TORRINGTON – A world traveler and firsthand witness to technology’s rapid evolution over the last few decades, Floyd Brandt has plenty of stories to tell. His latest adventure, however, begins in Goshen County as a reporter for the Torrington Telegram.

Brandt was born in Fort Morgan, Colo. He attended kindergarten there, and then his family moved to Moab, Utah, where his father – who worked in oil production – was offered a job.

“We lived for two years in Moab, then we moved to Alaska … the Kenai Peninsula,” Brandt said. “I lived there for over 17 years.”

The family was relocated to Singapore after Brandt’s father received a job offer in Indonesia. When Brandt was 15 years old, his father was killed in an oil
field accident.

At this time, he his sister and mother moved back to Alaska for a period of time before returning to Colorado. Brandt subsequently graduated from Alameda High School in Denver.

“After high school, I got into community broadcasting,” he said. “I had started doing video production myself and editing. I started by (filming) rock bands. I was living in Colorado … and I was working with Broomfield Community Broadcasting. We did this show called ‘Rock Talk’ and we had a rock band come in that wanted a video done. At that time, MTV had a show called ‘Basement Tapes’ where they featured videos of local bands – it was a contest where they could win (a cash prize). People would call in and vote. We shot the rock video for this local band, and they won.”

Following his time at Broomfield Community Broadcasting, Brandt returned to Alaska and began working in live radio. After a few years in the field, he accepted a position in Anchorage at a Fox affiliate television station.

“I would switch commercials on-air manually – they did not have an automated system,” Brandt said. “I did that for four years.”

In October 1995, Brandt joined Encore Media Group in Englewood, Colo. as an editor’s assistant. He held this position for nearly nine years. 

“The change in the type of equipment that was being used in broadcasting – it was changing from analog to digital,” Brandt said. “It was getting better and better and better, then at Encore, I watched as the digital world came into its own in broadcasting. In fact, working at Encore, I was working at one of 10 fully digital studios in
the world.

“There was a guy named Lloyd in charge of non-linear (digital) editing systems at Encore,” Brandt continued. “He said, ‘Guess what? I’m getting a gigabyte of memory tomorrow!’ And it was a big thing. He had to order it and wait for it. It’s hard to comprehend. He was all excited about that. The next guy who took over for him, about five years later, he had gotten a four-terabyte drive to put video on. He was all excited about that and told me they would never fill it up. Six months later, he was in there trying to figure out what to take off of it (to make more room).” 

While working at Encore, Brandt became interested in participating in and filming mission trips, medical and otherwise.

“I went to Thailand, Ecuador, and then I did a mission trip to Cameroon (a country in Central Africa) to make videos for missionaries to take back and show their congregations to raise money and (recruit others).”

Through his love for travel, Brandt’s had many notable experiences.

“I love to scuba dive,” he said. “My dad always promised that we would do it, and after he died, when we moved back, I went out and did it on my own. I went scuba diving in Thailand and Mexico. I got footage of giant eels … and a giant manta ray.

“I’ve seen a lot of things,” he continued. “I’ve seen an octopus change colors underwater during a night dive. I was with a friend of mine – he points out this octopus running along the bottom of the ocean, changing colors, and there was another one right behind it … I’ve seen sharks. I’ve met some wonderful people in Ecuador. I gave them enough money to buy soccer uniforms, and they ended up winning the tournament.

“When I would travel, I couldn’t speak their languages … so I had to learn how to communicate with people without knowing how to talk to them.”

Brandt eventually left his position at Encore due to the ruthless nature of the job.

“I found myself wanting to get out of the business – this business is a dog-eat-dog world, someone always wants your job,” he said. “After Encore, I bounced around a little bit, worked wherever I could find.”

Brandt’s odd jobs included work at a scuba diving shop and doing landscaping and lawn maintenance. He also went back to school.

“I went back to college when I was 49 and got my degree in convergent journalism, which is the meld of print, magazine, broadcasting, web and design … at Metropolitan State University in Denver,” he said.

Since graduating, Brandt’s worked at various papers in Nebraska, Montana and now, Wyoming. As he continues his lifelong adventure in the media world, he said the most enjoyable aspect of his current job is getting to know the subjects of his stories.

“I love writing features,” Brandt said. “I enjoy meeting people, and I seem to get along
with people.”

To reach Brandt, call the Telegram at (307) 532-2184 or email him directly at fbrandt@torringtontelegram.com.