H-burg Natives Live Their Dream of Television Production

Two childhood friends from Hollidaysburg have made their dream of working on a major television production a reality.

After graduating from Hollidaysburg Area High School in 1999, Matthew McLoota received a degree from Syracuse University in 2003. He was a film major with a minor in acting. Then, he moved to New York City.

He started doing live shows as a production assistant. McLoota said that he would send out three or four resumes every day for months until he started to get replies. Most of them, he said, started out as free work. From there, he would get small paying jobs with most of them being production assistant work.

"Some of the productions included the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks as well as a show called Broadway on Broadway, which was where they would have a bunch of Broadway shows that would perform on Times Square for one day," said McLoota.

According to McLoota, his first job was as an audience page on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."

Meanwhile, McLoota's friend Kevin Shields graduated a year later in 2000. He grew up outside of Boston. After his parents' divorce, Shields' mother moved them back to Altoona, where she was born and raised. They ended up moving to Hollidaysburg when Shields was eight years old.

Shields went on to study at Pittsburgh Filmmakers.

"After that I took a year or so to work and save money for the move to New York," Shields said.

Knowing that his best friend he had grown up with was already well-established in film and television, Shields packed up and made the move.

"Matt got me a set internship. He was the Second Assistant Director on 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent.' He helped me get my foot in the door. I was working as an unpaid intern. That lasted about a week and then they started paying me as a production assistant. It was very low wages and very long hours."

Shields said there are two ways to get into The Directors Guild Union. One way is to do the Directors Guild Program, which is what McLoota did. This is the fast track.

"I went the route of working on the set as a set PA and you collect all of your documentation paperwork for 600 days," said Shields. "I didn't stop working as a set PA for four or five years in order to collect those days, going from show to show and movie to movie. I submitted all of my paperwork and was able to become assistant director."

Shields said that to be able to work his dream job means a lot, especially doing it along side his friend.

"During our time on the Meadows baseball team, we would sit in the dugout and talk about becoming filmmakers and total movie nerds," said Shields. "That makes it all that much more exciting."

"To be honest with you, my entire childhood, I always thought that I would be a lawyer or a doctor because in Hollidaysburg that is what everybody said that you needed to do to make money," McLoota said. "I was kind of on that path, but it wasn't never something that I was really passionate about."

McLoota said that he was very into art classes.

"I loved watching movies and memorizing them," McLoota said. "I loved acting them out. We would shoot some stuff on my dad's old camcorder. So, when it came down to it, my junior year of high school, I wanted to make movies. I told my parents and they were very supportive."

McLoota said that it means a lot to achieve his goals because he worked so many hours on so many jobs. He noted that it's hard because of the politics and egos that he has to navigate.

"It is almost like you are a filmmaker and a politician, which is interesting because when you get into living in New York, you meet a lot of people who work in very high stress, very high financial stake businesses such as television and movies," McLoota said.

He said that at a certain point, it really is a business as much as it is an art. He has to navigate both sides because there are people there for a bottom line and then there are people there for creativity.

"When you're a director, you have to be both," said McLoota. "You have to be conscious of the business side but you have to strive for the best creativity. "

He added that it means a lot to him to get to that level, but he is one of those people who is never really satisfied.

"I am always thinking about how to get to the next level."

Though directing is thought of as the highest creative job, in television, a showrunner creates a show and has full artistic license over it.

"It was important to me to pick an industry that didn't have a glass ceiling," said McLoota. "There is always that ability to keep moving. I always have some sort of drive."

As far as the future, McLoota said that he would like to become a director/producer, which is someone who is on a show all of the time. They normally direct the bigger budget episodes such as the premieres and the finales.

"After that I would like to do a movie," McLoota said. "Directing a feature would be great. You are creating something from the ground up that is all yours."

He added that directing pilots would also be something that he is incredibly interested in.

"If you direct a pilot and a show succeeds, then you get paid for every episode. It is a life changing thing to direct a pilot that takes off. There are certain directors, who are only pilot directors. They will go in and establish a tone and look for a show and just keep going."

Shields, who is currently in a producer/management role on the show "Blacklist," is also an assistant director for some episodes. He said that his ultimate goal is also producing/directing.

He won a Directors Guild Award for "Escape From Dannemora," a mini series directed by Ben Stiller. Shields said that he was over the moon to win that award.

"I never expected to be recognized to that level in my career," said Shields. "It was full-on red carpet event. I got to go up on stage and accept the award with Ben."

Shields' advice to those who have big goals that they want to accomplish is, "You have got to go for it. Neither one of us has ever had a small-town mentality or even thought that we were from a small town. Just go for it."

McLoota added that you have to believe in yourself.

"In this business, the people who believe in themselves are usually way better, where as people who look to other people for approval kind of fall a little bit," McLoota said. "They are quicker to get discouraged. Don't let other people change what you think of yourself."