His first professional broadcasting job was working as a disc jockey at KRTM radio in Temecula, California later joining KCKC radio 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 Angelesnews radio station KFWB. He was also a producer at Finley Holiday Films in Whittier California, writing and editing award-winning space and science documentaries. Sandell joined ABC News in 2000 and has been based in Denver since July 2009, previously working as a producer in the network's Washington, D.C. bureau. In 2014, Sandell spent several weeks overseas covering the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 from Malaysia and Australia. and covered the trial and conviction of gunman James Holmes. Sandell covers a range of hard news and feature stories for the network, and is known as ABC's "resident 'Star Wars' fan." 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 “”, including Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce. Director Rian Johnson also appeared in the project. In January 2017, Sandell went inside Lucasfilm'sIndustrial 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". During Hurricane Harvey, Sandell reported on evacuees in Houston and the explosions and fires at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby. Sandell covered the 2017 federal civil trial involving Taylor Swift and her countersuit against former Denver radio DJ David Mueller. 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. 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". He is also a frequent contributor to ABC News Radio and ABC News Digital, where he appears on the "Inside Marvel: Darth Vader" series.
Award winning shows
In 2009, Sandell worked as a remote producer on ABC News' reporting of the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The coverage was awarded a national Emmy award in 2010 for "Outstanding Live Coverage Of A Current News Story – Long Form".
