Norman J. McLeod, Executive Director
As the first Executive Director of Arlington Community Media Inc., Norm brings a great deal of strength and diversity of experience from the corporate, academic and non-profit environments. He was the Executive Director for Community Television of the Southern Berkshires in Lee, Mass. where he successfully re-built that station and worked closely with five Western Massachusetts communities served by the station. He served as Media Director for Cazenovia College in Central New York and earlier was the Director of Radio and Television at Northeastern University in Boston. Norm also worked in television equipment sales as well as local audio-visual production houses in the Boston area. He received his Masters degree in Television and Radio Production from Syracuse University, after which he was a news director for the U.S. military. He began his community access career in a small cable station in Newburg, N.Y., and later was a producer for the New York State Educational Television Network.
Jeff Munro, Studio Manager
A past volunteer in countless productions for his hometown Malden Access TV, Malden, MA, Jeff brings his unique experience to Arlington Community Media Inc.’s stated mission of “…providing an electronic forum for the free exchange of information and ideas…” and “…providing access to, and training in, telecommunications technology…” With more than ten years’ experience in the cable access industry, Jeff has also worked in this field beyond community access television-both as independent production contractor for local, regional, and national networks such as CN8 and ABC Sports, and as contractor for cable television companies such as HBO. His five years of program development at the former Arlington Studio have served to establish strong and lasting relationships with the community. Jeff is thrilled now to be offering new digital equipment and training to ACMI volunteer producers, as well as fiber-optic cablecasting on all local cablesystems to Arlington residents.
Sara Alfaro-Franco, Government Access Coordinator
ACMi’s Government Access Coordinator, Sara has been a volunteer at Arlington Community Media Inc. (formerly Arlington Studio) for more than ten years. She has been involved in many productions over the years as producer, director, editor, camera operator, production assistant, crew member, and coffee fetcher. She is passionate about videography, oral history, involvement in her community, and opportunities for learning and teaching.
Sara is in her second career and, in addition to serving as the Government Access Coordinator at ACMI, she works independently as an aspiring documentary filmmaker.
Lakis Koulouris, Public Access Production Coordinator
Lakis returns to Arlington following three years’ service as the Access Coordinator for LexMedia public access television in Lexington, MA, where he managed its studio and served as its webmaster. He developed there a quarterly newsletter and worked hard to promote the studio’s public face through its website and printed media. Lakis, the sole provider of television production instruction to studio members, is a multiple-format digital editor (Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Avid). In the broadcast world he has worked for television production companies throughout New England, covering high school, college, and professional sporting events. He attended Framingham State College, Framingham, MA, and started his tele-vision career at Arlington Studio, first volunteering at the age of 12.
Sean Snyder, Media/Programming Coordinator
Sean joins ACMi with a strong yet diverse background in communications and design. He attended Stonehill College for Fine Arts where he started on his path toward digital imaging and audio production, and solidified his foundation in Media Arts during graduate School at Emerson College. Sean has worked as on-air talent and producer for radio, a print production specialist for a local media production foundation, and a journalist for an engineering magazine. Additionally, he works independently as a web and graphic designer and as a digital imaging teacher with the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Sean is also a lifelong resident of the Greater Boston Area.
Walter Locke, Outreach Coordinator
Walter came to ACMI, when it was still called Arlington Studio, in November 2006 from a position at a local non-profit organization where he provided organizational support and project management. In the previous millennium he was involved in initiating, developing, and implementing corporate media project proposals and marketing presentations as a consultant and, before that, as sole proprietor of first an A/V and film production company and later a multilingual translation agency. He first entered the world of media production when producing and distributing his own non-fiction feature film. He subsequently co-produced and hosted a 26-week children’s television program for Warner Cable TV in Norwood, MA.
Cheryl Brusgulis, Administrative Assistant
Before joining the ACMI staff as Administrative Assistant, Cheryl volunteered during more than a decade at Arlington’s local access television studio. Her series production credits during that time included Golden Opportunities, The Front Page, and Cable Cuisine, as well as several individual programs. She subsequently produced for the Arlington Historical Society several episodes of Inside Arlington and a few specials. She was a member of the board of the Arlington Cable Access (ACA) group where she held the positions of Secretary and Clerk. In her spare time, she offers private computer lessons and is an avid photographer. An Arlington resident for more than thirty years, Cheryl has come to appreciate the town’s unique charms. Now that the studio at which she first volunteered has stepped so boldly into the technology of twenty-first century cablecasting, she looks forward to seeing more of her fellow Arlingtonians make use of the ACMi studio facility.