Calling all video journalists: Step up and change your life!
March 16-21, 2014 || Norman, OK ||
Our News Video Workshop builds the fundamental skills you need to tell strong, clear, and compelling video news stories. A week of intense learning and powerful critiques will change how you approach, gather, edit, write and present your work.
"If you give us a week, we will change your life."
That is a bold statement that the News Video Workshop has been delivering on for 54 years. We, the NV Workshop faculty, would not volunteer a week of our time if we did not believe we could help you change the way you work and the way you think about work.
The 2014 session is adding a 21st century perspective to newsgathering. Along with the core NV Workshop assignments and critiques will be sessions on data driven journalism, mobile reporting, and news writing for photojournalists.
The NV Workshop is perfectly suited to all journalists. You will gain a depth of knowledge whether you are a photojournalist or a reporter; whether you work primarily in a broadcast, online, or print world; whether you are a student or professional.
If you are a journalist who uses any video in your reporting, the NV Workshop is for you.
You will learn from a faculty full of award winning journalists at the local, national, and international levels. We shoot with DSLRs, HD video cameras and, in some cases, the smart phones in our pockets. Beyond shooting video, we write, we edit, we build code. Collectively, we can do it all. Individually, we 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.
All shoot and edit spots for the 2014 Workshop have been filled. Please email info@nppa.org to be wait listed or sign up as participant. Participants attend all the same sessions as shoot and edits but are not critiqued by the faculty.
We have a new student rate and group discounts for the 2014 News Video Workshop. 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.
- 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 | $800.00 | $900.00 |
| Participant | $700.00 | $800.00 |
| Student Participant | $325 | $425 |
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NPPA and Group Discounts
- NPPA members receive a $110 discount. NPPA student members receive a $65 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.
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 16th (Sunday) at 10 a.m. We begin our sessions at 1 p.m. sharp. The week ends on March 21st (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.
Where to stay: There are many hotels around the OU campus, but Sooner Legends is offering a significant discount for NV Workshop participants. They have single rooms and suites. To reserve with the NPPA discount, follow these directions:
- Go to www.soonerlegends.com
- Click “book reservations”
- Click “Group Reservation”
- Enter group code “NPPA14IC”
- Enter arrival date
- Once date is entered, the special rates will show
- Follow standard reservation instructions
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.
Julie Jones, an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications, took over as chair of NPPA’s News Video Workshop with the departure of long-time chair Sharon Levy Freed. Jones has been a long-time member of the workshop faculty, having first attended in 1982
Dr. Jones is an award winning television journalist and digital media scholar. She began her photojournalism career at KIVA-TV in Farmington, New Mexico as a general news photographer in 1982. Twenty-years later, she left her job as special projects producer and photojournalist at ABC15 in Phoenix to pursue her doctorate degree at the University of Minnesota. Her work earned numerous Rocky Mountain Emmys, National Press Photographers Association, and Arizona Press Club awards. In addition, she was twice she was NPPA’s region 10 Photographer of the Year twice, earned three Emmys for Photojournalistic Enterprise and was Arizona Press Club’s Photographer of the Year. While working for ABC15 and KPNX in Phoenix, Jones was one of the first “one-man bands.” Her stories ranged from general news to investigative to documentaries.
None of these accomplishments could have been achieved without the NPPA Television Video Workshop.
As a green photographer, Jones attended the 1982 Workshop as a shooting participant. This experience was invaluable to her photojournalism skills, ethics, and sensibility. She still considers Darrell Barton and Bob Brandon as pivotal mentors in her career.
Jones returned to Norman as a Workshop faculty member in 1993 and was honored to take over leadership in 2013.
Jones is an innovator in digital journalism as well. She, along with her Gaylord colleague John Schmeltzer, are developing a mobile app that allows for easy-to-use real-time, place-based, video reporting from smartphones and tablets. This technology, dubbed OU StormCrowd, was first used during the 2012 severe weather season in Oklahoma. Gaylord journalism and meteorology students used iPod Touches with Sennheiser microphones to report on weather events from the field and to post their reports as close to real time as possible. On Friday April 13th, the mojos – as the students liked to be called –were ready to cover the EF 2 tornado that touched down in numerous locations in Norman. Their reports beat all news organizations to “air.”
Dr. Jones’ academic work centers on the participatory nature of online news and visual platforms. Her work has been published in New Media & Society, ACM publications and she is an active member of AEJMC’s Communication Technology division. Along with Schmeltzer, she was awarded one of the first AEJMC/Knight Bridge grants used to develop StormCrowd and was a semi-finalist for Knight News Challenge Grant’s mobile app call. In 2012, Kappa Alpha Theta named Jones one of the 10 Outstanding Faculty Members in the nation.
Adam Vance, one of your Co-Chairs of your Workshop, is a story in his own right. Born in Saigon in the middle of the Vietnam War he 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.
He then embarked to Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, NM. While pursuing his Mass Communication degree he continued to work for the Amarillo Globe News until graduation.
Immediately following graduation he was hired by NBC affiliate, KOB-TV and later joined KOAT-TV. Years later, he and his wife, Paulette, embarked to Tampa where he continued his passion for this profession we call "story-telling".
Adam is a photographer who likes to offer a unique perspective, by putting a camera where you normally cannot. He is a logistical expert and one who likes to solve your technical needs.
Currently, Adam is a Special Projects Photojournalist/Editor and Satellite Truck Operator at 10News/WTSP.COM. He has had the opportunity to bring the Tampa Bay viewers, multiple Shuttle Launches, Super Bowls, World Series coverage, Stanley Cup Championships, BCS victories and countless Hurricanes. Having completed 9 years with 10 News, he has figured out this business — it is not only about storytelling, it is about people.
He recently joined the NPPA Faculty to help a new generation of story-tellers, who offers a creative, logistical and technical mind.
His greatest stories are those about his wife, Paulette, and twin sons, Bryce and Connor.
Stan Heist is the News Talent Manager for Sinclair Broadcast Group, and a Co-Director of the NPPA News Video Workshop. This will be his seventh year on the Workshop faculty.
Stan earned his first paycheck in broadcasting while still in High School, working as a part-time board operator for WCHE-AM, in West Chester, PA. He began his television career soon after graduating from the University of Dayton, as a news photographer and editor for the local NBC affiliate, WKEF-TV (now ABC22). It was in Dayton, where Stan first learned about the NPPA, when a co-worker left behind a copy of News Photographer magazine in the photog room. He applied for membership the next day.
In 1997, Stan joined the staff at Richmond’s WTVR-TV, first as a staff photographer, and later as Chief Photographer. In 2000, he attended the Workshop as an observer, and began to apply the lessons learned during that week slowly into his daily assignments. This is where his “small victories” philosophy began to form.
Three years after the Workshop, Stan moved up the I-95 corridor to Baltimore to join WBFF-TV, where he was promoted to Chief Photographer two years later. While in Baltimore, the staff was named a finalist for the NPPA’s Station of the Year three times. During his career, Stan was awarded ten regional Emmys, two NPPA Regional Photographer of the Year awards, and was honored nationally as the 2005 NPPA Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year.
Stan left daily newsgathering in 2008 to teach television journalism and pursue a master’s degree at the University of Maryland, where he researched best practices for traditional photographers and reporters transitioning to become multimedia journalists. He has taught at more than 30 professional seminars in the United States and abroad.
In his current role at Sinclair, Stan works as an executive in their corporate offices leading major recruitment and retention efforts, and providing training for their visual storytellers in Sinclair’s local newsrooms across the country.
1980 was a good year for television, because that was the year Dave Wertheimer got his start at a TV station in Milwaukee while still in high school. He’s worked at an alphabet of station call letters, working as everything from Chief Photojournalist to News Director and been on assignment all over the world. Dave likes to say that he has been shot at, stabbed, tear gassed, punched but most of all hugged while on assignment.
Another passion of Mr. Wertheimer is teaching. He has judged countless contests and been a consultant across the globe, teaching storytelling techniques at dozens of seminars and media organizations including the prestigious NPPA TV NewsVideo Workshop.
For his assignments Dave has been honored with over 90 awards for his work from the NPPA, SPJ, NBNA, AP, WHNPA and 14 NATAS Emmys. Don’t ask this multimedia storyteller to see his awards, they are in a box somewhere. He believes that he is only as good as his next story, not his last.
Dave currently is a Photojournalist/Editor/DSNG tech for WCCO TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota and can be found doing his second love, covering anything with a viewfinder near his head. His first love is spending time with his son, Matthew, who was born in 2002.
Tim Underhill Ball State University Telecommunications instructor Tim Underhill joined the TCOM faculty full-time during a six-year stint as the Production Manager for NewsLink Indiana at Ball State University. Tim serves as an instructor teaching such courses as visual storytelling, video production, copywriting and news writing.
A 1984 graduate, he returned to Ball State in 1990 after several years in television news. In 2009 Tim earned his Masters Degree in Digital Storytelling.
Tim has a passion for storytelling and can often be found with a camera in his hands. Tim has worked for network 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 Television News Video Workshop sponsored by the National Press Photographers Association. In addition to presentations at the “storytelling boot camp,” he continues to work 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 video 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.
In 2001 Tim was presented with the Ball State Alumni Association’s top award for service to the University, the “Benny” Award.
In the summer of 2010 Tim accepted an appointment to be videographer at the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Tim’s video was seen on television station across the country and on numerous web sites as well as being featured in the Boys Life Magazine Souvenir Video. As a result of his first jamboree success, he was invited to the 2013 National Scout Jamboree and served as multimedia editor for Jamboree Today.
When he isn’t working he can be found enjoying family life with his wife and 2 sons camping, backpacking or pedaling his bicycle across Indiana.
Tim’s volunteer work for the Boy Scouts of America covers a lot of ground. He is course director for White Stage National Youth Leadership Training. He works as the district communications chair and merit badge counselor and serves as the Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 22.
Greg Vandegrift has been a clinical professor of broadcast journalism at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota since 2008. Beyond his classroom instruction, in 2012 he became the lead adviser for the student’s Web-based, multimedia news operation. Even while teaching, Greg continues to freelance for KARE 11 (Minneapolis/St. Paul NBC affiliate) where he reported full time beginning in the mid-90s.
After graduating from his beloved alma mater, the University of Kansas, Greg spent a quarter century reporting around the Midwest. Like most, he started small in Joplin, Mo. He then moved north to the Quad Cities (Iowa, Illinois). In 1996 he landed his dream job at KARE TV.
His work 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. 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.
He also produces videos for the University of St. Thomas. One of his videos – a mini-documentary — was part of an exhibit at Rome’s MAXXI Museum.
Greg has taught at the Workshop on a consistent basis since 2004. He says reporters must learn to think about video BEFORE copy!!!
Greg is married and has four boys including his own set of Minnesota twins. He loves the outdoors, especially water. He floats his boat in the summer and likes to think he “walks” (really skates) on water during Minnesota’s wonderful winters. Of course, he lives and dies Jayhawk basketball.
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 is thrilled to be a photojournalist for the CBS News bureau in Los Angeles. His television career started in 1978…a good year for King Tut, The Rolling Stones’ “Miss You”, and film cameras. Prior to joining the L.A. bureau in 1997, Les worked 13 years at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles and from 1984-1986 he was with NBC News, Miami as a freelancer. He has also shot for WFLA (Tampa), KTVI (St. Louis), and WTSP (St. Petersburg).
His assignments are for The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley (and Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer, and Katie Couric as well), CBS Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, and CBS This Morning. For almost 7 years he was the photojournalist for the “Everybody Has a Story” series with Steve Hartman, and together they produced more than 125 stories…all at the whim of a dart and a random pick from the phonebook. Honest! Then they had a year with 60 Minutes 2, and several years with the “Assignment America” series whenever Steve was west of the Rockies. Currently, Les works with Steve on the On The Road with Steve Hartman series whenever geographically feasible. Les’ awards include a Murrow and a DuPont with Steve Hartman, nine local Emmys, and a bunch of others that made for a nice evening out (and a tuxedo to return the next morning). His greatest awards are the friends he has made and things he…and his viewers…have learned along the way. He simply cannot believe they pay him to do exactly what he wants to do!
But Les will be quick to say that he is far more proud of his family and friends’ accomplishments. He is especially proud of his two young sons, the greatest joy in his life. Most of all, he’ll tell you that in the end, it is all about real moments in a story and someone saying, “That was a good story” and not “that was a cool shot.” Les believes “It’s about accuracy, story, subjects and viewers, not the storyteller. It’s also about being a human being in the process.” He also firmly believes we are here on earth to make it a better place. Really, he does. That’s why he went into journalism. Major stories that Les has been involved with include, 9/11 in Shankesville, Pennsylvania and then NYC, the Cerritos Air disaster, the Civil Wars of Nicaragua and El Salvador for NBC News, the Northridge Earthquake, the Nagano Olympics, a hostage release in Wiesbaden, West Germany, the Malibu Fires, political conventions, multiple hurricanes, Oscars, Emmys, major sports events and countless celebrity interviews (and trials), including O.J. Simpson (with Las Vegas!). And Michael Jackson’s trial…and death. Les has a profound love for teaching and is a frequent lecturer. A partial list of his key notes and workshops include: The Poynter Institute, the University of Florida, the N.P.P.A., the Hawaii Association of Broadcasters, Global Television in Calgary and Edmonton, Icelandic State Television, the University of South Florida, F.S.P.A., WTSP-TV, WPBF-TV, the IRE, the RTNDA with Al Tompkins, the Student Television Network, the Broward Teen Network, and the Missouri, New Mexico, West Virginia, and NATOA Broadcasters. Les is also the NPPA TV Critique Chair so send him a link anytime!
Finally, a word of caution: if he opens his wallet…it’s not to give you money. He’s got everything in his wallet…but money. It will be to show you pictures of those sons of his, which he could NOT be more proud of. He is juggling those boys as well as his “day job” at CBS News and the seminars he leads and makes it work. He managed to squeeze in a Master’s degree from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (Class of 2010). In his spare time, he sits in traffic in an office called a 2011 Chevrolet Suburban, and hits LEGOLAND as often as possible, His wife Michele has been accepted into Sainthood. He wants world peace, better Journalism, and another Rolling Stones tour.
Matt Mrozinski is a 9 time Emmy award winning Photojournalist with two wins in his craft, photography, on the east and west coast. He has only entered the contest 4 times with over 15 nominations. Mrozinski has been named in the top 6 for three straight years for photojournalism’s highest 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. In the last 5 years of his career, Matt has been a member of 4 NPPA Station of the Year awards. Mrozinski and his colleagues helped jump start WAVY’s 4 straight Medium Market SOY wins with awards in 2009 and 2010. He joined KING-TV in time for a his 3rd and 4th Station of the Year wins. He won the last two National Headliner awards for feature. In 2013, Matt won the coveted SPJ Sigma Delta Chi award with NBC News Correspondent, Joe Fryer. He is the reigning NPPA West Coast Photographer of the Year.
Matt’s contributions to journalism have only just begun. He is the brains behind the popular Facebook forum and website known as “Storytellers”. Nearly 5,000 journalists and students frequent the site for advice and critique. It has become one of the premier resources for professional development & education. “I just wanted to start the conversation”, said Mrozinski, “it was dumb luck”. In 2012, Matt and two of his colleagues used its success to inspire the Northwest Video News Workshop (NWVW). He is a returning faculty member for the NPPA News Video Workshop. Matt also has experience teaching at the KNPA Workshop, Ignite Your Passion Workshop, Seattle University, and has presented for journalists from all the way from Denmark. “I’ll do everything I can to help shape the future of Journalism”, Mrozinski adds.
Mrozinski's strengths are team building, team storytelling, deadline storytelling, “shooting for the viewer”, ethics, telling the lead “story”, and having a great attitude.
Matt is a proud uncle, son, brother, and Pittsburgh, PA native.
In sixteen years Columbine to the Aurora Theater, with plenty of good in between, Josh Maranhas tells the stories of Coloradans. Now the Chief Editor at KDVR/KWGN he leads a staff of fifteen highly talented and diverse award winning editors.
An eternal student of the craft, Josh’s greatest mentor Bob Brandon taught him to love people, their stories and telling people stories. Josh started with Bob in 1998 in production and worked his way from tape deck to deck to non-linear tapeless editing. After a strong foundation with Bob at Helical Post, he worked up from part-time editor at KDVR in 2001 to Chief Editor at KDVR/KWGN in 2010. He never forgets the faculty of the NPPA News Video Workshop inspired his success after attending in 2000.
One of his greatest rewards is teaching; the difference between jump cuts and match cuts, why you should stop using dissolves and start cutting sequences. AVID to Apple there’s nothing about editing he doesn’t want to talk about or pass on to others.
Josh is a winner of many NPPA quarterly and annual editing awards. He is twice runner up in Best of Photojournalism Editor of the Year. He’s a former chair of the NPPA Quarterly Editing Contest. He's nominated for numerous Emmys and Emmy Award winning in both Program and Sports editing.
Josh is a still photographer and a darkroom rat. These days he’s more of a Lightroom rat. His favorite subjects range from family portraits to forty-nine Fords. He says it helps him keep up with the photojournalists who make his edits stand out with their shooting.
In addition to storytelling Josh is passionate about loud music, long drives in his Ford and anything on wheels. He’s born with a need for blue smoke from Flathead Fords through open headers in his lungs, riding Triumph motorcycles and watching nitro burning Funny Cars. Speed is imperative to keep his blood pumping. If it burns fuel inside, makes power when it hits the ground and looks good on the road, it’s metaphoric for the kind of television Josh loves to make; loud, fast and beautiful. Compelling natural sound and music are two tools he couldn’t be without as an editor and a storyteller. Automobiles and music are two things he couldn’t be without as a person. Josh loves his family. His wife Angie and daughter Vivienne are his greatest accomplices. From the Colorado Mile High Nationals to Californian car shows and Kansas’s Lead Sled Spectacular, annual road trips to Pomona and the NHRA Motor Sports Museum, followed with Disneyland and walks on the beach. Route 66 to Historic 101 it’s a good time traveling the Interstates and bi-ways of America making great memories and lasting stories on the way.
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."
Emmy Award-winning Joe Little is a television news reporter with 10News, the ABC affiliate in San Diego, CA. He is at the forefront of the evolution of electronic newsgathering. He regularly shoots, writes, edits, and reports by himself, using small, mobile equipment. It’s a far cry from the days of two, three, or four man news crews.
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. In 2013, Joe joined the NPPA faculty at the News Video Workshop in Norman, Oklahoma.
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. But 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 by .
As a correspondent for PBS and NBC News, John Larson’s work is among the most awarded in the broadcast news industry. In 2012, his investigations of the US Border Patrol resulted in 2 Federal Grand Jury investigations of the Patrol, and protests in a dozen US cities. Of Larson’s 2012 series on “Main Street America”, Bill Moyer said, “such focused journalism puts the networks to shame.” In 2010, John Larson won a George Foster Peabody Award, and a DuPont Columbia Silver Baton for his work on “Cannabis Cowboys,” an investigation of Mexican drug cartels and pot farming in California.
As West Coast Correspondent for Dateline NBC beginning in 1994, Larson excelled in investigative, breaking and feature news reporting for Dateline NBC, NBC Nightly News and The Today Show. His investigation of the insurance industry for Dateline NBC, "The Paper Chase", remains one of the most honored broadcasts in broadcast journalism history. Larson has received extensive national recognition — 4 DuPont Columbia Silver Batons, 2 George Foster Peabody Awards, and 2 National Emmy Awards for reporting on Racial Profiling, the Insurance Industry, Hurricane Katrina, and corrupt police in Lousiana.
Larson is also a much sought after speaker, teacher and motivator. He consults for the E.W Scripps Company -- motivating more than 400 working journalists. He also was selected as the 2011 Distinguished Ottaway Professor of Journalism for the State University of New York. He speaks regularly at the National Writer's Workshops, the Poynter Institute, and the National Press Photographers' National Workshop. He has participated in the Committee of Concerned Journalists, sponsored by the Nieman Foundation of Harvard University.
In 2009, Larson left NBC to work as an international correspondent for PBS — contributing to “World Focus,” “Need to Know” and “Southern California Connected”. He also launched his own production company, began training in digital journalism, and began consulting with media companies.
In 2008, Larson co-authored "Television Field Production and Reporting" - one of the most widely distributed college broadcast journalism textbooks in the country.
Larson's career has taken him to the corners of the world: to investigate the sinking of a passenger ferry in Indonesia, and to tell the story of a 5-year-old Buddhist Monk in Nepal. He examined corrupt police in Mexico City. He revisited a bloody terrorist attack in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Central Africa. He reported on the Aids epidemic in Zambia, and micro-loans in Kenya. Recently, he has reported on renewable energy in Denmark.
In the United States Larson has covered everything from snake handlers in Appalachia and diets that relieve epilepsy in children, to ecstasy dealers and the 2008 Presidential Campaign. John lives with his wife and children in San Diego, CA.
Steve Hooker, Chief Photojournalist at WIS-TV, Columbia, South Carolina, is a regular faculty member of the National Press Photographers Association’s Annual Television News Workshop. He gained his reputation by delivering production quality lighting at the speed of news. In addition to lighting workshops, he conducts seminars on storytelling techniques in this age of "run and gun" television newsgathering to photojournalists around the world.
Steve joined WIS-TV as the Chief Photojournalist three years ago. He had previously worked as a chief photographer in New Orleans and was there during Hurricane Katrina. Before that, he worked in the Carolinas as chief photographer, and earlier in Great Britain with the BBC for eight years.
Steve had not settled upon a career until well after graduating from the University of Miami and serving in the army including a year in Vietnam as a combat commander. That experience focused his life and he knew what he wanted to do. Upon leaving active duty he moved to England. Two years later he graduated from The London Film School and entered the motion picture industry. Occasionally he freelanced in news. He quickly learned that news photography allowed him more control over his work than he ever had in the movies. That is when he joined the television industry. Ten years later, he returned to the states for a vacation and stayed.
Today, Steve approaches a news story as if it were a motion picture; striving for the best storytelling techniques he can muster. The time constraint of news work however, is a severe obstacle in achieving that quality. Over the years, he has developed a number of tricks and techniques to keep the quality high with little or no loss of time.
Steve became involved in the NPPA, first as a frequent award winning photojournalist and later as a faculty member of the workshop. He was elected by NPPA’s 10,000 members to three terms on the NPPA Board of Directors. He enjoys sharing his ideas and learning new ones from other photographers.
Throughout his professional life Steve continued his military service through the army reserves. He has served several tours in the Middle East during the Gulf War and the current operations there.
His civilian achievements include several Emmys, three Associated Press Photojournalist of the Year awards from Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina and awards of Radio Television News Directors Association Photographer of the Year. Steve has published numerous articles and is a frequent speaker at television industry functions and universities. Continuing in his civilian capacity, he has been an honoree speaker at the Defense Information School.
Steve divides his time among his family, WIS-TV, NPPA, and seminars at other television stations and universities.
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!!
Charles Hadlock is a producer and reporter for NBC News.
Hadlock is a contributor to NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, the Today Show, MSNBC, CNBC and The Weather Channel. He has covered a variety of domestic and international stories, including hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, the Israeli-Hezbollah war, the bird flu epidemic in Southeast Asia, and the North Korean nuclear talks in Beijing. He provided live coverage during the terrorist shootings at Fort Hood, Texas and during the BP Gulf oil spill.
His distinguished career spans more than 30 years of broadcast reporting in Texas. As Senior Reporter and weekend anchor at KHOU TV in Houston, Hadlock was named Austin Bureau Chief and covered assignments throughout Texas, Mexico and Central America.
Hadlock is as a reporter with an abiding concern for telling visual stories through ordinary people.
Hadlock has also been a main anchor in Shreveport, Louisiana. He was the first television journalist to report live by satellite from the Shuttle Columbia disaster in East Texas. His assignments included reporting live from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on local soldiers guarding Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners. Hadlock reported live from Canada on Pope John Paul II’s pilgrimage to North America. He also produced and moderated a nationally-televised debate between the U-S Senate candidates in Louisiana.
United Press International and the Associated Press have both honored Hadlock as the Best Reporter in Texas. UPI twice named him one of the top six reporters in the country. His work appeared in almost every NPPA (National Press Photographer’s Association) Quarterly Contest in Region Eight.
The Dallas Press Club awarded Hadlock the Texas Katie Award for General News and UPI awarded him Best Feature. He is also the winner of the prestigious Texas Headliners Award. Hadlock was nationally honored with the Leukemia Society of America’s Service to Mankind Award.
He also worked at Houston’s KPRC TV as a general assignment reporter, where he won state and national awards for spot news.
Hadlock was a reporter and morning news anchor at WFAA TV in Dallas. His coverage of the Paris, Texas tornado won him the Texas Katie Award for Spot News and helped WFAA win NPPA Station of the Year.
Hadlock is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He has been on the faculty of the National Press Photographers Association TV News Video Workshop since 1987.
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.
Lisa Berglund is an award winning videographer, editor, producer and storyteller. For over 50 years, the National Press Photographers Association has awarded its Photographer of the Year to the finest in the nation. Lisa was the first and only woman videographer to receive this honor.
Lisa is the owner of Gold Dog Media, a video production company based in Washington State. Her work with corporations, international news and non-profit organizations has given her powerful professional experience – including shooting, producing, and editing news, marketing and promotional videos, documentaries, PSA’s and music videos.
Lisa specializes in working in some of the most remote corners of the world, because she feels strongly about giving voice to people who are rarely heard. She has worked in over 25 countries, including Rwanda, India, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, and Ethiopia.
Lisa also works as a consultant and teacher, training thousands of photojournalists and reporters around the world in Visual Storytelling and Multimedia Journalism.
Lisa is featured in a book highlighting news photography: Roll - Shooting TV News - Views From behind The Lens.
If you've heard anything about the NPPA workshop, you've probably heard the name Darrell Barton. As one of the veteran Workshop faculty members, Darrell is best known for his...shall we say... honest...critiques. He's straightforward, he's tough. But with credentials like Darrell's, he has every right to be.
Barton's camera's been on his shoulder for nearly thirty years, shooting television news and documentaries. In 1983 Darrell went out on his own and is known as an extremely successful freelance photojournalist. Prior to that, Barton was chief news cameraman and director of photography for KTVY-TV (now KFOR) in Oklahoma City from 1969 to 1983. Named NPPA's Television News Cameraman of the Year in 1974 and 1981, he is the recipient of more than 60 awards for television photography and production, including a gold award from the Chicago Film Festival and an EMMY nomination. In 1999 Darrell received the highest award given in the NPPA, recognizing him for all his accomplishments and the lives he's touched, The Sprague Award.
Darrell travels worldwide on assignments for ABC, NBC and CBS news; ABC's "20/20"; CBS's "48 Hours"; and many others. His business manager, wife and saint, Marilyn, runs the freelance business from his small farm north of Edmond, Oklahoma. It's a place to check out old cars and hit golf balls at trains from his office. It's the assignment desk to some great places!!! Barton's projects include documentaries made in the Holy Lands and Guatemala, news coverage in the Persian Gulf, Panama, Haiti, and Afghanistan, as well as numerous domestic assignments. He was a featured speaker on the 1994 NPPA Flying Short Course.
John Sharify lives and breathes storytelling. He believes news stories, told powerfully, can connect our communities . John is in constant search for those meaningful stories to tell. John, who also goes by Shahab, started his reporting career in New York City at WPIX-TV more than thirty years ago. In 1989 he headed west, where he was privileged to deliver his signature stories for KOMO 4 News in Seattle for the next eighteen years. John was known as the “People Helper” for a few of those years, by far his most rewarding years of his career.
John is currently a Special Projects reporter for KING 5 News. He is also the General Manager of two television stations; Seattle Community Colleges Television ( SCCTV) and Seattle Community Media, the city’s public access station.
Last March John was selected as the runner up for NPPA’s Reporter of the Year, the National Press Photographer’s Association ‘s photojournalism award for reporters. He is a 53-time Emmy award recipient. John has also been honored with eight National Edward R. Murrow awards including the 2008, 2007, and 2004 National Murrow award for Writing, which honors the top broadcast news writer in the country.
John Sharify has received Lifetime Achievement awards from various organizations including the Academy of Religious Broadcasting, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission for his “compassionate reporting of the homeless.” He is also the proud recipient of the King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence Take Action award for his work on raising awareness on the issue of domestic violence.
John has served as President of the Northwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences from 2006-2010, and Vice President of NATAS from 2004-2006. He is a proud graduate of Princeton University and has a Master of Fine Arts degree in film directing from Columbia University. Recently he’s been getting back to his film roots. He wrote and directed a documentary film about the holocaust “The Boys of Terezin” in 2010. It’s been shown in film festivals in cities around the world, including Sydney, Melbourne, Toronto, West Palm, Miami, New Brunswick, and Seattle.
John is thrilled to have presented a Ted Talk in 2012 about his National Murrow award winning documentary called ‘Climb of a Lifetime,” which chronicles the lives of homeless men training to climb Mt. Rainier. But of all the stories John Sharify has written, his favorite appears onKing5.com. It’s about his son Perry, who competed as a breaststroker in the 2012 Olympic Trials.
I love being a storyteller. It can be the most frustrating and fulfilling craft at the same time. The lure of our profession can be compared to a fragment of this Robert Frost poem.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
When I began my journey into “The woods,” I never thought this farm kid from southwest Kansas would have adventures I only read about or watched on TV while growing up. I’ve worked and taught in Japan, Denmark, China and 20 U.S. states. I’ve worked up close with U.S. and foreign heads of state, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NHRA, Olympic and NCAA athletes. I covered the Oklahoma City Bombing and the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Did I mention my news truck was set on fire while covering a riot?
My first step into visual storytelling began with a crappy Kodak Disc camera in high school. It was an automatic and the negative was equal to a digital 1 MB file. It was actually worse than crappy. I graduated from Fort Hays State University, a small college on the west plains of Kansas. My passion for TV news was sparked by a hard-nosed, take no prisoners and old school professor Mike Leikem. I was a very challenging student, but I owe a lot of what I am to Mike.
My 25-year career in a nutshell after college:
- KSNC-TV, Great Bend, Kansas (commercial producer – shooter, writer, editor)
- WIBW-TV, Topeka, Kansas (news photographer, live truck operator)
- WDAF-TV, Kansas City, Missouri (news photog., field producer, reporter, helicopter photog. sports photog., promotions grip)
- KARE-TV, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Director of Photography, news photog., field producer, reporter, helicopter photog., sports photog.)
- Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN (Senior Video Producer, show creator, news photog., promotions producer)
- KSHB-TV, Kansas City, MO (Assistant News Director)
- University of Kansas (currently the Journalism School Media Director and Content Strategist – When you know what that means, please tell me! J)
- 21 regional Emmys at two TV stations and a newspaper
- Regional and national Edward R. Murrow awards at KARE-TV and the Star Tribune
- Led KARE-TV staff to 4 NPPA Station of the Year awards (including three-in-a-row)
- NPPA TV Runner-Up Photographer of the Year
- 4-time NPPA TV Regional Photographer of the Year
The word “lucky” comes to mind when I reflect on my career and that luck comes from the passion I have for storytelling. I’ll encourage the student’s passion at the NPPA Video Workshop so they can find their own luck. Finally, I’ll leave you with these lyrics from the Beastie Boys and hope you feel the same way about the pursuit of storytelling.
Foot on the pedal never ever false metal
Engine running hotter than a boiling kettle
My Job’s ain’t a job it’s a damn good time
Akagi video links:
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 Col¬orado 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.
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 joneszz@mac.com
