The following announcement was provided by the WGBH:
Boston public media producer GBH has awarded fellowships to eight outstanding producers, recognizing excellence, potential, and creativity, including Watertown resident Louise Flannery.
The recipients of the 2024 – 2025 Fellowship Awards are Alyson Roseman, Flannery, Hannah Reale, and Alexi Cohan for the Becton Fellowship; Kathleen DiPerna, Shirin Jaafari, and Jessica Andrews for the Margret and Hans Rey Fellowship; and Michelle Mizner for the Peter S. McGhee Fellowship. With the fellowship grants, recipients can explore future professional development opportunities.
“These eight producers have demonstrated a dedication to creating exceptional content. From promoting STEM learning in early childhood to covering overseas conflicts, each fellow has set a high standard for creativity and innovation,” said GBH President and CEO Susan Goldberg. “We are proud to celebrate the work of our 2024 – 2025 fellows and look forward to their continued growth and success.”
Supported by the Becton Fund and named in honor of GBH’s former president, Henry Becton Jr., the Becton Fellowship honors promising GBH producers and content creators whose work reflects the organization’s commitment to public service.
GBH’s 2024 – 2025 Becton Fellows are:
Alyson Roseman: As an associate producer on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, Alyson loves sharing stories that enlighten, entertain, and foster connections. She assists ROADSHOW with myriad tasks, from managing tour travel to filming b-roll and working alongside directors on set. In post-production, Alyson obsesses over lower thirds, organizes 3rd party materials and produces vintage episodes. She has a B.S. degree, without ever taking a science course, in Television from Syracuse University.
Louise Flannery: Flannery is a senior digital producer for GBH Kids. She leads digital game production for Acoustic Rooster, and led digital game and website production for seasons 2-5 of Pinkalicious & Peterrific. She has also contributed to a variety of research and development projects, most recently the Work It Out Wombats! Family App, and the Gracie & Friends AR Adventures augmented reality app. Flannery received her master’s degree in Childhood Development from Tufts University.
Hannah Reale: Reale is an associate digital editor with GBH News. In this role, she splits her time between editing digital articles and reporting original stories for both digital and radio platforms. Reale centers issues of equity inside and outside the foundation, from offering feedback on internship and hiring practices to seeking diverse sources in her reporting on children and families. Reale received a bachelor’s degree in English from Wesleyan University.
Alexi Cohan: Cohan is a digital producer at GBH News. She is passionate about her work reporting, producing, and creating digital video content. She is the lead producer on the GBH series Politics IRL, and manages the GBH News YouTube channel. Cohan is a 2018 graduate of Hofstra University where she majored in Journalism and Spanish.
The Rey Fellowship, made possible through a bequest from former author Margret Rey through the Curious George Foundation, honors GBH creators who work in areas that reflect Rey’s diverse interests, including science, public affairs, art, health, and children’s programming.
GBH’s 2024 – 2025 Margret and Hans Rey Fellows are:
Kathleen DiPerna: DiPerna is a producer for MASTERPIECE. She develops programs for the series and provides editorial feedback on scripts and cuts of episodes. She also produces MASTERPIECE Mystery! host segments featuring Alan Cumming and works with production partners to manage the series awards strategy. For nearly 10 years, DiPerna has worked on several award-winning programs, including Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Victoria, Wolf Hall and All Creatures Great and Small. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and is a member of the Writers Guild of America West.
Shirin Jaafari: Jaafari is a reporter for The World, specializing in the Middle East. She has covered conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine, with a focus on current events, politics, conflict, and human rights. Before joining The World, Jaafari worked as a multimedia journalist for BBC Persian in Washington, DC. She received an honorable mention from the Gracie Awards in 2022 for her coverage for The World of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Harvard’s Extension School.
Jessica Andrews: Andrews is director of strategic projects for GBH Kids. In her 20+ years working in public media, she has developed a special interest in promoting STEM learning in early childhood, supporting family engagement, and reaching underserved learners. Many of her projects are research-design initiatives that combine media production with academic research. These projects include ZOOM, FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman,Team Hamster!, MOLLY OF DENALI, and Work It Out Wombats! Andrews holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and English from Cornell University.
Named after GBH’s former head of national programming, the Peter S. McGhee Fellowship is annually awarded to a mid-career filmmaker who has demonstrated exceptional promise in non-fiction television production, embodying the standards set by McGhee, including excellence, intelligence, fairness, passion, and scholarship.
GBH’s 2024 – 2025 Peter S. McGhee Fellow is:
Michelle Mizner: Mizner is an Academy and Emmy Award-winning documentary film producer and editor. For over a decade she has been on staff at FRONTLINE PBS, working to craft compelling narratives from archive and original footage while meeting the high editorial standards of the series. She has also produced podcasts and multiple acclaimed interactive web documentaries. Most recently, Mizner edited and produced the feature documentary 20 Days in Mariupol(2023, directed by Mstyslav Chernov) which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. She attended film school at California State University, Northridge.
About GBH
GBH is the leading multi platform creator for public media in America. As the largest producer of content for PBS and partner to NPR and PRX, GBH delivers compelling experiences, stories and information to audiences wherever they are. GBH produces digital and broadcast programming that engages, illuminates and inspires, through drama and science, history, arts, culture and journalism. GBH is the creator of such signature programs as MASTERPIECE, ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, FRONTLINE, NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and Arthur and Molly of Denali and a catalog of streaming series, podcasts and on-demand video. GBH’s television channels include GBH 2, GBH 44, GBH Kids and national services GBH WORLD and Create. With studios and a newsroom headquartered in Boston, GBH reaches across New England with GBH 89.7, Boston’s Local NPR; CRB Classical 99.5; CAI, the Cape and Islands NPR station and as a partner to NEPM in Springfield. Dedicated to making media accessible to and representative of our diverse culture, GBH is a pioneer in delivering media to audience members who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. With PBS LearningMedia, GBH creates curriculum-based digital content for educators nationwide. GBH’s local programming includes Boston Public Radio, Stories from the Stage, The Culture Show, and High School Quiz Show. GBH has been recognized with hundreds of the nation’s premier broadcast, digital and journalism awards. Find more information at gbh.org.