To the persons that take the time to look this over, I appreciate you.
I'm a video professional by trade that has spent the majority of my days in journalism and corporate creative. I've spent the first half of my career hauling camera and grip gear, loading trucks, and directing client work, but have now pivoted to the managerial side while still remaining hands-on as a shooter and editor.
I am currently the Director of Digital Operations for the Chicago Sun-Times where I oversee the photo, video, and podcast creative teams of the newsroom. Being around journalists for as long as I have and witnessing what they can produce on such tight deadlines has been a truly unexpected experience.
Although I started as a boots-on-the-ground videographer right out of school, I quickly realized I had a lot of catching up to do in the writing department. I went through the writing program at iO Theater Chicago over the course of a few years that really got me to focus on my voice. I may not have been the funniest, but I definitely worked the hardest, always trying to overdeliver whenever scripts were due.
Since then I have written several pilots and a few features to try and get the bad ones out. I feel like my craft has improved and I'm serious about making a profession out of the thing that makes me happiest...having have written (we all know how awful the actual writing process is.)
My ultimate goal is to write serialized comedy that can get dark, but ultimately has heart. I hope this brief intro encourages you to reach out.
Thanks for taking the time,
Brian Ernst
Sun-Times journalists were recognized with 22 first-place awards in the Iliinois Press Association’s editorial excellence contest for work published in 2020 — as well as an award in the IPA’s advertising contest for the best newspaper promotion for “Lost and found: rescuing the Sun-Times' photo archive,” a video report by Brian Ernst, Ashlee Rezin Garcia and Brian Rich.
Tom Schuba, Rachel Hinton, Ashlee Rezin Garcia, Jake Wittich, Brian Ernst and Brian Rich | Breaking news, recognized for “Customers turned away as recreational weed sales wrap up historic first day in Illinois.”
In my freetime I try and stretch my legs in narrative projects.
• Oversee photography, videography and podcast creative teams, a lot of which is hands-on production.
• Identified insufficient equipment for visual team, recouping costs with trade-ins, getting staffers upgraded to correct tools with no additional spend, increasing quality and turnaround time.
•Mentored and coached video and photo staff devising a new workflow for video deliverables, increasing viewership on our CMS by over 270%.
• Grew our non-existent YouTube audience to nearly 100k subscribers in under 3 years putting us in the top 1% of YouTube Channels.
• Resolved concerns for a new podcast partnership by offering an internal strategy that cost 93% less than a competitor, making a project that would have needed 1 year to recoup profitable on day one.
• Redefined my role to serve not just editorial, but prompted asset creation for marketing and sales teams, decreasing company spend on outside agencies and consultants.
• Spearheaded the direction and delivery of over 200 filmed lessons and recipes for their largest client, an acclaimed culinary institution that has now launched an online baking school.
• Strategized with Producer and Creative Director to plan, execute and deliver video for corporate, commercial, and nonprofit clients in the form of documentary, brand films and commercials.
• Designed lighting for the newsroom studio as well as onboarded staff with proper live switching protocol and camera operation while also serving as Technical Director for live field productions.
• Created one of the longest-running video series featuring theater performances recreated in studio.
Brian A. Ernst ©2023
