Clayton Sandell

Sandell grew up in Riverside, California, graduating from John W. North High School and the University of California, Riverside with a degree in political science.

His first professional broadcasting job was working as a disc jockey at KRTM radio in Temecula, California later joining KCKC radio (now KPWK) in San Bernardino as a reporter and anchor.

Prior to joining ABC news in 2000, Sandell worked as a radio reporter covering the Riverside-San Bernardino region for Los Angeles news radio station KFWB. He was also a producer at Finley Holiday Films in Whittier California, writing and editing award-winning space and science documentaries.[2]

Sandell joined ABC News in 2000 and has been based in Denver since July 2009,[3] previously working as a producer in the network's Washington, D.C. bureau.[4]

In 2014, Sandell spent several weeks overseas covering the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 from Malaysia and Australia.[5] and covered the trial and conviction of gunman James Holmes.[6]

Sandell covers a range of hard news and feature stories for the network, and is known as ABC's "resident 'Star Wars' fan." [7][8][9]

With “The Force of Sound”—a 30-minute 2018 mini-documentary from ABC News Features—Sandell helped take the audience beyond the gates of the famed Skywalker Ranch in Northern California to meet the Oscar-nominated sound design team behind “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”, including Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce. Director Rian Johnson also appeared in the project.[10][11][12]

In January 2017, Sandell went inside Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic for an exclusive look at how visual effects artists created digital versions of Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia for "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story".[13][14][15][16]

During Hurricane Harvey, Sandell reported on evacuees in Houston and the explosions and fires at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby.[17][18]

Sandell covered the 2017 federal civil trial involving Taylor Swift and her countersuit against former Denver radio DJ David Mueller.[19] In August of that year, he traveled to Kentucky for the Great American Eclipse, broadcasting live from the Little Green Men Days festival in Kelly.[20]

From his home base in Denver, Sandell files for all ABC News broadcasts, including "Good Morning America", "World News Tonight with David Muir", "This Week" and "Nightline".[21] He is also a frequent contributor to ABC News Radio and ABC News Digital, where he appears on the "Inside Marvel: Darth Vader" series.[22][23]

In 2009, Sandell worked as a remote producer on ABC News' reporting of the inauguration of President Barack Obama.[24] The coverage was awarded a national Emmy award in 2010 for "Outstanding Live Coverage Of A Current News Story – Long Form".[25]

• Sandell Official Biography at ABC News