I have always been a technical and creative guy, even from a young age. I’ve got pictures of myself constructing huge paper buildings and assembling an endless supply of Lego sets as a kid. I can also distinctly remember building an elaborate system of pulleys and wires in my fourth-grade classroom so that all my friends could pass notes back and forth. I still don’t know how the teacher let me get away with that one…

I started doing animation before I could drive a car, and ran a video board show before I could vote. After being in production for over a decade now, I (and our team) have made videos for multi-national corporations and designed animations for pretty much any type of video board you can think of. We’ve done shoots all over the country, and I’ve produced or been involved with events ranging from WrestleMania to the Olympics to Pay Per View Boxing, with the event count now far beyond 1,000. If there’s an image moving on a screen, I’m there.

Q&A with Jeffrey

Tell us about your family

My family is fantastic. Me and my wife, Amanda, attempt to contain our rapidly growing, sometimes well-behaved daughter, Addison. My mom and dad taught me everything I know and have been supportive of this crazy journey my whole life. My brothers Ryan and Nicholas are great, and I co-own PEG with Ryan, who I’ve been working alongside for pretty much my whole career.

Do you have any pets?

I have an adorable cat, Cinder. He is a rescue that was hand-picked to be as lazy as possible to accommodate the work schedule of PEG’s early days, and he faithfully takes up that mission every day.

Where did you grow up?

My whole childhood was in Suffield, Ohio. Small-town vibes for sure. I always like to tell people that our town has a grand total of two traffic lights. Cornfields and cows were a good portion of the sights to see. I moved closer to Akron as I got my own place, but I still see Suffield frequently.

What is the most ridiculous thing you believed as a child?

The crew at the office wouldn’t let me get away with saying anything other than the fact that I used to think “Crunchy (Chunky?) Peanut Butter” had the peanut shells in it for the crunch. I never understood why people would choose to buy that until my coworkers oh-so-gently informed me that the shells are actually not involved in the “chunkiness.”

What are you passionate about?

I’m really passionate about production in all its forms, with Live Events holding a special place in my heart. I have done over 1,000 events, and at this point, I’ve been involved with some of the largest in the world. There’s something special about the immediate reaction of a crowd when you nail a cue perfectly, that’s simply impossible to replicate with post-production projects.

What emoji do you use most often?

The one with the little monocle who is giving a look like “Are you serious?”. 🧐 I’m still not sure if it’s really looking up, but I like to think it is, as if it’s judging the message above.

What is your favorite snack?

Lately, Takis. Doritos are out, Fuego Takis are in. Welcome to the future.

Why did you pick this profession?

I sort of stumbled into it, but it always just made sense to me. I look at other professions where you do the same thing every day, and that just isn't for me. Yes, there’s grinding and processing work in all professions, and this one is no exception. But also in our profession, we make believe for a living, and you’re rarely doing the same thing twice. 

What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?

Sleep in late, spend some time with Addison and my wife, Amanda, play some video games, and take some time to do whatever I want. If I have a week, that’s when I would dive into a construction project. I have a history of taking houses, tearing them to pieces, and rebuilding them.

If you did not work in this industry, what field would you pursue?

Assuming I couldn’t work in any field of production whatsoever, I think I could have fun either doing coding or maybe electrical work. Some aspects of production already include coding and programming, and I think I could be good at that. Electrical work has always been my favorite work in the trades. I could wire a house from scratch at this point, and I really enjoy the theory behind how electrical works.

What skill would you most like to learn?

I’d like to learn how to frame a house from the ground up. I know how to work with an existing house, but I’ve never seen or done it from scratch. I also wouldn’t mind learning how to really dig into working on a car.

jeffrey@prittentertainmentgroup.com