Liquid Assets | The Story of Our Water Infrastructure

Filmmakers

Production

Tom Keiter, Executive Producer

With fifteen years experience as department head for the film and video program at Penn State, Tom Keiter has brought a wealth of production knowledge and experience to the Liquid Assets project. His many accomplishments include awards from the American Film Institute, International Film and Video Festival, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Emmys).

Stephanie Ayanian, Producer/Director

Stephanie Ayanian is a senior producer/director for Penn State Public Broadcasting and has served as the Liquid Assets lead producer. Her work as an independent producer led to a 2005 Superfest Best of Festival award and a 2006 Black Maria Film Festival Second Place award. Ayanian also was chosen to create the 2006 Philadelphia International Film Festival opening trailer.

Mark Cooper, Director/Writer

Mark Cooper received his bachelor’s degree with honors in film and video from Penn State. He has produced several projects for Penn State Public Broadcasting, including an hour-long documentary on domestic violence in the workplace.

Ryan Witt, Director of Photography/Associate Producer/Assistant Editor

With prior experience as a cinematographer, Ryan Witt works for WPSU as a videographer/editor and currently is the director of photography for the Liquid Assets broadcast. He holds a degree in marketing from Kent State University, and earned his master’s degree in film and television from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Greg Feinberg, Editor

As an independent editor, Greg Feinberg brings eleven years of award-winning experience to the Liquid Assets roster. With a bachelor’s degree in film from the University of the Arts, Feinberg has edited for clients in higher education, health care, and business/nonprofit organizations. In the past five years, his documentary work also has aired nationally on PBS and the Food Network. Three years after editing the Mid-Atlantic Emmy award-winning Grange Fair: An American Tradition, Feinberg is excited to be working on another significant collaboration with the Penn State Public Broadcasting team.

Catie Siodmak, Associate Producer

Catie Siodmak is working as the archivist for Liquid Assets. Since graduating from Penn State with her bachelor’s degree in film and video, she has produced documentaries for WNED-TV in Buffalo, New York.

Mindy McMahon, Associate Producer

Mindy McMahon served as an associate producer for the Liquid Assets initiative. Her current role at Penn State Public Broadcasting is lead producer for Creative Services. McMahon has been producing client-driven media projects for more than ten years. She has garnered such awards as the Telly and Communicator. She received a bachelor’s degree from Carlow College and a master’s degree from Duquesne University.

Joe Myers, Consultant

Joe Myers is a lead producer/director at Penn State Public Broadcasting. He has received Mid-Atlantic Emmy best documentary honors for his A Road to Independence and Grange Fair: An American Tradition, now in national distribution with PBS.

Josh Dasal, Consultant

Josh Dasal is an Emmy® award-winning producer-director-screenwriter. His credits include producer-writer on The Mars Underground (Best Documentary, HDFest 2006) for Discovery Channel; producer-director of the PBS short doc, Cook Like a Chef (Mid-Atlantic Emmy, 2009); and executive producer of Easter Sunday, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Chris Younken, Location Audio

Chris Younken is an audio engineer and sound recordist for live, studio and television productions at Penn State Public Broadcasting. He also is an accomplished musician.

Lara Gallagher, Associate Producer


EwingCole DMG, Animators

Ewing Cole DMG LogoEwingCole DMG (Digital Media Group) provides creative media solutions such as environment modeling and animation, interactive 3D simulations, motion graphics and video direction and production.

Project Management

Melanie Doebler, D.Ed., Project Director

Melanie Doebler has more than twenty-five years of experience working in program planning, development, and evaluation in a variety of academic and field settings. Formerly she was the director of a family health care agency that served rural women and their families. She currently works as an organizational development consultant for organizations needing strategic planning, organizational assessments, and program evaluation. As the director of public engagement for Penn State Public Broadcasting, Doebler is the project director for Liquid Assets.

Elaine Brzycki, Project Manager and Funding Relations

Elaine Brzycki has more than twenty years of experience in higher educational administration, with a focus on communications, fine arts, engineering, and education. Brzycki oversees the community outreach initiative and facilitates relationships with the Outreach Partners. As manager of the station’s grants and contract relations, she works with corporations, foundations, and organizations interested in funding the documentary and community outreach.

Special Thanks

:: Elisabeth Workman Brandt
:: Elisabeth Clark
:: Spencer Lewis
:: Linda Mahoney
:: Sonya Renee Miller
:: Lynn Melander Moore
:: Keston Pierre
:: Susanna Ritti
:: Diane Voit

Station Management

Ted Krichels, General Manager and Associate Vice President for Public Engagement


Kate Domico, Director, Station Operations