Panelists
2015-2016 Media Arts

September 17, 2014
9:00 AM - to conclusion
Teleconference (How to participate)

Chair: Lois Benson
Program Manager: Curtis Young

Vanessa B. Cruz

Flagler County

Associate Professor and Fulbright Scholar of Media Arts, University of North Florida
Previously worked for 20th Century Fox Television Animation, Film Roman
Curator for screenings at the REDCAT in Los Angeles, Santa Monica Museum of Art, and the Japanese American National Museum
Fulbright Scholar Award in 2012 and 2014 in Media Arts; 2008 Individual Artist Fellowship Award from the State of Florida; 2009 University of North Florida Summer Scholarship grant.
Member of the Jacksonville Film Festival Board of Directors
M.F.A., Experimental Animation, The California Institute of the Arts; B.F.A.; Film/ Video/ Animation, Rhode Island School of Design

Leon County

President and Creative Director, Tallahassee Film Festival
Program Communications Manager, State of Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Program
Writer, filmmaker, and artist with extensive and award-winning background in writing, visual art, design, and photography

Miami-Dade County

Lecturer, University of Miami, Department of Cinema and Interactive Media
Also teaches courses in science documentary film production for graduate students in Public Health and Molecular Biology
Former Director of the Edward H. Arnold Center for Confluent Media Studies, University of Miami
Award winning documentary filmmaker featured on CBS4, NBC6, Miami Herald and USA Today, and international Cable and Public TV channels such as Discovery (US and India), Canal+(France), CZTV (Czech Republic), LAPTV (Latin America) and CNN Tu?rk
Latest global documentary, The Silver Mirror, debuted at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva, narrated by Blythe Danner with an original score performed by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra
Co-Director and Editor of One Water, premiered at the Miami International Film Festival 2008 and won numerous international awards. TV version, narrated by Martin Sheen, premiered on the Discovery Network’s Planet Green in 2010, shown on international Cable and Public TV channels in France, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Poland and Turkey.

Leon County

Assistant in Film, Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts
Director and screenwriter, whose latest film Aquí y Allá premiered at Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, where it was awarded the Grand Prix
Received awards for Best Latino Director from the East Coast by the DGA, Best Short by the L.A. Film Festival, and Best Spanish Short by the national Spanish state TV channel TVE
Co-founder of Aquí y Allí Films, a feature film production company with a special interest in fostering the work of young filmmakers
M.F.A., Film Production, Columbia University School of the Arts

Seminole County

Associate Professor of Film, University of Central Florida
Numerous national and international awards and films screened in festivals all over the world
Previously a broadcast journalist and freelance producer for local commercial and public television for more than 25 years

Alachua County

Co-director, Documentary Institute, Professor, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida
Serves on the editorial advisory board of Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly
Published in numerous journalism and communication journals, including Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Communication Monographs, Communication Education, Journalism Educator, and the International Communication Bulletin
Co-author (with Samuel L. Becker) of Discovering Mass Communication
Co-director/co-producer of several PBS documentaries: Giving Up the Canal (1990), Campaign for Cuba (1992), Last Days of the Revolution (1994), Freedom Never Dies: The Legacy of Harry T. Moore (2001), and Negroes With Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power (2006)
Ph.D., University of Iowa

Hillsborough County

Senior Vice President of Development, WEDU, Tampa’s PBS affiliate
Responsible for annual giving, including membership, mid-level giving, direct mail, on-air pledge and grant research
Member AFP Suncoast Chapter
B.A., Communications, University of South Florida