In Memoriam: Larry Himmel

NATAS PSW remembers longtime San Diego broadcaster, Larry Himmel.  Below is KFMB-TV/CBS News 8’s statement about Himmel’s passing:

Legendary reporter, humorist and consummate broadcaster, Larry Himmel, died last night at home surrounded by family, following his brave battle with cancer. He was 68 years old.

“Larry has been a beloved member of CBS 8 and the KFMB family for more than 35 years. Whether on radio or television, covering news or sports, Larry always brought a unique perspective that revealed his love of San Diego. On behalf of everyone at KFMB, it was a privilege and joy to know him both on and off the air,” said Elisabeth Meyer Kimmel, President/Owner, KFMB Stations.

For decades, Himmel entertained San Diegans with his warmth, wit and humor as CBS News 8’s Feature Reporter. His gifted writing and storytelling ability garnered loyal viewers and his colleagues’ respect as one of the best television feature reporters in the industry. A recipient of nearly a dozen EMMY® awards, Himmel’s CBS News 8 “Neighborhood Reports” are etched in San Diego television history.

Himmel’s talent and versatility were unparalleled. He was the station’s favorite utility player, forecasting the weather, reporting sports and covering the San Diego Chargers on the road for several seasons, all with his incomparable, unique style.

A Chicago native, Himmel’s broadcasting career began at Bradley University’s radio station in Peoria, Illinois, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Speech. In 1969, after a brief stint teaching seventh grade English, he followed his passion straight to the DJ booth at WSIV in Pekin, Illinois, then WJOB in Hammond, Indiana and CJOM-FM in Windsor, Ontario. Seeking fame, fortune and sunny weather, Himmel hit the San Diego airwaves in 1973 as “The Cruiser” on KGB-AM & FM.

In 1979, while working as a standup comic at The Comedy Store in La Jolla, Himmel captured the attention of former KFMB-TV News Director Jim Holtzman, who immediately hired him and launched his legendary television career. In addition to his witty, “Himmel At Large” News 8 commentaries, the pair created San Diego at Large in 1985, the station’s weeknight comedy show starring Himmel and cast of thousands. During its more than three year run, the show featured innovative sketches, news parodies, and San Diego’s beloved “Biff and Skippy.” Later he also worked down the hall on sister radio station, KFMB-FM.

Himmel received national media attention when he reported outside his Rancho Bernardo home as it went up in flames during the devastating 2007 Witch Creek Fire. He made appearances on “Dr. Phil” and “Ellen” where he shared stories about his personal ordeal. He was very involved in helping neighbors rebuild the Rancho Bernardo community after the fire.

One of Himmel’s final projects was producing, writing and hosting a special devoted to KFMB’s 65th Anniversary.

Although he was born and raised in Chicago, Himmel loved San Diego and will be remembered for his dedication and service to numerous community organizations, including: Rady Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Alzheimer’s Association, and Lions, Tigers & Bears. Himmel said that his daily purpose was to make people feel better about this place they call home.

“Larry is truly a legend in every sense of the word. The brilliant storyteller who poured his heart and kind soul into his work for 35 years made us laugh, reflect and occasionally even cry. He had an uncanny ability to connect with everyone. Everyone loved Larry. All of us at CBS News 8 are honored to call him our colleague and friend. We will dearly miss his larger-than-life personality, but remain inspired by his brilliance, kindness and ever present smile,” said Dean Elwood, News Director, KFMB-TV.

He is survived by his wife, Joan; his son, Miles; half brothers, Gerry and Tod; half sister, Dana; and his stepfather, Eddie.

Here’s KFMB’s tribute video.

Follow us on Instagram

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Silver Circle Nominations

Calling all Silver Circle Nominations! Do you know someone who’s been in the television industry for at least 25 years? Let us know and nominate them to become a Silver Circle member. Fill out application form online before March 15, 2015 to nominate a colleague. Date, time and location of the Silver Circle Inductee Event will be announced soon.

2015 Call for Entries Coming Soon

The Emmy® Awards committee is currently working on the 2015 Call for Entries. It should be out by the end of November, so start thinking now about some of the great work you have done in 2014. Remember, in order to be able to submit your entry at the member rate, you need to be a member for 2015. Current memberships expire on December 31st, but you don’t have to wait – renew your membership now. If you have forgotten your password, simply click here. Membership renewals are $60 and new memberships are $85.

Apply for NATAS PSW Scholarships

The Pacific Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has opened the application period for the Scholarship Program for the coming 2015-2016 school year. Scholarships are awarded in amounts up to $5,000! For more information and to fill out an application, go here.

The Next Generation of Media Ratings and Demographics Webcast

Learn about the next generation of media ratings and demographics at this fantastic NATAS webcast on Wednesday, October 22nd at Oregon Public Broadcasting, 7140 SW Macadam Avenue, Portland, Oregon.

The live webcast begins at 6 p.m. PT, which is FREE for NATAS members! 
Please R.S.V.P. at this link: http://bit.ly/1ybEkAU
Steve Walsh, Executive Vice President of Local Market Television, Rentrak (Moderator)

Steve Walsh has spent his entire career pushing the envelope in audience measurement research.
He says his mission at Rentrak is to put this knowledge to work transforming the local audience measurement ecosystem to provide a better understanding of the viewing behavior of real consumers, and how that aligns with the products they purchase.

In his role as Executive Vice President of Local Market Television, Steve works closely with TV station owners as well as management, sales and research teams to demonstrate how Rentrak can provide a cross-platform audience measurement solution unlike any other.

Steve brings more than 20 years of proven strategic sales and sales management experience to his role at Rentrak. Prior to Rentrak, he held key sales leadership positions at research industry startups and current standard-bearers like Integrated Media Measurement, Inc. (IMMI), Experian Research Services, IAG Research, TNS Media Intelligence and Nielsen Media Research. He is a member of the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB), the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) and the Radio & Television Research Council (RTRC), and a frequent speaker at prestigious universities nationwide.

Scott Thompson President MBT Marketing

Scott is an expert in Customer and market research, retail marketing, media strategy, and franchise marketing and advertising. Scott’s career in the marketing and advertising industry spans 30 years. He has worked for advertisers, media companies and presently is co-owner of a Portland-based advertising agency. Scott’s work includes international, national and regional brands including: Dairy Queen, Intel, Lenovo, Clorox, C&H Sugar, Fred Meyer, Smith’s, QFC, Kroger, GI Joe’s, Fisher Broadcasting, Clear Channel Radio, CAR Auto Group and Tire Factory. Scott has been a Partner at MBT since 2004 and Managing Partner since 2006.  Scott holds a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Oregon.

 

John Tamerlano President/GM KATU TV

John Tamerlano is Vice-President and General Manager of KATU-TV ABC and KUNP-TV Univision in Portland, Oregon. He is originally from Cleveland, OH and attended Bowling Green State University. John began his television career in 1979, as a Sales Account Executive, with WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh, PA. He was named Local Sales Manager there in 1980. In 1984, as General Sales Manager, he helped launch, new station, WRGT-TV in Dayton, Ohio. John returned to Cleveland, in 1984, where he was the General Sales Manager for the ABC Scripps Howard station and the NBC Gannett Television station. John was recruited to Portland, OR, in 1999 be Lee Enterprise’s CBS affiliate, KOIN-TV, to be their Director of Sales and Research. He also oversaw the local sales efforts for their sister stations.

 

Tiffani Lupenski News Director KATU TV

Tiffani Lupenski has been the News Director at KATU in Portland, Oregon since August 2012 after having joined the station as the Assistant News Director in 2010. Her career began in radio in her hometown of San Antonio more than 20 years ago. Since then, she’s held reporting, producing and news management positions in seven markets across the country including Atlanta, Denver, and Seattle. Tiffani is a multiple Emmy® award-winner and has also been honored with two Edward R. Murrow awards for her work as a journalist.

NATAS Master Class Series Fall 2014

NATAS-PSW members are invited to receive FREE professional development through a Fall series of master classes in TV production/post production.

The classes will be live webcast to all NATAS members and then archived on YouTube.  RSVP’s are required, use the link under each class description.

Each webcast will begin at 11:00 a.m. PST.  The online audience will be able to ask questions of the instructors during Q&A periods, along with the live audience.  Each class will be divided into three segments.  The classes will end at 1:30 p.m. PST.

This is a chance to learn from TV pros — get in-depth tips and techniques from the Bay Area Television Masters. Each class will begin with basic principles but will quickly accelerate into advanced concepts in each craft area.

Master Class Schedule

Editing-Steve Shlisky, Beyond Pix, Saturday, October 25th

Steve is a 35 year veteran of Bay Area television production (KTVU, KICU, and KNTV). A major chunk of that time spent editing local programming from short form PSAs, promotion, and commercial spots to longer form news features, sales presentations, and full length entertainment and documentary programs (½ hour to 2 hours in length). Many of these long form programs, Steve has helped to produce, direct and write.

Among his many honors Steve has received twelve local Emmy(R)  Awards (based on fifty nominations), thirteen Telly awards and six RTNDA awards.

Since 1999 Steve has lectured at San Francisco State University (in their BECA program) and Laney College where, since 2011, he co-chairs the Media Communication department. Past subjects have included: Video Production, Audio Aesthetics with Pro Tools; Advanced Editing; Work Experience; and Media Literacy. Currently he teaches one of the few semester-length DSLR workflow classes in the Bay Area.

Steve Also Chairs the Education Committee for the NorCal National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).  His responsibilities include: Overseeing the judging and awarding of $16,000 of College Scholarships Awards in seven categories each year; facilitating the judging of the chapter’s High School Awards; developing a media literacy program and arranging for a speaker’s bureau.

Link to RSVP for Webinar:  http://goo.gl/forms/H7wEUAwX89

*****

Writing/Storytelling- Wayne Friedman, KGO Saturday, November 15th

I’m the bald-headed reporter who likes to shoot many of my own stories. It’s what I have always done. In ninth grade, I published my first regular column for what is now The Los Angeles Daily News, and continued it through high school.

In 1977, I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCLA while working as a network page assigned to the newsroom at KABC-TV in Los Angeles. In 1978, I finished my Masters Degree in Journalism at the University of Missouri. It’s a great school. If you want to be a reporter, go there. Seriously.

I have been on San Francisco television since 1981, beginning at KRON. Before that, I worked at stations in Louisville and Dallas. In 1989, CBS Network News hired me to produce and report national feature stories for CBS This Morning.

ABC7 hired me in 1991. Since then, I have covered all kinds of local, state, national, and international stories. They include Russia’s Second Revolution in 1992 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, along with major fires, earthquakes, elections, and NASA space missions. Twice, I crossed the country by train, visiting small towns and taking the pulse of America following the September 11th attacks.

My book, It Takes More Than Good Looks to Succeed at Television News Reporting, now in its Second Edition, is required reading for major college journalism programs in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Since 1990, I have conducted more than one-hundred narrative writing and visual storytelling seminars for newsrooms and national organizations in the United States and overseas.

Many people know me as the recipient of fifty-one Emmy(R) awards. I earned thirteen of them for Writing, and fourteen others in the category of On Camera News Talent. There have been other multiple Emmy(R) awards in the categories of Breaking News, Feature Reporting, Feature Series, Sports Reporting, and News Programming Special. I am also a member of the Northern California chapter’s Silver Circle. In 2011, I received my 50th Emmy(R) award for shooting and editing my own stories as a multi-media journalist. After the 51st, I retired from that competition, and now encourage others.

In 2012, I received a regional Edward R. Murrow award for writing.

Link to RSVP for Webinar:  http://goo.gl/forms/8JMlgphZjP

*****

Voiceover-Elaine Clark, Voice One, Saturday, December 6th

Elaine Clark is the owner/founder of Voice One in San Francisco and the author of the best selling voiceover instructional book, There’s Money Where Your Mouth Is [now in it’s third edition].  For over three decades she has performed in all areas of voiceovers: commercials, narrations, videogames, animation, and toys.  She created the first interactive voice and diction app, Activate Your Voice. Through Voice One, she provides group classes plus one-on-one coaching on-site and via Skype.  Preparing to Record Your Voice, an on-line course, is available through Udemy.com.

As a coach to many newscasters, multimedia journalists, field reporters, weather forecasters, and financial analysts, Elaine Clark is pleased to collaborate with the NATAS SF/Nor Cal chapter and IBEW bylogo offering this informative and interactive voiceover class to local and nationwide members.

Link to RSVP for Webinar:  http://goo.gl/forms/d1Cji6bPm0

*****
Camera/Lighting-Chris Bollini, Academy of Art University, Saturday, January 24th

Chris Bollini, Emmy(R) award-winning  photographer, editor and producer, started his broadcast journey at a public access station in Marin County. After an internship, he was offered a freelance photographer position on a weekly news magazine show.  From there, Chris headed north to KFTY-50 in Santa Rosa where he entered the fast paced word of daily news. After two years, he changed pace and joined the creative service department and begin producing, shooting and editing local commercials and promotions.  After six years at KFTY-50, he was hired to work on show that merged the elements of news and production. The station was CBS 5 and the show was Evening Magazine with Mike Rowe and Malou Nubla. Eventually,  the series morphed into Eye on the Bay with Liam Mayclem, Brian Hackney and Thuy Vu which aired for 8 years before being cancelled. Currently, Chris is very excited to be at KOFY TV working in the creative service department as well as the local programming world.  With shows like Creepy KOFY Movietime and Dance Party, KOFY TV is a fun  and rewarding place  to work.

Link to RSVP for Webinar:  http://goo.gl/forms/tCfhYBG2B9

August Online Judging Opportunity

Earn judging rewards to use towards membership and entries!

Judging for Suncoast Chapter in English and Spanish

We have an online Emmy® judging opportunity this month to judge the Suncoast Chapter’s entries, in both Spanish and English categories.  When you submit your Emmy® Entry, you are agreeing to judge other chapters’ entries.  Without this reciprocity, there would be no Emmy® Awards.  Judges will receive one judging reward per panel judged.  Judging rewards are valued at $5- each, and can be used towards membership renewal, Emmy® Entry submissions, and Emmy® Event Tickets.

Qualified judges need a minimum of 2 years of professional experience in the field of television to participate. To become a judge, please email [email protected] with the name of the panel(s) that you’re qualified and willing to judge, and you’ll be sent a link to the judging web site, along with detailed instructions, and a login code. You will then create a judging profile and view the entries online in the comfort of your home or office. Judging does not have to be completed in one sitting; you may start and stop as needed. The deadline to complete judging is Monday, September 8, 2014.

The list of panels is below, with the categories, number of entries to be judged and the total running time of the category:

Category # TRT
Spanish Craft-Director (Live/Post Prod/Short Form) 9 1:31:33
Spanish Craft-Graphic Arts (Graphics/Animation) 9 0:26:33
Spanish Craft-On Camera Talent-Reporter 7 1:00:04
English:    
Newscast-Medium Mkt-Daytime/Evening 4 2:10:29
FEATURE NEWS REPORT – Light Feature 23 1:03:40
BUSINESS/CONSUMER – News 8 0:58:05
CRIME – News 9 0:42:38
HISTORIC/CULTURAL – News 20 1:21:25
SPORTS-News Series/News Feature 14 1:13:51
INFORMATIONAL/INSTRUCTIONAL 6 02:14:50
INTERVIEW/DISCUSSION 14 5:50:15
PSAs/Director-Writer Short Form 26 0:58:39

Silver Circle Inductee Luncheon

photo 4The Board of Governors of the NATAS Pacific Southwest Chapter celebrates

Silver Circle Inductee Luncheon

Sunday, September 7, 2014

  Kona Kai Resort & Marina
1551 Shelter Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92106

Registration – 10 a.m.

Luncheon & Presentation – 11 a.m.

Emcee

Rory Devine

Silver Circle

Craig Bentley
Susan Farrell
Marianne Gerdes
Andrea Naversen
Rose Pfanner
Lee Solonche
Donna Stewart
Rich Underwood
Ken Wilshe

 Table price: (seats 10) – $700

Individual tickets: Member – $75 / Non-member – $85

Menu:

Salad

Endive Parcel filled with Goat Cheese, Micro Greens and Candied Pecans garnished with Port Wine Poached Apple scoops and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Entree Choices

Fillet of Salmon Mushroom Risotto with Parmesan Cheese and Truffle Essence

Organic Chicken Breast Roasted Corn Risotto with Asparagus and Parsley

Grilled Vegetable Napoleon Fresh Vegetables, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Red Pepper, Eggplant Marinated and Grilled Stacked and Served with Melted Provolone Cheese, Puff Pastry and Roasted Tomato Port Wine Sauce

Dessert

Cupcakes by Veronica’s Goodies

Buy tickets for the 2014 Silver Circle here:

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Ken Wilshe, 2014 Silver Circle Inductee

Ken Wilshe has worked in the television industry in San Diego since 1972 when he was hired at KPBS-TV.  A San Diego native, his first exposure to television came through several closed circuit TV classes at Madison High School.

He is a graduate of SDSU’s Telecomm and Film department. He was awarded a NATAS Hollywood chapter internship, spending the summer working on the Cher Show at CBS Television City, where he had the opportunity to work with many celebrities including Bill Cosby, Steve Martin, Jim Hensen and of course Kermit the frog.

In 1977 Ken was hired at then, KCST-TV and has worked as a floor director, lighting director (3 Emmy® awards), studio camera, lead evening audio operator for the past 28 years and more recently directing the evening newscasts.

Ken served as a Governor of the local San Diego Chapter of NATAS in the 1980’s.

Ken is very grateful to all his mentors and co-workers at KNSD-TV for a truly rich and fulfilling experience. They are the best crew in the business.

Buy tickets for the 2014 Silver Circle here:

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