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Instructor Bios

Jason Basso
Jason Basso is an award-winning videographer and editor for CNN and News 12. Jason has produced countless news stories for the Anderson Cooper 360° show on CNN, including fires in California, Iraqi war documentaries, and the Planet in Peril documentary. Jason's 7 years in the news and documentary business have rendered him interviews with Hillary Clinton, Gene Wilder, Ari Fleischer and Jose Feliciano. He has won several Telly Awards, The Press Club Award and numerous NPPA awards and has been nominated for an Emmy. Jason also has 23 years of snowboarding experience, which has taken him all over the world. Jason has snowboarded the Alps, Alaska, South America and the American West, shooting and producing many videos. Jason produced and hosted his own television show called Jason Basso, Freakend Warrior, which airs on RSN (Resort Sporting Network). He is also in pre-production for a new reality show called Snowed Inn, where he produces and stars in a show about a ski house in Vermont that he has managed for the past 13 years.

Jason began his acting career with the purchase of his parents' first video camera. Jason quickly began creating characters, writing scripts and producing home movies as a child. Jason's early influences were Cheech & Chong, Chevy Chase, Harrison Ford, Animal House, Stripes, Blues Brothers and Saturday Night Live. In high school he starred in many plays and was an active member of the theater club at Saint Joseph's High School in Trumbull, CT. At Boston University, Jason studied film and communications. He continued to work on shorts, films and acting throughout his college life. Professionally, Jason is following his dreams. He has appeared in Oliver Stone's movie World Trade Center, NBC's 30 Rock, Rescue Me with Dennis Leary, Spinning into Butter with Sarah Jessica Parker and Saturday Night Live. Jason also created, produced and starred in his own television show about snowboarding. Jason is also actively involved in theater in his hometown of Stratford, CT.

Chris Marker
A veteran of the radio business, Chris began his career with training at KIIS in Los Angeles, California, in 1974 and worked at several small stations on the West Coast before returning to his roots in Connecticut in 1977.

From 1977 to 1982, Chris served as Chief Copywriter and Production Manager at WGCH in Greenwich before being hired as Creative Director at WICC in Bridgeport in 1982. WEBE-FM in nearby Westport hired Chris away from WICC in 1987, but both stations merged under the same ownership in 1989.

Chris has won awards from the New York Ad Club and Fairfield County Ad Club, as well as awards for his work from Cumulus Media, parent company for WICC and WEBE. He has been teaching copywriting at CSB School of Broadcasting since 1982 and also teaches radio production at Fairfield University.

Paul Cassella
Paul Cassella is currently the Director and Founder of Integrated Marketing Systems, a full-service ad agency located in Woodbridge, CT, since in 1989. His company specializes in automotive advertising. Paul directs the entire process of writing, producing and placing advertising for his automotive clients, who include BMW, Toyota, Subaru, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Scion and Volvo.

In the early '90s, Cassella founded a syndicated TV talk show called Informers, which he wrote and produced and also hosted. He later syndicated the show for radio. His radio experience includes hosting a live talk show for Clear Channel Radio in the late '80s and early '90s and working for several broadcast companies throughout the Northeast in such major markets as New York City and Hartford, CT.

Paul has voiced over 1,000 commercials for both radio and television and appears in several commercials that air nationally. He has been nominated by Connecticut Magazine and Business Digest as one of Connecticut's Entrepreneurs of the Year and was also awarded the "Most Creative Automotive Ad" by Saatchi & Saatchi for Toyota in 2005.

Paul has written and published over 20 jingles being used throughout the Northeast and nationally.

Paul has also represented sports celebrities, including Jim Calhoun, in conjunction with Volvo North America as a spokesperson for radio and TV. He also coordinated the Volvo International Tennis Tournament and all promotions associated with the tournament.

Paul is a graduate of St John's College and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Rochester.

Elizabeth Yates
Elizabeth is a 1996 graduate of CSB School of Broadcasting. Immediately following graduation, Elizabeth accepted a midday position at WMMM/Westport on the Midday Get Together. One year after graduation she also accepted a weekend/fill-in position at STAR 99.9 Cox/Bridgeport, and this later became a permanent gig when WMMM went dark in September of 1997. Elizabeth assumed the role of Nighttime Host at STAR 99.9 on Love Songs at Night. Arbitron certified No.1, this was a very successful show for a number of years, beating out other nationally syndicated programs in the same time slot. When WEBE108 FM/Bridgeport came calling in March of 2002, Elizabeth made the switch, replacing the nationally syndicated Delilah program for two years. She is currently heard on both I95 WRKI and Y105 WDBY (Cumulus) in Danbury. Elizabeth has been an instructor in both performance and editing/production at CSB School of Broadcasting for 10 years.

Tom Michaels
Tom brings his wealth of broadcast knowledge to both the Hartford (Farmington) and New Haven (Stratford) CSB School of Broadcasting locations. Tom is currently a Traffic Anchor and News Writer for Metro Networks. He can be heard daily throughout Connecticut on stations including WDRC in Hartford, WLAD in Danbury and WMRD in Middletown, along with WSTC and WCTZ in Stamford. In addition to his reporting duties, Tom is also an On-Air Personality with WFOX, 95.9 The Fox, and a former Morning News Host for WSTC. Television credits include traffic reporting for WTNH, News Channel 8, and on-air fundraising for CPTV, where Tom sits on the Community Advisory Board. Past work includes writing for a nationally syndicated radio ski program, working on Fortune 500 advertising accounts, as well as five years of business office experience at CBS Radio in Hartford. Off the air, he finds time to challenge the ski slopes of Quebec with his girlfriend Pam or laze on a tropical beach in Florida.

Tom Peterson
Tom has been a member of the teaching faculty of CSB School of Broadcasting for over 15 years. Prior to and during this tenure, he has served as a Director, Writer, Producer and Actor on Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off Broadway, national tours and residential theatre levels. He has appeared on or behind the scenes of television in commercials, miniseries, news programs, game shows and feature films, including work with such companies as ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS. Tom has also been heard as the voice of commercials, documentaries and industrial films. Tom is a member of the performance unions Actor's Equity Association (AEA), American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and Screen Actor's Guild (SAG). He holds a Bachelor's degree in Speech and Theatre Arts and attended professional performance and writing schools in New York City.