Valenti School's Press Play

Justin talks about GVP is an event production company; where audio visual and creative solutions meet marketing & event planning and also about his experience in the Houston Television market.

Camille & Julian Haynes owners of Scoop Craft Creamery, Houston Texas talk about starting their business in the midst of a global pandemic.  Not to mention UH alumni Camille is a Dietitian, that’s right a dietitian starting an ice cream business. Both of them creating flavors inspired by Camille and Julian’s lives.

Henry Yau portavoz y director de relaciones publicas en el Children’s Museum aca en la ciudad de Houston. 

Patricia Torres-Burd es la Directora General de Servicios de Asesoría de Medios de MDIF, un fondo de inversión para el desarrollo de medios.

Alfred Cervantes the Executive Director of the Houston Film Commission talks about how he got involved with HFC and the various programs, benefits and services of HFC and how to get involved with the HFC. https://www.houstonfilmcommission.com/

Susan Elmore Founder and CEO talks about connecting clients to individuals, businesses, and communities. PR strategies in a private-public approach, about her and PR and the future for those wanting careers in PR

Estados Unidos es un país de contradicciones. Así lo describe el Profesor Silvio Waisbord, de la Universidad George Washington, en su último libro “El Imperio de la Utopía” (Península). En esta entrega hablamos con el Profesor Waisbord de su libro, del papel de los medios de comunicación en la creación del “sueño americano”, y de cuál debe ser el rol en la sociedad de académicos y periodistas.   

Today on Press Play we have Ms. Stefanie Asin, the director of Public Relations and creative services at Houston Methodist.  Ms. Asin is a journalist who has been with Houston Methodist for 22 years.  She is here to discuss health communication and share some advice for what we can all do to stay safe during the holidays.  

¿Cómo es el trabajo de un corresponsal? ¿Qué debe hacer uno para convertirse en reportero de televisión? ¿Existirá algún día una televisión pública en español en Estados Unidos? En la primera entrega de Press Play en Español, el podcast en castellano de la Escuela de Comunicación Jack J. Valenti en la Universidad de Houston, le preguntamos estas, y otras cuestiones, a Fernando Pizarro, periodista chileno con más de 20 años de experiencia como reportero en los Estados Unidos.

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we have with us Nicole Aguilar, Cuban and Spanish American producer of postproduction, discussing what she does and how she does it, as well as what it's like to be a Latina in Hollywood.

When Italy shut down because of COVID19, Alexa Bottura had an idea: Why not show her father, world renown chef Massimo Bottura, cooking with their family each night in their home? She streamed it on Instagram Live and it quickly became a hit. In this conversation, we hear from Alexa about how Italy is doing, how the idea of the show began, and what the future for Kitchen Quarantine is. 

Laura Gao is more than "just" a product manager at Twitter--she's also a talented artist. In this lively conversation, she talks about her job at Twitter, a meme that made her famous, and how she's used graphic stories to spread information about what life is really like in Wuhan.

Gil Bashe, the managing partner of Global Health at FINN Partners, is one of the nation’s preeminent experts in health communication. His healthcare career spans the patient, physician, provider, payer and policy sectors. At the center of Gil’s life and work is the belief that communication is part of the care. In this conversation, Gil lays out his belief of how health communication should be handled, and what lessons this global pandemic may give the next generation of communicators.

Angela Oduor Lungati is a technologist, community builder and an open source software advocate. She is passionate about building and using appropriate technology tools to create impact in lives of marginalized groups. With over 10 years of experience, she currently serves as the Executive Director at Ushahidi, a global non-profit technology company that builds tools for democratizing information, increasing transparency and lowering barriers for individuals to raise their voices. 

Larry Madowo is the BBC Africa Business Editor. He set up and leads a unit of nearly 30 journalists spread across Africa and London, covering Africa’s business, tech and innovation in English, French and Swahili. He has been a contributing columnist for The Washington Post’s Global Opinions page and written for CNN.com and Forbes Africa. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential Africans 2018 by NewAfrican magazine. He has hosted his own television and radio programs and reported from 40 countries, and has some 3.5 million followers on social media.

Asif Sheikh is CEO and Founder of A24Media, one of the largest digitized video archives on the continent of Africa. Under his visionary leadership, A24 has grown to covering over 45 African countries and launched the continent's first all factual video on demand platform, Yebo!, which started in late 2019.

Sofia Ojeda is a weekend morning news anchor and a weekday morning news reporter for KPRC, the NBC affiliate in Houston. In this episode, we hear what it's like to have to be at work every morning at 3am, her approach to covering breaking news and handling sensitive interviews, and how she was able to go from being born in Peru and growing up in New York to making it here to Texas.

Bob Moore is the President and CEO of El Paso Matters, a new non-profit, non-partisan news organization launching in El Paso, Texas. In this conversation, Bob talks about his vision for El Paso Matters, the future of journalism, the importance of local and community journalism, and how he launched his career.

In August of 2019, Christian Yoder left his job at Riot Games to co-found his own gaming studio, Friendly Pixel. Just a few months later, they launched their first game, Treasure Hunt. On this episode, Christian discusses the process of creating the game, leaving a great company like Riot, and how he went from a journalism student to a game creator.

Claudio Cabrera is part of the SEO (search engine optimization) team at The New York Times. He leads on the news side working with his fellow team members, Erin Seims, Gordon Hurd and Adriana Lacy. Their main responsibility is to drive audience growth through search and assist desks, in developing editorial ideas that will serve what readers are interested in across the web.

In this Thanksgiving week episode, we revisit one of our first episodes. A 28-year studio veteran, Courtenay Valenti has risen through the creative development ranks at Warner Bros. Pictures to become president of production and development. Valenti has been a creative force behind the studio’s resurgence in feature animation and the founding of Warner Animation Group, where she shepherded such titles as The LEGO Movie to critical acclaim. In this episode, Valenti will talk about her Hollywood career and her life growing up in the spotlight as the daughter of legendary Hollywood heavyweight Jack Valenti.

Isidro Reyna is a Senior Communication Specialist at NASA, where he's tasked with telling stories of human space exploration. From running into people at lunch who just returned from Space to traveling to Russia to watch the launching of a rocket, the job has given him incredible opportunities. 

Byron Perry is the Founder and CEO of Coconuts Media, a local city news and video network reaching up to 26 million people per month in Bangkok, Manila, Singapore, Hong Kong, KL, Jakarta, Bali, and Yangon. In this episode, Byron discusses growing Coconuts from him writing all of the content while living in Bangkok to having 8 offices across the region.

Philip Morabito founded Pierpont Communications in 1987 after leaving New York City and a prestigious Madison Avenue public relations firm. Hiring his first employee in 1992, Phil now oversees the largest independent integrated marketing and PR firm in the southwest – with offices in Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and New Jersey. In this episode, Phil discusses his strategy for expanding Pierpont in the coming years, and how he went from a young man who owed just one suit when he moved to New York City to becoming a successful entrepreneur and leader in the community. 

In January of 2016, Matthew Riemer, along with his partner Leighton Brown, started the Instagram account lgbt_history. Just a few years later, it has nearly 500,000 followers and led to the publishing of the book, We Are Everywhere. In this live episode, Matthew talks about why they started the account, how it's built such a large following, and why he thinks understanding queer history is so important.

Jenny Dial Creech is a sports columnist for the Houston Chronicle. As such, her job is to share her thoughts and opinions about everything going on in sports. In this conversation, we talk about her successful career, her approach to writing, and the ways she is able to handle the often vicious and sexist feedback she receives especially through social media.

Olivia Kuan is currently directing and producing her first documentary feature, a project that tells the story of the Houston Herricanes, an all-women professional football team from the 1970s. On this episode, we discuss her personal connection to the film and how she went from growing up in Houston to attending NYU film school--and now working as a successful Director of Photography in LA. 

We need your help! Please take this audience survey to help us shape the third season of Press Play: bit.ly/press-play-feedback-19. Press Play will resume this fall.

As President and CEO of Fred Rogers Productions, Paul Siefken oversees the production of popular children's programs like Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Peg + Cat, and the Odd Squad. In this episode, Paul discusses his career from high school teacher in North Carolina and Georgia to the one carrying on the legacy of Fred Rogers.

Mariana Atencio is a bilingual journalist who reports for MSNBC and NBC. Originally from Venezuela, Atencio went to Columbia University for her masters in journalism before embarking on a successful career of reporting and now as an author of her first book, Perfectly You. On this episode, Atencio discusses her career from being a young journalist to someone making a difference in the lives of her followers all around the world.

Matt Lewis has earned a reputation as an independently minded and intellectually honest "right-of-center" journalist. He is a senior columnist for The Daily Beast, host of his own podcast Matt Lewis and the News, book author, and frequent commentator on CNN. During this conversation, we hear about how he finds time to be on so many platforms, his approach to writing and the news, and how he was able to get to where he is today.

For some entrepreneurs, the desire to run their own business is innate. For Aimee Woodall, president and founder of the Black Sheep Agency, that wasn’t the case. Aimee happened into the entrepreneurial life – and then excelled at it. On this episode of Press Play, Aimee talks about how Black Sheep became an impact-driven agency, offers advice to aspiring creatives and so much more.

Gilad Katz, the Consul General of Israel for the SW United States, joins the conversation this week to discuss his job as a representative of Israel, the role new media plays in democracy, and how his career began as a journalist.

When the re-launch of the XFL was announced, Oliver Luck was appointed as its CEO and Commissioner. In this episode, he talks about his decision to join the XFL and why he thinks this time it will be a success this time, and how he transitioned from an NFL player to a business executive.

Devi Asmarani is an Indonesian journalist and entrepreneur who, along with a group of other women around SE Asia, launched the app Mango Meter—an app that aims to offer a feminist perspective on film ratings. This isn’t her first startup, though, as she previously launched the Indonesian news website, Magdalene.co. In this episode, she recounts her process for those startups, and how she got there after spending her college years in a rather unlikely place: Alabama.

For more than 30 years, Jorge Ramos has been one of the most trusted voices in journalism. Often referred to as “The Walter Cronkite of Latin America,” Ramos is known to ask tough questions. In this episode, Ramos shares his beliefs about journalism and his role as a journalist, recounts how he got his start, and talks about his legacy.

Kim Thai is an Emmy award winning producer and creative currently serving as the VP of Original Digital Video for Discovery Communications. This wasn't always her career path, though, as she began her career by working for major print journalism publications after getting both her BA and MA in journalism. On this episode, we talk about her creative process now, and how she made that transition from journalist to creative executive.

After spending time working in the Obama White House, Vanessa Wade was looking for a change. She decided to move home to Houston and start her own PR agency, Connect the Dots. In this episode, we hear about the challenges--and the rewards--of starting and running your own agency, and how Vanessa actively engages with and gives back to the community.

Scholes hosts early morning sports shows on CNN both domestically and internationally. He covers all major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, World Series NBA Finals, and the Masters. In this episode, Scholes highlights his journey from UH to getting to his position at CNN and the nuances of his career as a sports anchor (such as writing his own scripts, breaking news stories, traveling) and recalls his favorite moments of the job.

A 28-year studio veteran, Courtenay Valenti has risen through the creative development ranks at Warner Bros. Pictures to become president of production and development. Valenti has been a creative force behind the studio’s resurgence in feature animation and the founding of Warner Animation Group, where she shepherded such titles as The LEGO Movie to critical acclaim. In this episode, Valenti will talk about her Hollywood career and her life growing up in the spotlight as the daughter of legendary Hollywood heavyweight Jack Valenti.

True crime podcasts are among the most popular in the medium so making a splash in this genre is tough. Impressively, The Australian’s true crime series The Teacher’s Pet has been downloaded more than twenty million times. In this episode, investigative journalist and The Teacher’s Pet host Hedley Thomas discusses everything from the podcast and how he continued to integrate new discoveries into each new episode to his extensive career as an investigative journalist.

In the world of screenwriting, Kevin Wade has done it all. From hugely successful films like "Maid in Manhattan" and "Working Girl" to being the Executive Producer and Showrunner for longtime CBS show "Blue Bloods," Kevin's career spans decades. Kevin joins this episode to talk about his career, his tremendous successes, and some hiccups along the way.

Ashley DeWalt, CEO and Founder of Leverage Sports, is a leader in the sports marketing world. Using some of the most innovative and cutting edge methods, Ashley represents some of the biggest names in the sports industry. This success has been a vision of his since college, when he literally pawned his possessions to build his company.

After a successful pilot season, we are excited to introduce the first season of Press Play this fall. Season 1 will continue to spotlight the stories of impactful communicators. In the meantime, we want to hear from you. We want our new and returning listeners to share their opinions as we launch the new season. Please take this brief survey to give us feedback on the podcast so far: http://bit.ly/press-play-survey

Over 30 years ago, Alex Lopez Negrete had a vision for the influence and importance of the Hispanic market. Because of that, he founded Lopez Negrete, an advertising agency focused on reaching that group. To say it has been a success is an understatement with billings in the hundreds of millions now. We’ll talk about his success, diversity in the advertising world, and how he was able to build his empire on this episode of Press Play.

Scott McClelland is one of the most iconic figures in Houston--he is the President of HEB and perhaps best known as "Mr. HEB" from the HEB television commercials. From working the delivery routes at Frito-Lay to starring in commercials with JJ Watt, Scott McClelland gives his advice on how to succeed in life and business.

In January of 2018, Joshua James launched a new app: Zig. Its goal is to provide news in a different and more visual manner. In this conversation, we hear from Joshua about how he was able to create this app, and how his entire career started as an entrepreneur while he was still in college.