For many of us, the rich entertainment/arts scene is a big part of why we like living in this area. We hope AnnArbor.com will become a vital contributor, serving as a place to find out about upcoming events; to discuss and even argue (politely) over things we've seen and heard; and to encourage everyone in the community to share their passions and recommendations.
Readers of the site will see many familiar names (from The Ann Arbor News) involved with our coverage as free-lance writers: Susan Isaacs Nisbett on classical music and dance; Roger LeLievre, Kevin Ransom and Will Stewart covering popular music; Leah DuMouchel writing about books; John Carlos Cantu doing art reviews; and so on. We'll probably add some fresh names to the mix as we go along, too.
But we'll also have a four-person staff pulling everything together. In addition to myself, the team will consist of Chrysta Cherrie, our entertainment producer/copy editor; Jenn McKee, our staff entertainment writer; and Renee Tellez, our entertainment clerk.
Chrysta Cherrie, 28, has a decade of professional experience producing web and entertainment content in Washtenaw County. Majoring in electronic media & film and minoring in graphic communication, she graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2004. Chrysta comes to AnnArbor.com from the All Music Guide, one of the largest digital archives of music, based in Ann Arbor. She is also a longtime member of the WEMU-FM 89.1 staff, where she produces the Sunday afternoon programming.Chrysta served as entertainment producer at MLive.com from 2004 to 2007, collaborating with Booth Newspapers staff to develop special sections and exclusive content for the web - work similar to what she'll be doing for AnnArbor.com. Other projects she produced at MLive included a weekly movies audio review feature, the online edition of weekly live music/interview series Acoustic Cafe, and the online edition of monthly publication Saginaw Valley Family Magazine. Chrysta also created audio, photos and slideshows for major events such as the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Detroit Electronic Music Festival and North American International Auto Show.
Jenn McKee, 38, comes to AnnArbor.com from the entertainment staff of The Ann Arbor News, where she has worked for five years -- primarily covering local theater and film events, but also contributing occasional features, author profiles, comedy previews, and concert previews/reviews. Recently, she launched a theater blog at http://www.aatheatervixen.wordpress.com. She'll cover theater and general entertainment stories for AnnArbor.com.
Previous to her work at the News, Jenn was a free-lancer for The Detroit Free Press, The Oakland Press, The Ann Arbor News and The Centre Daily Times in Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Brighton High School and the University of Michigan's Residential College, and an alumnae of The Michigan Daily, where she did her first theater reviews. Outside of her journalism work, she's published her short fiction and poetry in literary journals, and one of her stories appeared in the anthology "Best New American Voices 2003," edited by Joyce Carol Oates.
Renee Tellez, 35, has been in ad and page production at The Ann Arbor News since 1992. The News was just going to be a summer job, but quickly turned into 17 years. She started in Dispatch, moved to Pre-Press within the first few months and helped form the Pagination Department when The News opened its printing facility on State Road. During that time she won the company's Publisher's Award for Outstanding Achievement in 2001 and was a six-year Employee Recognition Award winner.
Renee is a member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and high-honors graduate at Washtenaw Community College, focusing on web and graphic design, as well as photography. In her new role, her main responsibility will be overseeing our online and print entertainment calendars.
This is a very talented group of people. I'm impressed!
Have fun, Chrysta!