Tom Friend

Tom Friend is a two-time Emmy-nominated writer, director, author, columnist and commentator who has worked for ESPN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Kansas City Star, the San Jose Mercury News and the National Sports Daily. He wrote and co-produced Showtime's "Quiet Storm,'' the Emmy-nominated film on the life of basketball player Ron Artest which won best documentary at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. His book, "The Chicken Runs At Midnight,'' was a 2018 finalist for the CASEY award, given to the best baseball book of the year, and his TV version of "The Chicken Runs at Midnight'' -- which he reported and wrote for ESPN -- was nominated for a 2016 Sports Emmy. In 2012, he wrote, reported and co-directed the award-winning ESPN Film, "Going Big,'' on the life of Sam Bowie, the injury-prone NBA player drafted ahead of Michael Jordan. He has had multiple stories reprinted in the anthology, "Best American Sports Writing'' and has been honored by Harvard University's Neiman Foundation for long-form journalism. A graduate of the University of Missouri journalism school and a native of Washington, D.C., he lives in Southern California.