From the film design classroom and basketball court here at Warren Hills to the NBA Entertainment Headquarters in Secaucus, Ryan Callahan (’13) is making the most of his passions.

Callahan played on the basketball team for all four years of his high school career and took both Film Design courses as well as an Independent Study in Film his senior year.

“I went from making silly and mostly stupid videos to more serious ones that had a lot of success in film festivals across the country,” he said.

Callahan now works as a project employee in content production with the NBA. Specifically, he works with the NBA’s social media platforms on finding the content to be put out for the public.

“Whether it’s a highlight play, a funny blooper, or a crazy reaction from the team bench,” he said, “I’m alerting the NBA’s social media team so that they can send it out to the millions and millions of NBA followers across the internet.”

Today Callahan credits his experiences at Warren Hills for that opportunity.

“Without Warren Hills, I’m not sure I would have ever found my passion for filmmaking or the game of basketball,” he said. “Working at the NBA for my first job in the ‘real world’ has been a dream come true.”

Callahan only recently graduated from DeSales University in May of 2017, where he majored in TV/Film and played on the basketball team.

  After graduating, Callahan went into his current position and believes it could lead to many more opportunities.

“From here, there could be a lot of doors opening through the connections and networking I make at such a big place like the NBA.”

One of the most notable moments for Callahan so far was the first time a video he created was posted.

“It was cool to see my first video get posted to a major social media platform. I put together a highlight video of a player from Africa who had a big game,” said Callahan. “It was neat to go on the NBA’s Africa Facebook page the next day and see the video I had created received 18k likes on Facebook.”

Callahan also weighed in on the growth in opportunities for students intrigued by the industry.

“This industry is growing so quickly because it’s one focused around social media, something that continues to grow everyday,” he said.

Thanks to experiences here at Warren Hills Callahan said he realized what he wanted to do and has been successful so far.

“The easiest way to find success is to be someone that can always be counted on,” he said. “Be someone that will be a good teammate—whether that’s in the classroom or on the field.”