Cory Jay Calhoun nearly began his life as Cody Joe Calhoun, a mistake that was quickly rectified by his mother at birth.
Spending a brief, fulfilling childhood swapping time between suburban Oklahoma City and rural Wakita, Oklahoma, Cory began toying with video at 9 years old with a short animation called “The First Fight.” The film explored the nature of conflict between Godzilla and a large, plastic alligator, and was a tour de force for the young auteur. Unfortunately, on-set difficulties prompted Cory to take a short hiatus from movie-making, as he was forced to fire the cinematographer, his own father, over creative differences.
Rest proved beneficial for Cory, as he continued making short animations through junior high school and branched out into television, broadcasting the school’s daily announcements as a news-style talk show. It was during this period that Cory gained a love for broadcast writing and on-air reporting, ultimately leading to his enrollment at Texas A&M University’s College of Journalism.
At Texas A&M, Cory discovered a passion for imported beers, but that’s beside the point. He would co-found the university’s first student-run television network, called AgTV, which broadcast from local PBS affiliate KAMU in College Station. It was there that Cory hosted, wrote, directed and produced several televised programs, none of which he will ever allow anyone to ever see under any circumstances. He also worked as the videographer for Texas A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where he produced graduate-level training videos for students in the Vet program. Today, young veterinarians across the country are properly examining and palpating horses due to Mr. Calhoun’s work.
After graduating, Cory took a 3-day job in Los Angeles, which quickly turned into a year-long position in television syndication research and creative development. As his career progressed, he held positions at independent production shingles at Warner Bros. Studios, Twentieth Century Fox and Jim Henson Studios, working creatively on projects such as the television shows “Reba” and “The War at Home” as well as the “Raw Feed” DVD series distributed by Warner Home Video. Cory’s last job in Los Angeles was Director of Development for The Second City’s television, film and new media division division, where developed TV shows and produced content for online web series.
In 2010, Cory left L.A., traveled a little and then ran off to New York. In NYC, he and a college buddy created Alex & Alecks, an interactive educational product, which lead to the formation of their very own creative digital video company, Fighter Pilots Media.
Aside from his career attributes, Cory is an avid fan of science, technology, futurism, music and media culture. He rides a mountain bike, kayaks and reads. A lot. Back on the career front, Cory intends to use his experience in development and production to conceptualize the next steps in the way people interact with digital information in their environment.
Cory normally does not speak in third person, but committed to this bit early on and simply decided to go with it.
