{"id":86171,"date":"2013-12-26T08:30:26","date_gmt":"2013-12-26T13:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=86171"},"modified":"2014-01-06T10:27:50","modified_gmt":"2014-01-06T15:27:50","slug":"10-questions-game-changer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2013\/12\/10-questions-game-changer\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Questions: Game Changer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"During<\/a>
Brian Schulz ’97 (CLAS) films during the 2013 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game against the World Team at Citi Field this past July in New York City. (Photo by Rob Tringali\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brian Schulz \u201997 (CLAS) is always ready to roll\u00a0\u2013 whether it\u2019s for a professional ballgame or a tournament of teenage chess champions. A producer and cinematographer for Major League Baseball, Schulz also recently served as a producer and the director of photography for the 2012 documentary \u201cBrooklyn Castle,<\/a>\u201d which tells the story of America\u2019s top junior-high chess team. He lives in New York City.<\/p>\n

1. How did you get into sports photography?<\/strong>
\nIt all started at UConn, because I worked in the sports information department [SID]. I did some work on the ESPN production trucks as a student assistant with the SID\u2019s office, and it seemed like a cool career. \u2026 I found my creative side\u00a0\u2013 I never really thought I was creative. I can\u2019t draw, I can\u2019t sing, I can\u2019t act, but I had some kind of creativity that took some time to blossom.<\/p>\n

2. Had you always been interested in photography?<\/strong>
\nAs a little kid, I liked tuning into the World Series or the Super Bowl to see the video teasers for the game. They would play some cool music, and there would be all these majestic shots. As a kid, I probably didn\u2019t know what I was experiencing, but that probably contributed to my future career choice.<\/p>\n

3. You\u2019ve worked at MLB since 1999. What kind of work have you done there?<\/strong>
\nI [recently] worked on a cinematic essay as a promo for the All-Star Game<\/a>. One of our writers at MLB Productions wrote a really heartfelt love letter to New York City,\u00a0 voiced by John Franco, a former New York Met and lifelong New Yorker. [We\u2019ve] encapsulate[ed] the beauty of New York and the beauty of the All-Star Game coming to New York. I like really cool, crisp, clean cinematic shots and weaving them into a story.<\/p>\n

4. How much traveling does the job involve?<\/strong>
\nI worked on a Showtime series called \u201cThe Franchise\u201d that followed a single team\u00a0\u2013 two years ago, it was San Francisco [Giants], and last year it was the [Miami] Marlins. And other things come up \u2013 we do interviews with players throughout the season, so we go to their ballparks and do specialty shots with them. Then there\u2019s the World Series and the All-Star Game every year and spring training.<\/p>\n

5. Do you ever get tired of watching baseball?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m not as big a fan as I used to be. I think it\u2019s just a natural tendency \u2013 if I worked at Baskin Robbins, I\u2019d be sick of ice cream by now. It\u2019s not that I\u2019m sick of baseball; it\u2019s just there every day. Being around it so much, you forget how endearing it can be.<\/p>\n

6. What\u2019s one of the most memorable moments you\u2019ve captured?<\/strong>
\nThe 2004 Red Sox victory in the World Series. … I was shooting camera on the third-base side when the Red Sox won, so I captured that last out. When I look back in 30 or 40 years, I\u2019ll know that that slow-motion shot was mine.<\/p>\n

7. How did you get involved in \u201cBrooklyn Castle<\/a>\u201d?<\/strong>
\nIt was actually my sister\u2019s idea \u2013 she has always worked in documentaries and wanted to do one of her own. She had this idea of following around the best junior-high chess team in America, which no one really knew about. It\u2019s a really interesting story. They come from a section of Brooklyn where you just wouldn\u2019t think chess would thrive.<\/p>\n

8. Was it a challenge to make chess interesting cinematically?<\/strong>
\nWe did a lot of slow-motion and artistic shots, and we weaved it into a story line about what was going on in the players\u2019 lives. We tried to make the chess really interesting. We were at a tournament in Dallas in one of these big, big conference rooms. I like really smooth shots, but we didn\u2019t have the funding for a dolly or a Steadicam. I see a luggage cart that a bellhop is bringing in, and I get on it with my tripod and have my brother-in-law push it. So here I am on this luggage cart being pushed across the room, in the midst of the ultimate concentration sport. It was a poor man\u2019s dolly.<\/p>\n

9. You grew up in Brooklyn yourself\u00a0\u2013 is that what drew you to the film?<\/strong>
\nMy sister always wanted to do a film about where we were from, and I gravitated to that as well. I thought it would be good to make a film about something that was emblematic of Brooklyn. I think the best thing about documentaries is that you\u2019re shining a light on a subject that a lot of people may not know about. We try to show that chess is cool\u00a0\u2013 these are some of the most popular kids at their school.<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/a>
Brian Schulz ’97 (CLAS), a native of New York City, is a producer and cinematographer for Major League Baseball. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

10. What are you working on right now, outside of MLB?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m working on some stuff for Fashion Week. It\u2019s fascinating, the process that goes into the fashion shows. I see the parallels to the sports world\u00a0\u2013 there\u2019s a lot of pressure. If you\u2019re a designer, there\u2019s a lot of pressure to have a good show. Then you get the whole dynamic with the models, who are kind of like the athletes. And the shows themselves are like big games now, with all the celebrities and everything.<\/p>\n

Follow Brian Schulz on Twitter at @brianJschulz<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article was first published in the Fall 2013 edition of\u00a0<\/em>UConn Magazine. To read more stories like these,\u00a0download\u00a0<\/a><\/em>UConn Magazine‘s<\/em><\/a>\u00a0free interactive app<\/a>\u00a0for tablet devices.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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