School of Communications - Elon University
Faculty/Staff Support

 

Brooke Barnett:

Brooke Barnett is an associate professor in the School of Communications and the director of the Elon Program for Documentary Production. Prior to coming to Elon she worked as a news director, documentary producer, reporter and host/producer in public television. Last year she worked with 14 students to produce the award wining film “In the Midst of a Movement," which aired on four state-wide public television stations. She also mentored the student films "The Idol and the Band" and "Degrees of Change" and co-produced "Left Ahead" with two students. Barnett is interested is mentoring students on socially significant documentary films from idea to post production. You can reach Barnett at bbarnett@elon.edu.

 

J. McMerty:

J. McMerty, coordinator of video projects in the School of Communications, helps advise elondocs with Barnett. He also coordinates the FreshTV program, SportsComm (all sports broadcast programs) and teaches Digital Media Convergence. McMerty has produced international social cause documentaries, as well as film and video productions in the narrative and experimental genres. McMerty is also the director of the Elon in L.A. program. You can reach McMerty at jmcmerty@elon.edu.

 

 

Tom Mould:

Tom Mould is associate professor of anthropology at Elon University and director of PERCS, the Program for Ethnographic Research and Community Studies. Mould teaches Video Ethnography, a class in which students work in groups to produce their own video ethnographies. Prior to coming to Elon, Mould co-produced a seven-part video series on traditional culture in Indiana. At Elon, he has produced a documentary on North Carolina pottery for UNC-TV and co-produced two videos on a family of potters and traditional artists for Kentucky Educational Television. He has mentored a number of students in the production of their documentary films, including Kevin Kindle’s "Weight of a Nation" about Sudanese refugees that has been picked up by an international non-profit organization to show in refugee camps, and Brett Tolley’s "Dying to Get In" about undocumented immigration along the Mexican/U.S. border that has won four national student film awards. Mould is interested in mentoring students on documentary films that explore a specific subculture. You can reach Mould at tmould@elon.edu.

 

Ray Johnson:

Ray Johnson is an assistant professor in the School of Communications at Elon University. He is interested in all aspects of documentary film production, but specializes in historical films. His films include, "The Survival of the Circle," about a group of native Americans, and "Just a Guy," the story of the Deputy Attorney General for the State of California. He mentored former Elon Student Neeley House in the production of "Fully Awake," a film about Black Mountain College. You can reach Johnson at johnson@elon.edu.

 

 

Randy Piland: 

Randy Piland teaches photojournalism and design classes. With nearly 30 years as a photojournalist, Piland worked at The Tennessean for 13 years as a picture editor and later as senior photographer. Piland has worked as a picture editor, assistant chief photographer, and staff photographer at three newspapers in Georgia and Massachusetts. He paralleled eight of his newspaper years as an Army photojournalist while serving in an Army Reserves public affairs unit. During this time he traveled with the Army on assignments both in the U. S. and abroad including his activation to Desert Storm during the first Gulf War. You can reach Piland at rpiland@elon.edu.

 

Ken Calhoun:
Assistant Professor Kenneth Calhoun has many years of video production experience. He served as an interviewer and camera operator on humanitarian shoots in Mexico, Tanzania, Bangladesh and India. More recently, he has written, directed and shot a variety of corporate and music industry projects. He was the writer and art director for "A Life Uncommon," a documentary about the singer/songwriter Jewel. As both an award-winning writer of literary fiction and an interactive media professional, Ken emphasizes narrative devices like story shape and character development while seeking ways to bring interactivity into the documentary experience. You can reach Calhoun at kcalhoun@elon.edu.