If you give us a week, we will change your life
Calling all video journalists
We stand by that promise because we, the faculty ready to greet you, have seen this week change hundreds of journalists minds, skill set and careers. You will gain a depth of knowledge whether you are a photojournalist or a reporter; whether your work lands on the 10 o’clock newscast, in a documentary, or online; whether you are a student or professional.
If you are a journalist who uses any video in your reporting, the News Video Workshop is for you. You will learn from an award winning faculty who shoots with DSLRs, HD video cameras and, in some cases, the smart phones in their pockets. These are some of the best storytellers working today. We volunteer our time at come to the Workshop to help you and the journalism industry we love get better and grow stronger.
You will leave Norman, Oklahoma (home base for the Workshop) a better journalist, a stronger storyteller and with a renewed commitment to journalism.
REGISTRATION INFO
Early registration discounts will run through the end of January! Shoot'n Edit spots are limited, sign up today!
The three enrollment levels are: Shoot ‘n Edit, Participant, and Student Participant.
Shoot ‘n Edit attendees bring their video cameras and their will to be challenged. Photojournalists and solo (backpack or multimedia) journalists who want a hands-on-learning experience or to take their work to the next level should register as a shoot ‘n edit. Get ready to be tested. Shoot and edit registration has now closed but you can still register as a participant.
The Participant level is the best option for reporters, producers, or other journalists who do not, primarily, carry a video camera around to do their job. It is also a good option for individuals who learn better through observation than by trial and fire. You will attend all the same sessions as the Shoot ‘n Edit group. What is the difference between the two? You will not be in the hot seat and critiqued by the faculty.
College students can register at the Student Participant level. Like the professional participants, you will go through the same sessions, the same critiques. The only difference is you will not be put in the hot seat and grilled by the faculty. You will need your student ID at registration. You will gain and refine the skills and connections you need to jump-start your career.
| Before 1/31 | After 1/31 | |
|---|---|---|
| Shoot ‘n Edit | $900 | $1000 |
| Participant | $700 | $800 |
| Student Participant | $375 | $475 |
* For those attendees planning on having a car the campus of OU requires a daily parking pass per vehicle. In order to park on campus for the week long Workshop, each day a new parking pass is necessary. At registration each participant who prepays, $10, for these parking passes will receive 6 individual passes. Anyone who does not prepay for them will pay $15.00 at the door.
NPPA and Group Discounts
- NPPA members receive a $145 discount. NPPA student members receive a $75 discount.
- Contact Julie Jones if you have four or more people enrolling either as part of a news organization or informally among colleagues. We have group rates.
- If you are a professor or a journalism program sending four or more of your students, contact Julie as well. We want to honor your commitment with an instructor discount.
*Student rates are for the participant level only. Students are welcomed to enroll as a shoot ‘n edit, but only the NPPA membership discount applies, i.e. no student discount at this level.
TRAVEL DETAILS
Flying: Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City
Driving: Norman, Oklahoma is a 30-minute drive from Will Rogers Airport down I-35. If you are not renting a car, an airport shuttle can transport you from OKC to your hotel in Norman.
Booking your flight: The NV Workshop opens for business March 18th (Sunday) at 10 a.m. We begin our sessions at 1 p.m. sharp. The week ends on March 23rd (Friday) at 1:30 p.m.
Transportation during the workshop: You do not need a car to attend the NV Workshop. Shoot ‘n Edit attendees might prefer to have a car for the week, but even then it is not required. For those attendees planning on having a car the campus of OU requires a daily parking pass per vehicle. In order to park on campus for the week long Workshop, each day a new parking pass is necessary. At registration each participant who prepays, $10, for these parking passes will receive 6 individual passes. Anyone who does not prepay for them will pay $15.00 at the door.
Where to stay: There are many hotels around the OU campus, but Sooner Legends will be offering a significant discount for NV Workshop participants.Details on the hotel rate will be announced soon.
Location for the Workshop sessions: Most sessions will be at Gaylord College of Journalism on the University of Oklahoma campus (395 W. Lindsey). Gaylord has state of the art projection facilities, large computer labs, and is an Apple Distinguished Program.
Getting to Gaylord: If you stay at Sooner Legends there will be a shuttle every day to and from the Workshop. For attendees with cars, Gaylord College is a 10-minute drive down Lindsey.
FACULTY
JULIE JONES - Workshop Director
Julie Jones is the national director for the News Video Workshop which has been held at University of Oklahoma since 1960. She holds a masters degree from the Cronkite School and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. Before earning her degree in Minnesota, Jones was an award-winning video journalist working in the southwest. She has 29 Rocky Mountain Emmys, a national Murrow award for the documentary Born Too Soon, numerous film festival, Associated Press, Arizona Press Club and national NPPA awards for her enterprising work during that time. All of that exceptional work was only possible because of her week in Norman, Okla. Jones is a 1983 graduate of the Workshop. She returned as faculty in 1993 and took over the chair position in 2013.
She has teaching awards from the International Communication Association (ICA) and, in 2012, Kappa Theta Alpha named her one of the top ten professors in the US. The NPPA recognized Jones with the Joseph Costa award, named for a founder and first president of the nearly 70-year-old professional advocacy organization.
Dr. Jones combines her love of innovation and visual storytelling into her academic work. Along with her colleague John Schmeltzer, she developed one of the first mobile reporting class in the country in 2011. She has authored many articles on the pedagogical insights teaching the class has uncovered including a study on how social network patterns emerged on Twitter due to the social media practices adopted by the class. Her work has been published in Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, New Media & Society, Journal of Social Media in Society, and MediaShift. She has also authored book chapters on visual storytelling (in Focal Press’ Communication Across Media) and lessons learned from the mobile reporting class (in Regent Press’ Global Journalism Education: Challenges and Innovations).
ADAM D. VANCE - Workshop Assistant Director
Adam Vance, one of your co-directors of the News Video Workshop, is a story in his own right. Born in Saigon during the Vietnam War, Adam was orphaned and brought to America as part of Operation Baby Lift. He was raised in New Mexico where he began his journalist career as a still photographer for the Gallup Independent while still in high school.
Adam is KUSA-TV’s News Operations Manager, Chief Editor and Photojournalist. He shoots and edits while also being in charge of the logistics of getting the news on the air. Adam is a logistical expert and one who likes to solve your technical needs. As a storyteller, Adam loves to offer viewers a unique perspective by putting a camera where you normally cannot.
Adam has a mass communication degree from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, NM. While pursuing his degree, he continued to work as a journalist with both the Amarillo Globe News and Scene 3 News.
Immediately following graduation he was hired by Albuquerque’s NBC affiliate KOB-TV. Later on, he joined KOAT-TV before embarking to Tampa with his wife Paulette. As a special projects photojournalist/editor and satellite truck operator for 10News/WTSP.COM, Adam had the opportunity to bring the Tampa Bay viewers multiple national stories including NASA launches, huge sporting events like Super Bowls, World Series, and Stanley Cup Championships along with countless hurricanes. Having completed 13 years with 10News, he has figured out this business is not only about storytelling, it is about people.
He joined the NPPA faculty to help a new generation of storytellers find their creative and their logistical, technical mindset.
His greatest stories are those about his wife, Paulette, and twin sons, Bryce and Connor, youth baseball phenomes.
STAN HEIST - Workshop Assistant Director
Stan Heist is Sinclair’s Director of News Training and Development. Stan has more than 20 years of journalism experience inside and outside of newsrooms, as a chief photographer, university lecturer and as a corporate talent manager. In his current role, Stan creates and delivers talent development programs in multiple disciplines, including reporting, visual storytelling, and newsroom leadership.
For more than a decade, Stan has dedicated his career to teaching journalists across the country to become better storytellers. Outside of the US, he has been invited to speak to groups in Canada, Japan, and Denmark. Since 2006, Stan has been a faculty member of the News Video Workshop and serves as an event co-chair in charge of curriculum development. Stan has ten regional Emmy awards for in local news at Richmond’s WTVR-TV and Baltimore’s Fox 45 and was 2005 NPPA National Television News Photographer of the Year.
Stan holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Maryland and is an active member of the NPPA, the Radio Television Digital News Association, and the Association for Talent Development. He also has an FAA Part 107 certification and is a member of the Sinclair UAS Drone Program leadership team.
TIM UNDERHILL
Tim Underhill is a Telecommunications instructor at Ball State University. He bought his first camera at a garage sale when he was in the 5th grade. From that point on he knew he was meant to have a camera in his hands.
Not long after he found a wind-up 8-millimeter movie camera and realized that photography could go beyond the still image.
Tim has worked for network television affiliates in Rockford, Illinois; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Indianapolis, Indiana. He continues to keep up to date by freelancing for various networks. Tim’s work has appeared several national and regional networks including, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, ESPN, The Big Ten Network and FOX. He has covered the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400, NBA playoffs, Pan Am Games, NCAA championships, the World Basketball Championships, NFL Monday Night Football plus other college and professional sporting events.
In 1997 Tim was named to the faculty of News Video Workshop sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association. He’s worked as a room captain for the critique sessions and is in charge of the lighting and sound for the annual event in Norman, Oklahoma.
Tim has served as a judge for several contests including the Emmy Awards, NPPA, SPJ and other competitions.
Tim’s work has earned awards from many of those same organizations including NPPA, AP, and the Emmy Awards.
Tim splits his time between news and production faculty assignments emphasizing visual storytelling. Tim serves as instructor teaching courses in visual storytelling, video production, and news writing.
Underhill holds two degrees from Ball State University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Telecommunications and a Master of Arts in Digital Storytelling.
When he isn’t working he can be found spending a lot of time as Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 22 in Muncie. Tim also is enjoying family life with his wife and two sons backpacking or pedaling his bicycle across Indiana.
GREG VANDEGRIFT
Greg Vandegrift, who joined the NPPA News Video Workshop faculty in 2004, has won national, regional, state and corporate awards over more than three decades as a storyteller; and since 2008, he has shared that reporting experience as a clinical professor of broadcast journalism at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was a full-time reporter for nearly 25 years, spending the last dozen of those years at the Minneapolis-St. Paul NBC affiliate, KARE 11. Greg has continued to freelance for KARE while teaching. He says reporters must learn to think about video BEFORE copy. As Greg likes to say, “It is ALL about the video!”
Greg’s reporting has been honored with two national Edward R. Murrows. He’s won an Iris. The National Association of Black Journalists recognized him for sports coverage. He’s also won multiple Regional Murrows and Regional Emmys. His work has continued to receive regional recognition since he began teaching full time. While at KARE, he twice won Best News Writing in the Best of Gannett contest, and he won the Minnesota Associated Press Writing award four times.
Greg's work has also appeared on the reels of three different Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year recipients (in alphabetical order - Scott Jensen, Gary Knox and Jonathan Malat). He is also proud to say he has told stories with Workshop faculty members Brett Akagi and Rob Collett. Greg says he has learned more about storytelling from photographers than anyone else.
His St. Thomas journalism students get a heavy dose of those storytelling techniques and principles in the classroom and in student media. From 2012-2016, Greg was lead adviser for the students’ web-based, multimedia news operation. During that time, students won numerous awards for reporting on multiple platforms.
Beyond teaching at St. Thomas, Greg also produces videos for the university. One of his videos – a mini-documentary - was part of an exhibit at Rome’s MAXXI Museum and later in France at Pierresvives Cultural Centre of Montpellier.
In the spirit of a modern journalist, Greg has stepped outside of TV, writing multiple stories for News Photographer magazine. Greg is married and has four boys, including his own set of Minnesota twins. He loves the outdoors, especially water and winter. He floats his boat in summer and likes to think he “walks” (really skates) on water during Minnesota’s wonderful – yes, he said, wonderful - winters. Of course, as a graduate of the University of Kansas, he gets into Jayhawk basketball …Just a bit.
MIKE SCHUH
Before joining the CBS O&O in Baltimore in 1993, Mike told stories in Cape Girardeau, MO, Louisville, and Indianapolis. Mike has worked for about a dozen general managers and news directors, all who have very different thoughts about what news should look and sound like.
He has successfully adapted what he's learned here to keep his bosses happy while at the same time producing stories which keep him excited about his job. He is happy to discuss survival techniques.A Bakers Dozen of Sensible Schuh's:
Be a good employee.
- Don't whine.
- Pretend you are a freelancer — like you must impress the bosses every day or you won't be able to afford food.
- Surprise the producers. Give them more than they asked for in less time.
- Work hard on the little story and the boss will give you the big ones.
- Keep your mind on the story, not on the station gossip. Spend at least 5-10 minutes exchanging ideas about the story on the way to the story. Good ideas snowball.
- Communicate expectations, communicate needs, communicate wants.
- What do I have? What do I need?
- On the ride home, go through the sequences about what will work where.
- Offer solutions, not just problems.
- Stand up straight.
- Eat your vegetables.
- Wear glasses if you need them.
LES ROSE
Hey Brotherhood of the Broken Back…
It’s like this. You are here because, well, you get it. You have work days where you feel like the circus dog jumping through perpetual hoops of fire and flames. You shoot story after story afterstory and dozens of live hits and can you “spray” that ribbon cutting on your way back to the station? But in the back of your caffeine loaded noggin is a very real desire to get better. To get to the next level: but how?
“Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends” (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer)
Here’s how! The week that will change your outlook, your abilities, and your career. So, I am perhaps one of the top three luckiest folks you are gonna meet in your life. I have a family I love, friends I love, and have honestly had TWO dream jobs in my lifetime. I spent 38 years shooting news: half local and half CBS News, give or take. I also in 2016 got the SECOND dream job: Professor of Practice at the Newhouse School, Syracuse. They wanted me and accepted my nearly 4 decades of experience as a good thing. And yes, I cannot wait to teach and help the next gen of journos. I am in heaven with the best students and colleagues ever.
The Career: Quickly: Spent 12 years at CBS News/KCBS in Los Angeles.7 years of “Everybody Has A Story” with Steve Hartman (along with years of Assignment America, 60 Minutes 2, On The Road, and local news feature stories with Hartman). 2 years for NBC News in Miami covering Nicaraguan, San Salvadoran, and Honduran war zones. OJ Simpson #1, OJ by the Sea, and OJ goes to Vegas. Menendez Brothers, Michael Jackson Molestation trial, and 4 mass shootings (Columbine, Gabrielle Giffords, San Bernardino, and the Orlando/Pulse Nightclub). Covered US hostage releases in West German, Nagano for Olympics and massive California fires, earthquakes, and the LA riots. Awards? Anything you win doesn’t matter when you’ve got a terrific wife and sons like mine. Love them more every single day. Best time in my life.
Fun Facts: Have been to over 1300 rock performances in about 700 individual concerts (38times for the Rolling Stones alone), I don’t know the model number of my cameras I just want them to help me tell a story, and I think women are the best thing on the planet Earth. They should always be respected, revered, and never underestimated. I think the First Amendment is worth going to jail for. My forehead makes a handy reflector and my belly is hopefully shrinking. I have taught every year with Al Tompkins at Poynter for almost 20 years and yes, many years here in Norman.
Fun Fact: The Diner in downtown Norman is so greasy you really do have to wear an outer garment. And the current threat to our freedoms from within? There has never been a more interesting time to be a journalism professor. Please meet my students out there, they’ll probably be wearing Orange!
MATT MROZINSKI
Matt Mrozinski is the Director of Photojournalism at KING 5 News and the founder of Storytellers. He is an eleven-time Emmy award winning photojournalist and has over 28 nominations. He was named a top six finalist three straight years for photojournalism’s highest individual honor, the NPPA Ernie Crisp Photographer of the Year. Mrozinski was runner-up for the award in 2010. Also in 2010, Matt was
named the best photojournalist in the nation by his peers as b-roll.net’s Photographer of the Year. He’s a member of four NPPA Station of the Year awards, the award given to the best photojournalism staff in the nation, helped KING 5 win Station of the Year in 2012 and runner-up 2013. As a staff photojournalist at KING 5, Mrozinski won back-to-back National Headliner awards for feature, won the coveted national SPJ Sigma Delta Chi award and was the NPPA West Coast Photographer of the Year in 2013.
Mrozinski routinely volunteers his time to improve journalism across the nation and world. He is the architect of the popular “Storytellers” website and professional community. Over 12,000 journalists and students frequent the site for advice and critique. “Storytellers” is used in university classrooms across the nation. It has become one of the premier resources for professional development and education for video journalism. In 2012, Matt and two of his colleagues used its success to inspire the Northwest Video News Workshop (NWVW) held at KING-TV. He is a faculty member for the legendary NPPA News Video Workshop in Norman, OK, has been a speaker at KNPA, WDIV-TV, Northwest Video Workshop, Seattle University, CUNY in New York, NY, and a contributor at the Ignite Your Passion Workshop in St. Paul, MN. “I’ll do everything I can to help shape the future of journalism”, Mrozinski adds.
Mrozinski loves sports, the outdoors, meeting new people and is a proud Pittsburgh, PA native.
JOSH MARANHAS
Joshua Maranhas is the 2014 National Press Photographers Association Best of Photojournalism Editor of the Year.
He’s a six-time regional Emmy Award winning editor, writer, producer, photographer and storyteller with twenty years of journalism experience.
From Columbine High School and the Aurora Theater Shooting, the tough times, to photographing television about distilleries and candy makers, the good times, Josh Maranhas tells the stories of Coloradans.
Now the Chief Editor at KDVR/KWGN Television in Denver. He leads a staff of ten highly talented and diverse award winning editors. In addition, he’s editing special projects and producing 30-minute television specials on politics, sports and human interest. Josh oversees nearly 100 hours a week of news programming on two television stations. He’s moving 24 hours a day, working with both AM and PM editing staffs.
One of his greatest rewards is teaching. From AVID to Apple FCP he knows the hotkeys. Why you should stop using dissolves and start cutting sequences, the difference between jump cuts and match cuts, and when you can just have fun. These are topics he’s spent a career sharing with others. For over fifteen years he's been a faculty member of the National Press Photographers News Video Workshop on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.
Josh is a winner of over 30 NPPA quarterly and annual editing awards. He is twice runner up in Best of Photojournalism Editor of the Year. Josh served as chair of the NPPA Quarterly Editing Contest. He’s been nominated for many regional Emmys. Regional Emmy Award winning as an editor in Program, Magazine, Interview Discussion, Environment, Politics and Government, Sports Editing. He’s an Emmy winner in Business Consumer, as a photographer.
Josh is a still photographer and a former darkroom rat. These days he’s an Adobe Lightroom rat. He loves to shoot music, portraits, travel, classic cars and automotive.
In addition to television storytelling and photography, Josh is passionate about loud music, road trips in his Ford and anything that can be “hot rodded.” He can be found traveling the Interstates and bi-ways of America making memories, photographs and lasting stories on the way.
JOE MAHONEY
Joe Mahoney is a photojournalist with I-News at Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver, a not-for-profit corporation developing as a very small team of highly-skilled, highly-efficient reporters with proven investigative skills. Our focus is high-impact, investigative journalism with an emphasis on data analysis, statistical analysis, data visualization and public records research. These are skills most newsrooms
currently lack. However, these are skills that are urgently needed to produce policy-changing, public-interest journalism.(2010-Present)
Previously, he worked for ten years as photojournalist at the Rocky Mountain News and, later, as the assistant director of multimedia until the paper closed in 2009. Mahoney was part of the teams that won Pulitzer Prizes for Breaking News in 2000 and again in 2003. In 2009, he was an associate producer and photographer for "Final Edition" that won a regional Emmy for Topical Documentary.
Mahoney has coached at the NewsVideo workshop since 2010 and at the NPPA's Multimedia Immersion since 2009. He is an adjunct faculty at Metro State University in Denver teaching photojournalism and is in graduate school at the University of Colorado studying Political Science.
He is married with two children and "Sam the Wonder Dog."
JOE LITTLE
Emmy Award-winning Joe Little is an MMJ with 10News, the ABC affiliate in San Diego, CA. He’s a proud Multimedia Journalist and travels the country with his Garden Gnome to teach professionals and students his MMJ strategy and how to maximize their time “on camera”.
Joe's mantra: "If your ship doesn't come in, swim out to it."
It has served him well since 1999 as he zigzagged across the country as a television news reporter and anchor with stops in Hagerstown, Maryland; Johnstown, Pennsylvania; San Diego and Carlsbad, California. Joe is often called upon to speak about the transitioning industry for universities and professional groups. He has also advised international journalists on ways to streamline their news gathering operations. Joe joined the NPPA faculty at the News Video Workshop in Norman, Oklahoma in 2013.
His coverage of the 9/11 attacks is among Joe's greatest accomplishments. He was four miles away from Shanksville, Pennsylvania when United Flight 93 crashed. Joe was one of the first reporters on the scene. His accounts are included in a book called Covering Catastrophe: Broadcast Journalists Report on 9/11.
Joe received his Masters from Syracuse University in 1999. However, he credits George Mason University with building a strong foundation for his career. In 1998, he earned his BA in Speech Communication. While at Mason, Joe was a proud member of the Men's Basketball Team (Career Totals: 2 points, 3 rebounds). In 2010, the Department of Communication and the College of Humanities & Social Sciences named Joe the Alumnus of the Year.
KEVIN HARTFIELD
It was nearly 3 decades ago that I first walked into a television station as an employee. It was a time just after film cameras, and a time of new video cameras and video tape. That was in Pueblo Colorado. I remember my first camera, it was a TK 76, and a 3/4 inch over the shoulder tape player/recorder. Those were the good ole days, tape editing, one live shot a day, and local news meant, news down the street. Now it's a new time, digital tape, HD cameras, and tape less cameras.
I currently work at KCNC TV, where I have worked for the past 28 years. I started out on the over night shift, later moved to a night shift. I thought I would be there forever. So I changed my way of thinking. I started to think more 'out da box', I started to look at video differently, I started to look at my role as more than just a photographer. So what happen? I made my way to become Director of Photography for a nationally syndicated kids program called “News for Kids.” While there I introduced a 'MTV' style of shooting and editing. The shows won an Emmy for Best Kids Program. I later moved to sports where I became a producer. I shot and produced collage coaches shows. I was all ways a restless photog. I returned to the news department where I worked general assignment, and special projects. I earned a Murrow for “Use of Video” for a photo piece that I shot and produced. This was a time before photogs were ever receiving Murrows. I also have produced 1/2 and 1 hour news and sport programs. I am a 3 time Photographer of the Year, given to me by the Colorado chapter of the National Association of Black Journalist.
I now work in the investigative unit at KCNC TV in Denver. In 2005 we received the prestiges Peabody award for a series of stories on Army recruiting. I learned a great deal about undercover cameras and working undercover. I have even built a few undercover camera rigs. Stop me and we'll talk about undercover gear.
My words of wisdom to you is to do your job to the best of you ability, and continue in this industry because you love to be a story teller. Take a step back and think “out the box”. And lastly, Life is about opportunity and challenges, you look for opportunities that challenge you, if you not challenged, look for new opportunities.
Have a great week!! Show me you tape!! Buy me a beer!!
EVELIO CONTRERAS
Evelio Contreras is a video producer for CNN Digital’s Original Video team. He is based in New York. Previously, he worked as a video journalist at The Washington Post, Las Vegas Sun and The Roanoke Times.
His work has been recognized by The National Press Photographers Association, Society of News Design and the Capital Emmys. He has coached students and taught multimedia at workshops including NPPA’s Multimedia Immersion in Syracuse, NY.
He grew up in Eagle Pass, a small border town on the Texas and Mexico border. It was there working at El Gram, a bilingual newspaper, where he learned about his interests in telling stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. He likes meeting new people and finding new ways to tell their stories.
JOHN SHARIFY
John Sharify lives and breathes storytelling and is grateful to those willing to share their stories. He is currently a Special Projects reporter for KING 5 News. One of the most honored broadcast journalists in the country, Sharify is a 68 time Emmy award winner. He has also been honored with eight National Edward R. Murrow awards, including National Murrows for Writing in 2004, 2007, and 2008.
Sharify was selected as the 2015 National Press Photographer Association (NPPA) Reporter of the Year for his work at KING 5 News. He's also a two-time runner up Reporter of the Year, in 2013 and 2017.
John Sharify started his career in broadcast journalism in N.Y.C. where he worked as a reporter at WPIX TV. In 1989, he headed to Seattle to ABC affiliate KOMO TV where he worked as a general assignment news reporter for the next eighteen years. In addition to his current work at KING, John helps run two cable television stations in Seattle. He is the General Manager of Seattle Community Colleges Television (SCCTV) and Seattle Community Media, the city’s public access station.
Sharify’s passion for storytelling has taken him around the world as he presents workshops in newsrooms on the craft of video storytelling. This is his fifth year on the faculty at the NPPA News Video Workshop at Norman. Sharify is also a documentary filmmaker. His 2010 documentary about the holocaust, “The Boys of Terezin,” has been shown in film festivals in Sydney, Melbourne, Toronto, West Palm, Miami, New Jersey and Seattle.
Sharify is a proud graduate of Princeton University. He also has a Master of Fine Arts degree in film directing from Columbia University. He is honored to have presented a Ted Talk in 2012 about his National Murrow award winning documentary called “Climb of a Lifetime.” His all-time favorite stories are the ones he wrote about his son Perry, when he competed at the Olympic Trials in 2012.
BRETT AKAGI
Brett Akagi can be described in three words. Hard worker. Focused. Passionate. These have guided him on an adventurous career that spans nearly 30 years. In that time he considers himself lucky to have won 21 Emmys in three newsrooms, contributed to national and regional Edward R. Murrow awards at KARE-TV and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, 4 NPPA Regional POY awards, national NPPA Runner-Up POY, worked with teammates Boyd Huppert, Greg Vandegrift, Scott Jensen and Jonathan Malat, and led the KARE-TV staff to 4 NPPA Station of the Year awards as the Director of Photography.
Akagi has a wide range of experience and worn many hats. He’s been a photojournalist, MMJ, video producer for a newspaper, assistant news director, university adviser and instructor for print and broadcast, professional and college mentor, consultant, Poynter Institute Ethics Fellow, and is currently the Chief Photographer at KCTV5 in Kansas City.
Akagi learned about the value of a great work ethic as a farm kid in Southwestern Kansas and found there are no shortcuts to success. He developed a laser like mental focus over the years, which helps in the field as a journalist, the newsroom as a manager and the classroom as a teacher. While he loves many things, like his family and cooking, the passion that drives him is storytelling. And if there is something he loves more than storytelling, it is teaching what he knows about the craft.
And that finally leads you to the NPPA News Video Workshop. If you want to be a better photojournalist, reporter, editor, teacher, leader or storyteller, Akagi and the entire instructional staff are ready to help push you to become better than you ever imagined – a hardworking, focused and passionate storyteller!
SHARON LEVY FREED
Lots of people say they're from Colorado but most are imports… from places like Oklahoma, California, or Texas. Not Sharon Levy Freed. She is one of the few, the proud, the Colorado natives.
After spending her formative years in Denver, Levy Freed embarked on a col¬lege career at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Without a major in mind, Levy signed up for a generic business course. It required she find an internship anywhere she wanted for 15 hours a week. Thinking that news crews see just about everything, Sharon signed up for an internship at a TV station. Surely one of those news stories would lead her towards an interesting career. Ten months later, TV hadn't led her to a career, rather it turned out to BE the career for her.
In August of 1980, Levy Freed took her first full-time TV position as a vid¬eotape editor for KUSA-TV, in Denver. In January of '82, it was off to the University of Missouri to finish a broadcasting degree. In May of '83, three weeks before graduation,, she attended the National Photographers Association News Video Workshop. Life hasn't been boring since. Sharon graduated college and accepted a position as a photojournalist at KAKE TV in Wichita. For 13 months Sharon worked under the wonderful guidance of Larry Hatteberg, and icon in the television industry. After that, it was time to go home...as a photojournalist for KCNC TV in Denver.
KCNC meant 4 years of shooting news and followed by more than 6 years of writing, shooting, producing and editing in Community Affairs. Freed earned 2 regional EMMY’s and numerous first place awards from the Colorado Broadcasting Association. But she's one who likes change, and it was time again.
From May of 1995 until November 1999, Sharon worked as "Senior Instructor" in the Broadcast Support Division of Avid Technology. She traveled to TV stations ‘round the world teaching Avid NewsCutter. While computers have never been her thing, TV always has. Being able to talk TV has allowed Sharon to be successful and really enjoy her new career (not to mention the bizillion frequent flyer miles she received.)
A layoff of 200 people in 1999 didn’t stop Sharon’s training career. She continues to freelance train teaching the aesthetics of shooting and editing as well as the mechanics of Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid and Final Cut Pro to broadcast professionals, American soldiers, newspaper photojournalists and anyone interested anywhere on the planet. Levy also teaches DSLR video photography and consults corporations in developing media for websites and blogs.
On a personal note, Sharon has produced MANY MANY things over her years but her best productions by far are her children. Fourteen year old Samuel and Twelve year old Anna, along with Dad Jay and dogs Rosie and Charlie, make up the family she’s always dreamed of.
KATIE SCHOOLOV
Katie Schoolov is a video journalist for KPBS, the PBS and NPR affiliate in San Diego, California. She shoots and edits in-depth features for television, radio, and the web, reporting stories on her own when time allows. She is a San Diego native and returned to cover her hometown after working as a video journalist for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Las Vegas Sun.
Katie previously worked as a print and video journalist for a daily newspaper in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she primarily covered ongoing election violence in Zimbabwe and the resulting emigration. She also interned for the Associated Press, producing internationally circulated videos and writing articles, including one from the White House press room.
Katie won RTDNA Golden Mike Awards in 2015 and 2016, has been nominated for four Emmy awards, and was a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. She also has multiple first place photography awards from the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the San Diego Press Club. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she also rowed for the Northwestern Crew Team.
She is passionate about public media, and about NPPA - which has shaped her career in incredibly helpful ways. When she's not behind a camera (or sometimes she still is), she loves to snowboard, scuba dive, go on long runs with her dog, and travel the world. She's seen 34 countries so far, but her best stories still come from her own hometown, and from just across the border in Mexico.
JOSEPH HUERTA
Every day Joseph Huerta is behind the lens, his goal is to open others up to new perspectives.
For almost a decade, Joseph has been weaving compelling images and sounds to help people find a connection to their community they may not have realized was there.
Currently, he is photojournalist at KING5, where he works alongside John Sharify and other journalists on feature stories around the pacific northwest. His path there, however, began with his first love - skateboarding.
Joseph's first experience with shooting came from creating skating videos in Sacramento. His early passion, as well as a chance encounter with a local news anchor, landed him a job at a station in his hometown.
There he was promoted to photographer. His skills then took him to the San Francisco Bay Area, working at KPIX and then KTVU.
In 2014, Joseph joined the National Press Photographers Association, where the lessons he learned there helped him turn KTVU into the NPPA West General Station of the Year.
Joseph’s devotion to the art and hard work has earned him over 30 awards, including 4 Emmy’s and a Murrow.
As a faculty member, Joseph’s goal is to push students to their full potential, help them, find the victories in every day assignments and show them how to tell the stories they yearn to.
To Joseph, this job is all about helping people understand perspectives, and as a faculty member he wants to open students to new perspectives on the industry he loves.
JED GAMBER
Taking the ordinary story and making it extraordinary. That’s the foundation of storytelling for Jed Gamber. As the Chief Photojournalist at WBFF in Baltimore, Jed and his staff take pride in making their newscasts stand out visually with excellent storytelling and capturing moments.
A 2014 (Y54) graduate of the Workshop, Jed credits his time in Norman as the turning point in his career. His hard work and passion for storytelling since then has led to several awards and recognition from the regional to the national level. In 2015 Jed was named the NPPA’s East Top Photographer of the Year while also being named Runner-Up for the NPPA’s Ernie Crisp National Photographer of the Year award. He led the staff at WBFF to it’s fourth NPPA Regional Station of the Year award in the last five years and the staff was also Runner-Up for NPPA National Station of the Year.
Also since Y54 Jed has been recognized by the Associated Press as their 2014 Photographer of the Year, he's won an Edward R. Murrow award and 13 Emmy’s with statues for editing and producing to go along with Photography.
Before photojournalism, Jed was a Sports Anchor/MMJ at WCAV-TV in Charlottesville, VA. Currently, in addition to his duties as Chief, he’s also the Chief Safety Officer for Sinclair Broadcast Group’s UAS Drone Program. Above all of these things, Jed is most proud of his new job as Dad to his one year old son, Lucas.
ROB COLLET
Since the fall of 1998 Rob Collett has been trying to capture moments that shape lives and communities. Rob has shared stories across the Midwest, starting at KHAS-TV in Central Nebraska, on South to KSNW-TV in Wichita, KS, then to Green Country at KTUL-TV in Tulsa, OK. In 2013, he was fortunate to join the KARE-TV family, and has embraced the culture of KARE.
Rob is a 2008 Norman workshop graduate. He says this is where he had a proverbial light bulb moment. Norman flipped on his passion switch for storytelling. Rob believes a week in Norman will change your life, and he’s excited to inspire future storytellers as he was inspired all those years ago.
Rob feels blessed to share people’s stories. He has a knack for anticipating, and capturing moments. He credits this to many things including hand/eye coordination skills by beating his babysitters in Pitfall, Space Invaders, Centipede, and other fantastic Atari games. He also thinks it has something to do with his skinny chicken legs. They are like camouflage. People often mistake him for a tripod.
Rob’s work has earned him eighteen regional Emmy’s, numerous regional Edward R. Murrow awards, two national Edward R. Murrow awards, and in 2016 was awarded the NPPA Ernie Crisp National Photographer of the Year Award. The honor being the ultimate career goal.
However, his greatest achievement is his family. He has been married to the beautiful Brianna for three years and became a father to William in 2015.
Oliver Janney
Oliver “OJ” Janney is the Senior Field Production Supervisor for CNN based in Washington, DC, and a graduate of the 2004 News Video workshop.
OJ started his career as a sophomore at Goucher College by day, and as the first overnight editor at WBFF-TV in Baltimore when the station launched their morning news program in 2000. After graduating in 2003, he joined the ranks of the photography staff at WJZ first as a freelance, then as a staffer. In 2004, he was honored with an Emmy Award for quick turnaround new production with fellow NVW faculty member Mike Schuh.
Three years later in 2007 OJ took a position with CNN NewSource in Washington. As one of two dedicated NewSource photojournalists, he travelled the country covering breaking news and the 2008 Presidential race. In 2009, he was absorbed into the CNN Image and Sound Field Production department where he travelled the world covering news stories, crafting documentaries and honing his skills on higher end productions including marketing and promotions. In 2013, he and his team took first place honors in the NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism contest for, “Operation Hope”, an hour long CNN Freedom Project documentary seen world wide on CNN International.
In 2015, OJ was promoted from photojournalist to manager and now oversees the 28 photojournalists based in the network’s Washington bureau.
*CNN sponsored faculty
Alanna Delfino
Behind her lens, Alanna Delfino finds the special moments needed to turn any kind of news into a good story. As a photojournalist at WBFF in Baltimore, she consistently produces honest, creative and one-of-a-kind stories daily. While shooting day-turns fuels her news heart, working on creative, long-form projects is her true passion.
Alanna is a 2015 (Y55) student graduate and credits the news video workshop for an early on success as a professional in local news. Since joining WBFF’s photography staff in 2016, Alanna has consistently placed in the TV Quarterly contest, won her first Regional Emmy and co-produced her first mini documentary called “Aftershock,” which documents the deadliest year per capita in Baltimore City.
During her final year studying at University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, she worked as an overnight news editor at WUSA9 TV in Bethesda, MD and after graduation, transitioned to a full-time editing coordinator atWJLA ABC7 in Washington, DC. She says, that if it weren’t for her connections made at college NPPA events, she would have never landed a shooting position in a top storytelling market.
In 2017, Alanna joined UMD’s Merrill College adjunct faculty staff, where she teaches an intermediate news reporting class to undergraduate students. As an instructor, her goal is to educate students on the simple knowledge that quality video, crisp natural sound and subjective sound bites will lead to a well-rounded story. Alanna credits much of her success to professional mentors and hopes to be the same guiding light for her students.
As a junior faculty member at the news video workshop, Alanna’s goal is to help participants step outside their comfort zone because that’s where the ‘magic’ happens. She also hopes to eat really delicious BBQ.
Tawanda Scott Sambou
Tawanda Scott Sambou is an award-winning producer for CNN’s Digital Video news team. Based in New York City, she is a Swiss Army knife producer - from conception to execution, she pitches, shoots, writes and edits content that has reached millions of people around the world.
Tawanda’s passion for storytelling and dedication to innovation is unmistakable. With 20 years of experience, she has created a unique career path for herself covering some of the biggest news stories in recent history including Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti and the Boston Bombing. She also served as lead photojournalist/director of photography for some of CNN’s most high-profile documentaries such as “Black in America” hosted by Soledad O’Brien. Most recently, she was the lead producer for CNN’s groundbreaking project, “The First Time I Realized I was Black.”
Tawanda grew up in Macon, Ga. and started her career at WMAZ as a photojournalist in her hometown station. In 1999, she moved across the country to Las Vegas, NV. to join the KVBC photojournalist team.
When she’s not on the storytelling grind, Tawanda enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and daughter.
Nicolai Brix
Nicolai began his career as photographer at one of Denmark’s largest newspaper, Ekstra Bladet, where he worked for almost eight years. Eventually, he started taking on video and TV projects and found these assignments more fulfilling. This work prompted him to focus solely on telling video stories. Today, he runs the production company B-Visuals.dk where he produces stories for major international TV-networks, NGO's and other major corporations all over the world.
Nicolai is a 2016 (Y57) student graduate and the experience of being student changed the way he looked on the tv and video media as a storytelling tool. "If you give us a week, we will change your life" is SO true!!
The “driver” in Nicolai’s work is having an impact on the people who watch his work. He always strives to tell great stories with stunning visuals that have emotional impact. His “less is more” (or work smart) approach has served him well as the platforms his work is delivered on expands.. He uses a broad palette of tools beyond video including stills, 360 video/stills and VR.
As European Ambassador for Canon, Nicolai travels the world and teaches masterclasses on modern filmmaking and how to be a compelling storyteller.
* Canon Europe sponsored faculty
Carmaine Means
Carmaine Means is an Emmy award winning television news photojournalist who has, until recently, been working the Chicago market. Carmaine just accepted a position with the CBS Network News’ Los Angeles bureau as a photographer and drone pilot. Her career began in Rockford, IL., at WTVO, ABC 17 in 2002. From there she worked at WVTV in Milwaukee before moving to the Tribune owned CLTV/WGN 9 in her hometown of Chicago. She also worked at ABC 7 Chicago before moving across town to CBS 2 Chicago in 2014.
Carmaine won an Emmy for Coal City/Washington, IL tornado coverage along with several Emmy awards (and nominations) for 190 N, Windy City Live and Chicagoing with Bill Campbell and At the Movies. She has been nominated twice for Emmy's as a news photojournalist with ABC 7.
In 2015, Carmaine served as a national judge for National Press Photographers Association’s annual contest along with the lovely and entertaining Joe Little. She has has also been a judge for the White House National Press Association, a respected contest sponsored by National Geographic and the Nikon Corporation.
QUESTIONS
Do I need to bring gear? Shoot ‘n Edits need to bring: a video or DSLR camera that shoots video, batteries, tripod, and any other support gear (steady bags, SD cards, chargers, etc.). It is helpful to have a laptop and editing software, but not necessary. If you shoot on any standard format, we can accommodate. Please email Julie Jones or Adam Vance with if you are wondering about other formats.
What's the schedule? Daily sessions run from 8:30 in the morning until 8, 9, or 10 p.m. at night. Be prepared to have your days and nights full!
I am thinking about registering as a Shoot ‘n Edit. What should I expect? Shoot ‘n Edits are given three assignments during the week. Your raw and edited work will be critiqued by some of the best journalists in the business. We are here to help you become stronger in your storytelling and video skills. So, check your ego and open your mind. You will be tested but it will be worth the challenge!
I am thinking about registering as a Participant. What will I miss by not being a Shoot ‘n Edit? Participants live through the same week as the Shoot ‘n Edits. You will be doing the assignments side by side the Shoot ‘n Edits and you will learn from the critiques as well. Only difference? You are not sitting in the hot seat.
Who should I contact if I have more questions? Contact Julie Jones at [email protected]
