Department Chair: Jake Wachtel
Core Courses:
DGA 501 New Media Production
DGA 621 Producing Digital Media
DGA 631 Digital Media Startup
BIO: Jake Wachtel has been producing, writing, and directing for television, film, and new media for over a decade. An award-winning international journalist and producer, Jake began his career as a news producer and reporter for Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), CBS’ partner in Japan. He has covered stories across the Americas, lived for two years in Japan, and speaks Japanese. His coverage includes presidential elections, social issues in South America, the Academy Awards, and the Olympics.
Jake has interviewed an array of celebrities from Christina Aguilera to Bill Gates and as a hard news producer, he received the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Citation for coverage of 9/11. Jake runs No Worries Entertainment (NWE), a company that produces content and develops programming for domestic and international clients. Prior to founding NWE, he was an Executive Producer for NBC Universal. He has produced and directed documentaries and independent features, as well as the comedic sports current affairs, show Sports Soup for E! Studios. He was also a producer for CNBC’s Dennis Miller show and developed, directed, and produced programs for Zee TV’s Veria Network, including its tentpole series The Incurables.
A CORO Fellow in Public Affairs, he serves on the Media Advisory Boards of Santa Monica College and the Claremont Colleges. He is a member of the Writers Guild and the International Press Academy.