Jan Yanehiro pioneered the magazine format on television as co-host of “Evening Magazine,” a nightly program in San Francisco that ran for 15 years on KPIX TV-CBS5. Currently she is the Director of the School of MultiMedia Communications at Academy of Art University, San Francisco. She has hosted 6 documentaries on the redress and relocation issues of Japanese Americans during World War II. Jan has won multiple awards including an Emmy and the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award. She is the mother of six (three of her own and three step-children), holds seats on several boards including the Kristi Yamaguchi Always Dream Foundation and The Bank of Marin. Her latest book is titled, “This Is Not The Life I Ordered…50 Ways To Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down.”

Steve Kotton has more than 25 years of experience in visual communication productions. He is the co-owner and Director of Production of New Material, Inc., A state of the art digital facility syndicated broadcast and the Web. Under the direction of Steve, New Material, Inc. has produced many notable award-winning projects.

Prior to founding New Material, Inc., Steve was the Director of Digital Education Productions and a Producer and Director at HGTV, The History Channel, and the DIY Network. His prior company, Pacific Video Resources, was a highly successful digital studio that produced corporate and creative broadcasts and webcasts. Steve has produced and directed live satellite broadcasts and webcasts. Steve has directed dozens of live satellite broadcasts and webcasts, live action and VFX for video games, and syndicated series.

Paul Colardo has been a Executive Producer for entertainment, TV Specials, reality and news segments for major networks like ABC, CBS, NBC. He has also been a Brand & Marketing Producer/Director for fortune 50 companies like Apple, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, and Oracle. Also, he has been honored with Broadcast Emmye Award & The Cine Golden Eagle.

Joe Fonzi is KTVU FOX 2's weekend sports anchor. He also hosts "49ers Total Access." Fonzi graduated with a BA Degree from California State University, Chico. He has worked at KPIX San Francisco from 1982 to 1994 as weekend sportscaster and feature reporter. Fonzi called the play-by-play for Oakland A's, San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers, Cal Pre-Season games and Cal football games.

Dianne Fukami has been nominated for a National Emmy and was awarded the Northern California Emmy for Best Documentary. Prior to founding her own company in 1991, Dianne was Assistant News Director at KPIX-TV in San Francisco, the CBS affiliate. She was responsible for contract negotiations, marketing and promotion strategy, budgeting and hiring and firing decisions. Currently, Dianne is a governor of San Francisco/Northern California chapter of the National Academy of Television and Sciences.

Richard Hart is one of the world's best known technology personalities. He is the only person to win both an Emmy award for comedy and a DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award for investigative reporting. He holds a degree in physics and is on NASA's official list to become the first American journalist to report from space. Today, Richard Hart reports on emerging technologies for television stations, including ABC7 in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Manny Ramos spent more than 30 years on camera. He was honored with close to 30 awards for his work, including 6 Emmy awards, two of them for Best On-Camera Talent. Manny Ramos works with executives and spokespeople to ensure they are prepares and confident whether interviewing with reporters, speaking in public, or in front of a camera. His work has been features in many national newscasts and shown at the Smithsonian Institution.

Toan Lam comes to Academy of Art University with nearly 10 years of industry experience in front of and behind the camera, including as a host, news reporter, assignment editor, writer, field-producer, photographer and editor. His reporting credits include ABC in Wasau, Wisconsin, CBS Fresno, NBC in Midland Texas and KRON 4 in San Francisco. Lam is also a member of the Asian American Journalists Association.

Michael Rosenthal accepts the 2008-2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement: Arts/Entertainment — Feature/Segment. The Award was presented for the "Bay Area Backroads" story Michael produced, wrote, and editing about an annual event called the Maker Faire.

John Sasaki has been delivering the big news of the day to the Bay Area since 1996 as a reporter for KTVU Channel 2 News. A native of the East Bay, Sasaki graduated from Berkeley High School, he later graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Psychology. Sasaki has covered some of the region's biggest stories. Over the years, Sasaki has garnered a number of awards for excellence in broadcast journalism. He was also voted Best Reporter in the Best of the East Bay magazine poll.

Peter Shaplen is an American journalist, ABC network news and corporate television producer, media message and crisis management consultant. He has produced news stories for American network newscasts and was also the media pool producer for high profile trials including the Scott Peterson double murder, OJ Simpson kidnapping and armed robbery pretrial. Shaplen has won numerous honors including a Mark Twain Award from the Associated Press, a Special Award from the Radio-TV News Directors Association.

Mike Sugerman is one of the best storytellers in the Bay Area. He's among the most honored broadcast journalists in California with a total of 14 Emmys, including 6 Best Writing awards, and 8 National Awards. Sugerman brings his unique perspective to CBS 5 after two decades at KCBS Radio. He graduated with a BA in political science from UCLA and later earned a Master's Degree in the same from San Jose State. He currently lives in San Francisco with his wife Janice Wright, a KCBS reporter.

Anton Wannenburg has been actively involved in the Digital Video, Animation and Motion Graphics industry for the past 14 years. Anton studied Computer Imaging and Animation in 1993 at the School of Communication Arts in Raleigh, North Carolina. After graduating Anton returned to his homeland, South Africa where he stared his own Animation and Graphics studio. Over the last 14 years his work has been used in a large variety of applications, everything from high-end TV commercials to award winning stereoscopic product launches. His animations have been seen everywhere from water screens in the jungles of Zimbabwe to the walls of museums in Switzerland, France, Seoul, Italy and the USA. Anton currently resides in the Bay Area where he works as a freelance Video, Animation and Graphics artist.

Cara Jones is a multiple Emmy Award winning writer, reporter, and producer with vast experience in using video to tell compelling, inspiring human-interest stories. She has more than a decade of experience in broadcast journalism and has reported for network affiliates in Southwest Florida, Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area. Having been frustrated by the sometimes negative nature of local news stories, she founded Storytellers for Good in 2009. Storytellers for Good is a non-profit team of journalists and photographers who aim to tell and promote stories of people and organizations making a positive difference. Cara is a graduate of Princeton University with a degree in public policy. She volunteers with the Big Sister Association, 826 Valencia and has raised funds for cancer research in connection with her running the Boston Marathon. She speaks Spanish and has back-packed through South America, Europe, and India. Cara is also a life coach and yoga instructor.

Celeste was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Upon graduation from the University of Hawaii she landed her first radio job at KQMQ Honolulu, working for legendary programmer Ron Jacobs. She developed her early radio, voice-over and on-camera skills in her hometown, but grew restless on the islands and moved to San Francisco, where she quickly found her place in the Bay Area Media community.

In addition to her radio shows, Celeste has hosted segments of Evening Magazine, emceed countless events, provided the voice for hundreds of commercials and industrial films. She is an active volunteer in her community. She and her family have traveled widely, from her beloved Hawaii to the islands of Greece…from the hills of Tuscany to the center of Old Jerusalem. Her hobbies include cooking, reading, hiking, writing, and seeking new adventure! She lives in Marin County with her family, including her two dogs Ginger and the rescue dog Jake.

Danny Skarka has extensive experience as technical operations manager in major studios, including Current, the global network founded by Al Gore, KRON-TV, KPIX, San Francisco, and CNN, Atlanta, Apple, Microsoft, HP. He managed the development and growth of the production facilities for Current TV from a single control room, single studio facility to a 4 control room, 3 studio, 3 country operation in 3 years; the resulting global broadcast network served over 60 million homes

Desmond Crisis started his career as both a game developer and radio personality. He has been a nominator and evaluator for the first Interactive Media Festival, traveling the world to view and describe the first explosion of interactive art and media. He has also appeared in The Cyberpunk Handbook and the film Synthetic Pleasures. Desmond has been a host and correspondent on CNET's Sci-Fi Channel shows Cool Tech, CNET Central, The Web, and The New Edge. And The Desmond Crisis Program on radio

Jenn has been with KNBR 680 / 1050 "The Sports Leader" since July of 1997. A graduate of The University of Pacific she started her sports career as a full-time intern (and more) with The San Francisco Giants in the summer of '96. Following graduation she continued her job with Giants, then Susquehanna Radio Corp launched a new hip sports station called "The Ticket 1050." Jenn worked as the morning show call screener and before she knew it she was hooked! As "Baywatch" the token chick on "The Ron & Don Show" she got a real life lesson in radio! As it happens more often then not talent changed but Jenn stayed. She has worked with a variety of hosts until she landed as the Executive Producer for "The Razor & Mr. T." the number 1 rated afternoon show in the San Francisco market. Jenn also produces the 49ers pre-game show with Lamont & Tonelli of 107.7 The Bone. Over the past 13 years she has had the opportunity to attend most major sporting events including; The Super Bowl, US Open, World Series, NBA & MLB All-Star Game and numerous boxing events. Jenn lives in San Francisco with her husband Michael and daughter Keira.

John Scott is a journalist, writer, broadcast and digital content producer with 34 years of experience in the industry. He began his career in 1976 in his home state of Iowa, at the time holding the distinction of being the youngest full-time on-air talent in the state. John is a recipient of several awards for journalism from the northern California Radio/TV News Directors Association, and has served as a board member of the organization. He joins the Academy having most recently been Program Director and Content manager for green 960 and 910AM radio, green960.com and talk910.com, Operations Manager for Total Traffic Network and a classic rock DJ at 103.7 The Band in San Francisco.

John graduated with a BA in Journalism from University of Nebraska in Lincoln. His career started in Nebraska at KHGI and KHAS. In 1980, John moved to San Jose, CA and worked for KNTV and KICU. From there, John spent 15 years at KNBR radio as a sports reporter, host, and anchor. After 25 years in broadcasting, he returned to school for an MS in Mass Communication from San Jose State. He also does play by play for the San Jose Earthquakes and Comcast Sports Net.

Michelle Kennedy has more than 10 years of experience working as a television news reporter and anchor. Most recently she worked at KRON 4 in San Francisco where she shot, wrote, edited and presented stories live for multiple newscasts.

Kennedy has a Master of Arts degree and is a frequent lecturer on the future of news reporting at colleges and universities throughout the Bay Area.

Kennedy also hosts corporate videos and works as a professional actor in her free time. She starred in episode 16 of NBC’s Trauma last season.

Renee Richardson has been playing radio in the Bay Area for over 15 years. Currently she can be heard weekdays, starting at 5 am, as part of the KFOG Morning Show. Over the years she has made a name for herself within the Bay Area music scene by producing the KFOG Local Scene CD. Each year the CD helps to raise much needed funds for Music in Schools Today. Renee serves on the Board of Governors for the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy, she teaches a radio/podcasting class at Academy of Art University, and she also loves to help out in the community where she can; for some reason she has developed a love for playing auctioneer - while she’s not very good at it, she has a darn good time in the process.

James Hattori has travelled the world pursuing some of the biggest international stories as a TV news reporter. He’s reported from the battlefields of Iraq, Tsunami ravages South-East Asia, terrorist attacks in London. Hattori is currently a freelance journalist and communications consultant. He’s also been a fill-in host for Weekend Edition, Day to Day and On Point, for NPR. He has been correspondent for NBC & CNN. Hattori began his career at local television stations in San Diego, Seattle and Houston.