After serving time - 15 years - in corporate America, in 2001 Maria decided to follow her passion: to make the world a better place. Currently, she is the communications manager at Northwest Harvest, the only statewide hunger relief agency in Washington. She is also a freelance writer and communications consultant. Her life on "the other side" was spent in shopping center and high-tech marketing and corporate public relations, resulting in a diversity of experiences with a variety of media and awards for her campaigns. Throughout her career, Maria has volunteered with an array of non-profit organizations, at present with Lifelong AIDS Alliance, the Mary M. Gates Guild of Children's Hospital and Seattle Women's Chorus. She is a past president of the Seattle Advertising Federation and served on its board for seven years.
Walt is currently the Director of Community Affairs for KBCI-TV in Boise, Idaho and is a television veteran with fifty years experience at stations from Orlando, Florida to Los Angeles, California. Prior to joining KBCI-TV, Walt worked in Dublin, Ireland for Celtic Vision. He is the recipient of many awards including six Emmys awarded while serving as V.P. Programming and Executive Producer for RKO Television in Hollywood. During his career, he has built two television stations from the ground up and organized and managed the Celtic Vision operation in Ireland. While working in Hollywood he was active in the Television Academy serving as Vice President and Governor, and chaired several committees including the Emmy Awards and several education committees. Walt and his beautiful wife Sally live in Boise with their two Great Danes, Grania O’Malley and Brian Boru.
Alan is currently the News Director for KEZI-TV, the ABC affiliate in Eugene, Oregon, and a member of the Radio and Television News Directors Association. He serves as the President's Representative to the National Emmy Awards Committee. In that capacity, he oversees EMMY Award presentations for all NATAS chapters in the U.S. In addition, he is an active, voting member of both the American and the International Associations of Theatre Critics. Before making his lifestyle leap to the West Coast, Alan was in Minneapolis as Associate News Director for the Fox duopoly of KMSP-TV/WFTC-TV where he oversaw daily news operations at both stations (and did double duty as KMSP's on-air Theatre Critic). In his 9-year run in the Twin Cities, Alan designed and developed that market's first prime time hour-long newscast, 9 News at 9, as well as launching 9 News at 10 and a 3 1/2 hour morning newscast, Good Day Minnesota. In Minneapolis, Alan was also a founding member of the NATAS-Upper Midwest Chapter's Board of Governors and served as its Awards Chair. He was a major contributor and creative force in developing the innovative "EMMYS Class," a semester-long course of study for journalism majors developed in cooperation with the University of Minnesota. Alan came to Minnesota in 1993 from New York City where he was Assistant News Director at WPIX-TV (Tribune/WB). He also was Senior Producer of Live at 5 for 3 years at WNBC-TV. In his 25-year television news career, Alan's won six regional Emmys, three for Best Newscast. He was also on the start-up team for Tribune Broadcasting's Independent Network News and for 4 years produced the nationally syndicated Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Celebration for Tribune. Before television, Alan was a set designer and theatre director on and off Broadway in NYC. He was resident designer/director at the Theatre of the Riverside Church in Manhattan. He's worked on a Showboat, served in the Army, dined in Paris and fished in Montana. His BA in Theatre Arts is from Indiana University. His unfinished MFA coursework in Theatre Production Design and Direction was at Stanford University.
Jennifer is KIRO-TV's retail services producer/writer. Following in her father's footsteps at KIRO-TV, Jennifer has worked as a freelancer for KIRO since 1999. She has held a variety of positions: grip, runner, stage manager, production assistant, assistant producer and assistant director. As a student at the University of Washington's School of Communications, Jennifer completed two internships for Cox Broadcasting with KIRO's Interactive Media Department and Promotions Department. After graduation, Jennifer worked as a News Assistant at KIRO. She was an associate producer for KIRO's Star Search Seattle in 2004 and in 2005 for Seattle's Stars. Jennifer has received local recognition by NATAS Northwest for her work as part of KIRO-TV's Seafair Technical Team and by KIRO for being a part of their News Team, earning the Edward R. Murrow's Overall Excellence Award in 2003. As KIRO's new retail services producer/writer, Jennifer is fulfilling her dream of working alongside her father and friends. Outside of work, Jennifer loves being active whether it is hanging out with her family and friends, volunteering at local charity events, rowing, sailing, rock-climbing, swimming, or running.
Catherine has served on the Board of Governors since 1991. She chairs the chapter's Education Committee and serves on the national Education Committee. She was extensively involved in building the chapter's Creating Critical Viewers media literacy project. Catherine has worked at KING and KCPQ as a news reporter and public affairs program host. She is currently employed as Communications Officer for Highline Public Schools.
As an assignment editor, Ed. has seen it all: from murders to buses off the Aurora Bridge to protesters setting fires on downtown streets. Ed. has been in the Seattle market for more than 18 years; starting at KING's then-morning show Northwest Today in 1983. Moving across the street to KIRO, he went from news assistant, public affairs, and finally to the assignment desk. In 1993, Ed. moved over to KOMO as a night assignment editor before becoming a writer and producer-trainee. By 1996, the editorial call of the desk brought Ed. back to KIRO, where their coverage of the WTO riots was awarded with the Edward R. Murrow award for excellence in journalism. Ed. is also a past president of the local chapter Asian American Journalist Association.
Ross Davis founded and developed SCCtv, Seattle Community Colleges Television. SCCtv delivers distance learning and educational television via the web and broadcast on two Seattle area cable channels. Its web services are used by 77,000 public schools and over 800 colleges throughout the U.S. SCCtv is the web distributor for education video and classes for Annenberg Media, the League for Innovation and over a dozen educational video producers. Ross is a former Emmy award winning commercial broadcaster and business executive working for King Broadcasting in Seattle and Portland before joining the Seattle Community Colleges in 1998 to complete their $21 million fundraising campaign. He produced the largest Pacific Northwest public affairs broadcast, Northwest CrackDown, simultaneously airing on 29 commercial and public broadcast stations in 5 cities at prime time.
Denise Dowling is an assistant professor at The University of Montana. She began her teaching career in 2000, after 20 years in broadcasting. Denise's first job was as a master control operator in Missoula, Montana, while still a student. She worked a number of technical jobs in Montana, Colorado and Washington before moving into the editorial realm. In Spokane, Denise was a producer, executive producer and managing editor at both KHQ and KXLY. She now shares all she learned in the trenches with her students at UM.
Walter is Production Manager at KIRO TV. He has worked 30 years in the Seattle market. He spent 10 years as a stage manager working on everything from JP Patches" to Telethons and Hydro Races. As a director he has done commercials, newscasts, parades and industrial videos with KIRO's production team. During the last 5 years as production manager he has managed KIRO's Seafair coverage, directed daily newscasts and production and managed a staff of 23. He has been a member of NATAS for 4 years and is a three time Emmy recipient."
In 2004, I graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with two separate degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Sociology. Since graduating, my time has been occupied by free-lance video work here in the Northwest. From a promotional piece for Children’s Home Society of Washington, to freelancing for a local production company as a camera person on the sideline at high school football games, the common thread has been going to places where peoples’ stories needed to be told. In the fall of 2006, I was hired by KIRO in Seattle to fill a new position as the Internet Videographer. If elected to the NATAS Board I would like to assist the board in finding ways of defining and promoting the Emmy for Advanced Media with non-broadcast media groups in the Northwest.
Gary Gibson is the General Manager of the Seattle Channel, cable 21. Gary has been producing television programs for over 25 years. He has created numerous programs for PBS, including CHIHULY OVER VENICE, the first HDTV program broadcast nationwide on public television. Gary was Vice President for Production at KCTS, Seattle from 1992 to 2000. At KCTS he oversaw all of their program production including KCTS's acclaimed OVER" series of aerial productions, the American Masters special VAUDEVILLE, BUFFETT AND GATES ON SUCCESS, THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY LIVE FROM BENAROYA HALL, GREAT RANCHES OF THE WEST and STANLEY KRAMER ON FILM. His television work has earned the George Foster Peabody Award, eight regional Emmys, seven Washington Press Awards, and the Gold Medal of the New York Film Festival. Gary has produced television, live theatre, concerts, events, and exhibitions throughout the United States. He was the General Manager of Teatro ZinZanni, a live theatrical production in San Francisco and Seattle where he managed all aspects of the international live theatrical production the New York Times called "San Francisco's hottest ticket." Gary has managed live concert events for One Reel including Ray Charles, The Eurythmics, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bo Diddley, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Al Green, Little Richard, Tina Turner, Roy Orbison, Michael McDonald, K.D. Lang, Soundgarden, Ziggy Marley, The Neville Brothers and Smokey Robinson. He is a graduate of the University of Washington's School of Communications, and the Graduate School of Business Management Program."
Ten-time Emmy Award-winning producer, filmmaker and on-air science/wildlife specialist Michael Harris has used his unique affiliations and interests to help create some of the most imaginative television coming out of the Pacific Northwest. Over the last 20 years, Michael has held staff positions at a number Seattle-Tacoma television stations, but he's truly made his mark in the world of freelance network production and independent filmmaking. He is currently a regular contributor of HDTV “Weekend Windows” for ABC’s Good Morning America, and produced material for New Line Cinema, CBS News, ABC News, Major League Baseball, ESPN's SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight, MTV News, VH-1 and the E! Television network.
Dan is currently enjoying his life editing/producing in the freelance world. He began his broadcast career at KOMO TV in Seattle. But these days, you may see him working on the streets in Munich, or on the deck of the aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan. When he's not on the road, you'll find him busy editing at home. Dan's work has garnered a number of Emmys and the coveted Peabody Award.
Jamie is the National Trustee and immediate past-president for the Northwest Chapter of the National Television Academy. She is Vice President of Development and Marketing at The Hope Heart Institute, a heart research and education organization in Seattle. Jamie is a 16 veteran of television news production. She began her career as a producer/reporter/weather anchor at KYMA-TV in Yuma, Arizona. Now, as a non-profit executive, Jamie still dabbles in television as a freelance producer for NBC news including the Today Show, Dateline and NBC Nightly News. She is also called back occasionally to produce special programs and events at Seattle television stations. For more than 12 years Jamie worked in the Seattle television market as a news and special projects producer at KIRO-TV and documentary and special projects producer at KOMO-TV. She's also freelanced at KING-TV, KSTW-TV and for corporations including Nestle, Group Health Cooperative, Cell Therapeutics, Inc., and Pathogenesis. Jamie left the full-time television industry to start a consulting business assisting non-profits with media relations and fundraising. She has been a speaker on media issues at Northwest educational conferences as well as for Journalism students at Pacific Lutheran University. Community service is at the heart of everything Jamie does. She recently completed a term as Director of Entertainment for the Kitsap County Fair and Stampede, in Bremerton, Washington. She has served on executive committees and as a board member for several Seattle non-profit organizations including: The Woodland Park Zoo Society - Wildkeepers and Rise n' Shine. Jamie joined the Board of the Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1995 as Membership Committee Chair. She then served four years as Chair of the Emmy Awards Committee, (she remains a member of that committee) before serving two years as Vice President and four years as President of the Northwest Chapter. Jamie lives in Kingston, Washington with her husband.
Born and bred in Seattle, Bryan attended Pacific Lutheran University, and Washington State University where he received his bachelor's degree in Broadcast Communication. He began his television career in 1984 working in the cafeteria at KIRO-TV in Seattle. He finally got his break in 1986, in the form of a job at KTVM-TV in Butte, Montana, where he would round out the station staff, making it an even dozen employees. Five months later he began his tenure at KIMA-TV in Yakima, as the station's sole promo producer. Eleven months and three weeks later he took a job as a promo producer at KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon, where he spent the next ten and a half years of his career. It was during this time that he also had the sweet gig of being the station's movie reviewer, known as Bryan the Movie Guy. In 1998 Bryan decided it was time to come home and accepted a job as the senior producer in the creative services department at KOMO-TV, in Seattle. In 2006 he returned to his roots and became the senior promo producer at KIRO-TV. It only took a little over twenty-one years to come full circle. He is the author of two books, Inside the Warped Minds of Men and JP Patches: Northwest Icon, and written for the following magazines: Seattle Bride, Seattle's Child, Jr. Baseball, MEDIA Inc., ByLine and Weeklywriter.com. He has won nine Emmy awards, three PROMAX Gold Medallions (the highest award in TV promotion) and a few other awards that you wouldn't really care about. Bryan is married, with two children.
Phil Kane hopes to return to the NATAS board where he served from 2003-2004. He currently is Program Director at KBTC Public Television. In 2005 he worked at KKMO Radio Sol 1360 AM as Account Manager, and before that he spent 5 years as Director of Programming and Promotion at KSTW TV. Prior to moving to Seattle, Phil was Promotion Manager for KTVD TV (UPN) and KDVR TV (FOX) in Denver. There he served as chairman of the UPN Affiliates Promotion Advisory Committee for two years, and three years on the Board of Governors for the NATAS Heartland Chapter. He's a four time Emmy nominee, a three time Emmy recipient, and Promax Gold Medallion winner.
Jamie is the morning co-anchor/reporter for KNDU-TV. Her morning show News Northwest Today is broadcast in the Yakima and Tri-cities market. Her career in TV news began at KAPP-TV in Yakima, WA. She later moved on to the entertainment division of NY1 News in New York. Jamie earned her BA from Washington State University, where she graduated as Valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA. One of her fondest moments was speaking at graduation to more than 20,000 people alongside Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Recently, Jamie received her MBA from Columbia University in New York and was also elected by her peers to be class speaker at the commencement ceremony. Jamie is originally from Seattle and she has lived and traveled all over the world, including Cuba, Brazil, France, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Fiji, and Australia. She loves traveling and she loves the people she meets along the way even more.
News Operations Manager KIRO-TV, Seattle. Scott started his career in Duluth Minnesota in 1972 as a Newsfilm photographer/editor. After working at several TV stations in the Midwest he moved to Seattle in 1980 as an editor for KING-TV. He became Chief Editor in 1981 and then Operations Manager at KING in 1984. He received two Emmy Awards for his editing in the early 80's. As Operations Manager he also produced several News Specials and traveled to Russia, Hong Kong and China for the news department. He also produced the '88 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea and the '94 Games in Atlanta, GA for KING-TV. For ten years 1988 to 1998 Scott was the Northwest producer for NBC News. He produced numberous stories for the Today Show and Nightly News including the Live remote broadcast of the 10 Year Anniversary of Mt. St. Helens Eruption with Tom Brokaw. In 1999 he moved to KIRO-TV as News Operations Manager just in time for the Millennium. At KIRO he oversees the photography, editing and news engineering staff as well as the various newsroom computer systems. Scott is the current President of the NATAS Northwest Chapter, after serving four years as Vice President and Awards Chair.
Joanne is an associate professor of communication at Pacific Lutheran University. She teaches classes in journalism writing, media literacy, media law, and broadcast journalism. She has written several scholarly articles on international children's television policies. In a former life, Lisosky hosted a weekly news roundtable program and produced a documentary for KOZK-KOZJ public television in Springfield, Missouri.
Willie started his Broadcast career at KGW-TV in Portland, OR in 1977. He operated in Studio, Post-production and Master Control as well as performing a variety of production services. Starting in 1980, he began working at KING-TV Seattle, WA as a video tape operator. From 1982 to 1987, while working at KING-TV, he operated as a freelance technician for NMT (National Mobil Television), working NFL, NBA, and MLB games for NBC, CBS, ABC, and ESPN. From 1987 to 1992 Willie operated as a Post Production Editor for KING-TV, becoming supervisor for Master Control, Videotape and Post production in 1993. As supervisor, he ushered in automation for KING-TV and brought KONG-TV to air. Willie was then named Manager of Broadcast Operations in 1997. Managing a 20+ person staff and working closely with the Director of Engineering, supervising multi-million dollar budgets and developing future strategies for the Seattle Market.
Kristina has worked in the Seattle television and radio market since 1995. She is currently the community relations manager for KIRO-TV and helps several local non-profit agencies meet their fundraising goals. Prior to KIRO-TV, she worked as a promotions assistant for both K106 Country FM and 96.5 Young Country FM. In 2000, Kristina decided to broaden her broadcast experience and joined KIRO-TV as a communications coordinator. This Northwest native and University of Washington graduate enjoys working and volunteering with a variety of community organizations. She has served as a member of the Northwest Chapter of American Women in Radio and Television, has served on the NATAS board since 2003, was awarded a Service To America certificate of appreciation from The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation and most recently received an Emmy nomination for her public service work in 2003.
Executive Producer of Special Projects at KING-TV. Peter has been a television news producer and writer for 27 years, working in San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles before coming to Seattle in 1997. His many projects include local coverage of the Olympic games, political conventions and elections, riots, earthquakes, the OJ Simpson trial, the opening of Safeco Field, and the implosion of the Kingdome. Several of these projects won Emmys. Peter has been on the NATAS board for three years. He also served on the board of the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California.
Jerry has worked in television news for 10 years, at WXYZ in Detroit, WJRT in Flint, MI, and KXLY in Spokane, where he currently serves as assistant news director. He's also worked as assignment editor, producer, and writer, and has won Emmys for Best Newscast and Best Series, along with other regional awards.
Tracy is assistant news director for Q13 FOX News (KCPQ) in Seattle. She's been in Seattle since 1991, after TV, radio, and newspaper jobs in other Western cities including Las Vegas and San Diego. Her Seattle career started with 8 years at KOMO-TV, where she progressed from 11 pm news producer to executive producer of new media before taking a two-year break from TV to try her luck in the dot-com world. She worked for Walt Disney Internet Group sites including ABCNEWS.com and GO.com, till WDIG cut hundreds of jobs during the dot-bust. That led her to realize she missed the light-speed world of TV, so she returned to it by joining the Q13 FOX team in 2001.
Eric blames his career in television on his loving father. "You'll never get a job watching TV!" he would yell at his young son. Now, after working in numerous positions in 14 years, he is still happily proving his father wrong. Eric's introduction to TV began at KSPS, the public television station in Spokane, while attending Eastern Washington University. After that he worked in the feast-or-famine world of freelancing as an Audio Technician for shows like Inside Edition and ABC News. His baptism into local news came when he was hired by KHQ-TV as an Editor. Later he helped produce a daily talk show on KHQ as a Photographer/Associate Producer. After doing 8 years in Spokane, he moved back to his hometown of Seattle in 2000 to join the staff of KING-TV's Evening Magazine where he's currently a Segment Producer for the show. Eric has served on the NATAS board for 3 years and is the chair of the Silver Circle selection committee.
Howard is enjoying his recent retirement. A 38-year veteran of Radio and TV, Howard's background includes work as a reporter, anchor, assignment editor, producer and news director. He retired in June 2001 from the job of Administrative Manager, TV News, KOMO-TV Seattle. Howard was inducted into the Seattle-Northwest Chapter Silver Circle in 2001, recognized for more than 25 years of outstanding service to the broadcasting community.
John Sharify is honored to be serving in his second year as President of the Northwest Chapter of NATAS. John is most proud of his 2007, and 2004 National Edward R. Murrow Awards in Writing, which honored him as the top broadcast news writer in the country. John has won 5 National Edward R. Murrow Awards in the last 7 years. John is approaching his 18th year with KOMO TV. While John started his reporting career in New York City at WPIX TV 26 years ago, it is at KOMO, and Seattle where John has grown as a journalist and delivers his signature stories that feed the soul and lift the spirit of his viewers. A 29-time Regional Emmy winner and 107-time Emmy-nominated journalist, John has won the Emmy for top reporter in the Northwest four out of the last five years, and he’s been honored with the writing Emmy six out of the last seven years. John is a proud graduate of Princeton University, where he majored in Political Science and minored in Near Eastern Studies. He sang with the Princeton Tigertones and performed with Princeton's Triangle Club. John also has a Master of Fine arts degree in Film Directing from Columbia University. John fine-tunes his craft by doing freelance writing for organizations he believes in and inspires other broadcast journalists to hone their skills by presenting workshops throughout the Northwest, through NATAS' Emmy on the Road program. In the spring of 2006 and 2007, John was on the faculty of the National Press Photographers Association's Advanced Storytelling Workshop in Lexington, KY. John also taught an advanced broadcast journalism course at the University of Washington in the spring of 2006.
Dick is a 33-year veteran of the news business. As an Executive Producer, he was a launch team member of Belo's Local News on Cable, a 24-hour regional news channel in Norfolk, VA, and has worked as a news producer at KIRO-TV in Seattle, WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York and WTOL-TV in Toledo, Ohio. He also worked for a number of years as a radio reporter, anchor and News Director in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Cleveland, Ohio markets. He is currently an Executive Producer with NorthWest Cable News in Seattle.
Brook Stanford is a native of Michigan, and discovered the Pacific Northwest while travelling with the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club to Seattle in 1962. After working radio for several years, Brook went to KGW-TV, Portland in 1968, and moved to KOMO-TV in 1970. While at KOMO, Brook was Sunday Anchor for 9 years, Health/Science Editor 9 years, and 13 years as the People Helper, during which time he raised more than $9 million from viewers to help other viewers in need. People Helper won the Emmy for Specialty Reporting in 1989. Brook retired from KOMO in 2001. In 2004 he was honored by being inducted into the Silver Circle of NATAS. Brook is a 22 year member of the Seattle Men's Chorus.
Alissa Teel is currently the 5:30pm Producer at KOMO 4 News. She's an award-winning broadcast journalist and documentary filmmaker with twelve years experience as a primetime news producer at NBC, ABC and CBS affiliates in Phoenix, Albuquerque, and Seattle. She is a four time EMMY award winner. Additionally, she has won the prestigious National Edward R. Murrow Award for outstanding news coverage. Alissa is also a proud member of AAJA, the Asian American Journalist Association, 911 Media Arts, and is a mentor for Students at her alma mater Seattle University.
Anita Woo has worked in the journalism and communications profession for nearly eleven years. A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Ms. Woo started out in Seattle as an associate producer for KING-TV's award winning children's program Watch This! She then went on to KOMO-TV, where she worked for three years as a special projects producer and weekend news reporter. Ms. Woo has also freelanced as a reporter for NorthWest Cable News and field producer for NBC, where she worked on stories for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. During her television career, she was honored with three Emmy Awards. Currently, Ms. Woo is the Communications Director for the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA). She oversees initiatives to promote Downtown Seattle to visitors, workers, businesses and residents. Also active in the community, Ms. Woo currently serves on the Seattle YMCA membership committee, and recently chaired the Mayor's Subcommittee for Downtown Parks Programming.
Pamela Woon's love for television began on-camera at KOMO in 1992 on the pilot, "Hype." From there she expanded into children's programming for Disney's Bill Nye the Science Guy to commercial and industrial broadcast projects for Boeing, Microsoft, Washington Mutual and Toyota among others. Upon graduation, she returned to KOMO and within a year she worked her way up from intern to field producer and then to talent. Pamela wrote and produced her own weekend segment called, Community Connection. Currently, she's the on-camera host for a Real Networks program called, Rhapsody Music News. It's a daily piece featured on Real TV that can also be found streaming on Sprint cell phones. Behind the camera, she's the first female and person of color to wear the hat of producer-director at Comcast in Seattle. In 2005 alone she produced and directed nearly 200 spots. She is a graduate of the University of Washington and Oxford in political science and speech communication.
Lisa Yeakel has worked in television for over 25 years, and is currently the Account Executive for Streaming Media, Video and Television Technologies at the University of Washington. Lisa's media career began in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she began as a film projectionist at KWTV, eventually working in news. She made Seattle her home when she drove about as far as she could possibly get from OKC in the early 80's. Lisa enjoyed working for over a decade as a news producer for both KING and KOMO. She then joined Seattle's freelance "family," producing educational media for several years. She eventually took the reins of a small production studio for Seattle Public Schools. There she recruited some of Seattle's finest broadcast refugees, who were willing to produce many nationally distributed, award-winning products for very little money, because they were members of Seattle's freelance "family." Lisa particularly enjoyed helping Seattle high school students win the NW Regional Emmy Award for student productions in 2002.
President of Association Services, Inc., providing support services to professional non-profit associations, including event planning, database management, desktop publishing and specialty mailings and more.