Marc Cardillo was drawn to storytelling through video while a student at Harrison Middle School. Cardillo recalls, “I think my interest in the general field of video production started in middle school and watching people on YouTube make some of the first high quality ‘indie films’ on that platform and it’s something I tried to do for myself while in eighth grade with my friends. Once getting to the high school we all joined the Video Production classes with Brad Schulte and from there it took off. I took every class that was offered between Schulte and Chris Ross and met a lot of the people I work with now at JRM Video and my best friends were made in those classes and the video club after school.”
His time at Baldwin High School empowered him to try his hand at video production, gaining valuable experience along the way. “I think my main experience at BWSD that helped me prepare was the permission and guidance of us to create whatever we wanted, within reason obviously. It gave us all extreme hands-on experience in the video world. I did not realize how unique that was until I was in my first 101 class at Point Park and some freshmen never touched a camera before that class. From then on I was even more grateful to have the time that we were given after school and in class by Mr. Schulte to pursue our creative visions.”
After graduating Baldwin High School in 2018, Cardillo earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Cinema Production from Point Park University.
He now provides freelance video production work and is employed part-time with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an Associate Producer for PensTV. His days are varied and full. Cardillo explains, “With the freelance work every day is a different animal so there normally isn’t anything typical with them. Currently, with PensTV I have shifted into more of a footage management role with the team. So, I am in charge of managing all the footage that comes in after a game night from Sportsnet Pittsburgh, clipping and labeling that. Then transcoding our own in arena footage into easier to work with files. Around all of that I still will be at UPMC Lemieux Center covering practice when needed and helping other shoots in the office. And if I’m working a game night I get to go out and shoot a game from time to time.”
Cardillo says his craft is constantly evolving thanks to the talented colleagues he works alongside—many of whom are Baldwin grads, including Madison Benedict (JRM); Gino Bonidie (JRM); Joey Bonidie (JRM); Nathan Cardillo (JRM & Point Park Esports); Ben Daley (JRM); Giuseppe Esposito (Motion Graphics Freelance); George Fowkes-Scoulos (JRM & Carnegie Science Center); Ryan Peters (JRM & The Camera Department); Jill Weida (JRM); and more.
Cardillo finds it deeply fulfilling to be part of visual storytelling. “What I enjoy the most is creating. It is the best feeling in the world to me to create something, alone or with a group, that you can all be proud of and call your own. And bonus if other people enjoy watching it too!”