April 14, 2019 at 07:14AM
For a high school basketball player this is not the assignment you want from your coach: "I was on the JV team at Watertown and Rico was looking for someone to film the games," said Tom Frenette about then head hoop coach Rico Brogna. "That started it all, sitting in the bleachers with a crappy little camera. Now, I'm filming Steph Curry and Kevin Durant."
Frenette, 26, a Watertown High and Southern Connecticut State grad, is the lead videographer for the Golden State Warriors. He has the ultimate production job in professional sports, sitting court side with state of the art equipment, shooting the game's greatest team. This weekend the Warriors begin the quest for a third straight NBA championship, and Frenette will document it all.
"They flew me down to Miami and the next day I flew to the Dominican Republic for the cheerleader calendar shoot."
This journey began in the Robert B. Cook Memorial Gymnasium bleachers. That sounds too simple, but simple works. It was at Watertown High that Frenette first dabbled in video production and editing. It was at Southern that he worked as a sports reporter on the campus TV station. He was asked to shoot video at a Yale-Southern rugby game, and in that game Yale coach Jan Pikul asked Frenette: "Do you want to come work for us?"
Frenette had filled in on camera that day, and suddenly he was a videographer.
Fast forward three years. Frenette is set to graduate with a communications degree. He needs to complete an internship. He had drawn little interest, so he took a big gamble. A lifelong Miami Dolphins fan, Frenette thought, what the heck. He applied to Miami, sent off a highlight reel, and the next morning "they got back to me." The interview was conducted on Skype, and in a matter of days, "I got it."
He didn't just get it, he got it big. But, he had a test assignment.
"They flew me down to Miami and the next day I flew to the Dominican Republic for the cheerleader calendar shoot."
Wait, the what?
"It was a pinch yourself kind of moment," Frenette said.
Watertown's Tom Frenette Let's just move on.
"I had to prove my worth in the field," he said, "help wherever they needed, and remain professional."
Frenette landed the internship, and in August of 2014 he drove a beat up Nissan Maxima to Florida to begin a three month gig from Heaven.
And we haven't reached the good part yet.
The Frenette clan – dad Tom, mom Gloria, little brother Bobby, Dolphins fans all – traveled to Miami to visit their son and brother. "It was a surprise trip for my mom's birthday," Frenette said. "They had never been to a Dolphins game, or to Miami, and it was my brother's first time on a plane."
The family met Jeff Griffith, the team's director of programming and production, and before the game, on mom's birthday, in front of the entire family, Griffith tells Frenette that he has been hired to the Dolphins' video team.
Watertown's Tom Frenette, kneeling, is shown here in 2014 working as a videographer for the Miami Dolphins. Pictured with him, left to right, are his brother, Bobby (wearing No. 21), mom Gloria, and father Tom. Frenette, who was an intern at the time, learned on that day that he had been hired full time to the Dolphins video crew. (Peter McMahon, Miami Dolphins) "That was one of those moments in life," said Frenette, who seemed to be caught in a series of those moments.
Watertown's Tom Frenette He graduated from Southern that December. His diploma arrived in the mail. Frenette did not walk at commencement. He had a job. In the NFL.
This past August, after four years in Miami, the NBA beckoned.
"If I was going to leave my favorite team for the next step professionally, it had to be somewhere exciting," Frenette said. "The Bay Area is great, and the Warriors are the Warriors."
How many dream jobs can one guy have?
Of course, dreams come with a heavy doses of reality. Travel in the NBA is brutal. Game day is glorious, but the work load daunting.
Sample of Frenette's work
"You treat every game like a fresh story," Frenette said. "You capture the atmosphere, you film outside the arena, the neighborhood, the fans, the other team, the warm up, the pregame press meetings, the intros, all the action, the postgame media scrum, and then you're on the plane. It is mostly shooting, but on the road there is a lot of editing requirements."
No, there are no complaints; yes, it is rugged work; yes, he said, "It is the coolest job in the world."
He is contacted most every day by college students who ask how he got there. There is no simple answer, but simply put: A series of fortunate events were met by a talented young man prepared for the challenge.
And here comes another, as the Warriors seek a fourth NBA title in five seasons. "Everyone tells me that things step up in the playoffs, so brace yourself."
Hey, Tom Frenette is ready. He's been ready, ever since he shot his first game from the top row of bleachers in the Cook Gymnasium.
Send comments to jpalladino@rep-am.com, and follow on Twitter at @RAOffTheRecord.
Related
For a high school basketball player this is not the assignment you want from your coach: "I was on the JV team at Watertown and Rico was looking for someone to film the games," said Tom Frenette about then head hoop coach Rico Brogna. "That started it all, sitting in the bleachers with a crappy little camera. Now, I'm filming Steph Curry and Kevin Durant."
Frenette, 26, a Watertown High and Southern Connecticut State grad, is the lead videographer for the Golden State Warriors. He has the ultimate production job in professional sports, sitting court side with state of the art equipment, shooting the game's greatest team. This weekend the Warriors begin the quest for a third straight NBA championship, and Frenette will document it all.
"They flew me down to Miami and the next day I flew to the Dominican Republic for the cheerleader calendar shoot."
This journey began in the Robert B. Cook Memorial Gymnasium bleachers. That sounds too simple, but simple works. It was at Watertown High that Frenette first dabbled in video production and editing. It was at Southern that he worked as a sports reporter on the campus TV station. He was asked to shoot video at a Yale-Southern rugby game, and in that game Yale coach Jan Pikul asked Frenette: "Do you want to come work for us?"
Frenette had filled in on camera that day, and suddenly he was a videographer.
Fast forward three years. Frenette is set to graduate with a communications degree. He needs to complete an internship. He had drawn little interest, so he took a big gamble. A lifelong Miami Dolphins fan, Frenette thought, what the heck. He applied to Miami, sent off a highlight reel, and the next morning "they got back to me." The interview was conducted on Skype, and in a matter of days, "I got it."
He didn't just get it, he got it big. But, he had a test assignment.
"They flew me down to Miami and the next day I flew to the Dominican Republic for the cheerleader calendar shoot."
Wait, the what?
"It was a pinch yourself kind of moment," Frenette said.
Watertown's Tom Frenette Let's just move on.
"I had to prove my worth in the field," he said, "help wherever they needed, and remain professional."
Frenette landed the internship, and in August of 2014 he drove a beat up Nissan Maxima to Florida to begin a three month gig from Heaven.
And we haven't reached the good part yet.
The Frenette clan – dad Tom, mom Gloria, little brother Bobby, Dolphins fans all – traveled to Miami to visit their son and brother. "It was a surprise trip for my mom's birthday," Frenette said. "They had never been to a Dolphins game, or to Miami, and it was my brother's first time on a plane."
The family met Jeff Griffith, the team's director of programming and production, and before the game, on mom's birthday, in front of the entire family, Griffith tells Frenette that he has been hired to the Dolphins' video team.
Watertown's Tom Frenette, kneeling, is shown here in 2014 working as a videographer for the Miami Dolphins. Pictured with him, left to right, are his brother, Bobby (wearing No. 21), mom Gloria, and father Tom. Frenette, who was an intern at the time, learned on that day that he had been hired full time to the Dolphins video crew. (Peter McMahon, Miami Dolphins) "That was one of those moments in life," said Frenette, who seemed to be caught in a series of those moments.
Watertown's Tom Frenette He graduated from Southern that December. His diploma arrived in the mail. Frenette did not walk at commencement. He had a job. In the NFL.
This past August, after four years in Miami, the NBA beckoned.
"If I was going to leave my favorite team for the next step professionally, it had to be somewhere exciting," Frenette said. "The Bay Area is great, and the Warriors are the Warriors."
How many dream jobs can one guy have?
Of course, dreams come with a heavy doses of reality. Travel in the NBA is brutal. Game day is glorious, but the work load daunting.
Sample of Frenette's work
"You treat every game like a fresh story," Frenette said. "You capture the atmosphere, you film outside the arena, the neighborhood, the fans, the other team, the warm up, the pregame press meetings, the intros, all the action, the postgame media scrum, and then you're on the plane. It is mostly shooting, but on the road there is a lot of editing requirements."
No, there are no complaints; yes, it is rugged work; yes, he said, "It is the coolest job in the world."
He is contacted most every day by college students who ask how he got there. There is no simple answer, but simply put: A series of fortunate events were met by a talented young man prepared for the challenge.
And here comes another, as the Warriors seek a fourth NBA title in five seasons. "Everyone tells me that things step up in the playoffs, so brace yourself."
Hey, Tom Frenette is ready. He's been ready, ever since he shot his first game from the top row of bleachers in the Cook Gymnasium.
Send comments to jpalladino@rep-am.com, and follow on Twitter at @RAOffTheRecord.
Related