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Sage Hill Alumnus Pivots Film Career, Lands at TikTok
When students giddily dance in front of their phones for a new TikTok trend, they might be surprised to learn a Sage Hill alumnus is helping power the ubiquitous app.
Conor Kort ‘11 works as a video and motion design lead at TikTok, bringing the film production and editing skills he started to develop while carrying a camcorder around Wilkins Town Square.
“On top of getting a great education that Sage Hill provides, it really allowed me to start to see a potential career path in a creative type of field,” Kort said.
When Spring at Sage was introduced in the 2010-2011 school year, students were invited to pitch a week-long independent project supervised by a faculty member. Kort and two friends employed film techniques they learned from former Theater teacher Chris Marshall to produce a short film.
“Coming out of Sage Hill, applying to film school and having that as a piece for [college] applications or beyond, was just really special,” Kort said.
Making a feature length movie is on Kort’s “bucket list” highlighted in his senior yearbook, right behind going to space.
Kort went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Cinema & Photography from Ithaca College. After graduation, he immediately moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream career in entertainment.
While scrolling on a Craigslist job board, Kort found a production assistant position at a world-class comedy venue. The Laugh Factory hired him to film standup comedians’ sets, editing footage, and managing the club’s Youtube channel.
Kort started looking for video related jobs in industries with more upward opportunities and where he expected to find joy in his work. As a music lover, Kort found his way into Dim Mak Records, the label founded by the Newport Beach-raised and internationally popular DJ Steve Aoki. Kort filmed and edited a social media campaign encouraging Aoki’s fans to vote for him DJ Mag’s Top 100 artists for 2018.
“This was two years after the 2016 election,” Kort said. “We did a lot of political parody-based situations, like having his mom on the corner setting up a lawn sign that says, ‘vote for Steve.’ So that was a fun one.”
Kort also loved being able to produce the music video for Aoki’s cover of Blink 182’s “Bored to Death.” The Youtube version has been viewed more than 3 million times.
In 2019, Kort landed at TikTok after working a stint as a video creator at Buzzfeed. It’s been a dynamic period for the social media giant on multiple fronts, including U.S. lawmakers’ debate over whether to force the app’s parent company to sell its assets to an American business entity.
Over the past year, Kort has been working on a video campaign designed to market new parental controls and other safety features to protect users under 18 years old.
“In my personal career, I don't want to come to retirement and say 'social media got all these kids addicted,’” Kort said. “Minor safety and all of these features are insanely important. I think it's one of those things in the future I want to be proud of and that we put this at the forefront of our creative work.”
Sage Hill students mulling creative careers should start thinking about their niche community and start creating content while they’re in high school, Kort said.
“Use these opportunities at Sage Hill to find that [interest], and if you do want to be an influencer, a video podcast host, or make certain types of videos for social media, I think now is a great opportunity to start thinking about what you can do,” Kort said.
Kort is confident that Sage Hill’s bright student body can make smart choices before posting to Tikok.
“Be mindful about what it is that you're putting out to the world, because it stays there,” Kort said.
Sage Hill School
Sage Hill School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and athletic and other School administered programs.