Contact and Overview
Email Address
Office Hours
Tuesday: 2:00-3:00pm
Wednesday: 2:00-3:00pm
Thursday: 2:00-3:00pm
Or by appointment
Education
MFA, Film/Video Production, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
B.A., American Studies, Trinity College, Hartford, CT
Improv training at Second City Training Center
Website
http://www.wataugacountyusa.com
Teaching
Currently Teaching (Fall 2025)
COM 2416 Video Production
COM 3301 Writing for Electronic Media
COM 3313 Professional Ethics Electronic Media
Courses Taught
COM 1600 Fundamentals of Electronic Media
COM 2416 Video Production
COM 3301 Writing for Electronic Media
COM 3313 Professional Ethics in Electronic Media
COM 3316 Television Studio Production
COM 3320 Audio/Video Production
COM 3540 Special Topics: Professional Video Production
COM 4580 Electronic Media Senior Seminar
Teaching and Research Specialties
Video Production
Writing and doumentary storytelling
Storytelling across media platforms
Media production with an emphasis on story development
Documentary production
Freelance writing for corporate clients
Selected Publications
My work has aired on WTTW Chicago, PBS and in multiple film festivals.
Essays have appeared in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Parent.
Corporate clients include Fortune 500 companies like Abbott, Kraft, Motorola, Microsoft and others.
Research Interests
Focused on documentary production on people who live and work in the Appalachian region.
Peer-Reviewed Screenings & Exhibitions
2025- “Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture: Farm, Food & Community” – a documentary (RT 21:45) that looks at the community impact of Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture (BRWIA), a nonprofit organization founded in 2003 by women to help women farmers in the High Country of western North Carolina. The film explores the 20-year development of BRWIA and the local food pathways this organization has created for the Appalachian counties of Watauga, Ashe and Avery. Link to this documentary (password required)
- International:
- 2025 Oregon Documentary Film Festival – based in Portland, OR. A juried film festival that screens international independent documentary films, series and experimental films, established in 2017. This festival accepts 25% of its international submissions. Award finalist in the Best Documentary category.
- 2025 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards – Awarded the Silver Award in this international documentary film competition founded in 2014 and based in Atlanta, GA. This documentary competition celebrates the art of nonfiction storytelling by recognizing exceptional documentary filmmakers from around the globe.
- National:
- 2025 Raleigh Film & Art Festival – based in Raleigh, NC. A juried film festival that defines itself as a showcase for "the best talent at the largest film & art festival in the country." Established in 2013.
- Community Impact: several hundred people in the community viewed the film across four local screenings
- Blowing Rock Art History Museum (BRAHM) screening, April 10, 2025
- Sustainability Program screening, March 18, 2025, Three Top Room 169, Plemmons Student Union
- One of the films screened at the “Documenting Our Common Humanity: Climate, Community, Resilience” block of the Boone Docs Film Festival, held at the Appalachian Theatre on Feb. 22, 2025, sponsored by High Country Humanities.
- Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, screening held on Sept. 6, 2024 to an audience of about 80 people.
2024 - WASU at 50: College Radio As It's Meant To Be, a documentary (RT 18:30) on WASU-FM’s first 50 years. Completed as a faculty/student collaboration in my fall 2021 COM 3540 special topics class. Served as producer/director/editor of the documentary and supervised student contributions to the video. Link to this documentary.
- International:
- 2023 Festival of Media Arts Award of Excellence – awarded by the Broadcast Education Association’s (BEA) Festival of Media Arts, an international juried competition. The 2023 winners were selected from a pool of more than 1,650 entries from more than 300 colleges and universities. Less than 22% of the submissions were recognized with awards.
- 2024 North Carolina Film Festival, based in New Bern, NC. Peer-reviewed international film festival that celebrates diversity and inclusion, established in 2019. “Honorable Mention” in the documentary short category.
- National:
- 2024 Blackbird Film Festival, held in Cortland, NY. A peer-reviewed national film festival established in 2015. “Honorable Mention” in the documentary short category, making it a finalist in the competition.
- Regional:
- 2024 Longleaf Film Festival, based in Raleigh, NC. Peer-reviewed regional festival established in 2015.
2021 – Fog Likely Farm: An Appalachian Story, a documentary short about the life lessons that came from living on Fog Likely Farm, located in Deep Gap, North Carolina (RT – 27:35), was the official selection in the following film festivals and screenings:
- 2021 RiverRun International Film Festival held in 2021 both virtually and in Winston-Salem, NC due to Covid. This is a peer-reviewed, Oscar® qualifying festival, established in 1998.
- 2021 University Film and Video Association – selected for screening at the international association’s annual conference. UFVA was established in 1947 and is “the leading association in the United States dedicated to the promotion and study of moving image practice in higher education.”
- 2021 Footcandle Film Festival, based in Hickory, NC. Peer-reviewed national film festival established in 2015 to bring “unique, challenging and entertaining films to western NC.”
- 2021 North Carolina Longleaf Film Festival, based in Raleigh, NC. Peer-reviewed regional festival established in 2015. Screenings were held virtually this year due to COVID.
2019 – Watauga County USA – developed and launched the website for this ongoing multimedia project; began populating the website with stories. This project incorporates video, stills and text to tell the multifaceted story of Watauga County, an influential county located within Appalachia. Portions of this project were included in the following exhibitions:
- 2021 Exhibitor, Watauga County USA multimedia website included in: “From Here: The Bioregional Imagination in Recent Art by Appalachian State University Professors” at the Hiddenite Art and Heritage Center, Hiddenite NC.
- 2020 Exhibitor, Fine and Applied Arts Faculty Biennial. Featuring images and words from our Watauga County USA multi-media project.
2018 – A Father’s Dream, a documentary short (RT – 6:54) about the family influences that inspired fine-woodworker David Finck, based in Western North Carolina, to move his career from fine woodworking into violin-making, was the official selection in the following peer-reviewed film festivals.
- 2018 Newport Beach Film Festival, held in Newport Beach, CA. Peer-reviewed international festival established in 1999.
- 2018 Blackbird Film Festival, documentary category, held in Cortland, NY. Peer-reviewed national festival established in 2015. In 2018, Blackbird reviewers accepted only seven percent of submissions to be screened.
- 2018 North Carolina Longleaf Film Festival, held in Raleigh, NC. Peer-reviewed regional festival established in 2015.
- 2018 Boone Film Festival, Boone, NC. Peer-reviewed regional festival established in 2015.
Recent Awards
- 2025 Oregon Documentary Film Festival – based in Portland, OR. Award finalist in the Best Documentary category.
- 2025 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards – Awarded the Silver Award in this international documentary film competition.
Title: Associate Professor, Electronic Media/Broadcasting
Department: Department of Communication
Email address: Email me
Phone: (828) 262-2408