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Alumni Blog - Matthew Baetz '96

Thank you so much to Jeannie Kihn and Doug Heidrick for the invite to share a bit about my career in this month’s alumni blog.
 
I can’t say enough about what the Calvert Hall community has meant to my career, my family, and my life in general.
 
Growing up my father, Buz Baetz (‘65) would lovingly say to my brothers (Brad ‘86/ Nick ‘95) and I that we had two choices for high school, we could either go to Calvert Hall or walk to Loyola.
Not that we minded. Calvert Hall was and still is one of the best high school’s in the area if not the country. It was a privilege and we were very fortunate to have the opportunity.
 
As we all know Calvert Hall is synonymous with elite sports programs, and I was far from an elite athlete. However, from a very young age I realized that while I wasn’t very good at sports, I did have an aptitude for public speaking.
 
As a junior at Calvert Hall, I helped start CHCTV and I was probably the only kid at school with a picture of Bob Costas on their bedroom wall instead of Cal Ripken, Jr. I was an Eddie Murray fan anyway. 
 
I’m not sure if there was one specific teacher or moment that galvanized the Calvert Hall experience for me, but I do remember the friendships I made and many of them are still to this day something I appreciate and value as much as any career success I’ve ever had. 
 
As far as my career goes, I graduated from Calvert Hall in 1996 and then attended Florida State University where I majored in Media Production.
For a while I followed that career path, first running cable for ABC Sports, then cutting highlights at ESPN in Bristol, CT, and finally covering NCAA golf for The Golf Channel in Orlando, FL. 
 
Around that time I realized I had this nagging desire to try stand-up comedy. So in 2004 I moved to LA and started performing every night. In 2006 I made my first appearance on the Late Late Show on CBS and traveled on the first of 10 USO Tours to entertain the US military at bases around the globe including stops in Afghanistan, GITMO, Greenland, Djibouti, and many more. 
 
These days I live in San Francisco, CA with my amazing wife Mandy, a Seton Keough grad who works for Morgan Stanley and I am a Producer for Walmart Connect the company’s in-house digital marketing agency. I primarily oversee makreting campaigns in the toys and electronics space. If you’ve bought Legos from Walmart chances are you’ve seen a little of what I do. 
 
Additionally, about 10 years ago I started writing screenplays. Recently, my script, Fort Hood Three, won the 2021 International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival, and my script, Why in Wyoming?, based loosely on a breakup I experienced at Calvert Hall, was shortlisted in the 2021 Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship. I’m hoping to share my scripts with any literary managers or studios/ agency members who would care to read them so if you or anyone you know might like to take a look please feel free to reach out. 
 
I'd also encourage anyone to reach out if you're in a similar field and want to network or are a recent graduate looking to get into any of the above career paths I'm always happy to answer questions and provide advice.
 
Finally, I’ll just say, I think more than anything my experience at Calvert Hall taught me to explore my interests, take chances, and don’t be afraid to fail. As my mom used to say if you fall down just pick yourself up by your bootstraps and Beat Loyola. Okay, maybe my Dad added that last part.
 
Thanks for your time!
-Matthew Baetz '96
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