Dr. J. Gregory Payne - Executive Program Director
[email protected]
J. Gregory Payne is an Associate Professor and former chair of Emerson College's Department of Communication Studies. He is Director of the Center for Ethics in Political and Health Communication, which he co-founded in 1996. He is on the Advisory board of the Journal of Health Communication, Media Ethics, Communication Quarterly and Journal of Promotion Management, among others. He is on the Partnership Board for Anthrax Vaccine Education and has been the invited editor for American Behavioral Scientist’s special edition on the U.S. presidential campaign for every election since 1988. He is President of the International Academy of Business Disciplines, past chair of the Political Communication Division of theNational Communication Association, U.S. representative of the Global Public Relations Project, Board member for UNICEF New England, member of Eastern Communication Association, European Communication Associations, and International Communication Association, among others.
Dr. Payne is a strong advocate of grass-roots communications campaigns and public diplomacy. As a long time visitor to Rosarito Beach, Payne began the Rediscover Rosarito project to restore the image of a once flourishing tourist destination now struggling with the lingering effects of unfair media coverage. He holds a Ph.D from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
J. Gregory Payne is an Associate Professor and former chair of Emerson College's Department of Communication Studies. He is Director of the Center for Ethics in Political and Health Communication, which he co-founded in 1996. He is on the Advisory board of the Journal of Health Communication, Media Ethics, Communication Quarterly and Journal of Promotion Management, among others. He is on the Partnership Board for Anthrax Vaccine Education and has been the invited editor for American Behavioral Scientist’s special edition on the U.S. presidential campaign for every election since 1988. He is President of the International Academy of Business Disciplines, past chair of the Political Communication Division of theNational Communication Association, U.S. representative of the Global Public Relations Project, Board member for UNICEF New England, member of Eastern Communication Association, European Communication Associations, and International Communication Association, among others.
Dr. Payne is a strong advocate of grass-roots communications campaigns and public diplomacy. As a long time visitor to Rosarito Beach, Payne began the Rediscover Rosarito project to restore the image of a once flourishing tourist destination now struggling with the lingering effects of unfair media coverage. He holds a Ph.D from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Michael McManus - Guest Professor and Campus Movie Fest representative
Michael McManus launched his independent production shingle Lone Knight Productions from his apartment in Boston in 2007, and since then has produced award-winning short films, a feature documentary which aired at the Museum of Fine Arts, and has had multiple development deals at various networks and production houses. In 2009, Lone Knight Productions split into development of features and unscripted television, and now in 2011 has branched into scripted television.
Michael is currently working as a freelance development producer on assignment for the Emmy Award-Winning production company Magical Elves, Inc. In the last year, he has had his hand in the creation and sale of “America’s Next Great Restaurant” on NBC, two of Bravo’s upcoming series this fall “Around the World in 80 Plates” and “Paint the Town,” as well as a credit in the production of the second highest grossing documentary and highest grossing music film of all time “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.”
He is currently developing a sitcom pilot for FX and a feature slate with Lionsgate Film. This is his fourth year directing the Rosarito Student Film Festival.
Michael is currently working as a freelance development producer on assignment for the Emmy Award-Winning production company Magical Elves, Inc. In the last year, he has had his hand in the creation and sale of “America’s Next Great Restaurant” on NBC, two of Bravo’s upcoming series this fall “Around the World in 80 Plates” and “Paint the Town,” as well as a credit in the production of the second highest grossing documentary and highest grossing music film of all time “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.”
He is currently developing a sitcom pilot for FX and a feature slate with Lionsgate Film. This is his fourth year directing the Rosarito Student Film Festival.
Janice Payne - Executive Director of the LA Program
I worked with the Emerson Los Angeles Program for a number of years working with students and placing them at internship sites. I was approached by Boston University to become their Director which made me their Founding Director.
I took a brief respite to take my Mother out of the Rehab. Center and took her home to live with me. Hired a Caregiver the best thing I have done for her life and mine. I own a condo in Rosarito Beach and we both love it here. I along with Michael McManus run a program in Rosarito for students in Mexico we give the students equipment to shoot a short film called My Rosarito. The week ends with a veiwing for their family and friends of their "Shorts" at the local theater in Rosarito and awards being given to students for their "Shorts". Just like the Academy awards given in L.A. It is fun giving back to Rosarito the place I love. A special Thank You to Mayor Torres, and his staff for making this all possible! A special thank you also to Ron Raposa for his input and advice.
Corina Martínez Tobón - Coordinator and Instructor's Assistant
Corina Martínez Tobón, desde pequeña se ha expresado por medio de cartas, de frases, sus sentimientos, emociones o intereses han quedado plasmados en montones de hojas, fragmentos de papel, servilletas o en la parte posterior de una imagen. Su inquietud por las letras la ha llevado a construir historias que a veces plasma en video o por medio de fotografías pero siempre la necesidad de expresar algo, sea personal, ajeno o inventar historias, personajes, situaciones o capturar un tiempo, una realidad, que de otro modo se olvidaría.
Es Licenciada en Comunicación (UABC) , ha tomado diplomados en fotografía, cine, periodismo, crisis en la comunicación y guionismo. Actualmente trabaja como docente y como productora de televisión. Ha realizado cortometrajes y documentales, asi como exposicion de fotografia, ha sido integrante del Rosarito film Festival en las ediciones 2008 y 2009, y ahora en el 2010 como coordinadora.Es fotógrafa, narradora, guionista, directora, editora, podría ser trovadora si le gustara su voz, pero cuando se le pregunta, ella responde "algunas personas son magnificas oradoras al momento de expresarse, yo no, pero soy una persona con necesidades enormes de expresarse, así que intento hacerlo por medio de estas disciplinas, eso es todo, la necesidad de expresar algo".
Bernardo Eiró - Judge and Festival Assistant
Bernardo Eiró was born in Lisbon, Portugal. Despite being only twenty years old, Bernardo has a large experience working wild animals. He has volunteered at Lisbon Zoo, Los Angeles Zoo and ZooToYou. His love for animals has led him to be involved in the rehab of beached animals, as well as have a formation on horse back riding. In his early teens Bernardo worked as an actor in a professional theatre company in Portugal, known as A Barraca. For the past 4 years he has been part of LAProgram – an organization designed to match students with companies in the public relations, advertising, and film industries. Being a student the first two years and thoroughly enjoying the program, he then made the transition to a position on staff as the Director’s Assistant.
Robin Low - Social Media Strategist
Robin Low is an international entrepreneur who trains, researches and consults on the use of social media. In addition to his work with Rediscover Rosarito, he is conducting training sessions for the Sri Lankan tourism industry and several companies in Singapore. Robin has been a social media trainer since 2008, and in 2009 comprehensively trained Aitken Spence Hotels and Aitken Spence Travels, a large hotel chain with luxury properties in Maldives, India, Oman and Sri Lanka. Aitken Spence has since seen an increase in hotel occupancy, customer retention and Internet bookings. Robin is also the author of a forthcoming book on social media, an adjunct lecturer at the National University of Singapore, and will soon conduct a course there about new media communications.
Gillian Suslow - Communication Coordinator
Gillian Suslow grew up in Northern California and earned her BA in Communication at the University of California Davis. She moved to Boston, MA one year ago to pursue a Master of Arts in Communication Management at Emerson College. Her areas of interest are corporate communication, public relations, and employee relations. She has been involved in the Emerson Baja Coalition since January and worked on developing and managing a fundraiser event for Cha Cha’s Angels in Rosarito, Mexico. Currently, she is interning at Ethos – a nonprofit in Boston – in the Community Relations department and has developed and produced the company’s first quarterly newsletter.
Prior to moving to Boston, she worked with the California Alumni Association – Lair of the Golden Bear and completed an internship with the Jewish Community Federation in San Francisco, working with the Director of Israel in the Gardens – the largest Jewish cultural event in the Bay Area.
Ada Renedo - Communication Coordinator
Ada Renedo comes from the beautiful Spanish city of Barcelona. With a B.A. in Advertising and Public Relations, she is now devoted to her Communication Management Master Degree at Emerson College in Boston. Ada is a strategic communication expert with international experience. She has presented her work on crisis communication, corporate identity and branding in Barcelona, Las Vegas, Boston, Mexico and Los Angeles. Thanks to her bilingual skills, Ada has been a highly active member of the RediscoveRosarito project, an international initiative of crisis management for Rosarito, Mexico.
This summer she is coordinating the communications for the Rosarito Film Festival in order to promote it locally as well as to the Baja California region. During her stay, she will be collaborating with other members of the community regarding branding and promotion.
Adam Burnett - Festival Assistant
Adam grew up in Western New York, and is a 2007 graduate of Emerson College with a BA in Film Production. He currently resides in Los Angeles as a Director and Editor for a non-profit website hosting videos geared towards educating the acting community. In his spare time, Adam is a rock star, and gardening enthusiast.