Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Amat.
Hi Tony, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started my Photography when I was hired by the San Diego Chargers to photograph the Game Day Schedule for the Marketing Dept during the 1995 Season on the Field. Being just a fan and then taking a lucky picture of the team coming back from Pittsburgh as they beat the Steelers to become 1994 AFC Champions. I got a call the next day from Billy Devaney, who worked for Bobby Beathard, Chargers GM, and he wanted a copy for himself that I gave to members of the Chagers Ticket office and wanted to send one to his sister who worked for the, also, Super Bowl bound SF 49’s. and eventual winner. I got to meet Alex Spanos and some of the Font Office who also wanted to see my image from the “Chargers Rally at Jack Murphy Stadium”. It was an amazing fan experience to be in the Chargers Front Office. Dean Spanos signed a book, “75 Years of the NFL” and gave it to me to thank me for the picture. Kevin Kernan UT wrote an article about the story of me called “San Diego Chargers Superfan” which was posted in the Charger Lunchroom. O
I received a call before the 1995 Charger Seaason to see if I was interested in taking photographs for the Chargers Marketing Dept working for David Miller. I had the Charger Season of my life being on the field, when they ran out of the tunnel during the Pregame Cermony, and they were running right by me to the on-field Team celebrations to start the game. My other Responsibilities included photographing Corporate VIPs during pregame events on the field, during the timeouts and halftime promotions. One of my Favorite pictures is when in the Tunnel taking a picture of Jr Seau revving up his fellow Chargers and looks straight at my lens and that image of his intensity before running out onto the field, will forever be one of my Charger highlights.
When Dave Miller went on to run the Stan Humphries Golf Tournament, I was working with him as the Official Photographer and that turned into becoming the Celebrity Golf Championship with Drew Brees and until recently with Marhall Faulk. I met so many celebrities and Sports Icons and to hear them talking about their life stories to one another and showing their Championship rings that I got to photograph as a collection. One of my favorite stories was by Mike Eruzione of the 1980 US Olympics Ice Hockey Team “Miracle on Ice” when they beat the Russian Team in the finals. And they had just had a Reunion, lighting the Olympic Torch in 2002. Just a fly on the wall with a camera.
I was also involved with the Photography for the 1996 Republican National Convention Selection Committee as they used my images in a slideshow and most amazed when San Diego won the Host City for it. I received letters of Recognition from Carol Wallace Convention Center Dir and SD Mayor Susan Golding for my Civic Responsibilties. It meant San Diego would benefit for hosting the big event.
I was asked to shoot SD Comicon Int’l Marketing Photography in 2006 and continue to this day under David Glanzer, Director. I get to be a part of the largest event in San Diego. I also photographed the Eisner Awards for Comicon from 2009 -2020. My Daughter, Marissa, is a part of the Social Media team for Comicon.
2010-2018 Marketing Photographer for San Diego State Football and Basketball on the Field and on the Court doing the Game Day Schedule. That was an amazing experience and really being close to Aztec Basketball Head Coach Steve Fisher and the Aztec Basketball Team. I was introduced to them by doing the Pointsettia Bowl for the Marching Aztecs and they needed a Photographer for the game and my daughter Marissa was part of the Color Guard. When SDSU saw the images, they asked me what else I photographed and then hired me to be the Marketing Photographer for both Sports. And in 2015, I did both Aztec Football games and being the San Digeo Chargers Suites Photographer. When both the Aztecs and Chargers were in town, I would leave Qualcomm Sat night Aztec Football games at 10pm and be back at 10am Sunday for the Charger games. That only happened a couple of times, but that was a test of endurance for me.
Also, currently, I am the Photographer for the SD Sports Association, formerly “The Hall of Champions” and handle all of their Fundraisers and Galas for Photography. Just last year, San Diego Padres Adrian Gonzales was inducted into the Breitbard San Diego Hall of Fame, so we talked about some of his life now and got to meet his wife and family.
I am currently the Lead Photographer for the Coronado Island Film Festival for Director Merridee Books, which is a nice event to be involved with and very cool to have the Gala in the Crown Room at the Hotel Del.
My most favorite picture all-time is of Tony Gywnn and Ted Williams after Ted threw the Opening Pitch and Tony caught it, at then Jack Murphy Stadium in 2007.
I decided to take the picture at first base to get a side view as Home plate was full of photographers. After the pitch, they got into a Packard Convertible and was waving to the crowd. I believed they were going around the field to do a round trip to home plate, but then, the car stopped right in front of me and they got out of the car. Ted puts his arm around Tony and says, “Tony, lets take a picture right here” and lookedo⁶ straight at me. I took several pictures and then they walked right into the dugout. I thought to myself that I got the only posed picture of that moment and as a Fan of the Padres and Tony Gywnn, that has to be one of my best Photgraphic moments for me as a photographer.
So how does a Photographer become Emmy Nominated Producer?
To switch gears, I am currently a 5 time Emmy Nominated Producer for the San Diego Film Awards (2021,22,23,24) for Film Consortium SD and working with Jodi Cilley Founder, in assisting the Production and keep it going forward to the next stage. I am in charge of Craft Sevices, Red Carpet Setup, and logistics of the productions. The Emmys NATAS PSW version includes SD, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Inland Empire and to Santa Barbara. It is an honor to be recognized by such a prestigious organizaton.
I am also starting up a new entity called R3 Productions with my counterparts and working with companies like Sony Corp and some of their Depts. and the SD County Office of Education to create programs for EDU. I created Photo360 which has students from all over the county to take workshops at SD City College which has 30,000 Sq ft. We had instructors from major Camera Mfg like Canon, Sony, Nikon, Olympus (OM) Pananonic Lumix, Profoto. It is still running once a year.
Currently – We just startedlo up Filmnet a Meetup group that meets once a month with the local filmmakers so they can network and collaborate on upcoming projects.
We have another program called Film Summit which will be held this year at SD City College, which will bring HS Students to Workshops in Video Productions .
That’s where I started and where I am today.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest challenge for me and this is true for a lot of Photographers, is the cost of equipment and the ever evolving Technology of Cameras… I started in the analog world of 35mm and 120 film and then digital came in, which was SLR, DSLR, and now ILC (Interchangle Lens Cameras) and the common term Mirror-less. This latest technology allows the cameras to do both Photography and Video with the same camera. My new concept is “ILC’s in the MUM (Multi-Usage Media) World). It is a concept I’m introducing to the EDU programs. It will allow schools to use 1 camera to teach both Video and IPhotography courses using ILC cameras and 1 teacher and teaching more conceptual aspects about image capturing and then specializing in either Arts as a Specialty so they learn about both in a way that untilizes the camera to accomplish both at the highest levels and to prepare for College level Instructions. It will make them more prepared for next step that the company who will hire them maybe need them to do both and they cannot afford both in their budgets. Especiallly in the world of Influencers and Social Media.
I started working at a small camera store called La Mesa Camera, and in 2001, I was recruited by Nelson Photo Supplies in downtown San Diego who is in business over 70 years and worked there until 2020.
One of the perks is that you get an employee discount which helped with the cost of equipment and the sales Reps would always have special deals on their equipment which I took advantage of and grew my inventory.
If Photography was my passion and my job was to help my fellow photographers as they came in for advise and assistance with whatever issues they were having and our job on the counter was to solve those issues and especially to maybe make them better at their craft. It was a personal satsfaction to know they appcreciated our expertise and improved their setup or fixed their issue so could continue to be able to be better photographers.. Whenever I worked on the sidelines of the Sporting events, most of them knew I worked at Nelson and would always ask me about the latest camera,and, of course, talk about what they like about their setup and lenses. Great conversations about their latest projects and then see them in the store and continue on.
When I first started out and I really got a good start working with the Chargers so maybe I just got lucky, but there is a lot of pressure starting at the Professional level, My advice it is probably better to start at your HS level and work your way up.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Although I get satifaction when clients hire me take images for them and compensated for that monetarily, what I really appreciate is when working with the students in a program like Photo360. It is the feedback from them after, when they fill out our questionaires, do I see the results.and Im able to create better programs.
One student said it was “The best School Day of the Year” and the counselor who was running the survey. said “I do this for the SD Unified School District but I have never been to an event where everyone was so excited to be here, students, teachers, administrators, Corporate Reps and workshop intructors”. That comment summarized “why I do what I do” in a nutshell To make a difference. To get those feedbacks drives me to strive to become better with my programs.
My next steps are to work with underserved youth and creating an internship program to get them ready for the Filmmaking community that is going to make us a viable alternative to LA in some respects.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Well, because of Social Media I have a history that is well documented in photos and stories, but they don’t know that I assisted my brother, Bob, hanging wallpaper for a living. Our claim to fame is that our biggest job was Golden Hall Civic Center. We hung the wallpaper behind the Gold Lattice at the top and all of the wallcovering in the Lobby in 1996, and which is still there today. I’m sure its time to remodel it by now. Lol
And on a personal basis, I am married for over 40 years with 3 Grown kids and a grandfather of 2. A shoutout to my beautiful wife of 42 years, Jennifer who has been with me every step of the way and my full grown kids Mathew, Marissa, and Meilana, My 2 grandsons, Rowan and Oliver (Ollie).
A shoutout to my crew Rodney Regala, Steph Groce, David Sawicki, Mauricio Navarro, Dr Sue Weinshanker, Stephanie Sullivan, and Rufus Nobles. They have all supported me over the years and how I am able to “Do what I do”… Producer/ Photographer T
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/photosbytonyamat?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tony.amat.10?mibextid=ZbWKwL
