Jack Gorman has had a diverse career in his 25 years in the sports and entertainment industry. Starting as a public relations intern in the NFL, he has crisscrossed the country, working in virtually every aspect of the sports industry before transitioning to filmmaking. Along the way, his films have played in festivals worldwide, winning dozens of awards. As a sports executive, his teams won six championships while setting historical records, and he has established a love for storytelling in multiple mediums and industries.

Sports Career Begins in Public Relations

His sports career began with the NFL’s Washington franchise – now the Washington Commanders – in 1999. Jack worked in public relations for the team on gamedays, expanding that to a full-season internship in 2000, where Jack was quickly assigned work usually reserved for high-ranking public relations officials in the NFL. He was the point person for virtually all player interviews on the NFL’s first $100 million team, which featured multiple future NFL Hall of Famers.

In 2001, Jack joined the University of California – Berkeley’s media relations staff, where he worked as the Sports Information Director for seven sports. During this time, Jack also worked in various capacities for the San Francisco 49ers while completing his Master’s in Sport Management.

Shift into Pro Football Scouting

However, Jack’s primary focus then was becoming a pro football scout. He made this switch in 2002, working with the San Jose SaberCats, the reigning Arena Football Champion. The following year, he took a season-long internship with the San Diego Chargers in scouting, assisting with preparing the team for a history-making 2004 NFL draft.

He returned to San Jose, where he was instrumental in rebuilding an aging SaberCats roster, which also was decimated by a league-redefining rule change in 2006. After winning a championship with San Jose in 2007 as the team’s defensive quality control coach and player personnel executive, Jack followed coach Kevin Guy to the Arizona Rattlers. He was named Director of Player Personnel and Public Relations at just 29 years old. Together, he and Guy rebuilt the Rattlers from second-worst in the league to host a home playoff game in just a single season.

Move Into Content Creation

However, due to the economic crisis, the Arena Football League ceased operations for the 2009 season. Jack shifted gears again, returning to his communications roots with the Washington Kastles of Billie Jean King’s World Team Tennis league, where he would work for the next 10 seasons. During that time, the Kastles had an unprecedented historical run, winning five straight championships from 2011-15. The team set records for the longest winning streak in major pro sports history in 2013, besting the Los Angeles Lakers' streak of 33 games. The Kastles also set league records for revenue and attendance.

Jack adjusted his skillset to fit the needs of the Kastles, a small organization with a small year-round staff. He began as the team's primary writer but took advantage of the long offseasons to learn everything he could about content creation and operations management. He became the team’s only video creator, and his work aired for thousands at every Kastles match and for countless more on broadcasts such as the World Cup and Wimbledon.

Transition from Sports to Filmmaking

However, Jack had always had a love for screenwriting and continued to do this throughout his sports career. Eventually, he paired this interest with his content creation skills and created his first short film, Patriots and Tyrants, which was shown at the Maryland International Film Festival in 2015. He also became skilled in photography and jointly managed the gameday operations and photographers during all Kastles matches in the second half of his stint with the team. After earning four certificates in the technical aspects of content creation - including in design and television production - Jack enrolled in UCLA's prestigious screenwriting professional program. He eventually returned to UCLA for the producer's program as well as writing for television one, where he met his creative partner Shannon Walsh.

After the 2019 Kastles season, Jack decided to shift his career focus from professional sports to filmmaking and returned to California with this goal in mind. In just under four years, Jack and Shannon collaborated on six short films, including 2023's A Dinner. A Dinner was selected for over two dozen film festivals worldwide while bringing in over 20 awards. Jack and Shannon were named among the Top 10 Filmmakers to Watch in Los Angeles before the LA International Film Festival in November 2023. The next year, the writing-directing-producing duo collaborated for their first feature, Mama Duck, which stars Shannon as well as Austin Woods and Catharine Daddario.

Where Things Stand Today

Jack and Shannon are currently developing multiple projects, including their follow-up feature to Mama Duck. They have over a dozen completed scripts, most of which have ranked in the Top 5-10% on Coverfly. In late 2024, Jack relocated his family to Northeast Ohio and is building a production company there. He has also completed a second Master's, this time in Film and Media Studies from Arizona State University, with an eye on teaching in the future.

In addition to his sports and filmmaking careers, Jack is an aspiring wine judge and completed his Certified Specialist of Wine exam in 2020, just three weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most tourism. He is currently working on his WSET certifications. He has recently launched a blog about the nexus between wine, food, and travel, which can be read here (website currently under construction - coming in late February 2025).

Though filmmaking is the primary career focus, Jack writes regularly about sports, having worked for Bleacher Report and other similar websites. He's moved his writing to his own blog, Beyond the Scoreboard, which can be read here.

He has also re-launched his photography and video editing business in Northeast Ohio, and is currently accepting clients of all sizes. More information can be seen on his company website here.

Finally, for more information on Jack's films, filmmaking career and more, please visit his film website here.