Alumni
Alumni from the Department of Radio-Television-Film are always accomplishing great things. Here is what just a few of them are doing now. Keep us up-to-date on where you are and what you’re doing by sending us your information for the RTF alumni database.
Lev Spiro (M.A. ’90) recently directed two feature length family films for Disney Channel. The first, Minutemen, garnered Lev his first DGA Award Nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs. The most recent, Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, was a critical and commercial success - it premiered to 13.5 million viewers, which made it the second highest rated scripted cablecast of all time.
Kevin M. Brennan (BS ’00) recently produced and acted in a new film entitled, “The Scenesters,” which will be playing in October at The Austin Film Festival.
Alexander G. Alvarez (BS ‘73) has recently completed 20 years doing the KKYX Sunday Morning Gospel Program in San Antonio.
Adam P. Annen (BS ’08) is a HotDogger with Oscar Mayer Foods, Madison, WI.
E. Alexis Arnold (BS ’99) is a freelance production supervisor out of New York, NY.
Kyle Stewart Barnett (Ph.D. ’06) is an assistant professor at Bellarmine University (Louisville, KY).
Martha Fuentes-Bautista (Ph.D. ’07) is an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst).
Adam Beechen (MA ’94) has had his graphic novel, HENCH (2004), optioned by Warner Brothers for feature film development, with Danny McBride (“Tropic Thunder,” “Pineapple Express,” HBO's “Eastbound and Down”) set to star and co-write the script. Neal Moritz (“I Am Legend,” “The Fast and the Furious”) will produce.
Craig Berlin (BA ’85) served as a founding board member of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance as well as Treasurer and head of the Membership/Fundraising Committee, 2006-2007. In addition to serving on the Legislative Committee and operated Pro-Tape Systems, he acted in “Code Enforcer,” a 2009 film, directed by Steve Cauley, staring Morgan Fairchild. He lives in Austin, TX.
Robert Irby Blackmon (BS, BJ ‘83) is a conceptualizer at Demotrac in West Hollywood, CA.
Douglas D. Branch (BS ’89) is owner of BW Productions, Inc. He lives in Flower Mound, TX.
Patrick Burkart (Ph.D. ’00) is a tenured associate professor in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University. His book, Music and Cyberliberties, will be published Spring 2010 by Wesleyan U. Press.
Seth Caplan (BS ‘02) won an independent Spirit Award for his film “In Search of a Midnight Kiss” that was shot by fellow RTF alumn Robert Murphy (RTF ‘94). His newest film, “The Two Bobs,” premiered at SXSW 2009.
Elsa Estela Castro (BS ’96) is a VP in Ad Sales Research with the Fox Cable Networks out of New York, NY.
Dennis Clifton (BS ‘77, MA ‘81) has released a CD of original songs that can be listened to at www.stoneshadows.com.
Donald Cohen (BS ‘77) has been promoted to the position of Ombudsman for CompUSA and TigerDirect.com. He has been with TigerDirect since 2004, following careers as a radio and print journalist, speechwriter for the Washington State Attorney General, ghostwriter, and public relations consultant.
Michael Conyer (MFA ’99) is living in Los Angeles, CA.
Brad Creel (BS ’89) is a special education teacher with the Aldine Independent School District, Houston, TX.
Brian Davidson (BS ‘90) is a writer and producer for “CSI:Miami.”
John Estrada (BS ’07) recently won the 2009 HBO/New York International Latino Film Festival Short Film Competition and will receive $15,000 to make a short film for the festival. Estrada also won the WGBH/POV Election 2008 contest.
Penelope Falk (MFA ‘80) has spent the last 13 years working primarily as a documentary editor. Beginning her career on Jennifer Fox's groundbreaking series, An American Love Story, her subsequent editing credits include A Letter Without Words (premiered at Sundance Film Festival), Bombay Eunuch (winner of the New York Gay and Lesbian Film Festival), Stagedoor (debuted at the New York Film Forum), and Toots Shore: Bigger Than Life (premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival). She has also done numerous films for television, including Afghan Stories (the Sundance Channel), Uncle Sam Wants You (A&E), Escuela (PBS) and Unfinished Country (PBS).
Karen Estelle Gustafson (Ph.D. ’06) is a project manager with UT’s Telecommunications & Information Policy Institute.
James Guthrie (BS ’98) lives in San Antonio, TX.
Ian Hubbard (BS ’89) is a visual effects artist out of Burbank, CA.
Guy M. Huskerson, Jr. (BFA ‘52) retired as a colonel in the U.S. Army Military Police.
Philip Hohle (BS ‘79) is an assistant professor of communication at Concordia University in Austin and the owner of Parabolic Productions in St. Louis, MO.
Trevor Houghton (MFA ’99 ) is Chief Lighting Technician with IATSE Local 728 in Los Angeles, CA.
Sharon Hudgins (MA ‘75) has worked as a lecturer on several tours offered by National Geographic Expeditions (Trans-Siberian Railway Journey) and Lindblad Expeditions (Cruising Down the Danube). Her latest book, Beyond the Ivory Tower: The First 60 Years 1947-2007, was published by the University of Maryland in 2008 and her previous book, The Other Side of Russia: A Slice of Life in Siberia and the Russian Far East (Texas A&M Press, 2003) is now in its 3rd printing. Several of her food and travel articles have recently appeared in Saveur, Gastronomica, German Life and other publications.
Deborah Lynn Jaramillo (Ph.D. ’06) is an assistant professor at Boston University.
Benjamin Jones (BS ‘77) was recently cast in a Nike on-camera national network spot for the NCAA Final Four tournament. Ben played a Kentucky horse farmer.
Scott H. Jones (BA ’83) is a director and director of photography with XL Films, Ltd. (www.xlfilms.tv). He lives in Richmond, TX.
Jeffrey Kaufman (BS ‘73) is vice president of film for Malco Theatres.
Serena Lambiase (BS ‘91) is a senior product manager for BMC Software in Richardson, TX.
Floyd Mitchell Land (Ph.D. ‘90) is the director of the Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas in Denton. Dr. Land had the privilege of leading the charge to move the department from the College of Arts and Sciences to becoming a free-standing school of journalism named for its benefactors, Frank W. and Sue Mayborn.
Sook-Jung Lee (Ph.D. ’07) is a university professor in Korea.
Albert Anthony Lopez (MFA ‘06) is a lecturer at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and also teaches communication classes at Northwest Vista College.
Juan De Dios Pinion Lopez (Ph. D. ’07) is an assistant professor at NYU.
Gayle Elizabeth McKenney (BS ’78) is in his eighth year teaching Speech and Journalism at Willis High School in Willis, TX. His son is currently attending UT Austin and is a 4th generation Longhorn.
Micah Magee (BS ’00) lives in Berlin, TX.
Evangelina Martinez (BS ’94) is Records Management Analyst with Dell Computers, Round Rock, TX.
Paolo Mefalopulos (Ph.D. ‘03), a communication specialist with the World Bank, recently published a book with the World Bank entitled Development Communication Sourcebook: Broadening the Boundaries of Communication. The book was launched in November 2008 and has already been adopted by a number of UN agencies, NGOs and some universities.
Robert Scott Merrifield (BS ’77, MA ’84) is a technical manager with ABC National News, LAVC, out of Los Alamitos, CA.
Mitch Miers (BS ’98) lives in Colleyville, TX.
Kristin Miller (BS ‘03) is a communications coordinator for “Entertainment Tonight” and “The Insider” for CBS in Los Angeles.
Seung-Hwan Mun (Ph.D ’08) is an assistant professor with the Department of Communication, Media & Theatre, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL.
Peter (P.K.) Munson (BS ‘93) is a freelance camera assistant (1st A.C.) who works on many of the feature films that come to Texas. His credits include the UT Burnt Orange Production of “Elvis and Anabelle,” starring Max Minghella, Blake Lively, Mary Steenburgen, and Joe Mantegna.
KeunPyo (Root) Park (MFA ’06) is currently teaching at Southern Illinois University.
Lisa B. Payne (BS ’81), maiden name Pomerantz, is an Estate Paralegal with Goldstein & Herst, Princeton, NJ.
Penne Korth Peacock (attended 1961-64) is a director at Chevy Chase Bank in Austin, TX.
Erich Pelletier (MA ‘03) is Program Manager with Digital Media and eLearning with the University of Texas System - IPSI, Austin, TX.
Alisa Perren (MA ‘98, Ph.D. ‘04) is an assistant professor of communication at Georgia State University in the Department of Communication.
Jennifer Anne Petersen (Ph.D. ’06) is an assistant professor at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville).
William H. Petticrew (BS 2000) is a producer for Petticrew Productions in Sugar Land, TX.
Dak Rasheta (BS ’96) is an executive producer for Dak Rasheta Productions (Dallas, TX), which specializes in lifestyle and reality programming and has produced over 75 hours of programming for various cable networks and nationally syndicated series.
P.J. Raval (MFA ‘04), the cinematographer on the Academy Award nominated documentary “Trouble the Waters,” will begin teaching as an assistant professor for the RTF Department at UT Austin beginning Fall 2009.
Brennan Reynolds (BS ‘04) had a small speaking part in the Dream Works film “I Love You Man” released in March.
Douglas Ross (BS ‘80) has worked around the world in a career that includes stints as a producer for “China Empire” for the History Channel, “Global View” series with History International, as a producer at Saudi Aramco in the Middle East, as executive producer/founder of Honolulu Municipal TV, as a producer at WLRN-PBS in Miami, and as director at Warner-Amex Cable of Dallas and KERA-PSB in Dallas. For the past two years he’s been senior producer with USPS-TV near Washington, D.C.
R. David Ruiz (BS ‘93) has gone from senior commercial editor to Media Manager at CBS KEYE in Austin, TX.
Avi Dan Santo (Ph.D. ’06) is an assistant professor at Old Dominion University.
Steve Schoelman (BS ‘83) recently received his M.Ed. from Texas State University in counseling and guidance and is now a counselor at Stony Point High School in Round Rock, TX. He still continues to use his undergraduate degree for sports videography on a freelance basis.
Tracey Scheer (MA ’81) is President of donothing productions, Branford, CT.
Bryan Robert Sebok (Ph.D. ’07) is an assistant professor at Lewis and Clark University (Oregon).
Aaron Segura (BS ‘08) is a camera operator/editor/gaffer/co-director at Dadlabs.com, an information and entertainment company that provides creative media content and information products for the modern father. Dadlabs is located in Austin, TX.
Yaron Shemer (Ph.D. ’05) is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill).
Arie Stavchansky (Ph.D. ’07) recently started his Austin-based design, direction, and production company called Foci.
Andrew Stefanek (BS ’86) is a freelance sound mixer out of Cocoa Beach, FL, who spent two years in Baghdad as the sound mixer for the Saddam Hussein trial and those of the other defendants for worldwide TV and radio.
Spencer Williams Stuart (BS ’01), aka “Spencer Striker,” is the Creative Director & Executive Producer with GameZombie Entertainment LLC., Bloomington, IN.
Liza Trevino (BS ‘93, MA ‘95) received her Ph.D. from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 2005 and has worked in media research in Los Angeles and in Austin, TX. Currently she is the sales and marketing director of research for the DFW Tribune television station, The 33. She is also the station’s film critic and local movie scene observer, The 33 Flick Chick.
William S. Van Buren (BS ‘83) is a producer at Valve Corporation in Bellevue, WA.
Joseph Paul-Anthony Villescas (Ph.D. ’05) is the CEO of Villescas Research, Media & Instruction (El Paso).
Monica Weber Wessel (BS ‘81) won a 2009 Gold ADDY from the Nashville Advertising Federation in the non-profit brochure category, working for the Anderson Design Group as a collaborator and copywriter. Wessel authored an original “modern fable” for The Hope Clinic for Women, a crisis pregnancy counseling center in Nashville. Wessel is a 25-yr veteran of marketing, consulting and publishing, and also is an author and humorist, writing under the pen name “Bunkie Lynn.” She is the principal partner of LadyBug Publishing, a marketing/consulting firm.
Giovanni (Nikki) Willis (PhD ‘07) is teaching English and Film, and working with the Diversity Office at Taft School, Watertown, Connecticut.
Michael A. Wilie (BS ‘76) is the president of Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations in Ft. Worth, TX.
Jett Winders (BS ‘06) was recently promoted to a new position in charge of developing, maintaining and expanding membership programs for the Paramount Theatre. He entered an evening MBA program at the UT McCombs School of Business in the fall of 2008.