Bio
Born on Long Island and raised in Milford, Pennsylvania, at the tri-state tip of PA, NJ and NY, I've been on the set, snapping photographs and reporting the news all my life.
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| On my dad's Egripment Picollo crane in 1995 |
My interest in media production sprung from a generation of Baltons in the television and film industries. My Emmy-award winning dad Bruce co-owned a lighting and grip company some 30 years ago. More recently before retiring, he was a Jimmy Jib operator.
My uncle Rob, another Jib operator, owns Camera Moves, the premiere supplier for camera motion equipment and operators in New York City. My uncle Chris is a director and computer animation artist. My aunt Lori is a location scout for feature films.
Growing up, I had the opportunity to learn the secrets of the business as an assistant to my dad on sitcoms, films and live events. Basically, I've been over-undering cable since birth.
Despite the advantage of having a family in the TV and film business, I've carved my own path in the media. In fifth grade, I started my own classroom newspaper. In middle school and high school, I served a total of four years as editor in chief of the school newspaper, as a leader among the 2,000 students in my high school. Under my leadership, the newspaper advanced from three or four 8.5x11 photocopies a year to 16 issues printed on newsprint my senior year.
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| Resting on a Jimmy Jib with my brother at a commercial shoot at a golf course in 1999 |
On the Web, I was a pioneer with my high school's award-winning Web site. Teaching myself HTML and the basics of Web design in second grade when my family first logged on to the Internet with a dial-up connection, I was editor of my high school's Web site for three years. I co-founded the world's first high school news podcast hosted and produced by students, right at the outset of podcasting.
I produced an unprecedented TV news program for three years in high school. I taught myself non-linear editing, starting with Dazzle Movie Studio and moving my way up to Final Cut Pro.
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| At Yasgur's Farm in Bethel, N.Y. for a 1999 Britney Spears concert |
Each year of high school I produced a wildly successful video journal, which I premiered at a party over the summer and then gave away DVDs to my friends and teachers. I produced content for the local Relay for Life, a fundraising event to raise money for cancer research; a commercial spot I produced in 10th grade aired on cable across northeast Pennsylvania.
The real hit came in 11th grade, when I directed and co-produced a local history documentary called Controversy on the Delaware. Originally a project for the school's National History Day competition, it went on to win national honors from the History Channel and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Thousands of people have seen and purchased the short documentary since its premiere in the Black Bear Film Festival in 2006.
Combining the interest of my dad with the community-oriented heart of my mom, I've always placed an emphasis on community service throughout my career. I volunteer at my local library, where I was president of a teen-led group called the Friends of the Children's Room. I also volunteer in the public school system where I attended kindergarten through graduation. At age 19, I was the youngest official candidate in the history of the Delaware Valley school board.
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| With my brother Dustin on a dolly at Kaufman Astoria Studios, where my dad was a dolly grip on ABC's "Aliens in the Family," a shortlived sitcom featuring Jim Henson muppets in the mid-90's |
The focal point of my college experience was CitrusTV, the campus student-run TV studio. From once a week my freshmen year, sitting in the corner of the control room operating video playout for CitrusTV News, I rose to leadership in the station as Web media director on the executive staff. Two years later I landed the top leadership spot, and as general manager I secured and budgeted over $280,000 in funding for major HD renovations to our control room, studio and editing facilities. I was responsible for overseeing over 300 members of CitrusTV and ensuring they were properly trained to use our equipment for their storytelling.
While at CitrusTV, I also directed, TDed, produced and crewed a variety of live news and sports programming. As a junior and senior, I directed about two hours of live programming every week between CitrusTV and my job with the Newhouse School directing their "NCC News" classroom newscasts and "CONNECT," a show on Syracuse's ABC affiliate produced at Newhouse. I've also directed and done camera work for a variety of live music performances. Courtside and fieldside for the Syracuse Orange's top ranked athletic teams, I've shot video for CitrusTV and also worked as a utility for national broadcasts on ESPN and ESPN2.
I now work full-time as a camera, jib and video operator for ESPN, and pursue freelance side projects.
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