My Hiring Credentials

I'm somewhat skeptical about making a new LinkedIn page for my "pseudonym". Luckily my LinkedIN bio is written in half resume/ half essay style. I'm actually interested to see what people think of it. I just got a new job a month ago. Not sure if my resume helped at all during the process. In the media industry it is not always who has the best looking resume but rather "who you know" that gets you the interview. Either way here is my crack at a resume. Happy Reading!

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Summary

New York Emmy Award Nominated Television Director with over 4 years experience directing/ technical directing studio and field productions. Experience directing both a full crew and independently using automated production switchers. Technical Director with experience building effects on both Grass Valley Kalypso and Kayak switchers and Tri-Caster Switchers.

Final Cut Pro editor with over 10 years experience. Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere editor for over 5 years.

Specialties: Sports Production, Long form video production, working with on air talent and multiple producing staffs.

Experience

Associate Video Manager

CBS Local

May 2013 – Present (1 month)Greater New York City Area

Coordinate Studio Operations for CBS Local Studios
Responsible for Directing/Shooting/Lighting all studio productions and field productions for CBS Local Digital Media, Fans Sports Live.com and Radio.com
Technical Direct Live to show productions using Newtek Tri-Caster 850 system
On-Location video production using Cannon 5D MarkII

Director/ Technical Director

MSG Varsity Network

October 2012 – May 2013 (8 months)Woodbury NY

Direct and Technical Direct daily studio programming originating from Woodbury Studios.
Shows directed on a daily basis include:
- High School Sports Desk (a 30 minute SportsCenter Style show consisting of game highlights and in-studio analysis from senior reporters),

- On The Mat with Gregg Sarra (a 30 Minute Wrestling Show focusing on the top High School Wrestlers in the tri-state region),

- The Football Files (a year round weekly football show covering the top 25 tri-state high school football teams and players)

-Technical Director for A Quick 60 (live weekly call in show covering the top high school sports in the tri-state area)

-Technical Director for MSG Varsity Gametime ( Remote High Definition broadcasts of high school games)

Studio Director

News 12 The Bronx/ Brooklyn

January 2012 – October 2012 (10 months)Bronx NY

Direct Morning, Mid-day, Evening, and Weekend Newscasts for two 24 hour High Definition cable news stations in market # 1 on Cablevision cable systems.

Responsible for all technical aspects in newscasts including directing shows using Grass Valley Ignite Automation Systems and Vinten Robotic Camera Operation, Editing packages, segments, VO-SOT's and CNN Pathfire Video using both Final Cut Pro and Velocity Non-Linear Editing.

Responsible for show playback and monitoring of air quality and commercial insertion with Harris Nexio Servers and Playlists.

TOC responsibilities include tuning in live shots, routing satellite feeds to frame syncs, ingesting video from satellite locations and FTP procedures

Technical Director/ Associate Director/ Studio Technician

MSG Varsity

July 2011 – December 2011 (6 months)Woodbury NY

Technical Director of MSG Varsity Studio Programming, including "Sport Center Style"
Highlight shows, Talk Shows, and Promo Production. Responsible for building
technical elements for broadcast using Grass Valley Kalypso Switcher

Associate Director responsible for timing out taped elements for shows using Grass Valley Aurora playback system and communicating segment lengths with producers

Technician for studio production specializing in Robotic Camera Operation, Chyron Duet Operation, Teleprompting, Live Capture and Compression, and Floor Directing.

Freelance Director/ Master Control Operator

News 12 Long Island

January 2010 – December 2011 (2 years)Woodbury NY

Direct Morning, Mid-day and Evening Newscasts for News 12 Long Island, using Grass Valley Ignite System. Camera operator for Morning, Mid-day and Evening Shows.

Master Control Operator. Responsible for monitoring on air signal and working with Harris Media Client and Air Client Software programs.

Freelance Production Assistant

Hollywood East Entertainment

September 2009 – June 2011 (1 year 10 months)

Production Assistant on Reality TV, Corporate Video, or Commercial Video Shoots. Grip Work, Script Supervising and Camera Operation

Post-production Logging and Editing on Avid Media Composer

Videographer/ Editor

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts

June 2006 – June 2011 (5 years 1 month)

Assistant Video Production Teacher and Equipment Coordinator for Video Production department. Responsible for Teaching 12-17 year old student how to operate and shoot Cannon GL1 an GL2 cameras and Panasonic AG7 camera. Assisted in the teaching of Non-Linear Editing using Apple Final Cut Pro. Set Designer for 3 camera studio production and lighting designer.

In the summer of 2009 I acted as the Center's Videographer. Recorded daily concerts and did interviews with student and faculty members of different departments. I then edited these clips for the Center's website

Education

Quinnipiac University

MS Interactive Media and Design

2012 – 2015 (expected)

Hofstra University

BA, Television/ Video Production

2006 – 2009

Could May Draft mean Superbowl Sunday is Moving???

On Tuesday the NFL announced that the 2014 NFL Draft will take place from May 8-10th at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Yes...May, not April as fans have become accustomed to over the years. Over the past decade the draft has become a made for television event, must see television for a league that every moment is a must watch. In 2010 the league turned the draft into a three day event making rounds 1-3 air in prime time over a two day span (thursday and friday nights) and having rounds 4-7 (the rounds of the draft that really make up the fabric of a team) on Saturday morning.

So why the move from April to May. The main reason is location. For years the NFL and Radio City Music hall have partnered up as the logical venue for the draft. Fans agree as each year the crowds get bigger and bigger for the event held at the iconic midtown venue. But the NFL and Radio City must not have been in sync when the venue booked a spring holiday special for the time typically given towards draft coverage. The spring holiday special is said to be a conflict in upcoming years as well.

The result is a tryout May draft that will probably stick for years to come if everything turns out as planned. The NFL league year normally starts the first few days in March, preceded by the scouting combine in February a week or so after the super bowl. NFL.com is reporting that there will be no changes to the league calendar for 2014 other than the draft being moved to May 8th-10th. The league has always wanted to drag out the offseason in order to remain relevant in the spring months. Moving the draft to May allows pre-draft hype to expand another two weeks (just what we need more Mel Kiper).

It is being speculated that a May draft date will effect rookies the most. Normally teams schedule mini-camps in the month of May before memorial day weekend. Rookies being drafted in the middle of may will have less time to study the playbook and may take a longer time becoming acclimated to their new offensive and defensive schemes. On the other hand, a later draft could be to the benefit of graduating seniors that are draft eligible. Most universities finish their spring semesters in mid-may and sometimes early june. This has prevented some rookies from attending mini-camps because they are still finishing up their degree.

In some instances this has been a detriment. Take Stoney Brook University running back Miguel Maysonet for example. A star player at a smaller FCS school, Maysonet did not get drafted but was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles shortly after the draft as an un-drafted free agent. He participated in the first few Eagles rookie mini-camp practices but was unable to participate in an organized team activity (OTA) in mid may because his college class had not yet graduated. The eagles signed former Dallas Cowboy's running back Felix Jones instead and Maysonet was soon a goner. He since has been signed by the Cleveland Browns. But his story is an example of why pushing the draft back is better for the player.

One reason for pushing the draft back that i'm surprised is not gaining any traction is the concept of pushing back the entire league year. Right now the NFL kickoff weekend is set to always be the first sunday after labor day (college football kicks off its season on labor day weekend and the NFL does not want to interfere with them). By pushing the draft back two weeks the league could also choose to push back the start of the season by two weeks until the end of september or the start of the fall. Major League Baseball would love that as it would allow more attention to its close pennant races down the stretch.

But more importantly for the NFL fan (and even the casual super bowl watching fan) it would allow the Super Bowl to be pushed back two weeks. Currently the Super Bowl is played the first Sunday in February (this upcoming season it is sunday February 2nd). If pushed back two weeks it would allow the game to be played on the sunday of Presidents day weekend. One of the biggest complaints about the super bowl by non-traditional football fans is "why does the game have to be played on a sunday night!!!??? They should play it Saturday!!".

Although I whole heartedly disagree that the game should be played on a Saturday (football is meant for Sunday) I do think pairing the game up with a long weekend would be more appealing to both the fans and to the league. You'd probably get more viewership throughout the game from the commercial watching fan since they wouldn't be worrying about getting up for work the next day. And the league could use the extra day of the long weekend as another opportunity for fan festivals, trophy celebrations, and media exposure for the hosting city. It also does not hurt that mid-february up until the time of march madness is a dead time for sports in the United States. I don't see why pushing the football season into winter as being a bad thing, do you?

Employees around the country that may read this blog i'm sure would agree that moving the super bowl to presidents day Sunday would not be a bad idea..it saves them a sick day that they can use in the summer when the weather is nice!

[Paul James' blog post was written for "The Kick is Good", a blog written about the upcoming NFL 2013 season. Find more posts at http://thekickisgoodblog.blogspot.com  #506iv #byline and follow him on twitter @PJ_thekicksgood ]

Why the Kick is Good!

As I begin this blog centered around the NFL I suppose I should state my case for why I am qualified to speak about the subject.

What makes one qualified to write about a subject? I suppose if you have a degree or have done research in a particular field that makes you qualified to write about it. If you are skilled in a specific craft such as pottery making or car engine repair then I guess that makes you qualified to speak about the topic.

When it comes to writing about sports I always found it humorous that the writers were being referred to as journalists. Don't get me wrong, some sports writers are journalists...at least they play the part. They have degrees from the best "J" schools in the country. Their job is to report objectively and to be ethical with their reporting.

I will admit that I am not a journalist, at least not in the traditional sense. I don't have access to teams, players, or scouts. I won't be at practice or in team locker rooms. By virtue of working at one of the big four media networks, I may be able to have a conversation about a player or team at the water cooler with a so called "expert".

What I can offer is opinion. I think this is the dominant trait of a blogger. Without concrete sources all I can do is create an opinion from what I see or hear. Luckily for me the NFL plays perfectly to the camera. Seventeen sundays in the fall are treated like seventeen holidays for me. From 8am until the end of the sunday night game i'm glued to the television. During the week I stay up to date with the league following fellow blogs, visiting NFL websites and individual team websites, watching the NFL network, and listen to NFL analysis on the radio. I've been following this routine for over seven years now. The offseason is no different. Free agency, the draft, and mini-camps keep me hooked to the league throughout the entire year. This time of the year is particularly exciting for me since teams are starting to take shape. I'll be spending most of the summer analyzing team rosters, schedules, and injuries.

I'm excited to get started with this project. I'm labeling this a project because I have always dreamed of writing this blog, just never been disciplined enough to follow through with it. The NFL has become a year round follow.  I promise to provide you with an interesting read at least twice a week (hopefully more than that).

I guess to answer my original question of what makes me qualified to speak about the NFL? My answer is that i'm a fan. In the free world of interactive media I see no better prerequisite for writing a blog on a sport.

An Introduction to Paul James

Paul James is a native New Yorker. Born and raised in Hauppauge, NY, Paul is a true Long Islander. As a child, James spent his summers out on the waters of the Great South Bay and at Fire Island enjoying the beach and the sun. He also developed a passion for sports. Hours after school and summer vacations were spent playing street hockey with his brother and baseball games with the neighborhood gang in his grandmother's backyard.

 One of James' first memories of professional sport was the Rangers Stanley Cup victory in 1994. At seven years old, he could name every single backup goalie in the NHL. However, it was not until 1997 when James first started following the sport he is most passionate about, the NFL.  He was captivated by the New York Giants playoff run (the Danny Kannel lead Giants) and subsequently heartbroken when they lost their first round playoff game to the Minnesota Vikings (he still can't forgive Chris Calloway for fumbling the on-side kick). This heartbreak spurred a love for football. Since then James has spent his sundays from September-February immersed  in game action.

Through his early teen years Paul James participated in organized sports such as travel soccer and community league football and baseball. At age 14 he gave up his life on the field for a life in front of the camera. He enrolled in a television production course offered at his high school and immediately got hooked into the world of sports media. James spent much of his high school career shooting and editing news packages about events in the local community. One of the highlights of his high school broadcasting career was having the opportunity to interview wide receiver Justin McCareins of the New York Jets, who visited his school in conjunction with an NFL youth program.

In the fall of 2006 Paul James attended Hofstra University as a prospective broadcast journalism major. After a year of journalism courses he switched his concentration to working behind the scenes and enrolled in the school's television/video production program. Over the next three years James would work on several studio productions in the Dempster school of communications as a director, producer, tech manager and floor manager. He also hosted and produced a weekly 80's music show on the campus radio station, WRHU. James graduated from the university Magna Cum Laude in December of 2009.

Upon graduating, James was offered a job as a studio technician at a local television station, News 12 Long Island. After two weeks of work, James was trained as a studio director and directed his first live newscast at the age of 21. Since then he has worked as a Director and Technical Director on both live studio and remote productions for News 12 The Bronx/Brooklyn and MSG Varsity. Currently, James is the Associate Video Manger for CBS Local Studio's in New York City. His responsibilities include coordinating, lighting, and shooting interviews with some of the biggest names in music, sports, and news.

Paul James has always valued education and grew up in a household with a mother who has been working in education for over 30 years. It was always a goal of his to pursue a masters degree in his field. In 2012 he enrolled in the master of science program for Interactive Media through Quinnipiac University Online. James is hoping to combine his production skills with the new emerging technologies of interactive media.

Hello All. This site will be used for my upcoming ICM 506 class in the summer of 2013. I'm excited to get going with this course. The topic i'd like to be an expert on in this course will be the NFL. The sport has been a passion of mine for over 17 years. I've always wanted to be able to write about the NFL in a blog. In fact, 2 years ago I created a blog to talk about the NFL, but I was not disciplined enough to get it started. This course will finally allow me to do this.

I will be writing under the pseudonym "Paul James". I won't give the reason just yet for why I chose this name. One of our first assignments for this course was to post a writing sample. For ICM 501 we needed to host a blog. Here is one post that I composed last summer. Looking forward to receiving some writing feed back!.
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Happy post- Fourth of July to all those reading this blog! Summer is definitely here and we are now suffering through our third heat wave in the Northeast. Summertime means it’s the season for fun, beach going, barbeques and of course enjoying some interesting alcoholic drinks. Of course we hear it all the time…”If you’re going to drink..then drink responsibly and don’t drive”

Drink Responsibly

Seems simple enough, right?? Then how come we continue to see DWI arrests and accidents caused by DWI on a consistent basis throughout the summer? As most of you know, I am from Long Island, a prime destination spot for summer vacationers…and apparently also people with DWI’s. Patch is a site where people can contribute articles about things that are happening in their community. They recently posted this question, “Is there an alcohol problem on Long Island?”. It’s a more complex question then you might think.  And my answer to this question is this…sort of.

I believe part of  the “alcohol problem”  is based on stupidity and poor planning: not having a plan when going out for a night of drinking, not having a designated driver (DD), not setting a limit as to how much you can drink and still get home safely, showing off in front of friends while having a good time, and then being unwilling to accept the consequences of your actions if you make a mistake (which I think has become a societal thing, but that is meant for another post). But I also believe that Long Island is designed for drunken driving accidents.  This may be the case for a lot of suburban areas, but for our sake let’s look at Long Island critically.

Most of Long Island is set up as suburban hamlets; pockets of homes surrounded by big highways (LIE, Northern and Southern State Parkways, Sunrise Highway) and if you are lucky  you might have a “Main Street” that runs through your town. I use the term Main Street loosely because several towns have what you would call a main street (Merriam Webster defines main street. as”the principal street of a small town”). For example, the town I live in, Hauppauge, does not have a typical Main Street. In fact there is no street in Hauppauge that I know of called “Main Street”. The closest thing we have to a main street is a county road which has a number of fast food restaurant venues, a 24 hour diner and a supermarket. Other towns share main streets. Main Street in Smithtown is Jericho Turnpike, our Route 25, which spans LI from Greenport on the North Fork to the 59th street Bridge in Queens. The road changes names several times in that span, yet it is still considered “Main Street” in several of the towns it runs through.

So, why do I bring up Main Street? Simply because we do not have enough of them. Too much of Long Island is spread out and distant from each other. There aren’t enough town centers; not enough places to walk to, not enough public transportation, and not enough main streets. Some of you reading this might argue, there are plenty of main streets. “What about Main Street in Huntington you might say? How about Port Jefferson’s main street and Main Street in Bay Shore or Babylon, or even in Patchogue?” Yes, I’ve visited all those places, and they are nice to spend time in …but they require me to drive my car to get there. Yea, I could take a cab. I ran into this problem last weekend when I was with a group of friends who wanted to go out on a Saturday night to Babylon and no one wanted to be the DD.  A cab would have cost me more than 3 or 4 drinks to get there and back. The train seems like a logical option: drive to the station and take the train to one of these towns. Then, stumble your way back to the train and take a cab home after a night of drinking. This is an OK idea, but not the most ideal.

Although I’m definitely not condoning drinking and driving, I can see why it is happening so often on Long Island. The ideal way to get around is to drive. We’ve become so accustomed to driving everywhere that driving to the bar has also become second nature. But I’m a proponent of change, and I say more main streets will mean less DWI’s. Not only will more main streets provide towns with a center and “identity”, but they also create places for all people to walk to.  Just look at New York City. Many young people are moving to Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan (yes, mostly for work purposes) but also because these areas contain the perfect “main streets”. Near your apartments, these main streets all have restaurants, bars, and night life that you canwalk to. A cab ride home might only be a couple of bucks (instead of $30 if you’re traveling 15 miles or more on Long Island), and most subways are only a block or two away.

Long Island needs a re-design, and main streets are the way to do it. Main Street can act as a hub for other forms of transportation as well. Bus Hubs and LIRR stations need to be designed near main streets. Apartment complexes and affordable homes need to be developed around main streets. Business, restaurants and bars will flock to main streets. These re-design ideas all have one thing that is particularly important. It takes the car keys out of our hands.  Not only will that save you on gas, but it will also save some lives by taking DWI’s off the roads.

Do you think we need more main streets in our communities on LI? Let me know what you think, or suggest another idea below.