Dallas,Texas
Video Production
I've been a network news cameraman, video editor and producer
since 1982. I'm also married to Phyllis, a former NBC Today Show producer and we make one heck of a video production team!
Prior to the networks, I worked in local television news as an anchor and I was an award-winning journalist.
I often shot and edited my own stories.
Now, you can hire network news veterans to produce your video.
NewsVideo.com
Don Smith - don@newsvideo.com
DON SMITH OF NEWSVIDEO.COM. DALLAS, TEXAS-BASED VIDEO PRODUCTION.
We produce news-style videos. Some call them 'sizzle' pieces. Because of our years of meeting network news deadlines we're fast and good.
12/83 - Present (Except as noted in next entry)
FREELANCE ANCHOR, PRODUCER, WRITER
AND NETWORK NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER/VIDEOTAPE EDITOR.
Dallas, Texas
I'm a storyteller. I work as a Freelance television news producer, photographer, and Final Cut Pro editor working primarily for NBC Network News at its Southwest Bureau and also at the CBS Network Bureau. I produce, shoot and edit stories for a national audience for NBCs Today Show, Nightly News, CBS Evening News and other network news and magazine shows. I've been a cable network news bureau managing editor, managed both television and radio news departments, won awards for journalism, produced evening newscasts, and have extensive anchoring experience in both television and radio. I think on my feet. My mantra is On Time is Late. I have the most fun, however, when shooting, writing, voicing and editing my own stories. Examples on my Feature Reel at www.DonSmith.TV
1975 -WFTV, Orlando, Florida
• Weekend anchor, weekday substitute anchor, field reporter. I won two AP awards for journalism. WFTV is where I learned to shoot, edit film, write stories, and anchor.
11/98 - 2/00
REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER - The News of Texas, Dallas Bureau.
• My position was unique among the 20 reporters of the News of Texas. I was the only person in the network that functioned as a reporter who shot his own stories. Even better, my job was to produce human interest stories such as the lady in Muleshoe (18 miles from Earth) who runs a television channel in her upstairs bedroom or the passing of the drive-in movie theater era. I traveled around north Texas to produce the stories.
Mexico City - 1985 (above right)
I was there for NBC. We chartered out of Houston. All flights to Mexico were held over the Texas border but for reasons unkown, Mexico ATC called and allowed us to land in Mexico City. As far as I know, I got the only aerials of Mexico City burning.
12/81 - 12/83 SATELLITE NEWS CHANNEL BUREAU CHIEF.
SOUTHWEST BUREAU - San Antonio, Texas.
• Anchored five-minute hourly cut-ins for my five-state area in addition to managing a staff and daily bureau duties. Coordinated news gathering and satellite distribution for the southwest region. The job terminated when SNC was sold to Ted Turner, who turned it into CNN Headline News.
Ross Perot gave me a tour of his office when I arrived early to shoot an interview for NBC Nightly News. The "Spirit of '76" painting? It's an original, of course.
I'm holding the camera and working with Tom Brokaw doing a 'walk and talk' with then Mexico President De la Madrid. We were walking through the rubble of the '85 quake and fighting off the crowd. Wayde Duncan is my sound tech by my left hand.
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I'm on the right working the recording deck. We're on the 1984 campaign trail aboard Air Force II. CBS's Phil Jones is interviewing George H.W. Bush. This was about twenty minutes before Air Force II dove to avoid a mid-air with a single-engine plane. We were back in our seats but I hadn't had the chance to buckly in. I floated near the roof. |
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"60 Minutes" shoot with George Foreman. 1997. Very nice man. It's true that he has a picture of a hamburger on the mats of his car.
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams and Don Smith.
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My senior picture from the 1964 Roswell (NM) High School yearbook. |
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1964 - My my first job in broadcasting at KRSY Radio in Roswell, NM. I worked the midnight-to-6 shift for $1.25 an hour. At school, you could set your watch to the 10am thump of my head hitting the desk. |
6/80 - 12/81 KTXS T.V., Abilene, Texas.
News Director and Anchor.
• Anchored the 5, 6, and 10pm newscasts.
6/79 - 6/80 KIII T.V., Corpus Christi, Texas.
• Assistant News Director and anchor.
4/77 - 6/79 KENS T.V., San Antonio, Texas.
Anchor/Reporter.
• Anchored Noon and 5p.m. Newscasts.
• General Assignment Reporter
1976-1977 KRAV Radio, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
News Director.
1971-1976 WFTV T.V., Orlando, Florida.
• Weekend Anchor.
• Weekday Reporter.
RADIO TALENT SINCE 1964
• KRSY, Roswell, NM. - 1964
• KKUB, Brownfield, TX. - 1965
• KONO, San Antonio, TX. - 1965
• KSEL, Lubbock, TX. - 1970
• WLOF, Orlando, FL. - 1971
• KVIL, Dallas, TX - 2001
• KRLD, Dallas, TX - 2007-Present (various)
• Sirius Satellite Radio Weekly 2-Hour Segment - 2002 - Present
MILITARY SERVICE
• 2/67 - 2/70 U.S. Army - Germany and Vietnam. Air Defense Radar.
• Wuerzberg, Germany, 1968.
• Near Qui Nhon, South Vietnam, 2/69-2/70.
• Vietnam Commendation Medal.
EDUCATION
• Two years of college at University of Central Florida.
- Radio-Television Major.
• Graduated from Roswell, NM High School.
PERSONAL
• Married with three adult children.
• Touch-Type 65wpm.
• Fast, creative writer.
• Awards for writing and news photography.
• Macintosh computer enthusiast to include Web development and online database creation.
• Commercial pilots’ license with an instrument rating (not current).
• Amateur Extra Class amateur radio license (KK5DON).
• Close-up magic.