Todd Huffman, Producer/Director
A mixed bag. Jack-of-all-trades, master of…a few. As the business development half of PDM, Todd is responsible for developing and interacting with clients as well as their projects. From project creation to execution, Todd is involved with all aspects of PDM’s projects. He can develop, write, field produce, direct, manage post-production, even bang on the keys for offline editing. He prides himself in great story-telling and attention to detail from both dramatic and marketing perspectives.
Background – While a professional BMX racer in the early eighties, Todd went to school to become a filmmaker and got involved in the business side of the bicycle industry. In 1989 he became the Director of Marketing for GT Bicycles, Inc. which included managing GT’s in-house video production department where they developed and produced several TV series for Fox Sports Net including BMX Xtreme Series and Crank. Todd also managed GT’s involvement with the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta as GT was the official bicycle of United States Cycling.
He left GT in 1998 and developed more action sports television series for Fox Sports Net including Pump, The Best of G-Shock Rush Hour, and Invert TV, as well as producing content for Blue Torch TV (which later evolved into Fox’s Fuel TV Network.) In 2002 he teamed up with his partner Donald P. Hoffman and created Pipeline Digital Media, LLC (PDM) which he currently runs with Mr. Hoffman. In 2003 they developed and produced 105 episodes of the action sports show Surge that helped launch Fox’s Fuel TV Network while producing specials and series for Speed Channel like 4-Wheel Planet (2004) and The Motocross Files (2005-2009). In 2006 PDM was commissioned by Speed to develop a motorcycle reality/adventure series called Epic Ride. They produced (13) episodes traveling around the US, Mexico and Costa Rica. In 2010 and 2011, Mr. Huffman developed and produced/directed motorcycle specials for CBS Sports and Feld Motorsports called Four Legends and Legends of Supercross-The Races. In 2010 he also produced and released the acclaimed feature length documentary about the ABC Wide World of Sport’s 1980 Carlsbad USGP of Motocross called The Carlsbad USGP:1980. With the online content universe brimming with needs for creative content, Todd developed and produced several projects for Toyota, Lucas Oil, Feld Motorsports, General Tire, Yamaha and more.
Donald P. Hoffman, Producer/Director
The mad scientist. Don is one of the most gifted creatives in the industry but downplays his talents to the extreme. For PDM, he takes the client’s projects and shapes them from a thought or strategy into something creative, image-enhancing and results producing. He loves the technology associated with the creative work and is always looking for the “next thing” that will help PDM shoot, edit, etc. their client’s projects in the most creative and cost-effective manner.
Background – Don started his production career as an off-shoot of being a pioneer in the action sports industry. Don with his family, built the now legendary Pipeline Skate Park in Upland California in the late seventies. It was natural to pick up a camera and start shooting skateboarding as well as other action sports, the predecessor to what is now the X-Games. Aligning with Brad Dorfman, Owner of Vision Sports, Don and Brad started Unreel Productions furthering the action sports video phenomena through the eighties.
After Unreel, Don went on to start The Eclectic Group and produced Promotional, Corporate, and Broadcast programming. Skilled in all facets of production, Don can bring insight at every level from his unique hands on experience. Whether it’s vast amount of hours shooting and editing, or the insights a producer-director, Don has used his skill set to produce documentary television as in The Motocross Files (Speed) and reality sports programming with Epic Ride (Speed).
Don still has kept his roots in action sports working with his lifelong friend and renowned documentary filmmaker Stacy Peralta (Dogtown and Z-Boys, Riding Giants, Made in America) on several broadcast projects and is most proud of producing the documentary Making of Animal Chin. This was one of Stacy’s breakthrough videos which help launch his directorial career. Don formed Pipeline Digital Media in 2002 with Todd Huffman and was instrumental in projects mentioned above. Don is still producing documentaries as well as broadcast, and corporate programming. Don as an early adapter of the HD format with his purchase of a Varicam in 2003, is still pushing the cutting edge of production, always looking for the best tools for the project.