Guest Profile:

Justin Hubler, Assistant Director of Broadcast Operations, Northwestern University Athletic Communications

Previous Experience: Third Wave Media

Studied Recording Arts at Indiana University

Things to keep in mind for people who want to work in media production:

Use your personal interests and experiences to build out a highlight reel or portfolio

Networking is critical. Build connections with people in all places that you come in contact with

You don’t always get clear direction on your projects, but you need to tell the best story you can

Creative freedom is a challenging dynamic to figure out with the client. The client has the final say, though you need to exercise your creativity to develop the best product

Work in media production can be seem across a variety of digital and physical mediums

A lot of coordination is required across a variety of teams and departments to execute on the appropriate messages - relationship building is critical

It is not easy to remain consistent across a variety of mediums. Must have a keen attention to detail and coordination across people

There is never an easy season, especially when working in media productions for a sports team

Career paths can start in broadcasting or communications

Insights:

It was tough for Justin to stick with his passion in spite of the pressure from other people and society to get a more traditional job; he wanted to pursue his passion of music, and he did!

Justin took advantage of his time playing in a band to develop and hone in on his interest of filmmaking

Despite having an ~1 year gap in his resume between graduation and getting a job, Justin highlighted his experiences and some of the projects he was working on to show he wasn’t just taking time off, but using it to progress his skill set

If clients do not like the work that was delivered, the agency side can push back and explain why they made a decision on a given piece of work

Working in the athletic department focusing on media requires you to be dynamic and flexible to deliver the right message over the correct medium

It takes a lot of people to execute on a sporting event from a media production standpoint

Rapid Fire-Round:

What Justin wanted to be when he was a kid: Architect

Best resource for career-related information: Parents

What helps Justin when he has a bad day at work: Take a step back and realize how many people want the job that he has

Justin’s favorite sport to cover: Football

Best part of Justin’s work day today: Going to a baseball game

Advice:

Create as much as you can, even if it is bad, as you will learn in the process

Never be the smartest person in the room

Why should someone want to be in media production?

It gives you a chance to be right on the cusp of breaking news, and capture the moment as it is happening

Get in touch with Justin Hubler