep. And while his efforts on Grease:Live (Fox) and Hairspray Live! (NBC) helped both productions win an Emmy, Utopia stands out as Grossheim’s proudest accomplishment to date.

“I came into the union as an Assistant Art Director and I worked in that position for several years. Eventually you work your way up to Art Director,” he says. “Utopia was the first show where I was full director for an entire season. When you level up in your job you have to prove to yourself you can do it. Utopia was special for me in that way.”

And when it comes to the next level? “I would like to work as a designer, but that’s a path you work towards,” says Grossheim. “For now, I want to grow as an Art Director and take on new, unique, and complex projects.”

No matter what path he chooses, Grossheim is adamant about one thing: many of the talents and traits that have helped him succeed were honed at TPS.

“I had so many good teachers,” he says. “Pat Badger was incredibly influential. Barry Nyquist, Kevin Pearson, Cathy Marbach: they were all so nurturing. That preparation, the rigorous academic environment, helped get me where I am today. The rigor of Prairie and learning how to be successful there, it’s just really good training for how to manage a successful career later in your life.”