Emmy·IATSE·Handheld Sports Camera·TV Executive
Behind the camera at the Super Bowl, the Olympics, WrestleMania, and Sunday Night Football. Founder of HJZ Productions and co-founder of Viridity Entertainment Services. Host of Operator Mindset.
Twenty-five years behind the camera at the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and WrestleMania taught Howie one thing: the best operators are not the ones behind the lens. They are the ones who see the whole game.
He built HJZ Productions in 2001 to bring the same instinct to broadcast crewing. He built Viridity Entertainment in 2019 to bring it to livestream and hybrid events. Now he brings it to founders, operators, and the audiences who want to think like they do.
Every business Howie has built solves the same problem from a different angle. Scroll to move the reel.
Built for productions that can't afford a bad day.
IATSE union crews. ENG and studio. 25 years of showing up and delivering for WWE, AEW, NBC Sports, Apple TV, DAZN, NEP, MLS, NWSL, IMG, Gravity Media, Gametime, and Ross Productions.
For moments that need to feel like more than a meeting.
Livestream, hybrid, and corporate production for T-Mobile, Capital One, Food Network, GCI Health, Omaha Productions, Salt N Pepa, 160over90, and Temple Beth Sholom. Fireside chats, LinkedIn Lives, galas, panels, virtual and hybrid events.
Most shows interview people. This one operates on them.
Leadership, execution, and the decisions that actually move the needle. 10 episodes and counting. Guests include founders, IATSE veterans, live production leaders, and an AI co-host who asks the questions most people are afraid to answer.
Not an assistant. An operator.
Athena runs the back end of two production companies and a podcast. Meetings, follow-through, prep dossiers, contract precision, decision logs. Co-hosts Operator Mindset. Built by ACTi Beings.
Built for productions that can't afford a bad day.
IATSE union crews. ENG and studio. 25 years of showing up and delivering for WWE, AEW, NBC Sports, Apple TV, DAZN, NEP, MLS, NWSL, IMG, Gravity Media, Gametime, and Ross Productions.
For moments that need to feel like more than a meeting.
Livestream, hybrid, and corporate production for T-Mobile, Capital One, Food Network, GCI Health, Omaha Productions, Salt N Pepa, 160over90, and Temple Beth Sholom. Fireside chats, LinkedIn Lives, galas, panels, virtual and hybrid events.
Most shows interview people. This one operates on them.
Leadership, execution, and the decisions that actually move the needle. 10 episodes and counting. Guests include founders, IATSE veterans, live production leaders, and an AI co-host who asks the questions most people are afraid to answer.
Not an assistant. An operator.
Athena runs the back end of two production companies and a podcast. Meetings, follow-through, prep dossiers, contract precision, decision logs. Co-hosts Operator Mindset. Built by ACTi Beings.
Most shows interview people. This one operates on them.
Where founders, leaders, and builders think out loud about the decisions that actually matter. Not the highlight reel. The real game. The plays behind the plays.
Every guest leaves with something they did not walk in with. A sharper question. A clearer frame. A decision that suddenly has an answer.
· Networks & brands · rolling
She is not a chatbot. She is an operator.
Athena runs the back end of two production companies and a podcast. Meetings. Follow-through. Prep dossiers. Decision logs. The work that makes everything else possible.
And now she is on the mic. Athena co-hosts full episodes of Operator Mindset, interviewing Howie about the businesses, the plays, and the decisions most people never think to ask about.
What Howie built with Athena is not a tool. It is a partnership. And it is changing how operators run their world.
T · 01“Howie is the guy you call when it absolutely has to be right. I have worked with him for 20 years. He has never missed.”
Broadcast ProducerSenior Live Producer · NBC Sports
T · 02“HJZ crews are the reason our productions look the way they do. That is not a compliment. That is a fact.”
Line ProducerHead of Live Production · WWE
T · 03“Viridity took our all-hands and made it feel like an Apple keynote. Multi-cam. Flawless. No drama.”
Head of CommsVP Communications · Fortune 500 Client
T · 04“The operator mindset is not a slogan when Howie says it. It is how his crews show up. That is why we keep calling.”
Broadcast DirectorSports Broadcast Director · Cable Network
T · 05“He asks the questions founders forget to ask themselves. Every single episode.”
Podcast HostBold Business Podcast · Podcast · Host
T · 06“If I had 5% of Howie's ability to see the whole play, I would still be above average.”
Camera OperatorEmmy-nominated operator · Podcast · Guest
Howie co-hosts a live webinar with Michael Hornby, CEO of Techmentum on the five mistakes that void your cyber insurance policy. Real cases. Local NY/NJ examples. Actionable checklist.
25 years. The Super Bowl. WrestleMania. NFL and College Football. The Olympic Games.
Distilled into a course built for the next generation of broadcast operators. Not theory. Not textbook. The real thing from someone who was there.
Camera positions, angles, sightlines
Shot calling, follow, lead, hold
Coordinating with directors and TDs
When the shot breaks, what next
When founders, editors, and hosts want the operator perspective, Howie is the one they call.
Founders, operators, industry veterans. If you have a story about the work behind the work, we want to hear it.