Wes Akamine, Olelo
Wesley Akamine is the Community Media Center Manager, Olelo Community Television . Through video production he and his staff train and work with the community, schools and government originations in assisting them with airing programs on Oceanic cable to viewers on Oahu. With participation from Oahu’s various communities, Olelo’s programming is diverse, from art pieces to neighborhood board meetings.

Wes began his career at KEYT 3, ABC affiliate in Santa Barbara, California, managing daily operation of studio for newscasts and special events, training interns in all areas of EFP and studio production, and building sets, staging, and camera platforms for annual live remote events also, location manager for event.

Wes received his degree in film studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Robynn Corneau and mother, Lynn Corneau
Robynn is a member of the MeneMAC class of 2011 and an active member in our Broadcast Journalism program. Her mom, Lynn Corneau, has been a great supporter of our program as well!

JoAnn Fu, Moanalua Middle School
JoAnn Fu is the Technology Coordinator at Moanalua Middle School.

She began her career teaching Math for 15 years at Aliamanu and Moanalua Middle. School. The last 10 or more years she has been the technology coordinator. She also has two classes of Media Production. Her media production students are responsible in producing the daily live morning boardcast and filming school assemblies, events, and creating PSA’s.

JoAnn has a B.A. in Secondary Mathematics Education from the University of Hawaii and an alumnus of McKinley High School.

Bob Hochstein, Leeward Community College
Beginning at age 15, Robert Hochstein has amassed over 40 years of experience in radio, television, teaching, and professional theater. Mr. Hochstein has over 2300 live stage performances as a professional actor, singer, dancer, director & stage manager. He has worked as Program Director and Operations Manager for Dick Clark Productions, served as announcer, producer, director, commercial and news writer, anchor, and sports director at several radio and television stations on both the East and West Coasts.

Professor Hochstein holds dual major Bachelor of Science degrees in Education and Communications, as well as a Master of Science degree in Administration from Central Michigan University. Currently, in his twentieth year at the University of Hawaii, Leeward Community College, he is Curriculum Designer, Program Coordinator, and Professor of Television Production. Bob has also taught upper division Communications courses for the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Robert was the 1995 recipient of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents "Excellence in Teaching" award. The Television Production program at Leeward Community College was named 1995 "Outstanding Postsecondary Vocational Education Program" by the State of Hawaii Commission on Employment and Human Resources, and the State Council on Vocational Education. Robert was also selected as the national recipient of 1996 National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award for contributions to teaching, curricular design, and learning.

Professor Hochstein and his students have been honored several times by Mayors of Honolulu and both houses of the State Legislature.

Ben Leong, Blue Water Multimedia
Ben C. Y. Leong is a 1995 graduate of Moanalua High School.  He went on to attended the University of Hawaii where he received two degrees in digital animation and biology.   His company Blue Water Multimedia is now the premiere 3D animation and visual effects house in Hawaii.  Their recent works have awarded them a total of three Hawaii Advertising Federation Pele awards and one Best of Show for 2009.

After working for a few print design companies Ben, got his start as a 3D animator and visual effects assistant for ABC's hit television show LOST.   From the knowledge and experience he gained working there, he decided to further use his talents in visual media and formed Blue Water Multimedia with his colleague Michael Varley.  He has honed his skills to bring high end visual effects to the Hawaii television and film market. As creative director, his main job is to take the client's vision and turn it into digital reality.

Kathy Nagaji, Moanalua Middle School
Kathy is an English teacher at Moanalua Middle School. She works with students in her classes and also after school, on video production. She was formerly the media teacher at Pearlridge Elementary, where she developed a nationally recognized and award winning TV production program!

Kasey Rieta and mom, Minna Sugimoto
Kasey is a member of the MeneMAC class of 2011 and a talented videographer, especially of humorous videos! Minna Sugimoto is a broadcast journalist with KHNL and has agreed to bring her expertise and experience, along with her support as a parent, to our learning center board.

Kim Sumida, Moanalua Elementary School
Kim Sumida is the Gifted and Talented Coordinator at Moanalua Elementary School.

She has been teaching for 15 years. She is also the advisor for Mini-MAC, a video production team from Moanalua Elementary, which meets with students from Moanalua High School to learn and develop media skills and techniques.

Kim is an alumnus of Moanalua High School, class of 1988. She received her degree in elementary education from the University of Hawaii.

Brent Suyama, KITV
Brent Suyama is the Managing Editor for KITV4's Web site KITV.com. Previous to that position, he produced the newscasts for KITV4 News for seven years, four of those years were as the 10:00 news producer.

Suyama has a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with an emphasis in Political Science.

He is a graduate of Moanalua High School.

Peter Tang, Epic Circle Films
Peter Tang is a local independent filmmaker. He has directed shorts such as "Sweet and Sour Brides" and music videos for Samoan singer/songwriter Gary King. He also directed videos for Los Angeles's 94.7 The Wave Radio, featuring jazz artists such as Boney James and Rick Braun. Peter directed a news magazine show, "Sunset Stripped," which airs in Los Angeles and New York. He also worked on independent films like "In the Spotlight." He has worked in the film related jobs in Los Angeles, Hawaii and Samoa.

Peter is an alumnus of Moanalua High School, class 2004. During high school Peter interned at KHON-2 and KGMB-9 as a technician.

Peter has a B.S. in Digital Filmmaking and Video Production from The Art Institute of California – Los Angeles.

Representative Glenn Wakai
Glenn Wakai is the State Representative for Moanalua-Salt Lake. He attended Moanalua Elementary and Moanalua Middle School, before graduating from Mid-Pacific Institute.

After getting a Journalism degree from the University of Southern California (USC), Glenn’s television news career began in Guam and Saipan. In 1994 he returned home to be a reporter for KHON-FOX2 and KHNL News 8.

He taught news writing classes at Chaminade University for three semesters.

In 2002. after 11-years in television news, Glenn made the transition into politics.

Tyler Yafuso and parents, Keith and Lori Yafuso
Tyler is a member of the MeneMAC class of 2010 and one of the leaders in our Broadcast Journalism program. His parent, Keith and Lori Yafuso, are great supporters of the learning center!