From Husky highlights to the NBA, video editor makes it count
In this new occasional column, community editor Lee Howard will interview interesting people in the region who stand out as entrepreneurs, creative forces or effective leaders.
NBA star Jayson Tatum fakes a three-point shot, explodes right, twirls to his left and finishes at the rim with a two-hand jam in the face of a defender as the TD Garden in Boston erupts and his teammates exchange high fives.
Just another great play by an all-star Celtic having the best season of his life? Sure, but it’s also another highlight clip you might see from Guthrie Belfiglio, a 22-year-old video editing whiz who has parlayed a two-year gig with the University of Connecticut athletic department as a video editor for Husky basketball operations into a career that now features work with professional teams ranging from the New England Patriots to the Milwaukee Bucks.
And he’s doing it all right here in downtown New London.
The 2022 UConn graduate and city resident, with a newly minted degree in Digital Media & Design, spends his days (and a few nights) at his father’s Astor Place video studio on Bank Street working full time for the Los Angeles-based The Famous Group doing a variety of NBA promotions. These include intro videos like the one he just completed for the Bucks that are played at professional games to psych up the crowd and the players.
“I’m going to a Bucks game March 1, I was just in L.A. last month, I went to a Patriots game and filmed some behind the scenes video, and I’ll be going to the VMAs (Video Music Awards in June at Radio City Music Hall in New York City),” he said. “It’s been a great experience.”
Belfiglio, named after the city’s private Guthrie Beach off Pequot Avenue near where he grew up, said he began teaching himself video editing as a senior in high school. So by the time he started taking classes in video editing at UConn, he already was far advanced compared with fellow students. And that’s what caught the eye of UConn staff looking for a student to provide Husky highlights.
“Seeing how hard they worked every single day pushed me into doing my best,” Belfiglio said of the basketball athletes, whom he sometimes spied at 7 a.m. going through their workout routines.
Belfiglio also took inspiration from Casey Neistat, the former YouTuber of the Year who grew up in Ledyard and for a time had a home in New London. The two have crossed paths several times, though they have never had an in-depth conversation about their mutual passion.
“I loved his video style,” Belfiglio said. “He’s a storyteller.”
Belfiglio was so influenced by Neistat, who onced lived across the street
from his late grandfather, that he has named the company he started in college Made It Count, in deference to Neistat’s 2012 viral video “Make It Count,” done for Nike.
Belfiglio still raves about Neistat’s YouTube video about the raft at Guthrie Beach. The raft was destroyed in a 2010 storm, but it held special memories tinged with nostalgia for a bygone era.
“Casey didn’t start out with expensive camera gear, or go to film school, but he can take everyday things and make them special, which is why I think his videos resonate with people so much,” Belfiglio said in an email. “He took an ordinary raft and turned it into an in-depth love story with simple camcorder footage. It shows you don’t need expensive equipment to be successful in the art of creating videos. You just need passion and a story.”
Like Neistat, Belfiglio said he aims at video storytelling with every project. And that means going beyond a chronological recounting of game highlights to find those small moments and little stories within a story that capture the emotional highs and lows of a game.
“I pay attention to the little things,” he said. “We put in some long days, but I love doing it.”
Along the way, he has worked with major sports companies such as Jordan Brands as well as multimillion-dollar basketball franchises such as the Los Angeles Clippers and the Brooklyn Nets. Early on, he provided highlights of Portland Trailblazer games for Bleacher Report, a well-known sports site, and he created a video that Duke University played during Mike Krzyzewski’s last game, compiling some of the most spine-tingling moments from the famed coach’s career.
He’s also worked for the Frischberg Brothers, who have about 300,000 subscribers on an NBA-based YouTube channel.
While still in college, he was offered full-time work with the Miami Heat, but decided to turn it down to complete his degree.
His father is impressed with Guthrie’s dedication, not to mention the connections he is making. This weekend, for instance, he had planned to attend the Super Bowl, though his assignment wound up being canceled. Instead, he will be heading later this week to the Daytona 500 to document the work of 3D augmented reality animators who turn the racing competition into an otherworldly experience for TV viewers.
“He has been creating what they call ‘Fan Experiences’ and ‘Mixed Reality,’” said the elder Belfiglio, whose own video production business recently relocated to a key location on Bank Street where the Bean & Leaf coffee shop once was located and where he is currently developing a new restaurant concept. “He developed a style and an amazing portfolio that attracted the eye of some NBA teams.”
In school and on his own, the younger Belfiglio has mastered Adobe Premiere Pro, AfterEffects and PhotoShop. He posts everything he produces online, developing a bit of a following among the cognoscenti.
“There are thousands of kids out there who want to do this work,” the young Belfiglio said. “You’ve gotta find a way to stand out.”
While many young people in media might have been attracted to making the move to New York City, as Neistat did 20 years ago, Belfiglio is happy in New London and recently bought a condominium, planning to put down roots here. A graduate of St. Joseph and St. Bernard schools, he was heavily influenced by his grandfather, who recently died but emphasized the importance of staying close to family.
“I don’t see myself going anywhere anytime soon,” he said. “New London is on the upswing .... I definitely have faith in New London.”
He hopes someday to own his own sports video company.
“I’m not going to rush into (it), but when the time is right I’ll take that step,” he said.
His father has been encouraging of his son’s interest in video but always cautioned that it’s a difficult field where success is never guaranteed.
“Guthrie has always been fanatical about sports, particularly basketball, so I’m not surprised he married his two passions,” the elder Belfiglio said. “We may now work in the same field, but his direction and focus is in an industry I have never worked in (but) it is perfectly suited to him. He has no interest in the ‘boring stuff’ I create.”