The Department of Digital Media and Journalism, CAS, SUNY New Paltz Alumni Association, and The Media Society Present… Media Day 2023! Media Day will take place Thursday, May 11, beginning with the Alumni Panel at 10am and closing at 6pm with Keynote Speakers at the College Terrace.
The 10am Alumni Panel will include Clark Slater, Breanne Casucci, Katelyn Cordero, Alanna Gill, and Lakendra Smith. This panel opens opportunities to network with the graduates and learn about their career ladders and paths. Breakfast will also be served! The 6pm keynote will include speakers Joy + Noelle, who will share about their career in animation. The keynote will also honor DMJ Professor Emirati Lynn Spangler with refreshments and appetizers.
The Alumni Panel:
Clark Slater: Born and raised in NYC, Clark Slater is a documentary filmmaker, cinematographer and content creator. Grounded in the world of storytelling, his work centers around music, subcultural phenomena and the human condition, creating award winning digital series, short documentaries and branded content for platforms such as VICE, TIME, The Washington Post, Google, Mass Appeal, The Fader, Univision, and more. As a director of documentary, some of his credits include “Post-Malone is a Rockstar”, “G Herbo: City Of Sorrow”, “Lil Tracy: My name is Tracy”, “CITY MORGUE: The Way Out”, and “GENERATION FUERZA” – a finalist at the 2019 Oaxaca Film Festival and released in select theaters across Mexico City. First premiering at Tribeca Film Festival, “DON’T TRY TO UNDERSTAND: A Year in the life of Earl ‘DMX’ Simmons”, was his first feature film and is currently available to stream on HBO Max. In addition to docs, Clark likes to dabble in the narrative art of music videos, directing and producing visuals for artists such as the late Young Dolph, Killer Mike, Lil Tjay, Tokischa, Lil Tacy, City Girls, T Shyne and the late Pop Smoke. When he is not writing treatments or searching for the next story, Clark is creating mini-docs behind the Google Doodles. His second documentary feature is currently underway and set to premier on Paramount+ in fall 2023.
Breanne Casucci: Breanne Casucci is a Production Coordinator at A+E Factual Studios production company for A+E Networks. She has worked on original productions such as “The Toys That Built America”, History’s “G.O.A.T. with Peyton Manning”, and Variety’s “Power of Women: The Changemakers, and The American Presidency with Bill Clinton”. Casucci has also coordinated History Channel’s live event “History Talks”, which invites audiences to hear directly from global leaders, trailblazers, authors, and filmmakers. Prior to her time at A+E Networks, Casucci was an Associate Producer for “Syke and MJ in the Morning” at 106.1 BLI and on air talent for the Cox Media Group station. She is most proud of her coordination of an interview with United States women’s soccer team player Allie Long post the team’s Women’s World Cup win in 2019. Casucci is a proud 2018 New Paltz graduate, Stonesthrow Review contributor, and Distinguished Senior in Student Affairs recipient at SUNY New Paltz.
Katelyn Cordero: Katelyn Cordero graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a degree in journalism and digital media production in 2017. Since then, she’s gone on to work in different types of news throughout New York State. She started her career covering international news as a producer for Al-Arabiya in the United Nations then transitioned into local journalism as a general assignment reporter, a breaking news reporter and most recently an education reporter for the Poughkeepsie Journal. She is currently working for Politico covering state education out of the New York State Capitol.
Alanna Gill: Alanna Gill is a 2020 graduate of New Paltz. She is currently working as a Technical Media Operator at News 10 in Albany, NY. She has been there for a little over a year and is enjoying the work and the experience she is gaining.
LaKendra Stith: LaKendra Stith is a Lead Editor at ESPN, where she earned an Emmy Award nomination. She boasts 11 years of editing experience in broadcasting and cable. Previously she worked for FIOS and WABC-TV. Lakendra is a production graduate from SUNY New Paltz (’10).
Keynote Speakers:
Joy + Noelle: Twin animators Joy + Noelle will share their career in animation whose clients include Nickelodeon, NBC Universal, Sesame Studios, Cartoon Network, and Amazon Studios. Their presentation will be preceded with a recognition for Professor Emerita Dr. Lynn Spangler.
Dr. Lynn Spangler: Dr. Lynn Spangler was the Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences up until 2017. With over 34 years at SUNY New Paltz, Spangler has made meaningful connections between her teaching, research and creative activities, accepted administrative challenges as a department chair and associate dean, and provided vital leadership in her roles on numerous central committees. Outside the classroom, Spangler has been prodigious as a documentary filmmaker, and has primarily taken important figures from Hudson Valley history (including John Burroughs and Sojourner Truth) as her subjects. She has published extensively in disciplinary journals and authored a book, titled “Television Women from Lucy to Friends,” in 2003. Spangler’s service to the campus community, her faculty colleagues and the student population has taken many forms, as she’s proven to be something of a “swiss army knife,” willing to take on an array of new tasks and responsibilities. She chaired the Communication and Media Department from 1999-2003, chaired a Committee on Educational Technology from 2001-03, led the General Education Board from 2008-12 and has served as Liberal Arts & Sciences Associate Dean for the last 14 years. In these roles Spangler has been a steadfast supporter of faculty development, worked with departments on personnel, curricular and programmatic issues, and guided the College’s learning outcomes assessment efforts.