Title: Coordinator of the Digital Aquarium Multimedia Laboratory
Family: Married to Noelle, a Producer at CNN. One daughter, Maggie, just started pre-K
How long have you worked at Georgia State? 8 years
What do you do on a typical day? One of the best parts of my job for the past eight years has been the variation in my work. For me, there is no typical workday. For example, one day I may teach a Podcasting workshop, then go to a class and give a presentation on the Aquarium, then go back to the lab and spend the afternoon helping people with their video and Photoshop projects. Then, the next day I might spend all morning ordering new cameras and repairing light kits, and spend the afternoon hosting a campus film festival. Then the following day I may train some new student assistants, fix a printer, upgrade the RAM in a computer, and finish the day teaching a camera workshop. I love the diversity of my job, because it allows me to use my diverse skill set.
What's your background? I have a degree in Cinematography from Ithaca College, with a concentration in Documentary Film. I also have minors in Corporate Communications and Anthropology. There was no design program at Ithaca College, so I took the Corp Comm minor to learn Photoshop and Illustrator. The anthropology minor complemented my Doc Film concentration. I was recruited by CNN about four weeks before I graduated, and I spent three years as a Computer Animator for CNN International, here in Atlanta. I left CNN in 2000 to pursue my interests in web video and web animation, with a dot com job in San Francisco. After the Internet bubble burst in 2001, I moved back to Atlanta and joined the staff here at Georgia State.
What's your favorite thing in your office? There are so many cool things in the Digital Aquarium: HD cameras, touch screen computers, large plasma screens, etc. But my favorite thing in my office, without a doubt, is my staff. I really enjoy working with the people at the Digital Aquarium. They are all very interesting people, with well-developed multimedia skills. I learn as much from them, as they have hopefully learned from me.
What don't people know about you? Most people probably do not know that I am also a freelance Field Producer for CNN. I have been filing news packages for CNN since 2001 when I filed my first story on New Orleans JazzFest. Since then I have filed more than forty stories, mostly about the music industry, for CNN, Headline News and CNN.com. I have been privileged to interview some amazing people including former President Jimmy Carter, B.B. King, Dave Mathews, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, John Paul Jones, the Allman Brothers Band, and the Grateful Dead. You can visit my web site at www.hotsupe.com to see some of my videos, and learn more about the artists I have interviewed. I am currently working on a documentary film and a companion book that will present my experiences in the music industry during the past decade.
If you weren't working at Georgia State, what would your ideal job be? For the past eight years, working at the Digital Aquarium has been my dream job. I have been able to utilize my skills from film, video, photography, web, animation and audio. I have also been able to draw upon all of my computer, public speaking, teaching, and customer service skills. Furthermore, I have been able to assemble a great team of people to work with. If I wasn't here, in the Digital Aquarium, I would be happy to work for a large post-production or animation company, like ILM or Pixar, as an IT Support Manager or Post-Production Facilities Manager.