Networks & Stations
>HDNet has named David Green executive producer of news and documentary programming. He will be responsible for all news and documentary programming and will work with production managers, schedulers, and coordinators to allocate resources and schedule travel for assignments.
>Amy Shaw is the new director of education services at KETC. She is responsible for extending the scope of the station's education and outreach efforts to encompass a variety of consumers not presently served by the station. KETC plans to be more visible to educators through the use of digital television and ChalkWaves, a service that provides instructional media, digital content, and professional development to K-12 clients.
Manufacturers
>Broadcast Technology has appointed Martin Altham international sales manager. Prior to joining Broadcast Technology, he was sales manager at Irdeto Access, covering the U.K., Ireland and the Nordic region for DVB products and all of Europe for IP TV projects.
>National Mobile Television has elected Joseph M. Cohen as a director of the company. He will serve on both the compensation and governance committees. He will be the fifth director on the NMT board, joining Steve Clifford, Mark Howorth, Chris Brothers, and Jim Ford. In addition to his new responsibilities for NMT, Cohen serves as the chairman of the board of HTN Communications.
>TANDBERG Television has appointed Oran Cassem its new chief technology officer (CTO). He will help build the company's position in the global digital video market. He will be based in the U.K. and will manage the company's R&D, engineering, business development, segment marketing, strategic relationships, marketing communications, and corporate strategy.
Service Providers
>Elisha Levin has been promoted to the newly created post of director of marketing at Company 3. She will head public relations and marketing and provide support for client relations, business development, and sales. She will also act as a liaison between the company's New York facility and its Santa Monica headquarters.
>Editor and compositor Derek Herr has joined Level 3 Post. His first assignment will be final editing for the Showtime series The Freshman Diaries. He joins Level 3 following four years with The Post Group, Hollywood. His most recent credits there include the Discovery Channel series Moments In Time and It's Christopher Lowell.
>In order to pursue another opportunity, Andy Wright has resigned from The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Assoc- iation (SBCA). A former aide to Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), he was named to the DBS trade association's top post in December 2001.
Industry Vet Shot Dead In Nashville
Gregory Norman Griffith, co-founder of the Electric Picture Company and its recording media distribution component, TapeOnline.com, as well as video production house LifeView Resources, died last month, at age 39.
He was fatally shot by a man hunting down his ex-girlfriend in the Electric Picture Company offices in Nashville, TN. The man never reached his intended target and minutes later committed suicide. Griffith left behind a wife, Gloria, and three young children, William, Benjamin, and Sarah.
Griffith founded LifeView Resources with his childhood friend and partner Steve Roche in 1991. Primarily, the company produced healthcare videos. Roche and Griffith found they were having difficulty obtaining the video equipment needed for the business in the Nashville area, so they created the Electric Picture Company, a video equipment rental company, in 1993. Later, they launched an online component, TapeOnline.com.
According to Roche, Griffith spent a great deal of his time working on LifeView Resources. He particularly enjoyed his involvement in a series of videos the company created, The Educated Caregiver, a program offering emotional support and practical advice for families taking care of a loved one in the home. "That's a testament to the kind of guy he was," said Roche. "He wanted to help other people."
Roche and Griffith knew each other since elementary school, but didn't become good friends until they began working together on their high school yearbook staff. "That's how we became close, and from there on it's been a lifelong friendship and a great partnership," said Roche. In adulthood, it was a given the duo would team up: "We always intended to go into business together," said Roche. "We didn't care what it was going to be, we were just going to do something together."
Prior to his co-founding LifeView Resources, Griffith had served in the United States Air Force as an intelligence officer. He received his MBA from Rutgers University and was working on his doctorate in public policy at the time of his death. Roche said he will continue to run the businesses.
--Sarah Stanfield
