Heartland Chapter Allied Members Slate 2011
Including bios for all candidates; three voting members and six non-voting members.
This is not your ballot; instead, please reply to the email with your selection(s) by 3/31.
Questions? Call the office at 303.722.0916 and Thank you for participating!
Three voting-member slots available
Michael Spencer
Michael is a current member of the NATAS board, serving on the Awards Committee and as an energetic ‘whatever-needs-to-be-done’ team member. He studied film at New York University and since then has produced, written and directed a number of award-winning programs covering subjects as diverse as martial arts to a Papal mass, from the frontiers of modern medicine to the culture of tourism. His programs have appeared in many venues including USA Network, A&E, Rocky Mountain PBS, Comcast, the City & County of Denver and the International Television Association.
While on the NATAS board, Michael has been a champion for stable change as television negotiates the rapidly transforming world of content delivery. He looks forward to continue serving all members of our Heartland community as we move into the future.
Jonathan "Jock" Mirow
Jock is a founding partner / CEO with BroadbandVideo, Inc. and is responsible for video integration, interface design and encoding methodologies. He also oversees the strategic direction of streaming media products and serves as a technical liaison to the production community. Jock is a current member of the NATAS Board of Governors.
Jock began his career in the newspaper and publishing industry before becoming Manager of Creative Services at Jones Intercable and later at United Cable of Colorado. He served as Art Director at both Fox31 and UPN20 and subsequently joined America Online as the Senior Producer for Digital City Denver where he ran the creative and production departments. Following his role as Senior Creative Director at MapQuest.com, Jock was instrumental in the creation of the broadband creative services department at MediaOne, which designed many video-on-the-web prototype applications. He also supervised the design and advertising for 13 regional local-content websites under the MediaOne RoadRunner brand. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jock was involved in the creation of some of the first User Generated Video Content sites - including MyWitnessNews.com and ItsActive.com. Over the last ten years, BroadbandVideo.com, an early video content management system company, has evolved from basic "encoding and hosting" to a full-fledged online video production facility / live webcasting studio and Search Engine Optimization powerhouse. (www.BroadbandVideo.com, www.Warehouse38.tv, www.BroadbandSEO.com)
Raj Chohan
Raj Chohan is an attorney in the Denver office of Baker Hostetler. He focuses his practice on commercial litigation and media law. Prior to practicing law, Raj spent seventeen years as a news reporter. After doing stints in Rockford, Illinois and Grand Rapids, Michigan, Raj landed at CBS 4 in Denver where he worked for twelve years doing general assignment and political reporting. He has received the Emmy award for political reporting, single story, from the NATAS Heartland Chapter, and has been honored with numerous Emmy nominations in a variety of categories over the years. Raj’s other professional honors include two regional Edward R. Murrow awards and First Place reporting awards from the Michigan Associated Press and the Colorado Broadcasters’ Association. Raj also hosts Colorado Inside Out, an Emmy award winning public affairs program produced by Colorado Public Television (CPT 12).
During law school, Raj served on the Board of Editors of the Denver University Law Review. His article on the First Amendment rights of public employees in the wake of the Garcetti decision has been cited by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and at least four other law journals. He also earned top academic honors for trial practice, media law, election law, corporations, evidence practicum, voir dire and European Union environmental law.
Raj is married to CBS 4 reporter Shaun Boyd. They have two children (twins), a son and a daughter who are in second grade. Mr. Chohan’s legal articles include:
· “High Profile Litigation in Public Employment Lawsuits,” 50:5 Municipal Lawyer 11, 11-13, 36-37, co-author with Lawrence L. Lee (September/October 2009)
· “Tenth Circuit Interpretations of Garcetti: Limits on First Amendment Protections for Whistleblowers,” 85 Denv. U. L. Rev. 573 (2008)
Non-voting members – six slots available
Carolyn Richards
Carolyn Richards is an independent writer and producer. She got her start in book publishing and made the jump to new media in the 1990s, producing interactive television, CD-ROMs, and media for the web. She is an affiliate faculty member at Metropolitan State College of Denver where she teaches scriptwriting and video production for students majoring in journalism, technical communications, and broadcasting.
Leslie Dodson
International correspondent, videographer and senior supervising producer Leslie Dodson has worked in broadcast news for more than 20 years. Over the course of her career she has been posted to Tokyo, London, New York and throughout Latin America reporting for major newsgathering organizations including CNN, Reuters, CNBC, MSNBC and NHK-Japan. In addition to a career in network news, Leslie co-founded The Story Group, a multi-media journalism consortium that covers the environment and international development. Leslie is currently enrolled in the Technology, Media & Society PhD program at the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado-Boulder where she is researching information and communication technology for international development.
Leslie is actively involved in public broadcasting, serving as the host of the Rocky Mountain PBS documentary “Greening Up Colorado.” Leslie is also a contributing co-anchor of KGNU's "How On Earth" weekly science show on public radio. Leslie has developed a specialty in reporting on environmental issues and international development. She also has extensive experience covering international finance, the global capital markets (debt, equity and currency markets), financial crises and developing economies for CNBC and MSNBC. She has a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a Certificate in Conservation Biology from Columbia University’s Center for Environmental Research and Conservation.
Melissa Denton
In 2008, Melissa Denton and
her husband became a certified foster to adopt family. To journal their
experience, she created her blog (Full Circle) that same year. Although the
intention was merely a diary for her to look back on, it surprisingly gained
quite a following. In 2009, she was approached by a producer from MomTV (one of the pioneers of Internet
Television) to create and host a show about adoption.
In 2010, Melissa launched MomTV's Adoption Angles. The mission of this weekly show is to inspire, educate (and have some fun along the way). Guests represent all aspects of adoption. From foster to adopt, domestic and international adoption (also including adoptees and birth parents). She has had the privilege of getting to know highly acclaimed professionals, amazing authors, an Emmy award winner and regular Mom's (just like herself) all navigating their way through the system.
Jim Cremmins
Upon graduating from New York Institute of Technology, Jim worked as a Audio Recording Engineer for several years before going to work at CNBC, starting at an entry level position and departing seven years later as a Director/Technical Director. Moving from the New York area to Denver, Jim continued as a freelance Director/Technical Director and worked frequently with the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets executive organization. When they decided that they would launch their own broadcast network, Jim began at Altitude Sports & Entertainment as the studio Director/Technical Director for all the pre/post game shows for both the Avalanche and Nuggets. After four years of overseeing the entire studio production and staff, Jim was promoted to be the broadcast Director for the Colorado Avalanche, wining an Emmy for that production in 2010.
Joshua Hassel
As an art dealer/curator, art historian, video producer/director and gallery owner, Joshua Hassel has helped shape the Denver art community of today. He is known for his public television documentaries - enduring and historic profiles of artists, art and architecture – “Allen True’s West,” “REX RAY: How to Make a Rex Ray,” and “Sandzén: Ecstasy of Color.”
Paul Drexler
Paul Drexler began his video production career at Metro State after studying geology at CU Boulder and chemistry/geology at New Mexico State University. In addition to science, Paul’s background is also extensively in the legal field. Prior to his enrolment into the MSCD Tech. Com./Media Production department, Paul was a practicing legal investigator and gained valuable experience which extends into the video production realm. In 2004 after realizing his passion for film and video production Paul started his own production company, 4D Solutions, Inc., with long time friend, audio guru, and now business partner Jeff Smith. In addition to his company’s continued growth Paul’s accolades include several high profile video production awards including first place in an Apple student film contest and numerous Telly Awards. More recently Paul has been extremely active at Rocky Mountain PBS as a videographer, studio tech, and co-field producer. Paul has carved out an aviation niche for himself and his company by producing promotional videos about many different types of aircraft for a diverse group of companies. Notably, Paul produced a video series about the four seat airplane, the Cozy Mark IV for the Los Angeles based Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co., which is the largest general aviation company worldwide.
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