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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.

I've worked my way to the top communications college in the school - the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. I'll be graduating in December 2010 with a degree in television, radio and film.

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, a 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 in the studio and on location, I had the opportunity to learn the secrets of the business as an assistant to my dad on major jobs like the Tony Awards. Basically, I've been over-undering cable since birth.

I've carved my own path in the media despite the advantage of having a family in the TV and film business. 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.

Resting on a Jimmy Jib with my brother at a commercial shoot at a golf course in 1999

My journalism abilities were recognized outside of school in 2006, when the editor of a tri-state newspaper, The Gazette, first hired me as a freelance correspondent as a junior in high school. The Gazette is a weekly community journal out of Port Jervis, N.Y., as part of the Times Herald-Record, a daily Dow Jones newspaper in Middletown, N.Y. Hundreds of bylines and photos later, my work has also appeared in the Daily Orange, Pike County Press (where I also provide video packages) and Straus Newspapers.

On the Web, I was a pioneer with my high school's award-winning Web site. Having taught 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 at large 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.

At Yasgur's Farm in Bethel, N.Y. for a 1999 Britney Spears concert

I produced an unprecedented TV news program for three years in high school. I taught myself non-linear editing, starting with the Dazzle Movie Studio and moving my way up to Final Cut Pro.

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, and a commercial spot I produced in 10th grade aired on cable across northeast Pennsylvania.

The real hit came my junior year, 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 the short documentary since it was featured in the Black Bear Film Festival in 2006.

Combining the interest of my dad and his siblings 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 even was an official candidate for school board.

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

Following also in my mom's footsteps, those of a special education teacher, I'm dual majoring in education policy studies at Syracuse University's Maxwell School for Public Affairs and Citizenship. Maxwell has been ranked as the country's No. 1 public affairs school, above Harvard, for several years by the U.S. News and World Reports. As a sophomore, I was chosen to participate in a special program teaching at a public high school in lower Manhattan for a semester. My dual major has also involved many hours of community service in downtown Syracuse and in the Syracuse City Schools.

The focal point of my college experience has been at CitrusTV, the largest and oldest student-run TV station in the country. From once a week my freshmen year, sitting in the corner of the control room operating the digital image server for CitrusTV News, I've risen to leadership in the station as Web media director on the executive staff, and in my senior year I intend to serve as general manager of the station. I've directed, technical directed and co-produced a variety of live news, sports and entertainment programs while at CitrusTV.

The next part of this bio will be written by you. Contact me today so together we can make a better, more informed and (most importantly) better entertained world.