The ZoomWithOurFeet Photography Podcast

From Video Class to NBA Video with Paul Taylor, Dir. of Video Production for the Cleveland Cavaliers

• Timothy "TMac" McCarty • Season 2 • Episode 32

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A former student turned Senior Director of Video Productions for the Cleveland Cavaliers shares how a love of sports and early live-production reps led to 15 seasons producing shows with the Browns and a return to pro sports after teaching. We dig into storytelling, leadership, hiring, and how to build a standout reel.

• Sports fandom shaping career choices
• First live camera reps and finding purpose
• Building live sports at Kent State
• Freelance van-life and early ESPN3 gigs
• Climbing roles at the Browns to director
• Docuseries craft and Emmy-winning process
• Managing teams, partners, and deadlines
• Pitching big ideas and securing buy-in
• Pandemic pivots and remote live streams
• Family priorities, burnout, and teaching
• Moving to the Cavs and in‑arena content
• What do hiring managers look for
• Growing future leaders through mentoring

Paul's Team: Bonavides!

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SPEAKER_03:

I'm looking at your resume. I'm looking at your cover letter. And then obviously through the interview process, how well can you communicate your ideas and like your feelings on certain questions and subjects? And then I really look at your body of work from what you've done before you've you know applied to this role. So how does your what is your what is featured in your demo reel? What do you have on your demo site that really makes you stand out?

SPEAKER_00:

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Zoom with our feet podcast, the pod about being a creator. With me, your host, T Mack, professional photographer, videographer, and teacher. There's nothing better for a teacher in video or photography or social studies than to see their fledgerling go on to do great things. I'm very excited to have my next guest on today because he was in my very first video class, and not only did he survive, but he thrived. On this episode of the Zoom Pod, Senior Director of Video Productions for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Paul Taylor, talks about his media creator's journey from high school video class to rocket arena in Cleveland. Hoop time is here, people, and our guest speaker is in the photo lab. Let's talk to a pro. Paul Taylor, welcome to the Zoom with our feet podcast. How are you, buddy?

SPEAKER_03:

I'm doing fantastic. How are you?

SPEAKER_00:

I am well. I am well. Oh man, I you guys all make me feel old.

SPEAKER_03:

I I uh I do feel like I'm getting up there, but um the nice thing about being in this business is uh if you're doing what you love, you know it's it's you don't feel as old as you actually are.

SPEAKER_00:

So here's the first question I always start with. You um like like many of your um colleagues here in Cleveland have had a cool media journey. So what I want to do is talk about um how this uh how you became a sports nerd. And um, because I know when you came to me, you were a sports nerd already. So talk about your journey and how it started.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, so um uh weirdly enough, I uh I'm actually from Buffalo. So before I before I moved here to uh Ohio, um my my whole dad's hide of the family uh lived in Buffalo. So um at a very early age, um I was indoctrined into what as you know is crazy Buffalo Bills fandom. Um and that kind of started my love for football. Um and I also my grandfather uh loved baseball. He's from Chicago, a huge Cubs fan. So um baseball and football were kind of my two passions. Um, and then I moved to Canton uh and quickly became a Browns fan because of, as you know, in the Midwest, football is king. Um and my entire neighborhood, um, either they were huge Browns fans or there was a weird collective of folks that were Steelers fans. And so every Sunday we would have tailgates and we would um watch the games together, and that just nurtured and blossomed my love for football. And then um I love playing sports, so um I grew up, like I said, uh my grandpa encouraged me to get into baseball early. Um and so I started the year I moved to Cannon, so I was in second grade and I played all the way until middle school. Um, and then ironically enough, I got into uh roller hockey. Um, and then I played ice hockey all through high school, and then I still play ice hockey to this day. So um, as you know, when I was in high school, I was five foot one, maybe 130 pounds soaking wet. Um, so my mom uh understandably didn't really want me to play football. So I did the next best thing. I learned how to skate pretty, pretty well and uh got to got to do hitting in a in another form. So um it's really been since I can remember, I've always loved sports. And so naturally um I was lucky enough to to be in video productions and you were my teacher, and really the you show me the way. Um, and ever since then that's been I followed my passion and and it's led me to where I'm at today.

SPEAKER_00:

I I tell people that um you and uh Nick Gambone and Josh uh you know Josh and all of that crew you survived my first year of teaching. You know, a branch. Uh I remember uh Ashley White in that class, uh giving a shout out to the old um and and you've all gone on to just such great things in life, and for me it was just such a great experience. You guys were awesome for a rookie teacher who didn't know anything about anything other than some media stuff. But um, and I do remember when I first met you, full disclosure now we could, you know, statute of limitations has expired, but I remember I remember say to Wilson, he's a senior.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh-huh. Because you because you you may have been 5'4 at that point.

SPEAKER_03:

Yes. Well, I actually grew from my uh after graduating that that summer before I went to Kent State, I grew nine inches. Um, and so now I'm like 5'9 and some change. Um, but yeah, and it's it's funny because um I was pretty bummed when I got into high school and I couldn't play sports at a level that I was used to because in middle school I was I was pretty good. I had high school coaches talking to me about playing the sports I was involved with, and so I was super excited. And then obviously, you know, you get I was a freshman, everyone shot up, and I stayed, you know, everyone called me small paw. Um, and in I it didn't bother me that much, but I really wanted to be out in the field, and so basically throughout the years, I was trying to find a way to stay involved in sports at a high level, and then I met you, and you know, one thing led to another. We did the that regional, I think Hoover girls or guys were playing a playoff game at the Civic Center, and you threw me up on camera, um, and you you know praise me for getting after it. And that was the first time that I was like, okay, this could actually be a career. And then you obviously encouraged it through all your experiences, and um, I like I've I've told you before, like that is what pushed me to to stay in sports and again to to you know do what I'm doing today.

SPEAKER_00:

That um, you know, shout out to Hoover High School Video Productions because I think that that happened to a lot of uh a lot of those students. They found it and you know, I remember you saying to me uh or or me asking you, have you ever shot have you ever obviously you hadn't really shot basketball, but I remember saying to you specifically, watch a game on TV. And I pointed out the different camera assignments, uh the two handhelds under the basket, the you know, the the camera too. So uh let me let me talk let me talk about this because from my perspective you did get after it. I remember turning to Wilson during the game and saying I have never had someone pick it up as fast as this dude. And you immediately uh and I think you've watched enough sports to have visualized it, and once you got the cadence and once you got the shot sequencing, man, it was so much fun. And I remember that because that was my first year teaching, and never in a million years did I think after all of that TV that I would get to direct, and it was and I fell in love with directing students. It was just for Wilson and I and the whole program, it was just an extension of our teaching and throwing you into that live sports uh uh blender and letting you all um just just do it, and it really became uh quite the signature for the program in and it wasn't just the sports. I can remember back in those days we did all different kinds of stuff.

SPEAKER_03:

I think it it's it's super interesting because you look at our class, and you know, we we talked about Nick Ambones now with the Guardians doing live games, and he's been doing it for 20 plus years. Um, I was at the Browns doing uh a mixture of live and content, and I know we'll get into that, but um that is what I kind of live like that. Was my favorite part of the video production class. Yeah, I love doing the projects, we became a family, like we were all really close, but it was when we got to do the choir concerts, the the plays, and then of course you introduced sports, and I was like, this is it. Like I and then you you again you talked about it, and you just had so much love for shooting golf and the Olympics and like traveling and doing all this, and I was like, like, this is amazing. I remember like talking to Nick about it, and we're like, Yeah, we're gonna do this. We didn't know how we were gonna do it, but you know, of course, it's you know, we're here and it's you know, there's definitely yeah, there's definitely some luck involved, but I think it started in video productions at Hoover uh under kind of like your tutelage of just encouraging us to do it, and you know, we we'll get into it, I don't want to spoil your your the rest of your questions, but um, we really in college and after we really focused all of our attention into live sports production, and then that led to kind of the jobs we got now.

SPEAKER_00:

So then I, you know, once a teacher, always a teacher. How did the Hoover experience help you at the next level at Kent State? Full disclosure, we're both golden flashes, so we're giving our alma mater some love. But how did that Hoover experience, what you just talked about, translate at Kent State?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, so well, one it led me to, you know, the major I picked was uh journalism, journalism and mass communication with an emphasis on broadcast. Um, but really it just gave me the confidence to put myself out there. You know, when I showed up as a freshman, Nick and I um there wasn't any really live sports production. Um so the only thing we could do was get involved in news broadcasts, and Kent State has a really good television station, and now it's blossomed into this great thing that students can get all types of different um experience. But at the time when Nick and I joined, and this was oh four, oh five, um, they were just primarily like TV broadcasts and the newspaper, and then they had like a the the Kent magazine or whatever. So um I was a freshman, and again, I was in the middle of a growth spurt, and and um, you know, going into a new situation, I I was nervous as heck. Um, and um Nick and I kind of put ourselves out there. We went to the first TV2 meeting. Um, and you know, it's funny because the juniors and seniors at the time looked at us and they're like, you guys are just kids, you're not gonna get to do a whole bunch. But Nick and I, through everything that we learned and our experience in video production at Hoover, we said, like, we kind of didn't stand for that. And we were like, no, look, this is what we can do. Like, let me let us sit down and show you. And literally within two weeks, we were doing the jobs that juniors and seniors were doing. And then, you know, when we were sophomores, it just kept elevating. And, you know, I think Nick was the sports manager of the station as a sophomore, uh, or maybe first year junior or first semester junior year, but um that type of confidence and the the skills that we had just catapulted us, you know, to the immediately to to do the harder work. Um, and then again, it was just volunteering for as much as we could possibly do. Um eventually we were able to talk some folks into letting us do our own live broadcast of Kent State basketball. Um, and then that blossomed into other things. So it was just, and now, like Nick and I like to say that, you know, because of us and and a few of the other folks that we work with, that's why they have a sports TV production program because we show that there was more than just news. Um, and so it was just really, it was just we were a little cocky. I think you instilled that into us. Like, you guys are good, go show people that what you can do, and that's all it took, really, and just putting ourselves out there.

SPEAKER_00:

I remember you guys asking me, you were your seniors in that first year. So it was like I was a rookie, but you were the veterans, and and I remember you guys, and it wasn't just you and Nick, it was pretty much everybody, with saying, Well, what uh, you know, how do I as a freshman get to and get to work? And I said, I remember telling you, because it's kind of a standard thing for me, is always to show up at the meeting and they will invariably ask you at some point, what can you do? And I remember telling you guys, your answer is what do you need me to do? And it's funny. Here's the here's the sort of circle kind of thing. So uh three years ago, about four years ago, a Hoover student, Nathan Murphy, shout out to another Hoover student at Kent State, uh, in broadcast, he had worked his way in and was now doing like the director of the scoreboard stuff. But he calls me and he said, How would you like to direct some games? And I said, What? He said, Well, um this is when ESPNU and ESPN Plus were coming in and he said, Um, we need someone that's a teacher that can direct. And I got to direct um some basketball games. Um it was like right after COVID. And I gotta tell you, Paul, uh one of the first games I I remember they have a truck now, and I remember sitting down and saying, Oh man, if PT and Gambone were here, I would be dogging them like nobody's business. But uh, you know, I'd like to think that you guys sort of laid that groundwork. I mean, there's students doing everything but producing and directing. They even had a student doing video. Not any not you know, not an easy thing. So um you guys you guys laid that groundwork. So so you um so you came with skills, you learn more skills at Kent, and then okay, so now we walk across the stage and and then what? Um what was the plan? What was the plan and and what did you yeah how did we get the first gig, Paul?

SPEAKER_03:

So in full disclosure, um when I was uh when I was finishing my junior year, I started working at our rec center. Um and I fell I was in our intramural department and I was uh official and I was also um someone thought it'd be a good idea to make me a supervisor, supervising other college students. Um, but I also fell in love with that. So I was at a at a weird crossroads because I was still really liking production, um, but I was really liking what I was doing at the rec. And like I said, um Nick and I were kind of like it, there's it kind of got stale working for TB2. Now we were doing a lot of production in terms of um, we were growing like how much live sports stuff we're doing. We do more basketball games, we did, I think a couple softball games, and then we were even able to hop in and do some football. But um, in addition to that, I also got hooked up with um, and I don't even know if they exist in this form, but Prism Sports Group. Um, and they did a lot of you know, Mac football, basketball, um some we we did a bunch of random things like Akron Racer Softball, but they would do a lot of stuff for um at the time it was ESPN 3. Um, and ESPN it eventually turned into ESPN U. And I don't know what it is, but that's where I really that was my first paying gig. I remember I got paid$200 a game, um, but we had to travel with the production crew. We would all hop in a van and they would truck Nick and I all across the Midwest to work these football games. Um, and that's again where I it just reinforced me that like I wanted to be in sports. I ran camera, I did graphics, I did audio, um, I was in the field, I was up running a game camp. I did everything. Um, and they were paying me to do it. So um I was like, how like if I could keep doing this, this is what I want to do. But like, as you know, working kind of freelance, you you got to follow the gigs and get in. And as a young kid in college, still trying to find my way, those opportunities would only pop up sparingly. Like, I remember I think you even hooked me up with a gig down in Youngstown working a boxing match. Um, you you called me and said, Hey, they need an A2. Can you come down and run a boom? And you know, you'll get paid and get some good experience. And I did it. And it, as you said, it was an interesting experience. I remember, you know, it was, I think it was an amateur, like, I don't know, some sort of like, you know, boxing circuit that came to Youngstown and somebody, you know, got hit with an uppercut and the you know broke their nose and blood splattered across. And I was holding the, of course, I was right behind the corner of the ring, and blood just went all over me. And I was like, okay, maybe this is not for me, but um so yeah, so like long story short, I'm getting ready to graduate, Kent. Um, I did take a fifth year as a super senior because I was planning to graduate with a um my bachelor's action sports management. And I in a whim I saw that the Browns had an internship as for a video editor in their new new media department, which is now basically every what it you know, social media is today. Um, and on a whim I applied and um I actually didn't get the first call. They they went with someone else, and then a couple weeks later they called me and said, Hey, you know, this guy fell through. Do you still want the position? And I was like, Of course. And they said, you know, the only caveat caveat is you have to graduate by May um to come do this. So I had to go back to my counselor, my academic counselor, and say, I need to graduate, like in after this semester. And so they worked some things. I actually graduated with like a general studies degree, but it was a split between broadcast and sports management. And then kind of the rest is history. I worked as an intern for a year, and then um I actually got offered that kind of same position that you were just talking about at Kent State, where I'd run all their scoreboard production. Um, and so I kind of used that. Um, I didn't love the opportunity, mainly because you know, they were trying to get me to go back and get my master's and use that as an incentive to uh or uh a plus to the a lower salary. And so I went to my boss of the Browns of Time and said, you know, look, I might go take this job. Is there any opportunity for me to make this full time? And then eventually it was full time, and then kind of the rest is history. I was there for 15 plus seasons.

SPEAKER_02:

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SPEAKER_00:

And now back to the show. Uh what I love about this is each um you played it right. Each thing led to the next thing. And and then you uh got in with you know the Browns a significant media operation, media production operation. And so there were lots of opportunities, and you went from sort of uh just above intern and you worked your way up to a uh a director position. So um talk me through that um that little journey within the journey, and then um what you feel like you learned uh from it all.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Well, like I said, I I was there for 15 seasons before I left. Um, and so I obviously learned a lot. I mean, I grew up, I became an adult essentially, um, at the Browns. Um, but I mean it it it kind of goes back to what you were just saying. It was like taking baby steps. So um I started as a video editor, and really the video editor's role was to capture all the footage of practice, bring it in, cut some highlights, get it ready to post on our website. Um, and then eventually, after they saw kind of my skill set, I parlayed that into producing, you know, features and content for what was then our TV shows that we I think we were partnered with Sports Time Ohio and maybe it was KYC at the time or Fox. Um and so I started to do a lot of feature work. And then once they saw that I could kind of manage the feature work and I could edit and shoot it, then they had me produce it. So I was the one that was coming up with the stories and then writing scripts and voiceovers and really like looking at the big picture from a from a television show perspective. Um and so I was producing all types of TV shows, coaches shows, magazine style shows. Um we sort of dabbled a little bit in podcasting then, but it was really the TV show production, is where I stayed for a long time. And then eventually um they recognized that you know I was getting pretty good at managing the whole process, and then they made me a supervising producer and I was managing all the content um and all the production of all our TV shows. And that's that's where I would say I learned a lot very quickly because I was not only managing the content, but I was managing people. Um, and I was managing um other people and other organizations because you know it's all about communicating and just working together to try to produce the best products. So um, you know, and and we had a lot of success. Once I kind of figured out how to manage the people and understand people's strengths and weaknesses within our team, um, I think we did a really good job of producing some high-level content. We um won a bunch of Emmys for our Billing the Browns series, which was a docuseries that got recognized not only like in the National Football League as one of the best shows, but it was it was a national show. Like I was taking questions from all sorts of professional sports, MBA, M L B, um, you name it. And so, like again, it was kind of like that moment where you're like, okay, like I actually am pretty good at at this, you know, like managing the sports production process. And then eventually um one thing led to another, and they um promoted me to director, and I was managing then like all content. So my official title was director of content production, and so I was managing our TV shows, our preseason broadcasts, our radio shows, our radio podcasts, um, and then also social media content on top of that. So um that was every stage is kind of like you know, first trial by fire, and then okay, you can do it, and then they they allowed me to. So it honestly, it's you know, I I learned just so much, not only in the production world, like just what works, what doesn't work, how to tell a story, I think. Um, you know, yeah, I learned growing up, you know, through through video production in Hoover, through Kent State, and like you know, news programming, and then how to how to tell a story that the fans want to listen to. And and that I think is what really kind of like advanced me to the next level. Once I got that and it clicked, um, everything else is easy because all you're doing is telling stories in any type of medium that you're doing. So um, and again, I was so fortunate to just have an amazing, amazing crew that um, you know, they were my second family. And um, we just we thrived now. I'll preface this in the 15 years that I was there, I was only part of one winning season because I started in 2008 after the 2007 season where they went 10 and 6, and everyone thought we were gonna win the Super Bowl, and then we didn't make the playoffs again until 2020. Um, and that was during COVID. So that that was brought a whole bunch of different challenges, but um it just it was a lot of work. I you know, you learn about time management, you learn about setting priorities and goals, um, and you just I made a lot of mistakes. Like, I don't want people to think that like I was just some savant that just popped in this role. I worked there for 15 years, and it took me that long to get to the point where I felt really comfortable about how to operate. And um yeah, it was just and and I think the biggest thing I learned is like just keep having fun. If you're having fun and you're you're like everyone says, if you're doing something passionate, that if you're following your passion, it's you're not working a day, right? So um I tried to keep that in mind, and um, you know, it was it was an awesome there. I would not trade it for anything. Um, it was awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

So let me pull the thread. So you've you've you've ascended to this management uh position. Um so not only were you managing content and managing deadlines and managing uh production, you now have to manage people. Um let's let's let me pull that thread a little bit. What did you learn about uh managing people? Yeah and I asked this to to a lot of my students because uh you may recall you don't, but it's part of my repertoire to say that because a lot of students say, why do I need college if I'm gonna do this? Right? And I always say if you want to be a camera monkey or an edit monkey, you may not necessarily need college. But what'll happen is you'll get to a point in your career where you have enough experience. experience and those above you say Paul is ready to manage. And that is where from my perspective, where a a college degree is important.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Because uh that helps you um along with the experience to be a better manager. What did you learn about yourself and about managing people?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. I mean it and I think it goes back to even Kent State because we we were as juniors, seniors, super seniors, we were put in charge of like an entire broadcast. And I and I want to give a lot of credit to the juniors and seniors that were in front of me because they really taught us how to manage not only the the college students that we were working with but then manage up and manage you know talking to the professors and all the folks that were in charge that were allowing us to do this a bunch of 19 to 21 year olds doing a full sports broadcast like by ourselves. So I give a lot of credit to not only my professors but even some of the seniors like uh Dave Holmes people might remember from he what he was the first person to win the ESPN um anchor show where they were going and they got to be an ESPN anchor after and uh Wayne Crow was a first like a producer director um who was a senior when I was a sophomore and he took me under his wing and he taught me a lot. So from the very get-go like I understood the importance of working with as a team and working together um and that you cannot do everything yourself. You might be really good at one aspect at the time I was a really good camera op um and an okay editor um but I learned that you know like I wasn't the greatest you know audio editor um I wasn't the greatest writer um at the time and those were things that I leaned on others to do for me and then to teach me how to become better. So fast forward you know when I am starting to manage folks at the Browns same thing. I had a team of just crazy talented folks. I mean like it without them we wouldn't have been successful like editors that could sit down and take you know 10 hours of footage that we captured and make it a 22 minute show and you know like they could see it from a specific lens and taught me so much about like pacing and why like they you know led with something that was super you know like I like attention grabbing and then would you know then get into the meat of it. And so like it's just the the thing that I I learned is that you have to trust you really have to trust the people that were hired to do the specific job uh that they were doing because they are good at it and then through from that you can build upon each other's skills and talents and you know backgrounds. That's another thing like everyone comes from a different background they all have different interests and especially when you're creating content you know like yeah maybe it's about football but we're also telling the story of the players and what they're interested in. So um you know for example like maybe someone loves building Lego sets and I don't have although I did like building Legos as a kid I wasn't really in tune with the Lego community at that point and someone on my staff was and so we take you know that experience and he helps tell that story and gives me background and then that helps me write my interview questions and then yeah it's just building on top of that and it just really comes down to to trust and and providing providing that level of trust that the people that you're managing um in the team that they trust that you have their best interests at heart not only uh for for putting them the best place to succeed but also that you care about them as a person. Especially work-life balance in sports is as you know uh it could get a little crazy where you're working a lot and not really doing a lot of other things so um it's just a lot of being a good person and and being good to others around you and then you know using the talent and the skills uh to be to be great or to strive to be great I don't you know you can get there a couple times but you're always working to like one common goal of like how do I how do I get better at what we just did and and that's ultimately what we did at the Browns and that's you know kind of what we're doing now at the Cavs.

SPEAKER_00:

Tell me um tell me a story about a favorite idea or pitch that you worked really really hard to pitch you got it made and and what was the backstory that got you the green light yeah that's a good question.

SPEAKER_03:

Um man there's so many so there's two there the the first one was um in 2018 we just uh it was the year after we we drafted Baker we got Odell Beckham um we had Jarvis Landry we had stars in the team and we were really trying to figure out how we could elevate our social content and um kudos to my boss Sarah Konakovich who's now she's at uh Union Home Mortgage is their um creative director but she had this idea of like why don't we remake the Friends open it's fun everyone loves friends imagine if we can get the players to to reenact that that open and it's an iconic open um and we kind of you know we're most of us it's a it's a male driven kind of industry it's getting a lot better now but at the time as a bunch of us dudes thinking like man like the players aren't gonna go for it it would be kind of cool but I don't I don't know so we got in a room and we really tried to figure out like how could we do this? How can we replicate the open and it got as far as we we bought a couch off of Amazon or not maybe it wasn't Amazon it's probably like Craigslist or something at the time and we spray painted orange and then we looked at the friends open and we storyboarded shot for shot um what we were going to do with our players. So instead of you know Joey and this shot we were going to have Jarvis Landry do what Joey was doing. Instead of Chandler and uh I can't even remember like whoever like dancing we're gonna have Odell and Baker dancing. So we had a really good plan going kind of into the pitch meeting with our PR staff saying like this is going to hit if we do it right. Trust in us we are we really want this to happen um and of course like now we're all bought bought in because we spent kind of a couple weeks doing this um and luckily we were able to get them on board um and we also use this in part of our building the brown series and this like behind the scenes stuff so it was multiple uses but um you know we finally got them on board we picked a day to shoot it and we got all the stuff together um and all everyone came out but like I think was it Odell I think it was Odell everyone came out but Odell and we're like crap like we only have six guys like we need we need Odell so eventually um somehow some way he came out um and we were running around with our head cut off because we were trying to produce them in these different spots um and then eventually we shot it all put it together and we put it out and it was one of the most successful videos that I've ever been a part of um not only because of the amount of work it took and the collaboration with the different you know um different departments but also how much our fans liked it and and and how much it kind of took the social media world by storm. And that again was a catalyst like once we saw that we could produce something that millions of people watched we were like why don't why can't we do that with the rest of our content? And so we just kept trying to push the envelope every time and um and it was a lot of fun. And I guess just one more quick one like the pandemic was really hard on everyone producing content. And before everyone left to go home you know ever just like every company we got in a room and they told us we're gonna be working from home for the next couple months um and then they pulled the content department in a separate meeting and said all of our business now is going to run through you guys because the only way we can possibly make good on all the stuff that we sold that we were going to do in you know in a in uh stadium experiences and like partnership content, all this stuff that is now going to be produced by you. And so this is like literally my first year as a director um so there was a lot of um it was a stressful year but um you know one of the things I'm most proud of at the Browns is we have a big charity event every year called Taste of the Browns and it's how we raise money for our Browns Foundation and our and in this in the community relations department um and it was a huge deal. And of course the pandemic we couldn't have a bunch of people come and you know to an event and try food and then do the silent auction all that stuff so they put it on us to come up with basically a TV style live stream that was an hour where we did the same thing. And granted like this is before Zoom really took off this is Zoom was just starting to get big and there was so we were doing some things on Zoom but like we had to really dive into researching like how can we produce a show um and again it kudos to my team because it was our only option and so I said we got to do this as we all dug in and we figured it out and um now the technology that we use is like one of the main you know uh live switchers but um again it was another learning opportunity once we learned we could do that we just parlayed that into more and more content so um that those are the two probably things that stick out immediately I'm sure there's just a ton of things but it those are two of the things I'm most proud of um in my time at the Browns.

SPEAKER_00:

And I bet it was so much fun.

SPEAKER_03:

The the the friends video was was probably the most fun outside of producing some of like the mic'd up content for building the Browns and things like that. The taste of the Browns thing I wouldn't say it was as as much fun as it was rewarding because we were able to meet the goal of you know raising whatever the amount of money it was. We were trying to feed X amount of people and I think the goal was raising$2000 or something something like that. And we hit that and we surpassed it. So um it was really stressful trying to figure it out and and do it but it like went off without a hitch and like everyone was super appreciative and um it kind of set the standard again we had folks reaching out to us be like how did you guys do this um and then we parlay that into more live shows for training camp and so it was just again it's funny how things you get thrown in situations that you have no idea how you're gonna accomplish something but um if you put your heads together you can literally do what you at one point might have been impossible. It's you can do it. It's just you gotta you gotta think outside the box and um again it's it's a lot of kudos to the team that I had there um because um you know a lot of people were like you're crazy we're not gonna be able to do this and then you just kind of level set and said we have to and then okay let's let's figure it out and that's how we went so um but yeah it was I mean so much of what we did at the Browns is was just so much fun and I you know I I miss working in football and I miss the team that we had there but um again in the situation I'm in now is very similar and it's um you know I I feel back uh doing what I back home doing what I love so yeah well you lead me to the next question so where did uh chicken and the egg were you feeling like it was time to move on how did the how did the Cavaliers position come about? Well yeah so before that and you might you might remember a little bit about this but during the pandemic um we had our my daughter my daughter's now five so she was born June 26 2020 so at the heart of the pandemic and I got to stay home with her and watch her grow up that first year um and that was the first time that I was like okay like outside of loving football and sports like I now have a family and I of course love my daughter and I I want to be able to yeah experience as much as I possibly can. So um you know a couple years went by still working at the Browns and then my wife got pregnant again and we were expecting our our son and I kind of I was I was getting a little burnt out um at the Browns just working so much and trying to manage you know being at home and it it just was a lot and um I think you were the one to forward me the position that I eventually took at Wadsworth where I was the media teacher for you know two and a half years before I took this calves gig. And so that's kind of why I changed quickly abruptly changed directions and then careers because I was trying to find a better work life balance so I could you know be here for the fam. So um I learned a lot being a teacher as you as you uh can probably attest but um and and for the same things that we were just talking about earlier like getting the kids to to to buy in and learn and and produce some really good content and be proud of what they produced like that is what really made being a teacher super rewarding but in the back of my head there was always that like yeah but it's it's just not the same as working in professional sports. So fast forward it was right before school started my third my third year um my now boss at the Cavs uh he was my boss at the Browns for five six years um he reached out and said hey I might have a position open that I think you might be interested in do you think that you'd ever get back into sports and one thing led to another and we you know talked for months and after about six months he they opened a job and I applied and uh I got hired and then the hardest thing was telling the school uh because I was finally starting to click and get it but um I'm I'm happy for the experience of you know being a teacher but I'm thrilled now to be at the Cavs so that's basically I started this year uh January 6th um and it was in the middle of the season so it was a little crazy but I after the that uh semester this year I kind of it was an easy clean break and then I I started the Cavs. How is the role similar and different from the the content management position at the Browns so now um my role is responsible for overseeing um most if not all the content production that happens in arena so anything that a fan would see when they come into the arena is produced by my group um we have obviously a bunch of super talented video producers editors shooters and then we also have a motion graphic department that we work closely with um uh actual like graphic department uh social media department but my group is primarily focused on producing the video content for any for Cavs Monsters Charge and now in a couple years we're gonna have a WMBA team so um it's a little bit different because I'm not producing television shows I'm not producing as much social media content um we're really just focused on the in arena show um but we do cover a lot of the community events and things like that and um work closely with the social media team so that um they can get as much coverage on that stuff because as you know there's there's a lot that goes on um from an organization standpoint out in the community and um we do marketing spots and things like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Nick Langer I don't know if you remember uh Nick Langer he was he was a VP grad he's he's actually um one of my senior producers now um and so it's really crazy that's gone full circle but um you know he's great for a lot of the same reasons that we've been talking about so that is kind of what um my role now is overseeing that production okay so from the little dude uh likes sports to now someone who is full time managing creators and managing a media uh in-house media operation I always tell people that for me anyway because I also started out as a camera operator and a photographer even before that um that uh I always tell people that shooting for me is good for my soul it's like I there's that sort of connection with shooting so my question to you is how does now you're back in this media production role how does that make you feel um like you said it's it's a part of me like it's what makes what draw it's the best way I can put it is when I was not doing it I felt like something was off um and then the minute I got back into it I felt like I was at home.

SPEAKER_03:

And I I will say like they're part of the downside and it's kind of like you hear it across any industry but of becoming a manager of people and process is that you don't get to be you know boots on the ground. You don't get to you know run the camera as much as you want to I'm fortunate now that if I want to I can um the problem is is and it's a good problem to have is that there are folks now that are much better than me because I haven't you know you know ran a camera in that specific way in a long time um but it's just good to be back doing what I've done for 20 plus years and um it's it even when I was a teacher I was finding ways to do extra production work um at the school level and like of course the school loved it and the teachers loved it and um really a lot of it was yes it was a good educational opportunity for the students but it was also for me to like stay connected to what I loved and um a way to share that with the students is like this is this is me. This is how I operate. So um but yeah I I I'm hopeful like you know to kind of get back into it. I dabble a little bit starting this year um just doing a couple things but um again we got some really talented folks and I I have uh a 6700 that every once in a while I'll get out and mess around you know do some family stuff but um but yeah it just it's it's hard to explain just one of those things that as soon as I got back in I was like it was kind of like a sigh of relief like okay like this is what I was meant to do.

SPEAKER_00:

I would lose my teacher card if I didn't ask a pay it forward question. So it's a two-parter. What do you look for in a potential hire hard skills soft skills and that you would tell aspiring creators my project they're my they're my target. Yep so here is someone who hires creators give me hard skills and soft skills that you're looking for.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah um hard skills really is just dependent on the role obviously if I'm looking for a video editor it's how not only how well do you know the software we're using Adobe Premiere uh like many uh in the industry now it's kind of like the industry standard um but how well can you tell a story? Um how well do you um know how to do the little things to get the most out of maybe a not so good you know content capture because not every time you go out and capture something are you going to strike gold every time sometimes the editor needs to sit down and and really know how to tell that story. But that's just one example. So for hard skills it's really just how well do you know the equipment um how current and up to date are you with the the newest gear and and um the software especially now with the introduction to AI into everything um you know like what kind of background do you have using generative AI in a Photoshop or um like how can you use to write a script that kind of stuff um but honestly what I look for in especially when it comes to hard skills and I'm looking through resumes um one is you know how well can you you know communicate and I'm looking at your resume I'm looking at your cover letter um and then obviously through the interview process how well can you um communicate your ideas and like your your feelings on on certain questions and subjects um and then I really look at your body of work from what you've done before you you know applied to this role so how does your what is your what is featured in your demo reel? What what do you have on your demo site that really makes you stand out and what are you most proud of and then how do you speak to that because um that's where you can really understand the passion of of the folks that you're trying to hire um so that's how I really identify hard skills and then the soft skills is I my my thing when I when we're hiring is like are you a good person um are you someone that um others are going to want to work with um are you dependable are you creative are you hardworking um are you good at time management because in production in any industry um it's deadline deadlines are a key thing like you have to get something done by a certain time how well can you manage multiple you know productions at once that kind of stuff so um I really look for uh people that want to also do this for a living um and are are passionate about either what we're trying if it's a you know a basketball role or a hockey role or um if it's the actual you know getting in and editing or picking up a camera and they're just a complete camera nerd and they can tell you the bells and whistles and why they would do this and why they would use this lens. Like if I can see that passion I can take that and mold that into someone that would work well in any department. So um it's you know and obviously I've been doing this for a long time so it's kind of a feel thing like I I pretty much know within the first 10 minutes of an interview if that person has the qualifications that we're looking for. And then if not then it's just dive deeper into their background. But yeah that's that's kind of a long way of just saying like we just want good people that want to be there and then you know we can take that and mold it to whatever we need.

SPEAKER_00:

Part B is I'm sure along the way you find people where even young people where you say that person would be a good manager. How do you cultivate that in someone?

SPEAKER_03:

Yep. Yeah uh I deal with this some I'm I'm dealing with this a little bit now it's um I have a little bit of a younger staff here at the Cavs um and again that's that's actually a good thing because they are young and hungry and they have great ideas and they have great experience within their realm of you know what they've done. But it's it's left us with like okay like who's gonna step up and and take that next next next step. And really what I try to do is identify the roles that I think we're gonna need in the future and then put those people that I think would be good in those roles in that situation and say like all right like you're gonna you want to be a director of photography this next big upcoming shoot you're gonna do that. And I'm gonna see how you do it. And if you do well we're gonna give you more opportunities or maybe you didn't do as well but we just need to get you training or we need to work on whatever aspect whether it's communication or organization or planning like we we'll take those things and work on it and then try it throw you back in it. And it's just identifying really the skills necessary to do the job and then putting the folks that you have into those roles. And just like me it's learning like I had all going through the Browns is learning trial by fire. You're thrown in the deep end and you either sink or swim. And a lot of times I was doggy paddling until I became uh good enough at the breaststroke and then you know I learned how to do the backstroke and then so like it's really I tell everyone especially our seasonals and our interns like I'm never going to tell you go get me coffee. I'm gonna tell you to go do the shoot because you're gonna learn more from that than like being an errand person. So um yeah that's that's kind of I I like putting people in situations that I think they'll thrive in and eventually hopefully that will lead to um then managing either process or people.

SPEAKER_00:

Paul Taylor I can't thank you enough for being a part of the project you um and your class uh like I said uh besides surviving this knucklehead coming off the street to teach you you guys have all just done amazing work you're all still working in the industry and for me um that's just really something that I am proud of and that you sort of you got it you're you're doing it and you're putting you've put your own personal marks on all your careers and um you know part of me doing this project is to talk to you guys in the hopes that somebody will take that initiative and hear what you're saying and you know get themselves involved in production. Sure.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah no and it it was of course always awesome to talk to you and um a no-brainer when you asked because like I said like you were the reason I got into this um I it's funny to like think back and think about why you went a certain direction um in your life now I'm I'm 40 and it's it's crazy to think that I did all the stuff in college and I worked so many years at the Browns and then I tried teaching and then now I'm back in the calves and it all started because you just lit a fire in my But saying that I was good at something. And that's all it took. Because I'm not gonna lie, when I was a junior senior, like I didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to get into sports, but I didn't know, like, I didn't know you could do video productions in sports. I didn't know those types of jobs existed. So like to have someone like you and Tom um put us in situations that we could experience that and then encourage us to like keep doing it, like that's what it's about. And that's like I don't know what I would be doing if I didn't take video productions, I didn't get to meet you. So um anything I could ever do, uh, you want me to do a whole series of podcasts, I'd be honored. Um, but uh it the pleasure was all mine. Thank you so much for asking me to do this. And hopefully one day we'll we'll get uh we'll inspire some folks to apply. Maybe it'll be my next seasonal or who knows, next manager of people. We'll see.

SPEAKER_00:

See you down the road.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, likewise.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks again to the Cleveland Cavaliers Senior Director of Video Productions, Paul Taylor. You can check out his team's fantastic video work on nba.com slash cavaliers. Looking for a piece of gear or a cool photography t-shirt? You can trick out your kit and your wardrobe at the same time at the Zoom with our feet shop. Use our affiliate links from Small Rig, Adorama, and Printeak. Remember, anytime you make a purchase using our links, we get a small commission that doesn't affect the price of your item. The Zoom With Our Feet Podcast is a production of TV Commando Media. Our theme music is by Novembers and their funky groove, Cloud10. Be sure to take a peek at other great episodes of the Zoom Pod at zoomwithourfeet.com, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Until next time, creators, if you want to shoot net it, get busy.

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Timothy "TMac" McCarty

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