James Baier began his professional television career in his hometown of Dallas, Texas. Equipped with a Bachelor’s in Radio, Television and Film from the University of North Texas, he started working for HDNet (now AXS TV) in 2008. He went on on to work for many other television networks in Texas over the next 13 years. This included news, entertainment, lifestyle and sports networks, including Bally Sports (formerly Fox Sports Southwest).
In 2021, James moved cross-country and joined forces with Justin in Washington D.C. to work full-time operating Steadicam and jib on the Scott Van Pelt hosted Sportscenter on ESPN, and for Meet the Press on NBC News.
James’s extensive sports shooting background now includes, but is not limited to: College GameDay for Men’s College Football, the Rose Bowl, NCAA Men’s College Football National Championship, College GameDay for Women’s College Basketball, NCAA Women’s Final Four, WNBA Finals, USFL Football, AEW Wrestling, AXS Fights MMA, UFL MMA, NASCAR, and INDYCAR.
James Baier | Operator
Garrett started his videojournalism career as an RF cam operator for the Sacramento Kings jumbotron in 2007. That felt like a big deal at the time because going to Kings games at home in Sacramento was the thing to do in a small town. To work for the team and be paid to be on the court and close to the players was pretty special. He moved to Washington, DC in 2016 and evenutally started working for ESPN/ABC as a media operator for some of their daytime shows which included PTI, ATH, and (at the time) High Noon. When SVP in DC came to town in 2020 and the steadicam became a part of the show in 2021, he learned to run the steadicam.
He’s been operating steadicam for SVP Sportcenter and Meet the Press for the past two years and both shows have been a great experience. The shows are so different in what they ask from a steadicam operator. Sportcenter requires a lot of speed and quick stops to shoot monitors, whereas MTP asks for precision and smooth pacing to film more people and panel conversations. It's a thrill to be a part of the DC Steadicam team.
Garrett Johnston | Operator
Founder Justin Amash started his television career at ESPN. He spent the first six years honing his craft and learning from some of the best Steadicam operators in the business. Before leaving to go freelance, Justin was a lead trainer at ESPN. He took this skill of teaching others the art of moving a camera through space and began building an elite team of operators. he and his small team of experts now shoot some of the biggest events in the world. From Super Bowls to Shakira concerts, the World Series to the Oscars, and everything in between.
JUSTIN AMASH | Founder
THE FACES BEHIND THE CAMERA
