For Brad Martens, work is just another day at the park – AT& T Park, that is.
Brad, a CSM alumnus, made a successful transition from production intern to full-time digital media coordinator with SFG Productions, the San Francisco Giants’ production company. Within a short time, he has accumulated some highly impressive hardware to go along with his success, namely, two Emmy Awards and two World Series rings!
Brad is part of the production team that received 2013 Emmy Awards for Sports, Daily or Weekly Program/Series for “Inside the Clubhouse—Orange October: World Series,” a documentary about the 2012 playoffs, World Series and parade; and for “Inside the Clubhouse – All Stars,” a segment titled “Ztallica,” that featured former Giants’ pitcher Barry Zito jamming with the band Metallica.
As the Giants’ digital media coordinator, Brad’s is involved in producing commercials, documentaries and promotional and corporate videos for the organization. His work allows him to blend his musical background, college education and intern experience into a rewarding and exciting broadcast career.
Brad‘s career journey began with an internship at KCSM while he was a student at Aragon High School. “I interned at KCSM because I wanted to translate my love of music into a career in audio engineering and recording. I worked with Producer Chris Cortez and Music Director Jesse “Chuy” Varela; they assigned me to their digitizing project. I took all their old records and recorded them into a computer, and then I re-mastered them for use on the air at KCSM-FM. It was a great way for me to combine my interests in jazz and technology.”
Following high school graduation, Brad enrolled at CSM to study digital media. “CSM’s program provided valuable hand’s-on production experience – I never had the opportunity to do anything like it before. CSM had recently revamped the program, acquired new equipment and had an enthusiastic group of teachers – Michelle Brown, Chris Cortez, Dante Betteo and Rick Zanardi. It was obvious that they love what they do and they make it a fun learning environment. They also encouraged me to transfer to San Francisco State University (SFSU) which has a highly regarded Radio and Television Department.”
“When I transferred to SFSU, I studied with Professor John Barsotti; he really taught me all I know about audio production, recording, and mixing. However, as I was approaching graduation, I realized there were not many opportunities to work for music studios in the Bay Area so I decided I needed to learn about video production.”
To gain video experience, Brad was offered an internship with the San Francisco Giants as part of the scoreboard production crew. Then he gravitated towards post-production and served another internship with SFG Productions to work on the “Inside the Clubhouse” series and produce video content for the scoreboard. This provided another great learning environment. By 2009, Brad’s internship evolved into a part-time salaried position, and by 2013, he was promoted to a full-time position as digital media coordinator.
Today, Brad oversees all video technology for the editing staff and manages all of the digital media and assets from ingest through distribution. He does the mixing and mastering of all audio for “Inside the Clubhouse,” short features, radio and television commercials, and he also serves as post-production audio engineer for SFG Productions.
Looking back on the path Brad followed to reach his career goal, he says, “I’m glad I decided to go to CSM to finish all my GE requirements so when I transferred, I was able to focus on my major courses. I am really happy with the decisions I made and was able to graduate in 4 years – 2 years at CSM and 2 years at SF State.”
The value of Brad’s internship with the Giants was pivotal in that it provided on-the-job training and technical experience. He explains, “My manager, Paul Hodges, discovered that I had a strong background in computers, which I credit to my father, Bryce Martens a computer science faculty member at CSM. My personal background, college education, and internship experience was the ‘perfect storm’ for me to realize my career path in digital media and asset management. It was a career that I did not know existed. Everyday brings new and exciting challeneges, but I love what I do and of course, I’m a huge baseball fan!