Tony Fischer

Instructor: Editing / Demo Reel Tony began his career as a film shooter for the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff, capturing game footage for the coaches to review and evaluate player performance. Through the contacts he made with the Vikings, he found the opportunity to move into the edit suite. He spent the early part of …

Tom Garneau

Engineering The phrase “early adapter” gets thrown around a lot in the music industry, but it has never been truer then when describing Tom Garneau. A true audio aficionado, he received his first analog tape recorder at age seven and started his first studio in 1981. After years of working in the MPLS underground scene, …

Portia Heller

Instructor, Social Sciences Portia hails from Indianapolis, IN, and is currently the president of Engineering Products Associates, Inc./Bortech Sales, Inc., a manufacturer’s representative and distributor in electronic test equipment and power supplies. She started as a regional representative for EPA in 1981, became Sales Manager in 1987, and eventually assumed the helm of the company …

Andrew Hunt

Lead Instructor, Digital Video and Media Production Pittsburgh native Andrew Hunt began making films at the age of 11 with a borrowed video camera and an army of neighborhood friends. Later, Andrew would study filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Soon after, he began working professionally as a writer/director on …

Rich Manik

Music History, Music Theory Rich Manik is a freelance musician, arranger and recording artist living in the Twin Cities. He performs on all woodwinds and keyboard with many local and national artists in a variety of musical styles from symphonic to contemporary popular music. Some of the pop artists Rich has performed with include, The …

Gail Milstein

Instructor, Writing, Communications As a creative writer, Gail brings a lot of passion to IPR. She has worked as a teaching artist for The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis for over a decade. During the summer, she teaches in The Loft’s Young Writers’ Program, and throughout the year, works with writers of all ages at …

Dik Shopteau

Engineering, Production Description of Your Background/Experience Dik’s life in music began at age 16 as a founding member of the band Judd. As one of the more successful bands to emerge from the Midwest, Judd toured extensively for 10 years in the U.S. and Canada, recording in New York City, Miami, Atlanta, Toronto and Minneapolis. …

Justin Staggs

Instructor: Screenwriting, Production, Post Production Justin is an award-winning filmmaker with several dozen music videos to his credit, including clients such as the Foo Fighters, Against Me! and NOFX – just to name a few. In 2005, Justin’s 30-second P.S.A. on Youth AIDS Awareness won a prestigious Platinum Award at World Fest, and in early …

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