Mr Morton has been contracting for Local Focus/NZME for the past six months, producing two to three video stories a week related to the Bay of Plenty region.
He works closely with the Rotorua Daily Post team, and his stories are overseen by producer Myles Thomas. He believes his video editing skills have been really honed working with someone as experienced in the screen industry as Mr Thomas.
Mr Morton basically does everything involved with getting his Local Focus stories to air, from researching and setting up interviews to full editing of the video.
“Because of my NZBS grounding I knew exactly how to set up contacts and connections in the region as well as how to prioritise the stories.”
He has also had to learn quickly how to interview different types of people – from MP Shane Jones through to the local fish and chip shop owner.
Mr Morton is one of five finalists in the Junior Video Journalist category – three others of whom are also NZ Broadcasting School alumni – Logan Church, Cass Marrett and Sean Hogan.
“Being nominated for this award, among so much talent, has boosted my self-esteem and made me realise I could actually be successful in this industry.”
