Boca Native Promoted at NBC Entertainment

By: Michael Demyan

Spanish River Community High School graduate and Boca Raton native Dean McFlicker was recently promoted to a higher position at NBC Entertainment.

McFlicker has gained a lot of recognition in the entertainment industry as he has won over 35 broadcast industry awards, three NBC Universal Ovation awards for Outstanding Creativity and is a five-time Excellence in Leadership recipient.

Everyone has to start somewhere though and for him, that somewhere was in Boca Raton.

“I remember hanging out with my friends at Town Center Mall and directing them for a little student film,” McFlicker said.

Today, he is no longer just directing a bunch of his high school friends. He is directing Hollywood productions with stars such as Carrie Underwood, Queen Latifah and fellow Boca Raton native Ariana Grande.

McFlicker has always had a passion for dance to the point his mom told him he was dancing in her tummy. He recalled performing at the Delray Beach Playhouse under director Randy DelLago and taking lessons from Carol Colbert on Glades Road.

“My background in Boca, from just being involved in theater and dance and performing has always been something that has contributed to my interests and my ongoing achievements,” McFlicker said.

He took those interests with him to Los Angeles and landed a role in the 1992 Disney musical, “Newsies.”

“When I came to LA, I had no connections,” he said. “I didn’t know anyone in Hollywood. I didn’t have any special way in the door. I ended up working my way up and “Newsies” was a step along the way.”

McFlicker stood in line all day with a number pinned to his chest for an open casting call with thousands of other people. Over the next week, he endured the process of narrowing down the possible cast members until they finally told him he was selected.

“I was thrilled,” he said. “I was part of an old fashioned Hollywood musical. We rehearsed the numbers for months and then got to film it, and the crazy thing – we filmed it on the Universal Studios backlot where I work today.”

Things seem to have come full circle for McFlicker, who now rides around the studio in his golf cart, seeing young dancers and remembering how he used to be in their situation.

His new position at NBC Entertainment is Senior Vice President and Creative Director of Original Production, Live Events and Promotional Programming. The promotion means he will have some added responsibilities, such as directing promotional shows and specials, but he will also be continuing a lot of his previous duties, like launching and promoting NBC primetime shows.

McFlicker took a long journey to where he is today, working his way up from freelance job to freelance job, and after starting out in Boca Raton, he now has opportunities to work with some of the best in the business.

“When I was in my sophomore year of high school in Boca I was very proud to be in ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ and this December I’m going to get to work with Jennifer Lopez in the Hollywood version of ‘Bye Bye Birdie,’” McFlicker said. “So once again life comes full circle.”