Today we’d like to introduce you to Sully Ortega
Hi Sully, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I started my creative career at the end of my freshman year of college. Covid hit and I had nothing to do so I started editing videos on my phone in iMovie. I would just take clips off youtube and piece together edits. I always had a passion for photography and sports social media but never really knew how to get into. I eventually got a camera at the beginning of my sophomore year and started shooting local high school games since they were the most lax with COVID. I shot high school sports all of my sophomore year and eventually Auburn Football posted an opening for student creative interns and I applied. I got accepted and started working for Auburn Football in May of 2021, making simple edits for social media. This is really where my career took off. In the fall I was one of our main videographers and got the opportunity to travel to Auburn vs Penn State in Happy Valley. It was their Whiteout Game, a bucket list item for a lifelong college football fan like myself. From shooting local high school sports to shooting a Whiteout game in a years time was truly incredible. I continued to work for Auburn Football until August of 2022. In August of 2022 I got the opportunity to work for Auburn Women’s Basketball. Going into my senior year I felt like this was the best move for me as it allowed me to grow as a creative and take on bigger tasks such as photography and social strategy. I really grew in this role and contribute a lot of what I know now to my time with Women’s Basketball. After I graduated I moved back home and struggled to find a job. I was applying for everything with no luck. I knew some people at UAB and asked if I could help out just to stay sharp and improve my skills. I started working for free shooting football games while freelancing on the side. As basketball season got closer they were able to put me pay roll at $10/ hour. I became the primary basketball photographer for UAB during the 2023-24 season and had an absolute blast doing it, even it only paid $10 an hour. In May of 2024 my old UAB manager had a connection with the Creative Director at Arkansas Football. I applied and accepted a position with Arkansas in May and started in June. My role here at Arkansas consists of photography, videography and social media posting and strategy. That’s where I am today and it has been a blast working in Fayetteville.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road definitely has not been smooth. The biggest struggle was after college working at UAB trying to find a full-time job. It a year after I graduated for me to finally get a shot. There were times where it felt like it would never happen but I just had to keep grinding and getting better.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Creative Content Producer for Arkansas Football. I specialize in photography, videography and social media. I made our photo look/brand and am the main photographer on non-gamedays. On gamedays I do just about everything. Prior to kickoff I am photo and social media to get all of our pregame content. During the game I am shooting video and after the game I am doing either photo or video and social media. I am most proud of our content surrounding our upset win over Tennessee this past season. We had some of, if not the best social media numbers in the country following that game. Our team did a great job of capturing the field storm and celebration. I’d say what sets me apart from others is my view on social media and the strategy we implemented around it this year.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I am very quiet person, kind of just keep to myself. I loved sports growing up which makes me passionate about what I do. I played baseball, basketball, football, and soccer growing up. Played soccer in high school. But I just love watching sports overall. I think the stories of athletes and fans are unique and cool. When I stopped playing sports after highs school I wanted to find a way to stay around it, it’s all I knew growing up. My dad is a sports orthopedic doctor so I spent my whole childhood on sidelines with him at many different games. I wanted to still do that and found sports media as a way to do it.
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