Student’s Learn About The Power Of Networking From Emmy Award-Winning Social Media Producer For CBS This Morning, Brandon Launerts
BOLD was joined by Emmy Award-winning Social Media Producer for CBS This Morning, and FIU alumnus Brandon Launerts on Tuesday, March 16th to talk to students about his incredible journey in the media and TV industry.
Brandon’s passion for the TV industry began from an early age. When he was a student at John A. Ferguson Senior High School, Brandon took TV production and, as he described it, “fell in love” with the work. Brandon later described meeting two local news anchors during a high school visit, where he followed the news crew on Twitter and avidly communicated with them during the news hours. Later, he moved on to become a Miami Dade College student, where he applied for an internship at NBC 6. During his internship interview, one of the producers recognized him from Twitter and helped him score his first internship doing video editing for the NBC 6 local news. When a position as a part-time editor opened, Brandon was offered the night-time position while he was still taking day classes at Miami Dade College.
Brandon had a stint as lead editor during coverage of George Zimmerman’s arrest after the killing of Trayvon Martin. The newscast was flawless and won an Emmy award. Thus, at a mere 19 years of age, Brandon’s passion and diligent work ethic earned him an Emmy as chief editor. While at NBC Local News, Brandon was quick to realize the important impact that Instagram was going to have on our society, thus he was hired part-time as the first social media manager in 2012.
Brandon eventually graduated from MDC and was offered a full-time position at WSVN Channel 7 News as a Social Media Manager by a Twitter colleague. Brandon worked there for several years until one day one opportunity came knocking on his door via Twitter. One of his colleagues invited Brandon to a career panel. In the panel, Brandon did a fantastic job, which impressed one of the panelists. Right after the panel, the panelist offered Brandon an interview in New York City for the National CBS News Network. There Brandon started as an associate producer, where once again his passion and dedication lead him to a promotion to full-time producer. In this role, Brandon shared with BOLD his excitement and gratitude for all the experiences he has been able to have, which include covering the Grammys and watching the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11.
Click here to connect with Brandon!
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Written by: Alejandra Chahine, Director of Public Relations