Meet Chris Metcalf

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Metcalf, Camera Assistant and founder of Metcalf Noodles, and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
I originally started making these for myself – but as I got deeper and deeper into it, I realized that there was a gap in the marketplace that I could fill. Sure, there were similar cable management products out there, but none offered the same level of customization in length and color or the sleek, polished look that Metcalf Noodles deliver. With Metcalf Noodles, you get more than just a cable wrap—you get a unique, personalized touch. The vibrant, customizable colors not only make your cables stand out but also make it a breeze to identify your gear at the end of the day or after a job. It’s more than practicality; it’s about making your gear truly yours.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started my career in 2008 at a small TV station in my hometown of Mansfield, Ohio. At WMFD-TV, I was able to “wear a lot of hats,” and get experience in several different areas – camera operating, directing and technical directing live news and high school sports broadcasts, and eventually going on to work on the management side of a TV station. I did that for 6 years, all the while doing freelance work with national TV shows and local independent films anytime I could. I worked many open casting calls for shows such as The Biggest Loser, Masterchef, and the show that would eventually be the catalyst that I needed to get to Los Angeles, America’s Got Talent. I first got connected with AGT in January 2013 at a casting call in Columbus, Ohio. From that day, any time that AGT was shooting within a reasonable driving distance of me (so, essentially, anywhere between Chicago and New York City), I would jump in with them. Lots of hours of driving and sleeping on friends couches during those early days, as well as using up all of my vacation days from my full-time TV station job to work on these productions, but I did anything that I could to make it work. I had a bigger goal; I wanted more out of life and this industry than what was available in my hometown. 2008 through 2014 were my initial “hustle” years.

I recall several times when I’d work in New York or New Jersey for America’s Got Talent – we’d wrap around 7 or 8:00 at night, and then I’d have a 8-hour drive back home, getting home around 4 AM, hope to catch a few hours of sleep, and then be at my dayjob at the TV station to start my shift at 8:00 AM. Those were some tight turnarounds, but I always said “yes,” when the opportunities came up. Although I would sometimes only break even or lose money on the transportation costs to do these jobs, I considered those initial years to be an investment in my future… and they were. That investment paid off nicely.

In July 2014, America’s Got Talent offered me a position as a Production Assistant on the live portion of their shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. This was my ticket out of Ohio. My eventual goal was to make it to Los Angeles, and a stop along the way in New York City is what I needed to do to get there. So I put in my notice to the TV station and started packing my bags. I fit everything I could into my 2008 Chevy Cobalt and drove on June 14, 2014 to Jersey City, NJ. I had found a house that was renting out an extra bedroom where I could stay for a few months. The summer run in 2014 was magical; every day was a new adventure.

After the confetti had fallen on finale night for AGT Season 9, it was time for my next adventure… moving across the country to Los Angeles. At this point in time, I had never even been in the state of California, let alone Los Angeles. It was a scary move to make on my own, without any real promise of any work. I had my connections with the crew from America’s Got Talent, a few hundred dollars in my bank account, and a heart full of dreams. I knew that if I wanted to work at the highest level, on the biggest shows, that doesn’t happen anywhere else other than Los Angeles. This was the place that I needed to be.

As you may imagine, work started out slow in Los Angeles. It was through my connections with the America’s Got Talent crew that I got my first few jobs around town, and then once I was on set for those shows, I was able to meet new people and branch out. I like to refer to it as a snowball effect; it starts small, but as that ball gets rolling, it grows larger and larger as it goes. I became a regular as a PA on the last few seasons of FOX’s American Idol run, all the while working as a camera PA on America’s Got Talent and a few other shows.

In 2017, I was blessed to join IATSE Local 600 as a 2nd Assistant Cameraperson. Since then, my career has really taken off. There were some ups and downs, but I continued to work on both American Idol and America’s Got Talent – but now bumping up as an AC. I’ve gone on to be the lead AC on shows like Battlebots and So You Think You Can Dance, among others. I’ve been heavily involved on large network television shows like Dancing with the Stars and the show that I am currently working on at the time of this article, Big Brother. I’m currently in my fifth season as a camera utility on Big Brother – a show that I used to watch during my high school and college days back in Ohio. So to be able to be on set for Big Brother the past few years really is a full-circle type of thing for me.

It always seems so weird to say it while I am in the moment, but I really am living my dream. I have been in Los Angeles for 10 years. Today, the 40-year-old Chris Metcalf is doing exactly what the 30-year-old Chris Metcalf was hoping he could do someday. I have a successful career in the exact industry that I was hoping to be in. I’ve met some wonderful people along the way and have had too many amazing experiences to count. I’ve traveled all over this country for work and also have had a few International adventures along the way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
In having friend’s visit, I’ve enjoyed visits to The Comedy Store in Hollywood. Such a fun time, always with unexpected guests and surprises.

I once went on the Warner Brothers Studio Tour with a friend who was visiting LA for the first time, and that was a blast. Even though I work in the industry and have worked a few times on the Warner Brothers lot myself, it’s really fun to just sit back, relax, and enjoy being a tourist sometimes.

As a person who lives in the North Valley area, one of my new favorite spots for an evening walk is along the Hansen Dam Bike Path in Pacoima. It’s about a 4-mile path, and I tend to go there at least once a week. Even though it is technically called a bike path, I’d say that most people up there are on foot; some people by themselves, some walking dogs, families out with babies in strollers – it’s a good mix.

The bike path is elevated and it goes over-top of the dam, so at night, you get a good view of the Pacoima area. If you go at dusk, it’s magical – the sun is setting off in the distance and you get those beautiful sunset skies behind the mountains. If you look off into the distance, you can see the lights that are above the Hollywood sign. That may not sound too exciting to most people, but to a kid from Mansfield, Ohio – knowing that I can casually look over and see even just the back side of the iconic Hollywood sign from the bike path near my home – well, that’s pretty cool to me.

A favorite local restaurant to take friends to, especially friends who are visiting from out of town, is The Smokehouse in Burbank, across from the Warner Brothers lot. Their “world’s greatest garlic bread” is a favorite of mine, along with the Steak Sinatra pasta dish. I’ve had a few celebrity sightings in the times that I’ve been there – but, if nothing else, I enjoy showing friends the scenes from “La La Land” and “The Office” that were filmed there.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Metcalf Noodles began as an idea in May 2020, while we were a few weeks in to lockdown. Every Tuesday at 2:00 PM, I had a group of friends who all met on Zoom – we called it “Tuesdays at 2.” We had no agenda, no grand plans—just a chance to see familiar faces and share some laughs during a time when we couldn’t meet in person. The group was Seth Craven, Caitlin Brown, Jay Looby, and Darnell McDonald.

 All of us were camera folks from Local 600 with our own side-projects, and mine just happened to be crafting these nifty cable ties. At first, I just started making these cable ties (or a rough prototype of what would eventually become the Noodle) for myself, but then as time went on, I knew that there would be a market for expanding this into a product that I could sell. The Tuesdays at 2 group was vital in providing some of the initial feedback. I workshopped the idea and showed these prototypes to anyone I came across, even as work started coming back under the COVID restrictions.
With each tweak and upgrade, my rough idea started to look like the polished Noodles we have today. As for the name, I wanted to find a word that was easy to remember but that was not already attached to anything in our industry. A lot of times, things have nicknames (such as “stingers,” or “C-47”), so I asked around to friends and co-workers from different departments, all across the country, if “Noodle” had any meaning in their department. Everyone answered “no,” and thus the Noodle name stuck.
My good friend Director of Photography, Loy Norrix, was the first person to present the word “Noodle” while we were on a hike together. It stuck like a perfect piece of pasta so credit for coming up with that name goes to him.
During my prototyping phase in mid-2020, I was working on the overnight shift of the show Big Brother. It was one thing for me to test these things out in my own home and form my own opinions, but bringing them in to work to have a little focus group in our break room was a game changer. The honest feedback from my colleagues, who were seasoned industry professionals, was incredibly valuable. I was eager to hear their thoughts—what they liked, what could be improved, whether the lengths were just right or needed adjustment. 

I had a lot of different (but similar) prototype options with me at the time, so having these opinions really helped me dial in on something that worked and that I was able to replicate to exact specifications time and time again – which was essential for scaling up production. As the months went on, I met up for lunches with several other friends and got their opinions, as well. I genuinely appreciate all the input I received during that period.
In the three-and-a-half years since Metcalf Noodles has been in business, I want to send a shoutout to three people that have offered up so much advice and encouragement to me; those being Kayla Lane, Elvira Garcia, and Sarai Morales.

Website: http://www.metcalfnoodles.com

Instagram: @metcalfnoodles and @chrismetcalftv on Instagram

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/metcalfnoodles and https://www.twitter.com/chrismetcalftv

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/metcalfnoodles 

Image Credits
The photo from Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge was taken by photographer Lesly Hall. The photo with the red, blue, and gold Noodles in a photo studio was taken by Speedy Photo. All other photos were taken and submitted by Chris Metcalf.