Rick is Producer and Host of The Force Field, a podcast for IT professionals and founder of TheForceField.Net. His interest in technology and media was born from a fascination with both the mechanics of filmmaking and science fiction when he was very young. He was an amateur moviemaker at the age of twelve, dabbling in 8mm live action and animated shorts. He was always interested in voice work as well, often performing voice overs in his amateur productions. Computers were not yet in use by the home user but they were a subject of interest in his films. He dabbled in electronic projects as well, often with interesting results.
In 1982 he began a career in television broadcasting as a film and video editor. His career in broadcasting spanned 14 years. During this time he also wrote and produced promos and voice overs. He occasionally performed on camera. In the early 80’s he produced and directed a show called Filmmakers, a series that showcased local film and video talent. The show aired for three years and was noted for its quirky interviews and animated intro, which consisted of traditional old style cel animation hand drawn by Rick himself and shot on Super 8mm film. (The musical score was created by Jim Chamberlin, who created the intro music for The Force Field podcast).
In 1982 Rick purchased his first PC, a Commodore PET computer. The computer required constant maintenance and he often found himself working inside it almost as much as he worked with it. This piqued his interest in computers. In 1984 Rick and two friends and co-workers from WOFL-TV formed Consumer Software, a mail order retail software company. A year later Rick bought out his partners and decided to take the business online, launching Zeta Software, a BBS based virtual shopping mall. The online store was operated from a Commodore 64 computer and was the first of its kind in Florida. Unfortunately, the World Wide Web did not yet exist and the BBS community was much too small and sparse to support the business. The company ended operations a year later.
In 1996 Rick started a business producing multimedia presentations. He left broadcasting to learn more about the computer business from the inside. He worked as a Tech Support Representative for several years while selling and building his own branded computers on the side and in February 2001 left the corporate world completely to open his own brick and mortar store in Winter Park, Florida called Savoia Computer. In 2002 the store relocated to Altamonte Springs.
During the summer of 2006 Rick began to search for opportunities to get back into voice work and discovered podcasting. While experimenting with a short podcast called Tech Ethics, a visit to the OnForce forums gave him inspiration. On June 26, 2006 he uploaded the first episode of a new podcast for IT service providers. The Force Field was born.
Rick currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife and two children.