School: Klein College of Media and Communication
Degree: BA, media studies and production, 2021, Minor in sport management (STH)
Hometown: Leesport, Pennsylvania
Thanks to hands-on experience at Temple and endless opportunities, Brynna Haupt, KLN ’21, learned to blend her passion for sports with her love of video storytelling before eventually landing her dream job with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Click the audio to hear what she has to say.
Photography by Ryan S. Brandenberg
She grew up as the only girl with three brothers. While people often exclaim that it must have been rough for her, she couldn’t feel more opposite. “They introduced me to sports. I grew up watching the Eagles with them and my dad and bonding over the game coverage at night,” she said.
Intrigued by the documentary video equipment one of her brothers would regularly bring home, Haupt’s interest quickly became sports production. When it came time for college, the home of the Eagles and the big city skyscrapers that constitute it called to her. Even though most of her family went to Penn State, “Temple was the only school I had in mind,” she said.
On her tour, the first person she met was Amy Caples, well-known for her more than 20 years working in broadcast news before becoming an assistant professor. While other schools Haupt visited made it clear that students don’t typically get hands-on experience until they’re upperclassmen, Temple afforded students the ability to learn by doing from day one—an opportunity Haupt took advantage of.
During TempleFest, a fair-style event to introduce students to campus clubs and organizations, Haupt discovered OwlSports Update—Temple’s Collegiate Mid-Atlantic Emmy award-winning sports news show—and soon got involved. “I’m such a hands-on learner, that’s what I needed,” said Haupt. Next came an internship with a Tokyo-based insurance company looking for a video intern.
Haupt arrived at Temple thinking she’d aspire to be in front of the camera like Caples, but her internship changed that. By editing the company’s community features she discovered a love for telling stories from behind the lens.
“Truly, all of my jobs have either been because of a Temple contact or because of what I’ve learned from Temple to put your name out there and network.”
–Brynna Haupt
Freelance production staff member
Succeed she did. “As a woman in sports media, you can feel a little subordinate or not taken seriously, which is how it still is in women’s sports, broadly speaking,” she said.
But her time at Temple taught her to never be afraid to ask questions or put yourself out there, which is what landed her a postgraduate internship at Sports Illustrated. After receiving a form rejection email, Haupt reached out to one of the producers on LinkedIn and asked how she could improve. When the intern they had selected dropped out, he offered the spot to Haupt. From there, she achieved her dream of working for the Eagles as a seasonal digital production assistant, where she was nominated for a 2022 Mid-Atlantic Regional Emmy for her work. She then took her dreams and goals a step further and now serves as a freelance production staff member for the team. Here, she works in the control room for in-house content covering training camp, games and the NFL draft.
“Truly, all of my jobs have either been because of a Temple contact or because of what I’ve learned from Temple to put your name out there and network,” Haupt said.
These young Owls have found success on and off the playing field while still finding time to mentor and advocate for their communities.
Learn more about the media studies and production program at Temple’s Klein College of Media and Communication.
