Jodi Arminio
Jodi joined VTA when the Atlanta office opened its doors for the first time in 1977. Clearly a loyal member of the team, she’s worn several hats in the last 30+ years including the roles of traffic manager, public relations associate, and project manager. Detailed oriented and pretty much all-knowing when it comes to the facility’s inner workings, she has managed the workflow on large scale projects such as the transfer of the Turner Entertainment/Warner Bros. film library to digital formats; multiple projects for the USDA Forest Service utilizing National Archives films; the design, construction and installation of automated video playback systems at many state and national parks; and closed captioning and duplication for a variety of clients, including a global ministry and Georgia Public Television.
Lonnie Beaman
For 20 years Lonnie has had an eye in the viewfinder, shooting for many Fortune 500 companies and networks including Coca-Cola, Electrolux, ESPN, CNBC, Bloomberg, and C-SPAN. What he enjoys most about his career is that every day is a different challenge. “One day we may be shooting table-top on green screen and the next interviewing a former President of the United States. You never know what’s coming around the corner.” When he doesn’t have his eye in the viewfinder, he enjoys making sawdust in his workshop with his son. “We, I mean he, can build one heck of a pinewood derby car!”
Bob Castro
A 34-year veteran in motion picture and television production, Bob began his career while still in high school during an Independent Study program that gave him the chance to work at a local cable TV station. While still a freshman at the University of Georgia, Bob used his three years of high school experience to land a job at the campus PBS station—WGTV Ch. 8. There he spent nine years, honing his skills in both field production and editing, eventually specializing in long-form programming. In 1988, Bob took an editorial position at VTA—the post house he had visited many times as a client while working for the University of Georgia. Today, he enjoys editing all types of projects but documentaries covering a variety of history, science and nature topics are among his favorites, like The Weather Channel’s Storm Stories, which Bob reformatted for Video on Demand. Whether it’s a documentary, a 30 second commercial or a three-screen multi-video simulator for law enforcement training, Bob constantly draws on his past experience in television to solve today’s challenges. He has edited several HD projects for VTA including Clint Eastwood’s “Johnny Mercer: The Dreams on Me” and presentations for the US Forest Service and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Working with HDTV has allowed Bob to indulge one of his passions—covering space launches at Cape Canaveral and interviewing space veterans for posterity.
Ken Chambliss
Owner & CEO Ken Chambliss has been involved in radio and television since his early teens. In large part, his success is due to his ability to anticipate client needs and read industry trends. And since the industry doesn’t always keep up with client needs, Ken’s engineering background keeps VTA at the forefront of technological advances.
Under Ken’s leadership, VTA Technologies was responsible for the design and initial manufacture of the da Vinci—the world’s first unified color corrector that set the standard for all other color correctors. VTA was one of the first facilities in the Southeast to incorporate digital and HD technology into its services and tape formats. And today, VTA’s interest in R&D continues with the company’s latest development—Filmsystems’ Nova color correction system, which has tube, gate and optical refinements unavailable in any other telecine. Its versatility—SD, HD, 2k, plus sound—make it a perfect solution for commercial, long form and archival applications.
Sylvia Lagerberg
Sylvia joined VTA in 1990 and is currently the Accounts Payable & HR Director for the Atlanta and Hollywood facilities. Prior to VTA, she spent 8 years with Signal Capital Corporation—Hampton, New Hampshire at their Atlanta location. Though born and raised in Las Vegas, Sylvia’s husband of 36 years kept her and their two daughters on the move, living in as far away lands as the Middle East and Asia. Having traveled the world over, they settled down in the Atlanta area in 1981. She is a proud grandmother to 3 grandchildren, ages 15, 10 & 6.
JP Lesperance
Jean-Philippe “JP” Lesperance is an editor who helps his clients realize their vision. Originally from New York, he moved to Atlanta to experience the glories of suburbia. With 15 years of post-production experience on all formats of broadcast tape machines, both SD and HD, JP jumped at the chance to get his hands on Final Cut Pro’s nonlinear workflow. For the past 2 years JP has used After Effects, Motion, Shake, Cinema 4D and the grace of God to accentuate his Final Cut projects. He became an editor because he enjoys spending 12 hours a day in a dimly lit room with computer monitors but he also thrives on solving problems; something he does well due to his previous experience as a broadcast video every-man—from asst. editor, compressionist and DVD author to duplication technician and graphic designer. JP has worked with a variety of clients including Zoo Atlanta, CNN, Emory, Home Depot, Turner Broadcasting, University of Georgia, Piedmont Hospital and documentary filmmakers.
In his free time JP dabbles in website creation, creative writing, cooking and anything his two daughters demand. He volunteers his multimedia skills for the benefit of the local community and is furthering his love of food preparation by joining the culinary ministry at his church. Loved by clients and editors alike, JP is that rare combination of talent, personality and customer service skills supreme. How would you like your video served up today?
Matt Liegel
Brett Player
Brett Player recognized the significance of large-scale thinking at an early age—third grade, to be exact. He launched his artistic career with the creation of a five-foot-tall, papier-mâché giraffe. He has used his creativity for impact ever since. At Florida State University, Brett immersed himself in paint and pixels, engrossed with advertising, graphic design, and art history. After receiving his Bachelor’s in Studio Art, he advanced his studies in design and art direction at Portfolio Center, a nationally renowned communication arts school in Atlanta.
Today, branding is Brett’s passion and specialty. With an eye for aesthetics and a mind for strategy, he intuits a company’s needs, creating or reviving a brand from the inside out. His ability to manage, integrate multimedia, and direct a production team make him an invaluable player (quite literally). Through print, interactive, and broadcast design, he has revitalized numerous brands including Cadillac, Capital One, Cartoon Network, Coca-Cola, Gatorade, Home Depot, Spanx, Pampers and Zoo Atlanta. He’s raked up Adobe typeface, Graphis and GD USA design awards, appeared in Forbes, Advertising Age, and AdWeek marketing magazines, and given presentations on typography and creative communications. Always on the quest to make a larger, deeper impact, Brett is an adjunct professor at the Portfolio Center, teaching students how to cut to the heart of a problem and create relevant, simply-smart work. Outside of the 9 to 5, or 9 to ?@!, Brett loves his wife and two dogs. Admittedly, he loves them during the workday as well, but devotion must be managed…
Teresa Smith
Teresa has been a part of the VTA family for over 20 years. In addition to her duties as shipping manager, she also takes the time to maintain and add welcoming touches to the building. Clients and coworkers alike appreciate her “can-do-anything” attitude and personable demeanor making her irreplaceable.
Gary Thigpen
Danielle Wilcox
Danielle Wilcox is a new addition to the VTA team. She is a UGA alum, and also studied design and illustration at the Portfolio Center in Atlanta. After working on a freelance basis at VTA for clients including Spanx, The Imlay Foundation and Luminocity, Danielle joined the design team as both a designer and project manager.
Danielle really enjoys working closely with clients and seeing their projects through from start to finish. “It’s exciting working at VTA because there are limitless possibilities as to what we can create for our clients.”
In her free time, Danielle loves visiting the beach, hiking with her dog, and doodling on napkins.
John Yancey
John, VTA’s senior colorist, has been involved in television since 1974 after earning a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Engineering Technology from Western Kentucky University. John worked as an assistant editor, shoot engineer and editor before finding his niche as colorist in 1984. With twenty-six years of experience in the world of color, he keeps clients at ease by getting the job done creatively and efficiently in a comfortable suite, complete with over 81 days of music. A respect for this evolving industry keeps John on the forefront of technology, giving him a confident, calm professionalism clients appreciate.
