FACULTY
KARYN BOWER
Karyn has been a part of Saddleback’s CTVR faculty since 2013, first teaching TV News & Radio. Currently, she teaches The History and Appreciation of Television and Video Journalism. You can watch the VJ student-produced show, OC Now, on SCTV/Cox Channel 39 and ocnewsteam.com. Prior to teaching, Karyn’s professional career included time spent at OC and LA-based TV news organizations such as KOCE, KABC 7, and KDOC-TV. She worked as a video journalist and segment producer for the KDOC-TV morning news show, Daybreak OC, and media partner, OC Register. Karyn also served on the Board of Directors for the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival, in addition to her responsibilities as LAFF’s Video Production Producer and Media Representative.
HIRO KONISHI
Hiro has directed numerous TV shows, documentaries, promos, and commercials. His work has been broadcast nationally and internationally. He has been the chair/co-chair of the Cinema-TV-Radio Department since 2007. Prior to joining Saddleback College in 2005, he was an assistant professor of video and TV production at California State University Monterey Bay. He has a Master of Fine Arts in Film and Video Production from the University of Texas at Austin.
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CTVR Podcast with Professor Konishi
MARIA MAYENZET
Maria’s career has spanned over thirty-five years working in regional theatre, film, and television. She is a professional actor, director, playwright, author, short film director and producer. She has a B.A in Drama from University of California, Irvine (2002) and an M.F.A. in Acting and Directing from California State University, Long Beach (2005).
She has taught at Saddleback College for 15 years and has been tenured faculty in the Cinema, Television and Radio Department since 2011.
She has been a Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival adjudicator since 2007.
She has summited Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania,Thorong La Pass in Nepal and the Lanin Volcano in Argentina.
SAMUEL SLOVES
Sam is a writer and producer including an award-winning film at Sundance and the winner of several screenwriting grants and awards. He was the first person in his department at his previous institution to earn the school's distinguished teaching award.
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TOM MACDUFF
Tom Macduff studied television and media at Chico State University before receiving an MFA in Film Production from Chapman University. A veteran in broadcast television, Tom has worked at CMTV, OCN and ICTV where he currently acts as manager. Tom produced an array of off-road documentaries which have sold world wide and his short movie, "Man of Sole" was featured in multiple film festivals. Most recently, Tom has acted as a principal owner of 3ative Media who recently released the first of a series of educational/entertainment movies for children.
JULIA BRADY-JENNER
Julia Brady-Jenner has extensive experience in production, and for 8 years, shot, produced, directed and edited ESPN’s water and snow sports, 7-up’s Cool in Pink commercial spots, and an international ESPN series. She produced, shot and directed When Angels Smile, a documentary in Guanajuato, Mexico, and was Producer and Talent for The Writer Speaks with the Writers Guild of America Foundation in L.A…a series of interviews with top writers in film and television (I Love Lucy, Parent Trap, Scent of a Woman), etc., which was picked up by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.
She is a freelance writer, producer and director, and is now working on a series on actresses pivoting behind the camera for her 2022 sabbatical project.
She chaired the Cinema, Television and Radio department at Saddleback College for 8 years, created the CTVR Internship program, started the Artist in Residence program, and has written two textbooks on Cinema.
MATTHEW BRODET
Matthew Brodet started out as a Lab Technician in 2001, and is currently a Media Production Specialist in the Cinema, Television, and Radio program. He helps manage the various television studios and computer labs. He is happy to be here helping students with everything from learning a new piece of equipment to checking out equipment.
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Matt has a background in computer management, engineering, editing, directing and managing live and scripted television productions. He also assists in other areas of the college that require audio visual support.
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He looks forward to assisting the Students and Faculty.
ANGELO FORD
Angelo has instructed courses in Independent Producing, Video Production, Cross-Cultural Cinema, Screenwriting for Film and TV, Media Aesthetics. He is also currently Line Producer on a graphic novel to feature film adaptation that is currently in pre-production. Angelo has produced award winning short films, multiple web-series, public service announcements and managed an independent feature as UPM. Angelo served as a USAF pilot and utilizes the knowledge gained from his twenty years of experience in logistics, his Master's Degree in Business and Master's Degree in Film and TV Producing to consistently guide film projects through all phases of production.
NANCY LIU
A writer and director, Nancy Liu was born in Taiwan and grew up in San Francisco, California. She was a lawyer prior to becoming a filmmaker. She graduated from Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts with an MFA in Film Production. Her Chapman thesis film, Angeltown, screened at numerous festivals and won several awards, including Best Student Film at the Dam Short Film Festival. She was a participant in HALF Initiative’s 2018 Directing Mentorship program.
GARY SCHMOELLER
Raised in West Texas, Gary received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas. Attending UT on an athletic scholarship for Tennis, he was a touring professional until his early thirties when he began a business career in the transportation industry. After a few years as a vice president and general manager, he moved to Los Angeles to seek a career in feature films.
He is a veteran line producer with 30 films to his credit. He began his career as a production manager working with director Brian Yuzna on “Bride of Re-Animator”. He managed four films before he began working with the films from inception as a line producer and a co-producer.
He has worked as a true “indie producer” with budgets from $750,000 to $6.5 million. He has worked both as a freelance producer and as a principal in a film production company.
KIKU TERASAKI
Kiku is a Producer and Creative Executive in film, premium cable, television, and corporate media. She has worked at HBO, Paramount, Roger Corman's studio and for several international brands and agencies where she developed and/or produced shows in all formats, on-time and on-budget. Her key skill is managing the creative interface between various stakeholders: key creatives, clients, and the audience. She loves storytelling and teaching. She is co-host and co-producer with Bryce Cyrier of the production podcast Call Sheet where they talk with movie craftspeople in all the crafts and learn what they do and why they love it from Scorsese’s first assistant director to the stunt coordinator for the Fast & Furious franchise and many more.
MELODIE BERGQUIST-TURORI
Melodie is a multidisciplinary Pasifika artist, cultural practitioner, and educator. She has worked as a freelance multimedia producer for more twelve years, including experience in documentary filmmaking, radio, and audio storytelling. She was part of the documentary features jury for the 2021 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Her love for storytelling through media began in high school when she accidently ended up as a guest co-host on a radio soccer talk show.
Melodie’s research, art practice, and community work explores the intergenerational realities of the Pacific diaspora, with a focus on identity, relationships, and spirituality. She joined Saddleback College in 2018 and currently teaches Radio Broadcasting and Intro to Audio Storytelling/Podcasting.
SUSAN VALOT
Susan Valot is an award-winning radio journalist and podcast host/producer with more than two decades of audio experience in the Los Angeles area. In addition to teaching audio and film/TV history classes at Saddleback, Valot covers anything and everything as a freelance reporter-producer for various public radio outlets. Her work has appeared on NPR and NPR affiliates KCRW and KPCC.
She also works in the podcast world. Valot hosts and produces Quanta magazine’s science podcast. She edits the freelance business podcast, The Writers’ Co-Op. She's also worked on such podcasts as American Scandal and Business Wars.
Valot has won multiple awards, including the LA Press Club's Radio Journalist of the Year twice and its Radio/Podcast Host/Anchor Award in 2021. She has also won two awards in Germany for her work, including one for a radio story about California artists in Berlin and another related to science communication.
She also has experience with audio tours, producing a tour for the US Forest Service of the 2013 Rim Fire area near Yosemite, the first known audio tour of a wildfire recovery area in the United States.
Valot received her AA in Journalism from El Camino College in Torrance, her BA in Communications (Radio/TV/Film) from California State University Fullerton and her MA in Specialized Journalism (focusing on science reporting) from the University of Southern California. For her master's degree, she took classes at USC in both Annenberg and USC's film school.