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Being Creative at ESPN
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Samantha “Sam” Nicodemo ’15 believes in crafting her future. She began her education at YCP thinking she wanted to be a screenwriter. A big fan of television and movies, she wanted to put her creative juices to work in creating future programs. But, Nicodemo says, she always had in the back of her mind to choose a field that gave her options. That’s why she chose Professional Writing.
She learned to write in a variety of styles and voices, but always kept an eye on the entertainment industry with a Film Studies minor. About halfway through college, Nicodemo considered a double major in Mass Communication. “When I realized that would extend my education by a whole year, I tried to get creative to save myself the time,” she says.
This led Nicodemo to a self-designed Video Production Minor and internship with CBS 21 in Harrisburg, where she worked in the Creative Services Department and saw the commercial side of production. After graduation, Nicodemo headed off to Las Vegas, Nevada, where she worked as a Promotions Producer for NBC News 3.
About a year later, Nicodemo returned to CBS 21, where she had originally interned. The manager of the Commercial Department quickly recruited Nicodemo as a commercial producer. She wrote, shot, directed, and edited all of her own work. “It was there that I gained the freedom and confidence to try a lot of new things,” she says. “I really honed my skills and took a lot more chances using design and animation.”
When it came time for Nicodemo to take the next step in her career, she took a shot at ESPN. Today, she works with producers to create longform content for the network. She’s had a hand in a variety of different brands and sports programs under the ESPN umbrella, including NFL Countdown, Monday Night Football, SportsCenter, and NBA.
Nicodemo looks back at her time at York College and says that’s where she learned to adapt her voice to different mediums. “Professional Writing not only made me versatile, but it made me crave versatility in a career.”