In September 2005, after 10 years as a news anchor/reporter, Heather Dawson left local news to begin a new phase in her career. Fed up with the constant negativity in local news, Heather created the news magazine show Southern California Life as a way of providing positive news to the Southland. After several years of success, Heather decided to expand the newsmagazine show to the entire state of California. In March 2009, Heather became co-owner, co-executive producer and Host of California Life with Heather Dawson. Beyond covering events such as The Oscars and The Critics Choice Awards, she has interviewed a variety of influential people including President George H. Bush, USC Coach Pete Carroll, Country Music sensations Tim McGraw & Faith Hill as well as conducted the last interviews with beloved Cowboy Roy Rogers & Dale Evans. Prior to California Life, she was a journalist for NBC, UPN, OCN, KVMD & KHIZ. She began her broadcasting career as a reporter-at-large -- developing, writing, shooting and editing her own reports and interviews. In 1995, she became one of the youngest News Directors in the business. Born in Texas and raised in California, Heather is a graduate of San Diego State University where she holds a bachelor of arts in Communications. Heather enjoys spending time with her husband and three daughters.
Wes Parker grew up in Brentwood, California, and was first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1964 to 1972.
During his nine years with the team he was named team Dodger in 1970 and won both the Lou Gehrig and Brian Piccolo Awards for his work helping young people stay off drugs. He also won six consecutive Gold Glove awards as the best fielding first baseman in the league and in 2007 was voted by the fans the best fielding first baseman of the past half century. Following his career in baseball, Wes went into television and radio, hosting a daily health show in 1984, starring in a nightly sitcom for Norman Lear, and in 1987, he hosted a radio pre- and post-game show for his hometown Dodgers.
Wes resides in Pacific Palisades and continues to work for the Dodgers on their Speaker's Bureau, fulfilling speaker requests at schools, Little League openings, Christian groups and service clubs.
Jennifer's other television credits include writing and producing for PBS in Los Angeles and Sacramento, NBC in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, as well as other networks such as Lifetime, E!, TLC, and The Discovery Channel. Ms. Quinonez is a member of the Writer\’s Guild of America and was also selected in Fall 2009 to participate in the RIAS Berlin/RTNDA German-American Broadcast Journalist fellowship program.
Gloria's extensive background in print and electronic media includes 25 years as entertainment editor and anchor of the nightly NBC affiliate, KMIR TV 6, editor and publisher of Sand To Sea magazine founded in 1974 by her mother Mrs. Lew Landers (widow of film director Lew Landers) and sold to Palm Springs Life in 1999, columnist and feature writer for the Pulitzer Prize winning Press-Enterprise for more than 20 years, columnist for Daily Variety, critic and columnist for Variety (weekly), correspondent for Newsweek Magazine, Newsweek News Service, Associated Press, and Town and Country Magazine where one of her contributions was a 23-page by-line spread on the Coachella Valley.
Gloria's large following is proved by her induction into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences prestigious Silver Circle for her contributions to the television industry, named one of the women "We Most Want to Watch" by the Desert Post Weekly, recipient of the California Hispanic Print Media Award, recipient of the Television Personality of the Year Award by the Sun City Community Association,. Desert Business Achievement Award\s "Spirit of the Valley" award, the Spiritual Life Ministries Award, the prestigious Athena Award as Entrepreneur of the Year from the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, named "Patriot of the Year" by the Association of Naval. Gloria was the first journalist to receive a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars, "Good Samaritan" of the Year award, recipient of the Woman of Achievement Award from The American Friends of Hebrew University, and the first recipient of the Palm Springs Woman's Press Club's "Press Woman of the Year."
Gloria is the mother of twin daughters, Ann and Norma, and has two grandsons. She is the daughter of the late composer and Broadway producer Anatole Friedland and her step-father was the late film and Emmy nominated television director Lew Landers. She comes by her journalism talent naturally - her great aunt was a journalist on the New York World, at the time a major New York City newspaper, and one of her great uncles was an editor at the Frankfurter Zeitung, in Frankfurt, Germany.
Israeli by birth, Ron Jacobsohn is truly an international journalist. He comes to KVMD TV following successful stints at E! Entertainment and CBS News, while he continues to supply up-to-date Hollywood News to countries all over (including Israel, Germany, Greece, Belgium, Brazil, Singapore, and Canada) through his company, The Hollywood Connection. Over the past 8 years, Ron Jacobsohn has covered every Hollywood Event from Red Carpet premieres to the Academy Awards to one-on-one interviews with all of Hollywood's hottest names. In 2004, he became the first international journalist invited to join the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) and was honored by the Israeli Film Festival for his extraordinary efforts that resulted in connecting between Hollywood and the Israeli film industry
David Wylie is an award winning news reporter who has been covering Southern California on both radio and television for more than 20 years. Born and raised in the Pasadena area, David is a life long resident of the Southland. In addition to his contributions for KVMD's California Life, David can be heard Monday thru Friday mornings on KOLA 99.9 radio where he is the news director.
Lisa Spalla is veteran TV journalist having worked as a host, reporter, producer and director for shows like Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Extra, E! Entertainment Television and Animal Planet. She is currently a Reporter for California Life, as well as, the Executive Producer of TV Watercooler and inFANity on TV Guide Network.
As a member of the Directors Guild of America, The American Federation of Television and Radio and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Lisa is very involved with the entertainment community.
When not working, Lisa treasures spending time with her new son and husband.
Monique Soltani graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a double major in Broadcast Journalism and American Studies. Since graduating she has worked as an anchor/reporter and producer at several television stations across country including: KPVI, KGTV, KCBS, KSEE and KPIX. Monique has also appeared on several television shows and commercials, having studied comedy at the Groundlings school of improvisation and acting at Warner Loughlin Studios and Stella Adler Academy of Acting. Currently residing in the Bay Area, Monique brings viewers the best stories from Northern California. Holding a certification from the World Court of Master Sommeliers, Monique also gives California Life a taste of the wine country. .
Jonathan Khamis graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism. While at Fullerton, Jonathan covered numerous sporting events, including the prestigious Titans baseball program. He then went on to work with KDOC-TV where he covered all matters surrounding Orange County. Jonathan has also worked with baseball Hall of Famer Gary Carter on a television show, and currently works as a video journalist with the Orange County Register covering news and sports. He brings his knowledge and passion for sports to California Life, as he showcases the best teams and athletes the Southland has to offer.
Jacques Luben was born in Paris, France. In 1990, he co-founded www.IncPlan.net. This Delaware based firm offers its entrepreneurial clients a wide range of business services including company incorporations, full virtual office set-ups and banking consulting. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and receiving a Masters degree from Columbia University, Jacques occupied senior commodity positions at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley in New York City. He has also served as Executive Director of Platinum Guild International (USA) a leading trade association that operates in 6 countries.
If it has wheels and goes fast, that's where you are likely to find our "Burnin Rubber" segment reporter J.R.Ybarra. As a lifelong motorsports enthusiast, J.R. has been able to weld together his love of anything that has wheels and his broadcast career, with assignments as a producer and announcer for motorsports programming on outlets such as Speed TV, The Outdoor Channel and Fox Sports Net.
When not covering both regional and national level racing events, J.R. has been known to take a few laps as an amateur road racer and shifter kart driver at his home track, The Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Born and raised in Los Angeles, J.R. has now adopted the Inland Empire as his new place of residence. Through his career in broadcasting, J.R. has also spent time as a news reporter and anchor for Silver King Broadcasting and as a radio announcer for various stations in the So Cal region. When not driving his beloved Saleen Mustang around the track, he can also be found "driving" a golf ball or two at a nearby course in the IE.
Christina Erwin is new to Los Angeles from Dallas, Texas; where she graduated from Texas Christian University with a Broadcast Journalism degree. Since graduating she has worked as reporter/entertainment anchor for Fox News affiliates across Louisiana. Christina has spent much of her career covering sports, also working for the Dallas Cowboys and 103.3 ESPN radio.
You can also watch Christina recapping episodes of Ugly Betty on TV Guide Network. When not working Christina spends her time sightseeing around her new home state.
Julie Gallaher, founder and publisher of the popular website Things You Should Do, is a third generation Californian who's goal is to share our state's beauty with the world. A former travel agent, she travels California's backroads and finds the unique destinations and activities that she thinks "you should do". Her website celebrated it's one millionth visitor in January of 2010.
Using the skills she's learned marketing her website online, Julie now helps travel, food and wine businesses with social media at Get on the Map Local Search Marketing. Harnessing the power of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and other social media sites, she helps businesses connect with new customers.
Leeza Yeretzian is a recent graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies. Her ultimate goal is to attain a graduate degree in Broadcast Journalism. In the meantime, she is now an intern on the writing and production team for California Life and interning part-time for the Director of External Affairs at Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA).
Notably, her experience in the entertainment industry was highlighted during her summer 2009 internship at TV Guide Network. There, she worked for the Executive Producer of Specials, TV Watercooler, and InFANity. With her drive, professionalism, and enthusiasm, Leeza works very hard at every opportunity within the industry.
Stephanie Minasian is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach. She received her B.A. in journalism and minored in English literature. She began her journalism career as an intern for Southern California Life with Heather Dawson, where she produced and reported a segment about the City of Long Beach going green. She also interned at NBC in Burbank, where she assisted the special investigations producer in surfacing corruption within the Los Angeles Unified School District. She has also worked as the host of CSULB's campus news show "College Beat," as well as an assistant editor for her college newspaper, The Daily 49er. After graduating from college, Stephanie moved back to her native, Sacramento, where she now works as a feature reporter for the Amador Ledger Dispatch newspaper in the foothills outside of Sacramento.
Jose has been in video production for almost 20 years. He started his career at KHIZ TV in master control, where he quickly moved on to photographer for live newscasts and media production. Soon after, Jose was promoted to be the director of live news casts at the station. Years later, his career took him to The National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, California to work as a civilian contractor for the U.S. Army to produce military training media. Jose went on to become lead of the International News Network (similar to CNN), a mock network newscast for military training purposes. Currently, Jose continues to be a training development specialist out at Ft. Irwin, a News Stringer for various news outlets, along with contributions to California Life HD.
In memory of Tom R. Sparks (1976-2009), his family and friends have set up a scholarship fund at USC's Annenberg School of Communication to help graduate students in Broadcast Journalism achieve their dreams. The scholarship will be awarded to students who share in Tom's love of life, show a commitment to the field that Tom held so dear, and who display a touch of Tom's eclectic personality. We hope that through this scholarship, Tom's legacy at USC will live on for generations to come.
http://www.californialifehd.com/files/scholar_Instructions.pdf
