On Monday, April 8, Pizza with the Pros welcomed Rowan Alumni and Digital Video Coordinating Producer for NBC Sports Philadelphia, Tom Finer.
Finer served as the Rowan Television Network (RTN) President during his senior year at Rowan University. Immediately after graduating in 2008, he was hired as an editor at Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia. He has been editing and producing multimedia content for NBC Sports Philadelphia for over 15 years.
Growing up in North Jersey, Finer didn’t know much about sports in Philadelphia. Finer described himself as an “average” sports fan.
“I was more Giants, Yankees, Mets, all my friends were watching the Devils. So coming down here below this line, I had to learn Philadelphia sports,” Finer said.
While Finer was in high school, YouTube was created. This made filming a lot easier for Finer, since now all he needed to do was get a cheap camera, connect it to his computer, and edit the video. He enjoyed production and technology so much that he started taking multimedia classes, discovering a passion for film.
When first arriving at Rowan, Finer wanted to pursue a career in film. When he joined RTN during his freshman year, that all changed. Finer started working on the football games, developing a new passion for television. One of the first things Finer did at RTN was editing.
For homecoming, all the sororities and fraternities would build floats the night before the event. Students filmed them making the boats, but nobody ever edited them. Even though he was a freshman, Finer volunteered to edit the videos together into one.
Finer progressed a lot when working for RTN. Starting his freshman year, he eventually worked his way from Post-Production Manager to Technology Manager, to President. This led to him landing an internship with Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia.
When Comcast Sportsnet switched over to non-linear editing, they were in need of people who could edit with computers. After they interviewed Finer for the position, they told him “We’ll try you part-time as someone who can cut up video.” He worked there as an editor who helped produce content.
Finer’s story made the students in the room realize that not only do you have to be talented at what you do, but you also need to have a good work ethic. He took a position that was lower on the totem pole than he felt he deserved and didn’t complain, which led to him progressing to the position that he’s in today.
Pizza with the Pros will continue next Monday, April 15.
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