​MEET OUR TEAM 

VETV only exists because of the dedication of our community. Our Board of Advisors has helped shape and support our organization from the ​earliest stages. Our classes are taught by some of the greatest talents in the industry, and our staff and faculty keep our organization running day to day.

BOB LEFCOVICH

Founder and President 
​Instructor

​Bob has over 55 years working in almost every aspect of the TV industry.  From TV Stations, including WRBL in Columbus, Georgia, WAGA in Atlanta, and WFGA in Jacksonville, Florida, to Mobile Trucks for Video Tape Enterprises, Trans American Video, and ABC Wide World of Sports in California. At Metro Tape West, Bob worked on scores of Network shows, including ‘All in the Family’, ‘The Jeffersons’, and ‘One Day at a Time’.  Bob then went to Caracas, Venezuela helping build and run the country's first Color TV Production facility, Video Movil. Returning to the U.S., Bob worked at ABC TV in NY and then EUE Screen Gems.  Bob then took a position as Senior Editor and Edit Supervisor for MTI in NY.  Among his editing credits there was ‘The 3000th Performance of A Chorus Line’ for the Kennedy Archives, the series ‘Stand-By-Lights-Camera-Action’ with Leonard Nimoy, the series 'The Comedy Zone' for CBS, ‘The 20th Anniversary of Wide World of Sports’ for ABC,  montage sequences for Woody Allen’s film the ‘Purple Rose of Cairo’, political commercials within the film ‘Power’ with Gene Hackman and Richard Gere, and hundreds of network commercials.   In 1985 Bob moved on to the Grass Valley Group as the Senior Applications Specialist for Edit Systems and spent the next eleven years training hundreds of editors in 49 states and fifteen countries, as well as designing the feature sets for Super Edit, the VPE Editor, and the Infamous “Saber Edit’.  In 1996 Bob and three others founded Editware, where they continued the legacy of Super Edit with the DPE series of editors, and designed the first ever series of Hybrid Edit Controllers; Fastrack, DiVA and eClips.  During the last 30 years, Bob also found time to work as Edit Trainer and Tech Support for five Olympic Games, as well as being a consultant and trainer for POST (Peace Officers Standards & Training) for the State of California. Bob ‘semi-retired’ in 2018 and now spends all his energies on VETV.​  

PETER A. MASON

Board of Advisors
​Board of Directors
Instructor: Tech Operations, CTO

Peter is a Broadcast Television Engineering Consultant with over 40 years’ experience. For the last 20 years of his career, he worked with National TeleConsultants (Glendale, CA), as a broadcast systems design engineer and as a Principal Consultant providing technical expertise to numerous Broadcast TV clients . Peter specialized in media management, playout automation, custom controls, production systems, intercom and audio.  He participated in the planning, design, construction, and testing of large-scale broadcast TV systems. Peter is a native Californian and became interested in the performing arts and technology in Middle School. He has a degree in Motion Picture and Television Production from Loyola Marymount University.

RAY BALDOCK

Board of Advisors
​Board of Directors

Ray has enjoyed a 45 year career in the broadcast television industry retiring from Grass Valley as Chief Technology Officer where he oversaw technology strategy for the worldwide product lines.  Beginning in Australia in a local television station he was initially attracted to London where he worked as a field engineer before transferring to the US to troubleshoot VTR production lines for RCA. 
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During his tenure Ray has also worked with Sony Broadcast, Odetics and then Grass Valley Group where he spent 16 years. 
During his career, he has been responsible for product definition and introduction of the first computerized cart machine, the development of playout automation systems, the first broadcast video servers and API’s for automation interfaces, the introduction of compression for AV file transfer to complement SDI interfaces, and for the transition to an all digital world of high definition and 1080p products. 

Two days a week you will find Ray with hammer in hand working as a construction volunteer for the Nevada County Chapter of Habitat for Humanity.  He also volunteers with his local Home Owners Association in Grass Valley CA.

CINDY ZUELSDORF

Board of Advisors
​Board of Directors

Cindy grew up in one of the highest-pressure business environments - broadcast television. In an industry fueled by high-touch, face-to-face relationships, she cut her teeth selling tech to companies ranging from NBC to NASA. After decades learning things the old-school way, Cindy discovered sales and marketing automation and began using new systems for repeatability and success. Fast forward to the present, Cindy - via her agency, Kokoro - helps SMB’s across a baffling spread of verticals do the same. Their specialty lies in the rare skill of taking scattered technical platforms and transforming them into a cohesive, finely tuned, time-saving, revenue generating engine - all while keeping the ‘human-to-human’ approach intact. Her company, Kokoro Marketing, serves clients in six countries and many more times zones. When Cindy isn’t busy super-charging businesses, she’s sipping an Americano at Java Johns in downtown Nevada City, or taking a little hike with her family along the Yuba River. Cindy recently helped start the local Girls Who Code Club in Nevada County.

CHRISTIN DALE

Board of Advisors
​Board of Directors

Christin received my Bachelor’s Degree from The Ohio State University and J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law. During her legal education, she participated and excelled in the law school’s moot court team. She received awards and recognition for her brief writing skills and oral arguments in both the Walter H. Rice Moot Court Competition and John J. Gibson Moot Court Competition. In addition, she participated in a judicial externship under The Honorable Judge Thomas M. Rose for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. During the course of her externship, she learned extensively about court procedures and gained immeasurable experience in legal research and writing.
Christin is a passionate attorney practicing a wide variety of law including: civil litigation, criminal law, and family law in the Greater Bay Area. She is passionate about and an advocate for the improvement of immigration laws and reform, civil rights laws, and equal treatment of minority groups.

W. THOMAS BAIRD

Board of Advisors
​​Board of Directors

Tom comes to Veterans TV with 20+ years of experience in show production and delivery within the media and entertainment sector.  He is accomplished in Production, Post-Production, Product Delivery, Sound, Music Editing, Production Engineering, and Cloud Management, and his roles include Project Management, Relationship Building, Budgeting, Scheduling, Strategic Planning, Personnel Management, Training and Development, Vendor Negotiation, Roadmap Strategy, Workflow Implementation, and Infrastructure Engineering.
Tom served as a Senior Vice President Viacom/CBS with the Dr. Phil Show, as well as the Post-Production Engineering Supervisor at Paramount Pictures. His sports portfolio includes being Project Manager for EA Sports.
Tom has a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles as well as a certification in Project Management  from the UCLA Extension.

JEFF SPALLA

Board of Advisors
​​Board of Directors

Jeff Spalla, Reeldata's president and co-founder, is a USC cinema graduate with 40+ years of
experience in video production and data storage. Beginning his Hollywood journey at a young
age.  

In his diverse career, Jeff has served many roles – from an audio-video engineer, editor, and
camera operator to roles as vice president of production for a Hollywood company and a
significant contributor to one of the largest entertainment stock footage libraries. Jeff covered
the Academy Awards Ceremonies for over 20 years, wearing multiple hats as a producer,
engineer, and cameraman.

His expertise extends to managing 10 PB of storage at Fox Studios, later inherited by Disney.
Notably, he created one of the first entertainment databases for tracking media and transcripts
of television shows.

As a trainer for the Grass Valley Group, Jeff has travelled nationwide to production studios and
broadcast stations, instructing personnel in the use of switchers, editing systems, and digital
video effects, showcasing his expertise and commitment to advancing industry knowledge. He
also demoed the latest advances and technologies at numerous conventions and media events,
such as the National Association of Broadcasters convention, NAB, which Jeff has attended for
over 40 years. Jeff is also a long time member of SMPTE.  Jeff supports Veterans TV, training veterans for entertainment roles. 

​ED SIMEONE

Digital Audio Specialist
​Board of Advisors

Ed enjoyed a long career in the entertainment industry before retiring to Nevada City in 2018. From 1976 until 2004 Ed toured as a Sound Engineer or backline tech for, Journey, The Electric Light Orchestra, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, TOTO, Charlie Sexton, Stevie Wonder, Al Jarreau, Glenn Frye, Boz Skaggs and Michael McDonald. The TOTO years (1982-1986) included studio work on albums by Michael Jackson, Don Henley, and numerous other artists.
 
From 1989 until 2009 Ed also enjoyed a parallel career as Founder, CEO, and then Chairman of the Board for digital audio powerhouse TC Electronic US. During his tenure at TC Ed lectured about signal processing at Society of Broadcast Engineers meetings and recording colleges, including Berklee College of Music, Full Sail School of Recording, Institute of Audio Research, SAE School of Recording NY and LA, New York University, and the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences. After TC Electronic closed their US offices Ed went on to lead the broadcast sales teams at Linear Acoustic and later at DK Technologies’ US office.
 
Ed is a graduate of Emerson College Boston Mass with a Bachelor of Science, Speech with a major in Communication.

MIKE KRIM

Board of Advisors

Mike Krim is an Emmy-award winning professional with more than 25 years of experience in large media environments. He delivers innovative technology solutions for top-tier firms, interprets requirements and implements the needs across the organization’s verticals. Mike has a strong working knowledge of broadcast technology, IT and operational workflows including television production, editing, media management, satellite transmission and OTT / Cloud distribution systems. He has managed large, complex multi-platform broadcast operations, including the design and innovation of systems for International Broadcast Centers for three Olympic Games. Mike is currently a Senior Manager with Optimity Advisors in New York.  He advises clients on IT strategy, transformation management, shared services, data management and other related technology choices. ​

BOB ENNIS

Board of Advisors

Bob is the director of Wheel of Fortune and has been a Technical Director for Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, The Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The $25,000 Pyramid, Hollywood Squares, the Oscars, the Olympics and many other top Network shows.  He has also directed episodes of Supermarket Sweep and Family Feud and is the current director of Wheel of Fortune.  He has been EMMY nominated five times for his work as a Technical Director, winning for the Olympics and for Hollywood Squares, and has been nominated once for Directing on Wheel of Fortune.

JOE LEWIS

Board of Advisors
Instructor: Editing

Joe started working the tv industry in 1984.  He was involved in creating a State of the Art Cable Television facility with and for the City of Torrance. From there, he as gained experience in pre and post television production, and IT and software design.  Joe has credits for television shows on all the major networks: CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX and many cable networks: MTV, Bravo, Spike, Reelz, Discovery to name a few and edited for the Canadian Broadcast Company, at the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002. Joe has 2 Emmy Nominations and numerous editorial awards.  He is fluent with Avid, Adobe Premiere, and Davinci Resolve NLE edit systems, and has experience working in remote trucks for NCAA Football, Robbie Knievel Live Jumps and several award shows, and for the past 3 years, he is the Senior Finishing Editor for Natural Nine Productions, in Burbank. With his IT knowledge, he is involved with several production companies’ workflow design and custom application development and company integration.  Joe brings knowledge of moving media from point to point as fast as today’s technology will allow, and is ready to work with tomorrow’s cutting edge technology.

GLENN STILWELL

Instructor: Digital Audio

Glenn Stilwell is a long time audio engineer based in Northern California and has worked Regional, National and International radio & television events starting in 1986. Growing up around radio and electronics when his father started a local “Ham Radio” shop in 1976. He holds an Extra Class Amateur Radio License and has a CBT SBE certificate. From the early days of being the back-up radio engineer for the Sacramento Kings post game show, he moved through the industry working for the Sacramento Kings, NBC/Comcast, CBS, ABC/ESPN, NASCAR, IndyCar, Lucas Oil HD Productions, 5 Olympic games for Olympic Broadcast Services, and now leads the audio team at the Pac-12 Networks. Currently, Glenn is a consultant for Dolby Labs, and is the West Coast Sound Supervisor for the Major League Baseball Game of the Week on Apple TV. Glenn served with the United States Marine Corps. ​

MIKE MINKOFF

Instructor: Technical Directing (switcher)

Michael Minkoff has been in television since 1980 and combining his technical skills with his creative ability he has become well honored and respected member of the broadcast community. Eight-time Emmy winning Editor, Producer, Director and Technical Director. Former Operations Instructor for Grass Valley Group and Editware. His experience includes Assistant Chief Operator, WIFR-TV, Staff Editor, Producer and Director for General Motors Corp, Freelance Editor and Tech Manager for NBC Olympics, ESPN X-Games, Director and TD for UFC, Top Rank Boxing, and Director and TD of numerous corporate shows around the world.

MIKE BETTS

​Instructor: Switcher and DVE Operations

Mike Betts was previously Training Director at Grass Valley and has been involved in
Television engineering from 1974 through 2018. He has trained many Technical
Directors on switcher operations and Digital Effects around the world. After leaving
Grass valley he ran his own training support operation for the Broadcast industry and
has trained on both Operations and Technical support for Switchers, Routers, Storage
systems and Master control.