SUMMARY
An accomplished communications professional who has worked in print, television, radio, recordings and the internet in a variety of capacities, he has established himself as a creative and proactive self-starter who is good at reaching out, initiating and maintaining dialogue with others in the production process.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
LOS ANGELES TIMES, Los Angeles CA 1990-2008
Worked as a writer, editor, researcher and manager at the Los Angeles Times for more than 18 years. Amidst the myriad structural, stylistic and section management changes during that time, consistently demonstrated flexibility in negotiating the demands and challenges of the shifting workplace environment and editorial focus. Never missed a deadline while annually receiving superlative performance appraisals. Made good use of a broad general knowledge, hands-on experience as a professional musician and audio/video engineer and an entertainment industry background when pitching and writing stories. Also researched multi-media opportunities in anticipation of the paper’s expansion to the internet.
Calendar Assistant Listings Editor (2004-2008)
Filled in for the editor on numerous occasions, supervising other listings coordinators, line-editing and proofreading listings. Also continued to perform previous duties, in addition to compiling Calendar’s Calendar, a six-day-a-week feature.
- Facilitated a smooth transition of listings to the web, saving money and increasing audience.
- Created photo galleries and soundtracks that were among the most popular online offerings.
- Researched audio podcasts and created a prototype of an audio podcast of daily events.
Calendar Listings Coordinator (2001-2004)
Wrote weekly “forecast” items for the Calendar Weekend section --- short, punchy briefs, highlighting the week’s best concerts and performances, festivals, fairs and shows. Wrote more than 800 forecast items 2001-08. Also charged with creating and maintaining jazz, events and places listings; establishing and maintaining liaisons with the jazz club owners and community organizers to keep readers abreast of current happenings. Also branched and localized all listings for the Valley, Ventura, Orange County and main editions.
Valley Edition Calendar Staff Writer/Editorial Assistant (1992-2001)
Wrote more than 700 bylined and non-bylined stories and columns--entertainment and music stories, humor and culture pieces. Compiled all the listings for the Valley Edition’s Calendar section. Managed freelancers’ payroll, assigned photographers, acted as the Valley Calendar section’s community liaison and oversaw the maintenance of its office equipment.
- Wrote “Rocktalk” a pop music column, “Newsbites” a restaurant news column, “Page Turner” a bookstore news column and “Footnotes,” a briefs column, which were all popular features in the Valley Edition Calendar section.
- Coordinated the production of a weekly movie guide, training and supervising two clerks, organizing their schedules, assigning work flow and other duties.
- Was an integral member of the team that won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for its first day coverage of the Northridge Earthquake.
Ventura Edition Editorial Assistant (1990-1992)
Compiled the daily calendar of events and performed various duties in the office.
- Wrote news dailies and features including cop checks filling in on the city desk on weekends.
- Edited a “Week in Review” section, tracking the week’s top stories, then editing and condensing them into a short digest.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
Audio
Extensive experience as an audio recording engineer and sound FX editor for radio, video and live theatrical productions, utilizing Cubase, Wavelab and other digital audio programs.
- Produced two CDs, “L.A. ‘til Morning” (2000) and “The American Prisoner,” (2006) which have received critical acclaim and international airplay. Also served as the CDs’ product manager , working closely with photographers, graphic artists, printers and manufacturers.
- Produced, wrote, directed and engineered on-air political satire segments as “Avant Radio,” featured on KPFK.FM, Pacifica Radio, 2002-2004.
Video
Extensive experience shooting and editing video, operating video cameras in both ENG and in-studio situations. Astute at visual storytelling.
- Counseled and worked with actors and industry professionals to edit demo tapes to promote their careers including Rebecca de Mornay, Tom Arnold, Stephanie Edwards, Murray MacLeod, Zane Busby and others.
- Produced the award-winning video documentary “Address Unknown: The Homeless of Los Angeles.”
- Worked as the news writer/producer of “7:30,” a daily live newscast at KCET-TV ; writing headlines and intros, coordinating scripts, choosing graphics, back-timing broadcasts, coaching and rehearsing the on-air talent, running the teleprompter, researching stories and performing other duties.
Music
A professional musician since age 15, performing at clubs, in concerts and on recordings, singing and playing guitar, bass, keyboards and harmonica.
- Wrote more than 200 songs; affiliated with Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI);
- Released two CDs of original music;
- Composed advertising jingles as well as incidental and theme music for the internet, stage, video and film.
EDUCATION & OTHER TRAINING
B.A., California State University, Northridge, journalism major, political science minor.
Studied writing and story structure with screenplay guru Robert McKee.
Assisted Terry Mayo, L.A.’s first female news anchor, in her news reading/news anchor classes.
Website creation experience working with HTML, real audio, wav and other sound files.
Former member of SAG, AFTRA; worked as a substitute teacher in the LAUSD, passed the CBEST exam.; worked as real estate salesperson, passed the California real estate license exam; worked as a Life Insurance Underwriter, passed the California life and health insurance exam.
Further biographical information and accomplishments on www.jamesefowler.com
