2021 New Board Bios

2021-2022 Board of Governors Election

Jordan Allen (WPXI)
Jordan Allen is a recent graduate of Robert Morris University with a focus in TV and Video Production. Since graduating, I have been employed by WPXI-Channel 11 News where I currently have won 3 Emmy Awards. I like to challenge myself artistically by exploring as many avenues as possible whether it be through my band, wrestling, or pinball streaming show. Because of this I have a great knack for promotion and social media and would love to use those skills to help benefit the board and NATAS as a whole.

Gina Catanzarite (WQED)
Gina Catanzarite is an award-winning television producer, writer, and educator who has worked both nationally and locally in her fields since 1987. Currently, Catanzarite operates her company, Arania Productions, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  She counts 16 Emmy awards, 43 Emmy nominations, a Matrix award, 2 Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Awards, 8 Telly Awards, 3 Golden Quill Awards, an Ohio Associated Press MEA award, an Ohio Society of Professional Journalists award, and a screenwriting grant from the Theatre Association of Pennsylvania, among her many professional honors.  She also was recognized with a Carnegie Science Award as the 2018 Science Communicator of the Year; and she has served on the Board of Governors for the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences since 2019.

Brian Cook  (Golden Sky Media/Freelance)
Brian Cook is an Emmy-nominated international journalist and filmmaker. He is the owner of Golden Sky Media Company, L.L.C., a multi-media company specializing in multi-media production. The media veteran is the President of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation (Pittsburgh chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists) which won National Professional Chapter of the Year honors in 2015 and 2017. Cook is a freelance multi-media journalist with numerous organizations in western PA reporting on breaking news, sports and entertainment stories of national and international interest in addition to shooting, editing and producing video for television and web. He also is a voiceover talent for documentaries and radio features.

Joe Fordyce (NBC Sports Philadelphia)
Joe Fordyce is a senior producer at NBC Sports Philadelphia.  I’ve worked at the station since the early days of Comcast Sportsnet in 2003.  He has had the pleasure of covering many great events in Phialdelphia sports including the World Series, Stanley Cup Final, the Eagles 2018 Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby and a lot of College Football and Basketball.  Joe is currently the lead Flyers content producer, including all the Pre and Postgame shows for Flyers games.

Larry Lewis (WHP)
Larry is a Kutztown University grad with a graduate certificate in Public Relations from the University of Maryland.   Larry previously worked at WUSA in Washington, DC and WMAR in Baltimore.  Larry was a writer/producer at FOX from 1998-2007 and returned to the Mid-Atlantic chapter in 2018 as the nightside Executive Producer.  He is an Emmy® Recipient and resides with his wife and son in Maryland.

Anne Linaberger (Freelance)
Anne Linaberger is a Vice President with C4CS, a leader in strategic communication and crisis management based in Pittsburgh. There she’s
applying her 35+ years’ experience in broadcast and on line media, providing
the company’s clients with group and one-on-one media and presentation
training.  Previously Anne was the Chief Content Officer for a news website,
and spent 20 years at KDKA-TV/WPCW-TV, the Viacom/CBS-owned and operated
stations in Pittsburgh, the last eight years as News Director.   Anne has
served our chapter for many years as member of the board and as Awards
Committee co-chair.

Matt Maisel (WPMT)
Matt Maisel is a 14-year veteran in the news industry, with experience as a sports reporter, news reporter, and news anchor. Matt joined FOX43 WPMT in the Harrisburg/York/Lancaster market in early-2015, and was named morning anchor in July 2017, where he currently anchors the FOX43 Morning News at 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Matt helped his previous station, WJAC-TV, win a Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters award for their coverage of the Jerry Sandusky/Joe Paterno firing and ensuing riots, and has won three PABs and nominated for five Emmy Awards since starting at FOX43. Matt joined the NATAS Mid-Atlantic Board of Governors in 2019.

Leo McCafferty (Pittsburgh Penguins, Vice President, Content and Production)
Leo is a 15 time Emmy® Award-winning producer and sports marketing professional, serving as Vice President of Content and Production for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Leo oversees all aspects of content and production for the team and brand. He produced and Directed, “Pittsburgh is Home – The Story of the Penguins” a feature-length documentary on the history of the franchise and also developed and created “​In The Room” an all-access, behind the scenes show chronicling the story of the Penguins, now in its 10th season. Previously a producer at NFL Films, Leo is the recipient of three National Sports Emmy® Awards.  Leo served as one of the chapter’s Regional Vice-Presidents.

Carrie Moniot (Adjunct Asst Professor, Point Park University, Freelance reporter Gazette 2.0
Carrie Moniot began her TV career on the assignment desk at KDKA-TV before moving to WPXI-TV where she worked for 21 years as an assignment editor, producer and executive producer.  In 2009, Carrie made the move to higher education, first as an adjunct instructor at Point Park and Robert Morris Universities, then as a full-time student media/new media advisor at RMU.

Since leaving Robert Morris University, Carrie has worked as a freelance digital content producer for KDKA-TV and a freelance senior producer at Sparkt.com.

She recently returned to her academic roots to teach a TV production class at Point Park and is also working as a freelance reporter for Gazette 2.0. She is an Emmy® recipient and has also received dozens of local and statewide news awards.

Ernest Owens (CEO, Ernest Media Empire)
Previously the editor of G Philly, Philadelphia Magazine’s bygone LGBTQ news vertical, Owens has written about allegations of racial discrimination in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood. His work earned him awards from the National Association of Black Journalists and the American Society of Magazine Editors.  Ernest is President of the Philadelphia Association Black Journalists.

Julia Urich (Firerock Productions)-
Julia Urich is co-owner and operator of FireRock Productions. She is currently serving in her second consecutive 3-year term for the Board of Directors of Easterseals Eastern PA, is a President-appointed Director of the Board for the Jewish Community Center of the Lehigh Valley, and serves on the American Advertising Awards Committee. She previously served as President of the American Advertising Federation’s Greater Lehigh Valley Chapter, President of Laughing At My Nightmare, Inc., Communications Chair for the American Advertising Federation’s District 2, and Board Member of the Women’s Business Council of the GLV Chamber of Commerce. Julia is the recipient of 7 Mid-Atlantic Emmy awards and more than 30 American Advertising Awards, including Judge’s Choice and the prestigious Best of Show awards. She is an active volunteer in the Lehigh Valley community, where she grew up. Julia attended Colgate University and Muhlenberg College, and now lives in Emmaus, PA with her husband and business partner, Rocky, and their two children.