Elon professor joins NBC for Olympic coverage

Assistant Professor Max Negin traveled to Sochi, Russia, as a digital media manager and will help log and maintain footage that editors use to create network feature stories.

<p>Assistant Professor Max Negin is working with NBC as part of its team covering the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.</p>
Max Negin, an assistant professor in Elon University’s School of Communications, is working as a digital media manager in Sochi, Russia, as part of NBC’s XXII Winter Olympic Games production crew, the fourth time Negin has joined NBC for Olympic coverage.

NBC’s operation is tapeless, which means video files of the events are constantly streaming into the NBC broadcast area. Negin’s job is to help facilitate the transfer of footage from the massive database where it’s stored to editors, who use it to create features that air on the network.

Negin also oversees the delivery of the finished packages from editors to the tape room for playback across daytime, prime time and late-night schedules.

Negin arrived in Sochi on Jan. 29—a week before the Games’ opening ceremonies—so he could prepare himself and train interns on the process of logging and clipping incoming media.

“The chance to work with NBC means a lot in terms of my ability to both learn cutting-edge technology and to bring that knowledge back to Elon to share with students,” Negin said. “The Olympic Games offer a scale of production that is unlike any other sporting event. To be in the center of the production facility offers a view that very few people get the privilege to witness, let alone take part.”

Negin has previously worked for NBC during its coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He has won two National Academy of Arts & Sciences Sports Emmy Awards for his efforts as part of the studio team for NBC’s coverage from Vancouver, where he served as a digital replay operator, and London, where he also worked as a digital media manager.

Negin teaches Digital Media Convergence, Sports Broadcasting and Sports & Media, among other courses, in the School of Communications. He also advises the student-produced TV program “Elon Phoenix Weekly,” a half-hour show highlighting Elon athletics that airs on Saturday mornings on ESPN2.

Professionally, Negin has worked as a digital replay operator and editor for HBO, FOX and ESPN. He also spent three seasons as the video coordinator for Phillies TV and two seasons as the broadcast coordinator for the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s won two other Emmys for his work as a video coordinator with the Philadelphia Phillies and for promotional writing for Fox 29 in Philadelphia.

– Information provided by Colin Donohue, coordinator of student media and instructor in the School of Communications