Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
From cosmetology school to lighting major television series, Dessie Coale’s path into gaffing was anything but traditional.
In this episode of Spotlight On, Los Angeles-based gaffer Dessie Coale shares how curiosity, community, and showing up with the right attitude helped her build a career in lighting. Starting with an introduction to lighting at SIU, Dessie worked her way through coffee shops, film school, and master electrician roles before making the leap to Atlanta and eventually Los Angeles.
Dessie walks us through key projects that shaped her approach, from We Are Marshall, where a location job in West Virginia unexpectedly changed her life, to emotionally quiet days on Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things. She also breaks down the technical and creative challenges of shooting an all-location series like Amazon Prime’s On Call, and the problem-solving required on I Love LA when power, access, and daylight all become part of the puzzle. Along the way, she shares why building a crew with different strengths matters, how confidence with power and batteries can make or break a day, and why you should never turn down a job out of fear the crew will not show up.
Get an inside look at Dessie’s journey, her on-set philosophy, and the lessons she’s learned lighting across stages and locations in this episode of Spotlight On.
Get to know Dessie 👇
imdb.com/name/nm1657484
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Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:34 – Meet Dessie
01:12 – Finding lighting through SIU
02:10 – Atlanta, coffee shops, and early sets
03:28 – Building crews with different strengths
04:10 – We Are Marshall
05:18 – Tiny Beautiful Things
06:42 – On Call
08:05 – I Love LA
10:12 – Power, batteries, and confidence
11:34 – Advice for aspiring gaffers
Want more free lighting and cinematography tutorials? Subscribe to us so you never miss an episode: goo.gl/QwazdM
🎥Subscribe to Aputure:
youtube.com/aputurephoto
facebook.com/aputure
instagram.com/aputure.lighting
twitter.com/AputureLighting
🎥Free Cinematography Lessons From Experts!
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Summary:
Aputure's YouTube channel provides free high quality cinematography, lighting, and filmmaking educational content to help you take your film projects to the next level.
From cosmetology school to lighting major television series, Dessie Coale’s path into gaffing was anything but traditional.
In this episode of Spotlight On, Los Angeles-based gaffer Dessie Coale shares how curiosity, community, and showing up with the right attitude helped her build a career in lighting. Starting with an introduction to lighting at SIU, Dessie worked her way through coffee shops, film school, and master electrician roles before making the leap to Atlanta and eventually Los Angeles.
Dessie walks us through key projects that shaped her approach, from We Are Marshall, where a location job in West Virginia unexpectedly changed her life, to emotionally quiet days on Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things. She also breaks down the technical and creative challenges of shooting an all-location series like Amazon Prime’s On Call, and the problem-solving required on I Love LA when power, access, and daylight all become part of the puzzle. Along the way, she shares why building a crew with different strengths matters, how confidence with power and batteries can make or break a day, and why you should never turn down a job out of fear the crew will not show up.
Get an inside look at Dessie’s journey, her on-set philosophy, and the lessons she’s learned lighting across stages and locations in this episode of Spotlight On.
Get to know Dessie 👇
imdb.com/name/nm1657484
instagram.com/sparksalot728?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Chapters:
00:00 – Intro
00:34 – Meet Dessie
01:12 – Finding lighting through SIU
02:10 – Atlanta, coffee shops, and early sets
03:28 – Building crews with different strengths
04:10 – We Are Marshall
05:18 – Tiny Beautiful Things
06:42 – On Call
08:05 – I Love LA
10:12 – Power, batteries, and confidence
11:34 – Advice for aspiring gaffers
Want more free lighting and cinematography tutorials? Subscribe to us so you never miss an episode: goo.gl/QwazdM
🎥Subscribe to Aputure:
youtube.com/aputurephoto
facebook.com/aputure
instagram.com/aputure.lighting
twitter.com/AputureLighting
🎥Free Cinematography Lessons From Experts!
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjnBD0tWOQ1-jsuV5e_jlOvtjr3nY7S9a
🎥Follow the Aputure User Groups:
Global: facebook.com/groups/AputureUsers
Europe: facebook.com/groups/AputureEurope
Asia: facebook.com/groups/aputureasia
Australia/New Zealand: facebook.com/groups/aputureAUNZ
Japan: facebook.com/groups/aputurejp
Taiwan / Hong Kong / Macau User Group: facebook.com/groups/4418583988245636
Brazil: facebook.com/groups/1073050466408582
India: facebook.com/groups/667708807005184
Israel: facebook.com/groups/aputureisrael
🎥GET APUTURE GEAR:
http://lddy.no/3dkv
🎥MUSIC:
bit.ly/pb_aputure
Summary:
Aputure's YouTube channel provides free high quality cinematography, lighting, and filmmaking educational content to help you take your film projects to the next level.
