On my first summer after graduating high school, I found myself interning in New York City on the corner of West 66th St where ABC 20/20 News was being produced with Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs, I was just seventeen at the time.
I worked downstairs in the editing area. The hallways were an obstacle course of film clip bins, it almost looked like a laundry matte. Each of the large canvas bins were on wheels, with a metal bar at the top and from the bar hung clips of celluloid. The walls inside the edit rooms were covered with scraps of hand scribbled and type-written paper, scotch taped haphazardly into paragraphs. At the time nearly half of the edit rooms were flatbed film editing, and the other half were these clunky joystick driven video edit bays.
I loved hanging out in the edit rooms because I learned how to physically put a story together with a guillotine splicer and taping clips of film, while syncing the audio. I loved the tactile feel of film and I immersed myself into the emotional journey of the story telling through scripting, photography, sound, and editing. It left an enormous impression on me as I entering college.
I quickly graduated from Long Island University in just three years because I couldn’t wait to hit the streets of New York City. I passed out my resumes everywhere, knocking on every production company’s door. I finally landed my first full-time job with an animation company called Dolphin Productions.
At Dolphin I learned how to build video animation using flat artwork which was shot on a motion control table under a camera, and the video image was fed into this behemoth analogue “Scanimate” computer. We were in a constant battle trying to line up monster two inch tape machines and the Scanimate to replicate the exact same motion over and over again to make a three dimensional animated object for television. Needless to say it was frustratingly fun and an exciting experience combining technology with story-telling.
I left Dolphin to work at a bigger Post Production house who had some very big clients, and there I had an eye opening experience into the entertainment industry. I worked on MTV videos which was thrilling! I worked on the B52’s “Roam Around the World” video, The Cure, Jesus Jones and I also worked on a television series which had a multitude of live action and animated effects shot on green-screen. A children’s show called Pee Wee’s Playhouse.
I continued my journey freelancing at a variety of production companies all over New York City as both a film editor, a video editor, and an animator. I edited small and large advertising campaigns such as Kings Dominion for the Virginia Parks Department, and Miller Genuine Draft and Ford Truck commercials, however I was enamored with the growth of technology and especially the digital revolution, which had taken a foothold in the television and film industries. The last 35mm film commercial I worked on was the Xerox Revolution campaign for an advertising agency called Backer, Spielvogel, Bates and I won my first big award, a Clio Award.
I freelanced for the fledgling NBA Productions at a Post Production house in NYC. They hadn’t yet built their production facility in Secaucus New Jersey but I eventually worked for them there as well. I edited for several months on a new home video product they were producing called “Come Fly With Me” starring Michael Jordan.
Although all of this work was freelance, the boom of daytime live talk shows also provided no shortage of video production work. I picked up more work from larger studios such as CBS Entertainment and Tribune Entertainment. I edited and produced promotions, show opens and teases, for The Joan Rivers Show and The Geraldo Rivera daytime show.
I landed back at ABC News in the 1990’s working full time for the incomparable Peter Jennings and World News Tonight. I also worked for ABC News Specials editing long form news stories which became my calling. I worked for Primetime Live, or as we joked at the time: “Primetime Live cross-rolling tapes between edit rooms”, with Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson.
It was around this time that I heard of a new start-up magazine show at 30 Rockefeller Plaza called Dateline NBC. It was NBC’s 15th or 16th attempt at a news magazine show. I spent the next 16 years of my career working with some of the most talented people in the industry. I made a lot of friends at NBC and it also gave me the opportunity to work on a variety of different network shows and several cable channels. Besides Dateline there was The Today Show, Nightly News, MSNBC, and CNBC where my segments also aired. I also produced and edited hour long specials, and short form franchise series for the news division. I was given the opportunity to work for NBC Entertainment, SNL, Late Night with David Letterman, and then Conan. NBC Sports began to ramp up during football season where I began to work on profile pieces and long form stories. I even had the opportunity to travel and work on several winter and summer Olympic games such as Atlanta, Sydney, and Park City.
I left NBC in 2006 to produce directly for Dan Rather because it was an opportunity I could not resist. I grew up watching Peter, Tom, and Dan and they where my broadcast journalism heroes. Together with Dan I traveled and produced some very significant news stories, and hour long documentaries across the country. I especially remember when I helped to produce a two hour live special from Soldier Field the evening following the Virginia Tech shootings. This terrible incident occurred at about 900am and we were on a plane the same day from New York City landing that morning. We were working for HDNet at the time and the owner of HDNet, Mark Cuban, graciously donated one of his sports coverage 18 wheeler live control rooms, which met us on campus. Again, it was the same day of this incident since it happened so early in the morning, do emotions were raw and running high throughout the day. I’ll never forget that evening, we had a perch overlooking Soldier Field with a sea of candles in the darkness as our backdrop. I had a couple of director chairs and I was basically asking students to sit with Dan and speak about what they witnessed on that horrific day. This was all live and unscripted. It was extremely difficult to watch, listen to, and produce because there were some very raw and emotional accounting by these eye witnesses and while we were live on the air they asked us to continue for a second hour.
After this, I decided to refocus the technical side of my brain and make a transition from traditional broadcast television completely over to digital and social media. I was offered a position with American Business Media and named the Chief Technology Officer for this publishing trade association who was at the time in the forefront of both the B-to-C and B-to-B publishing companies . I was at the forefront of content creation and digital delivery and I began to engage and develop new ways of delivering content on the internet using a variety of methods which included the rise of social media.
I came to realize that there was no difference in the delivery method of content to an audience and how it’s consumed because there was always one underlying truth:
Content is King and drives technology – It is always the story which keeps the viewer engaged regardless of whether it’s a hieroglyphic on a cave or something told on Facebook or Twitter.
It was because of this revelation, I knew something was missing working at American Business Media. I was creating all of these great delivery systems but they didn’t hold any personal value to me, because the story’s behind these systems I was creating were completely hollow marketing/sales pitches.
After my experiences with ABM – I decided to put some relevance back in my life and my career. I became a public servant because I wanted to use my knowledge and experience to help protect the public. I had experienced, in some cases first hand, too many terror attacks and tragedies that had occurred in our country, and I felt it was my time to use this experience and serve my country on the frontline.
I joined Homeland Security and went to work at Boston Logan International Airport in 2013. It was during my first year there when the Boston Marathon bombing occurred. Again I found myself on the frontline but this time I wasn’t just a witness to a terrorist attack on our country, as I was during 9/11 living in NYC, or a person who was documenting history during Virginia Tech shootings aftermath, or being attacked in my own workplace and feeling powerless, like the Anthrax attack at 30 Rockefeller Center in NYC … I was finally working in a position where I felt I could make a difference. I was in an active role as a frontline security officer at a CAT X Airport and protecting the public while two terrorists were on the loose for several days. At the time I worked with several members of the JTTF (Joint Terrorism Task Force) during this active terrorist situation, making referrals of people who had witnessed something during the marathon as most of these runners were now descending on my Checkpoint following this attack.
The experience I gained from this was invaluable and after this event I felt I found a new home with DHS working as a public servant. I volunteered for several “details” – one was with FEMA during Hurricanes Harvey/Maria/Irma setting up many DRCs (Disaster Recovery Centers) in Texas over the course of several months and helping hundreds of survivors of these storms.
Then in 2020 the COVID pandemic hit and since the nation’s airlines were cutting travel back dramatically – I volunteered to work on another “detail” with the SBA – Small Business Administration to help thousands of small business owners throughout the country stay afloat with government loans and subsides.
In 2021 I was offered a role at FEMA Headquarters in Washington DC. The role involved working for the Officer of External Affairs branch (OEA) and growing their Broadcast Television facility.
I don’t think I could have ever imagined a better fit at this point in my life, being able to work as a public servant, directly helping those in need, and using my technical broadcast communications background in this role.
Peace~
– Professional Experience –
Kuvin Productions LLC 2009 – 2013
Owner – Principal – Producer
Clients include: ABC NEWS; NYSE-Euronext; Unified Court System New York State, Judicial Institute; Sii.TV
| Writer / Producer | Director / Photographer | Graphic Designer |
| Emerging/Web Technologies | Long / Short Format | Digital Communications |
| Public Relations / Public Affairs | Strategic Development | Social Media Strategies/Initiatives |
American Business Media – New York, NY 2007 – 2009
Senior Vice President – Chief Technology Officer/Chief Information Officer
Association of Business Information providers: Media & Publishing companies representing over 6,000 media, print, & web titles.
Responsibilities included: In charge of the MARCOM department.
Executive Producer for all video productions of events and educational broadcasts on our video network.
Executive Editor for the weekly e-News, Quarterly magazine, and the Board of Director’s Annual Report.
Managing all Editorial Content – Marketing-Branding / Public Relations / Communications Strategies
Spokesperson and Representative for the Association at most conferences and events.
- Incorporated an HD video streaming network and searchable library; built in-house studio and editing.
- Winner of The Web Marketing Association’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in website development.
- Increased revenues by completely overhauling an outdated brand through major digital redesign and branding initiatives orchestrating a website development team migrating over 800 pages of content.
- Created growth and value by leveraging emerging digital technologies and partnerships
- Created 20 micro-site discussion groups and two custom social media sites and links to B2B groups.
- Created a true destination and during the first fiscal year of its implementation, drove a 49% increase in unique online traffic and also boosted the Events attendance and revenues substantially.
- Integrated the organization’s databases to enable psychographic and demographic trends and adjusted digital properties and database with further enhancements following end-user trends.
- Held full P&L accountability managed team of employees, external vendors & partnerships.
HDNet – Dan Rather Reports, New York, N.Y. 2006 -2007
Anchor Producer – Coordinating Producer- Investigative Producer
Accountable for researching stories, securing interviews, scouting locations, writing, scheduling production locations, directing shoots for long form news stories:
- Interview with New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg focusing on his political aspirations.
- Produced a well-received “day-in-the-life” 60-minute show Senator John McCain’s run for the Presidency – coordinated complex 6-camera production at several locations covering rallies and town hall meetings.
- Profile with Newark New Jersey’s Mayor Corey Booker and his rebuilding of a city.
- Produced an hour long documentary about Food Safety researched, developed, wrote, and shot at multiple locations throughout the country including interviews of members of congress and government officials.
- Created segment on missing honeybees that involved extensive prior research. Broadened perspective of story by interviewing beekeepers, businessmen, and representatives of the World Health Organization.
- Led the production of a live broadcast from Soldier Field at VT. Candle light vigil that followed the Virginia Tech shootings. Coordinated a commercial-free 2-hour broadcast via a remote control truck.
NBC UNIVERSAL, New York, NY 1992 – 2006
Producer/Editor – Technical Director – Project Dev/Lead – NBC NEWS/Specials/Sports/Olympics
“I am pleased to offer the strongest possible recommendation for the work and character of Joshua Kuvin. We’ve worked together on several important documentaries […] Joshua’s skills were critical to the success of these broadcasts, several of which won major journalistic awards […] More over he’s good company and a good citizen.” Tom Brokaw, NBC News
- Show Credits Include:
- Dateline NBC; Nightly News; NBC News Specials; Today Show; Weekend Today; NBC Sports; AFC EAST Championship; SUPER BOWL XXXII; NBC Olympics Atlanta; NBC Olympics Sydney AUS; NBC Olympics Park City Utah.
- Concurrent Position: Project Leader & Developer, Technical Director for NBC Sports – Editor/Producer for NBC Olympics
- Devised and led the development of digital encoding system enabling desktop video and audio viewing hyper-linked to time-coded transcript files. The system streamlined editing and reduced costs.
- Adapted quickly from sports to journalism during breaking news events, frequently taking the lead when multiple producers and editors were assigned to important events.
- Produced-Edited400+ news magazine segments for Dateline/NBC and NBC News several award-winning hour-long documentaries.
- Senior Feature Editor: Edited both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. Responsibilities included training Editors on the latest equipment, Features & Venues for quick turn-around during Live Events
NBC ENTERTAINMENT/ NBC SPORTS New York, N.Y.
Technical Director: for NBC Sports: Directed and Communicated directly with a control room crew for live sporting event’s also commercial control, coordinated live remotes, creating a clean product for national live television broadcast. Also edited profiles for AFC East games, Championship, and the Super Bowl.
NBC OYLMPICS: ATLANTA OLYMPIC GAMES, Atlanta GA 1996
Senior Editor: Responsibilities included the training of Editors in New York on Equipment to be used for live and taped events during the Olympics.
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN NETWORK, New York, N.Y. 1991
Technical Director: “Sports Center”, a live ½ hour shows updating the daily sporting events throughout the world. In charge of a control room staff of eight technicians.
WALL STREET JOURNAL TELEVISION, New York, NY. 1991
Director/ Technical Director – Directed The Wall Street Journal Update, a live daily business news insert airing on WABC. Directed World Market Outlook, ½ hour live global business news program anchored in NY, Singapore, and London.
CAPITAL CITIES / ABC NEWS, New York, NY. 1991
Feature Editor: ABC NEWS SPECIAL: Yeltsin – Gorbachov Town meeting with Peter Jennings
PRIMETIME LIVE: Diane Sawyer’s interview with Billy Graham; profile of Brandon Tartikoff. Additional credits include Good Morning America, World News Tonight, Nightline, Weekend News, & World News Now.
NBA ENTERTAINMENT, Secaucus, N.J. 1991 Editor: Edited & produced rock videos featuring NBA players for MTV.
Edited NBA ½ hour show “Inside Stuff” for air on NBC, ESPN and TBS. Edited Michael Jordan’s first “Come Fly with Me” Video for home video release produced by the NBA.
Awards & Honors
Emmy Awards:
Investigative -Counterfeit Drugs Bitter Pills (2006)
Breaking Coverage -Hurricane Katrina (2005)
Feature -The Long Way Home (2004)
Feature – 911 Air-traffic Controllers (2003)
Feature – Flight 93 (2002)
Coverage of 9/11 (2002)
Coverage of the War in Afghanistan (2002)
Editing – The 2000 Sydney Olympic Games (2000)
Feature – Columbine (1999)
Best Interview: Stone Phillips interviews Bernard Goetz (1997)
Feature – The Toughest Choice (1996)
Editing – The Atlanta Olympic Games (1996)
Additional awards:
Edward R. Murrow & I.R.E. “Bitter Pills” 2007
Dupont Award Coverage of Katrina 2006
Emmy Nomination Blackout Minute-by-Minute 2004
Emmy Nomination The Capture of Saddam 2004
Emmy Nomination USS John C. Stenis 2003
Clarion Award – Eyewitness – 2000
CINE Golden Eagle – Raising the Titanic – 1999
Edward R Murrow Spot News -1997
CINE Golden Eagle – A Special Vision – 1996
Emmy Nomination Oklahoma City – 1995
Overseas Press Club Award – Tom Brokaw “The Golden Venture” 1993
Emmy Nomination Breaking News – Waco 1993
EDUCATION
BA, Broadcast Communications, minor studies in Feature Films – Long Island University, Greenvale, NY
MA, Homeland Security, Concentration in Port Security & Airport Security.
Northeastern University, Boston, MA