Freyenberger gives NFL Network a local flavor

December 16, 2011

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PHILADELPHIA — Next time you watch “Inside the NFL” or “ESPN Match Up” you might want to scan the credits for a familiar local name.
Josh Freyenberger has taken his love of photography and his love of sports and combined them into an exciting start to his career. The 2007 graduate of Plymouth High School has spent the last two years working behind the camera for the NFL Network.
Last year as an intern Josh shot 13 games — including the NFC Championship and Super Bowl — as part of the camera crew for the network. His talent led to a full time job offer and this year he works on three national studio shows each week.
“Last year seemed a little more exciting I think, this year it’s a little more like your job,” said Josh. “Of course there are those days when you realize just how cool it is to have this job. The other day I was talking about Notre Dame football with Joe Theisman and then it struck me a little bit later just how many times do you get to talk Notre Dame football with Joe Theisman? It’s times like that you realize just how unbelievably lucky you are to have a job like this.”
Upon leaving PHS Josh admits he wasn’t completely sure where he was headed career-wise. A little over a year of classes at IUSB failed to give any real direction. Then friends Dylan and Ethan Hayne encouraged him in another direction.
“I was taking business classes and it was alright but I just didn’t think that’s what I wanted to do with my life,” said Josh. “They asked me to come down and visit them at Full Sail University in Orlando and the next thing I knew I was enrolled.”
Film school was just the thing for the aspiring cinematographer. As they say in the movies — the rest is history.
“I’ve always been an avid photographer,” he said. “I love anything that has to do with cameras. I always have. It’s really kind of funny because I found out that my dad loved photography too but when I came along and he had a family he decided it was too expensive and sold his equipment and gave it up.”
While NFL Films is a great place for somebody of Josh’s interests, there are other things the aspiring photographer would like to achieve as well.
“I’m young and I would love to travel and see the world as part of my work,” he said. “Working on a project for National Geographic — or some other kind of international shoot — would be really special. I would love to be able to that.
“It’s really kind of an exciting time to be involved in the field. I have access to a lot of high end equipment that lots of people could only have dreamed about years ago. It’s not that hard to get really great footage without spending a lot of money or being part of a network.”
“I think being a part of things like stage crew and band in high school really helped me to see the creative side of my mind and that really helped me. Growing up in a small town really helps put all this in perspective for me.”
“I’m going to enjoy all this while I can. I’m still single and there’s a lot of things I’d like to see and places I’d like to go. We’ll go with the flow and see where it takes me.”