100 notable multimedia professionals
You may not know it, but the multimedia field is filled with inspirational gurus. Last year I highlighted 40 of them, but after a year of scouring the Web and interacting with II readers, I felt the need to publish an updated list. Included are 100 notable data visualization specialists, graphics artists, videographers, photographers, interactive designers, programmers, storytellers, visual journalists and Web developers.
I made a conscious decision not to sub-divide this list by specialty because I strongly believe that it is important to be familiar with work done in all visual fields to truly succeed as a multimedia professional. If you are not included on this list, it could be because I have not stumbled across your work (well, that or I just had a momentary memory lapse!). If this is the case, please introduce yourself and your work so I can put you on my radar. In most cases I tried to use producers’ own words for descriptions. However, if there was no about page (shame!), I just wrote a quick synopsis.
NOTE: This is by no means a comprehensive list of all excellent multimedia producers. I have already noticed several names that I meant to include, but I really like the “100″ benchmark. Therefore, there is always room to grow and perhaps next year I will include more …
UPDATED THOUGHTS: I am happy to see the feedback and active dialogue about this list. I feel that there are several points I need to highlight to clarify some questions:
1) The students I included are considered “professionals” in my eyes because most, if not all, have side businesses and are actively taking on freelancing and consulting jobs.
2) This is NOT a “TOP 100″ list! There are big names in the field that are missing. There are lesser known individuals who have not met their potential but who have great talent. I intended for this to be a diverse list of all skill sets and all levels.
3) I am obviously biased, and this selection is based mainly on people I have studied with, worked with, or met along the way. That does NOT mean they are better than others out there who I have not yet had the chance to meet.
4) I made a deliberate decision to include people of all experience level (students, recent graduates, professors, professionals, gurus) as well highlight individuals from around the world.
5) If you are not included on the list, PLEASE do not think that this means I don’t value your work or your contribution to the multimedia field. I am already considering ideas of a user-submitted database of professionals so that everyone can be included. More on that later …
Adam Westbrook
“I’m Adam Westbrook, a freelance multimedia journalist based in London, UK. As well as producing multimedia content for all sorts of people, and lecturing at Kingston University, I also write a popular blog on online and broadcast journalism.”
Alberto Cairo
Assistant Professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Andrew Devigal
“Since late-October of 2006, I’ve taken on the role as multimedia editor of The New York Times. Besides shaping our approach and presentation for multiple-media storytelling, I see this phase in my career as an opportunity to work daily with dedicated and talented journalists, designers, artists and technologists to push the multimedia envelope in our industry.”
Angela Grant
“I am a multimedia journalist who primarily shoots and edits video for the Web. I also collect and edit audio to produce photo slideshows and create multimedia packages using Adobe Flash. I enjoy using various online tools to create interactive graphics such as maps and quizzes.”
Ashley Zammitt
“Ashley Zammitt is a senior journalism major at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill specializing in multimedia and graphic design.”
Ben Fry
“Ben Fry is director of Seed Visualization and its Phyllotaxis Lab, a design laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts focused on understanding complex data. ”
Benjamin Chesterton
“Benjamin was the Country Director of the BBC World Service trust in Ethiopia.” Now runs DuckRabbit with David White.
Bob Sacha
“I’m multimedia producer at the Emmy and Webby Award winning production studio MediaStorm in NYC.”
Brenda Ann Kenneally
“Kenneally currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, where she works as a freelance photojournalist.”
Brent Foster
“Brent Foster is a freelance photojournalist, multimedia producer, and videographer based in New Delhi, India. Foster was a staff visual journalist for the Los Angeles Times before deciding to give freelancing a try.”
Brian Storm
“Brian Storm is president of MediaStorm, a multimedia production studio based in New York City. Prior to launching MediaStorm in 2005, Storm spent two years as vice president of News, Multimedia & Assignment Services for Corbis, a digital media agency founded and owned by Bill Gates.”
Bryan Perry
“I am a media designer, interactive art director, flash developer, web and print designer – occasional video editor, sound designer, programmer, writer of bad poetry, and one-man band – with over 12 years experience designing creative communications solutions.”
Chad Stevens
“In the past five years, Chad A. Stevens has been a faculty member in the photojournalism program at Western Kentucky University and the International Center of Photography, a master’s degree candidate in the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University, a nomadic photographer and multimedia producer in Africa, a multimedia producer at MediaStorm, and is now a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill while working on a documentary about energy in Appalachia.”
Chip Oglesby
“Chip is an award winning photojournalist who’s now working as an online producer for The State Media Company in Columbia, S.C.”
Chris Carmichael
“Chris Carmichael is a multimedia storyteller based in Chapel Hill, N.C. He recently finished his master’s thesis project at the University of North Carolina, where he was awarded a Roy H. Park fellowship in 2006.”
Chris Kirkman
Senior multimedia developer at Swarm Interactive.
Chris Sinclair
“Based in Asia, I develop multimedia packages for the web. I got my start in newspaper photography, and after three lengthy internships and a run at a personal documentary project in Asia, I moved into video.”
Colin Ware
“Colin Ware is Director of the Data Visualization Research Lab which is part of the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire.”
Dave Gray
“Dave Gray is the founder and CEO of XPLANE, the visual thinking company. Before founding XPLANE, Dave worked as an infographer for the Los Angeles Daily News, the Los Angeles herald-Examiner, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.”
David White
“David was a contributing editor of Marie Claire. Now works at DuckRabbit with Benjamin Chesterton.”
Desiree Perry
“Senior Online Designer at The St. Petersburg Times.”
Don Wittekind
“Don Wittekind is an assistant professor in the visual communication sequence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before making the move to teaching, he spent 10 years as informational graphics director at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, where he led the creation of the first newspaper-based multimedia graphics department.”
Ehrin Macksey
“A scientist by training and a lover of photography, Ehrin started studying photography after coming to Asia and being influenced by his experiences there.”
Eileen Mignoni
“Eileen Mignoni is a multimedia journalist. She grew up on a farm in Michigan and graduated from Brown with a degree in Classics. She lives in Santiago, Chile. She received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in May of 2009.”
Emily Ingram
“Now a senior news-editorial and advertising major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Ingram has worked for print, Web and broadcast news outlets over the past four years.”
Emily Merwin
“Emily Merwin is a visual journalist and artist.”
Eric Ulken
“Former Interactive Editor at LATimes.”
Erica Smith
“I’m a journalist, a designer, a novice programmer … and I eat M&Ms in Roy G Biv order.”
Feilding Cage
“Feilding Cage is a 20-something new media journalist based in New York City and works at TIME.”
Fernanda b. Viégas
“Fernanda B. Viégas is a research scientist and computational designer whose work focuses on the social, collaborative, and artistic aspects of information visualization.”
Grace Koerber
“Grace is currently temping as an interactive designer at Time.com where she is designing and coding custom flash components (AS 3.0), as well as producing interactive graphics.”
Greg Linch
“I’m a storyteller who uses several platforms. With a background in writing and reporting, I’m as comfortable composing a 1,000-word in-depth story for print as I am shooting and editing a three-minute video for the Web. Or harnessing the power of social media.”
Henrik Kastenskov
“Co-founder of Bombay Flying Club.”
Ian Boyle
“Freelance Art Director at Euro RSCG.”
Jacky Myint
“Six Star Studio is home to a selection of work by Jacky Myint, a NYC based interactive designer working at MediaStorm.”
Jason Cooper
“Jason is a New Media Designer and Animation Specialist with an extensive background in web and multimedia development as well as print, brand and identity design and marketing.”
Jesse Foltz
” Jesse Foltz is the producer of Washington Post’s TimeSpace.”
Joe Weiss
“Joe has worked as a photojournalist, multimedia reporter, designer, programmer, producer and editor in print and online media since 1996. He is currently a freelance interactive producer and the developer of Soundslides, a multimedia authoring application.”
John W. Adkisson
“John Adkisson is a freelance documentary photographer currently based in Chapel Hill, N.C.”
John Grimwade
“John Grimwade is the Director of Information Graphics at Conde Nast’s Traveler and Portfolio magazines.”
John Poole
“John W. Poole is a video producer for NPR. In his 10 years as a documentary filmmaker and multimedia journalist, John has covered stories of local, national and international importance.”
Jonathan Jarvis
“Jonathan is an Intereaction and Media Designer interested in examining complex situations and designing new ways of accessing them that are simplier, clearer, and more provocative.”
Jonathan Torgovnik
“Jonathan Torgovnik has been a contract photographer for Newsweek Magazine since 2005, and is on the faculty of the International Center of Photography School in New York.”
Josh Meltzer
“In August 2009, Josh begins work as a professional-in-residence at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY, where he will teach photojournalism and multimedia and help run the Mountain Workshops and Appalachian Cultural Projects there.”
Julia Robinson
“I am an award-winning photojournalist and multimedia producer based in Austin and San Antonio, Texas. I have worked for the Oakland (CA) Tribune, the Daily (IL) Herald, and the Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune.”
Julie Turkewitz
“I’m a versatile journalist who mixes visuals, writing and audio to tell stories and report the news.”
Kat Keene Hogue
“Kat currently lives in New York City and is freelancing as a shooter, editor, and documentary filmmaker.”
Katy Newton
“In 2004, after working in San Francisco’s documentary film and commercial industry for several years, I began producing multimedia stories for a Bay Area newspaper website.”
Keith Jenkins
“Supervising Senior Producer for Multimedia, National Public Radio.”
Kenny Irby
“Kenny is Poynter’s Visual Journalism Group Leader and Director of Diversity. He is an integral figure in visual journalism education, known for his insightful knowledge of photographic storytelling, innovative management ideas, and steadfast ethical thinking.”
Kimberley Porteous
“My roles run the gamut from reporting, editing video and audio, photo editing, working in Flash media and XML and overall project management.” Currently Multimedia Editor at Sydney Morning Herald.
Kristen Novak
“Kristen Novak is a Web Design Developer at USA Today, where she works with new media technologies to design and develop online graphics and data-driven applications.”
Krysten Chambrot
“I’m an editor, designer, multimedia journalist and interactive-graphic maker. My background is in print journalism, and I just finished my master’s degree in Convergence Journalism.”
Laura Lo Forti
“I am a journalist and multimedia producer. I facilitate Digital Storytelling workshops for at risk youth, women in homeless shelters, and whomever has a personal story to tell and to be heard.”
Laura Ruel
“Laura Ruel is an assistant professor in visual communication and multimedia production in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”
Lisa Pickoff-White
“Currently, I’m a multimedia producer for California Watch, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting. I completed my master’s at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism in 2009.”
Mark S. Luckie
“Mark has produced multimedia and interactive projects for Entertainment Weekly, Los Angeles Times and Contra Costa Times (Ca.). Mark is an alum of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism where he studied multimedia journalism.”
McKenna Ewen
“McKenna Ewen, a student at the University of Minnesota, recently founded [Ewen Media] to produce purpose-driven journalism that explores the world in its current state and the world that it could become.”
Megan Taylor
“I am a web/multimedia journalist. I just finished an internship at Stream57, a webcasting and online communications company where I did Flash and Web site branding for clients ranging from small production companies to Fortune 100 corporations.”
Michal Migurski
“I am the technology head at Stamen, a San Francisco design and development studio focused on data visualization and map-making.”
Michelle Langston
“I’m a graduate student in Information Science. In addition to coursework, I am using this time to improve upon my skills in PHP and Adobe Flash (especially with ActionScript 3.0).”
Mike Pletch
“Mike is currently the Manager of Creative Design in the digital media group at The Globe and Mail. He has worked in online media for more than 10 years and he has held several positions including web developer, web designer and information architect.”
Monica Ulmanu
“Ulmanu moved to Chapel Hill from Bucharest, Romania, in the summer of 2008 to pursue a master’s degree in visual communication. She holds a B.A. and an M.A. in journalism from the University of Bucharest and has worked as a self-employed Web designer and content provider. She is passionate about information visualization, user interfaces, use of color and type, principles of design and usability.”
Nacho Corbella
“Nacho Corbella is a hard-working and dedicated award winning Multimedia Producer with 5 years of teaching experience and 7 years of content gathering and editing for Multimedia, Print and Television productions.”
Nathan Yao
“I’m a PhD candidate in statistics. I live and breathe data. I also have a background in computer science and design. I do some freelancing from time to time, but mostly I’m just trying to work on my dissertation.”
Nelson Hsu
“Senior Interactive Designer at NPR.”
Nick Scott
“Scott has worked as a multimedia journalist for two metro newspapers, the Winston-Salem Journal and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.”
Omid Memarian
“Memarian works as a freelance writer for the IPS News Agency (Inter Press Service) Rooz Online and regularly blogs for the Huffington Post.”
Pamela Chen
“Emmy award-winning producer Pamela Chen manages photography and multimedia for the Open Society Institute, where she is part of the team leading the development of the foundation’s interactive communications and advocacy strategy.”
Pat Davison
“Patrick Davison has been a photographer for two decades. He has held staff positions at major U.S. newspapers and freelanced for dozens of magazines. Davison is now a professor at the University of North Carolina where he combines teaching with photography and multimedia projects.”
Phil Daquila
“Daquila is a mobile journalist/documentary photographer/videographer/producer/writer and visual ethnographer engaged in multi-platform feature reporting.”
Phil Zepeda
“Phil Zepeda is now an interactive producer at MSNBC.com in New York, NY. At NewsU, Zepeda was the 2006-07 Interactive Learning Fellow at News University.”
Poul Madsen
“I am a Danish photojournalist working with news, portrait and feature photography. I am also a multimedia producer and founder of Bombay Flying Club.”
Robert Browman
“Robert Browman is an Emmy Award-winning, freelance multimedia journalist based in Miami, Florida. He is currently working on stories for online, print and radio publication.”
Ron Coddington
“Ron Coddington is a visual journalist whose career spans several major U.S. newspapers, including USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the San Jose Mercury News.”
Rich Beckman
“Rich Beckman is the Knight Chair of Visual Journalism at the School of Communication at the University of Miami and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Universidad de los Andes in Santiago, Chile.”
Richard Cornish
“I’m a Web designer from the Chicago area who believes in creating clean, usable and accessible Web sites.”
Richard Koci Hernandez
“Richard Koci Hernandez is a national Emmy award winning video and multimedia producer and worked as a photographer at the San Jose Mercury News for 15 years.”
Scott Morgan
“Over the past 10 years, I have designed, developed, and project managed over 300 web sites, e-learning projects, and rich internet applications for many large-scale clients including Yahoo!, Rolex, Dell, Home Depot, Hyatt, Cadbury, Trident, Labatt, General Motors, Microsoft, and DaimlerChrysler.”
Sean Connelley
“I am currently the Senior Multimedia Editor for the Oakland Tribune newspaper in Oakland, CA.”
Seth Gitner
“Seth M. Gitner has been interested in multimedia journalism since 1998 when he first learned about pairing recorded audio with still photographs.”
Shan Carter
“Interactive Graphics Editor at New York Times.”
Sophia Dengo
“Multimedia designer and flash developer currently working at CNN.com.”
Stephen M. Katz
“Stephen M. Katz was named Newspaper Photographer of the Year by POY International in March 2008. He is currently a staff photographer for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia, where he has worked since 2004.”
Steve Button
“This is the production & portfolio site of Steve Button. I’m a producer of interactive media and specialize in the integration of media delivery systems.”
Steve Saldivar
Assistant at Knight Digital Media Center “Guided fellows in understanding multimedia tools and social networking for journalists. Assisted staff with setting up software and hardware necessary for training workshops.”
Steven T. King
“Steven King is currently the editor of innovations for washingtonpost.com where he and a team of developers and editors work to produce new and creative ways to tell stories.”
Thad Allender
“I am a photographer and multimedia producer based in Washington, D.C. who embraces the evolution of media and wants to help shape the future of visual journalism.”
Tom Kennedy
“Tom Kennedy is a pioneer in the multimedia industry, doing work that has earned worldwide recognition, awards and peer respect. His vision and creativity have shaped projects that earned the Pulitzer Prize, as well as EMMY, Peabody, and Edward R. Murrow awards while in positions as Managing Editor/Multimedia at The Washington Post Company, Directory of Photography at National Geographic Magazine, and Deputy Graphics Editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer.”
Tim Bradbury
“Introspective. Creative. Perfectionist. Explorer. These are a few words that people use to describe me. As a Thinker, I analyze motive and attempt to find what’s really real without sacrificing integrity to save face. As a Creator, I thrive on building things, mainly websites, that people will enjoy. As a Perfectionist, I strive for perfection and treat each client as if they are my only client. As an Explorer, I love to set foot on new ground and experience new things. My web designs reflect these attributes. ”
Tim Klimowicz
“Interactive producer at MediaStorm.”
Tory Hargro
“I am a visual journalist and multimedia producer currently working as a” multimedia producer at USA Today.
Travis Fox
“Travis Fox is an Emmy Award-winning video producer for The Washington Post. His distinctive web video and multimedia stories have been instrumental in establishing a new form of multimedia storytelling on the Internet.”
Whitney Shefte
Multimedia producer at Washington Post
Will Sullivan
“I’m Will Sullivan, the Interactive Director at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, in St. Louis, Missouri and the dude behind Journerdism.com.”
William Couch
“William Couch is a 24-year-old interactive designer and photographer, living in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. He now creates interactive graphics for usatoday.com, alongside collaborating on design and strategy for emerging platforms such as iPhone, Android and social networks.”
Víctor Sanvicente
“He started working professionally in the Internet field seven years ago, at the company Difernet with responsibilities including Flash design and programming. He joined the Terra interactive team in May, 2003 as technical manager. Since 2006, he is the Head of Interactive Applications at Marca.com.”
Vu Nguyen
“I now live in Seattle and work as an interactive editor at msnbc.com. I produce interactive graphics and multimedia features for the site.”
Xaquín González Veira
Assistant Art Director at Newsweek, former Director of online Infographics at elmundo.es
Zach Wise
“Zach Wise is currently a multimedia producer for the New York Times. Before coming to the Times, Wise was the senior multimedia producer for the Las Vegas Sun.”
