Photo: Ben BaileyThe short story:
Hey, what's up? I'm the guy that produces shows for TWiT. You found me.
Here's the long one:
I have been a musician since the age of twelve. I've written all sorts of music, from industrial, to punk, to electronic/dance, to indie rock. I've DJ'd in dance clubs, on the radio and (shrugs) wedding receptions. I've even composed music for an NPR show.
Sometime after graduating from San Francisco State University with a degree in Audio Production, and interning at various recording studios and performance spaces around San Francisco, I landed a paid video-centric internship with CNET. After a few months I was hired full time and for the next almost two years, I spent my time with the technical production of ZDNet and BNET podcasts as well as being an all-around video shoot stage hand. I later learned Avid and Final Cut Pro and soon became a video editor for the At The Whiteboard series.
Tom Merritt clued me in to an opening at CNET TV for a Podcast Producer. My passionate background in audio made the switch a no-brainer. During more than five years with CNET, I produced as well as co-hosted a number of shows including Buzz Out Loud, Gadgettes, and Android Atlas Weekly. I also helped create CNET Live, turning our once audio-only podcasts into a full stable of video shows. I have also been a guest on This Week in Tech, Scam School and East Meets West.
On September 7, 2010, I announced that I had accepted a position as Producer for the TWiT network, working once again with Tom Merritt and the other TWiTs including Leo Laporte, Sarah Lane and Becky Worley. Though that chapter has only begun, I anticipate wonderful things and I'm thrilled to dig in and get my hands dirty.
If you know me at all, then you know that I have the highest interest in bringing the listeners and fans of the shows I produce into the shows themselves. I truly believe that giving the true fans a voice in the show gives them ownership, and ultimately raises the level of quality all around. I look to continue down this path, and make the shows I produce ever more engaging and rich through the quality of contributions from the audience.
Jason Howell