My name is John Marcus, and I am a junior at the University of Southern California. I am majoring in Broadcast and Digital Journalism and double minoring in Sports Media Studies and Cinematic Arts. I went to Palisades Charter High School in Los Angeles and grew up in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood.
My career goal is to either produce or direct live sports programming. The classes at USC have prepared me to join the professional world of broadcasting and production. I grew up watching the local and national news every night. My mother scheduled dinner around the broadcasts so we could discuss the events of the day. Fast forward - I still live and breathe stories on a local, national and global scale. I want to be a journalist because I love the art of storytelling, and want to someone responsible for relaying the news to the public. I love sports, and I am curious to see how sports programming will change as cord cutting becomes more and more common. I want to be a part of that change.
As a native Angeleno, I was glued to my television watching Vin Scully broadcast Dodgers games. From the time I was five years old, I knew was passionate about sports. When I was in high school, I took video production and journalism classes. While working on video packages and for the school newspaper, I grasped an idea of what I wanted to focus my career on.
When I started looking at colleges to apply to, USC was at the top of the list. It wasn't because I grew up watching Trojans football, or because it was the closest university to my house. When I toured Annenberg that I knew I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
I spend a great deal of my time working in the school's media center, where we produce a daily newscast. I thrive in a fast-paced environment where like-minded individuals strive to achieve the best show possible. As a director for Annenberg TV News, I have learned to look at the big picture and problem-solve any issue that may arise during a broadcast.
I am also the Executive Producer for the campus sports TV show "The Water Cooler," which is filmed at Trojan Vision, the School of Cinematic Art's live television station. I deliver a 30-minute broadcast each week with a dedicated team. The show is very similar to ESPN's Pardon the Interruption. I create the rundown, organizing topics and editing segments to put into the show. As one of the leaders at the station, I delegate positions and responsibilities to a student crew each week to ensure quality shows.
I am a social media intern for the USC Athletic Department. My job is to cover every televised athletic event and edit highlights to live tweet, and upload a final post game highlight reel which I upload to the department's YouTube account. Through this position, I learned that social media has a large branding impact on the school’s image. The best part of this job is that I get to sit in the press box for every football game. For instance, this weekend, I am travelling to Dallas to watch USC take on Alabama in the season opener.
This summer, I interned at NFL Network in Culver City, where I worked in the Digital Media department as a producer/editor. I generated content for NFL.com and the NFL Mobile app, "NFL NOW". I am part of the department that creates and edits videos that reach millions of views on the internet. I created Top 10 Plays for every team's 2015 season, such as this Seahawks video. However, this comical video of Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler garnered the most views with over 1 million.
In my spare time, I work as a professional Disk Jockey and Master of Ceremonies for an entertainment company, and perform at weddings, proms and parties across Southern California. I specialize in light and sound production, and have a vast knowledge of diverse genres of music. I enjoy the pressure of putting on a live event and pleasing a crowd.
