PIC Announces Leanne Ferrer as ED and Two Additional Appointments
PIC is proud to announce that Leanne Ferrer has been promoted to Executive Director, Cheryl Hirasa has been hired as Director of Program Development & Content Strategy, and Amber McClure has taken on a new role as Digital Engagement Manager to help expand the organization's digital initiatives.
“As our team grows, we are looking to explore and create strategic partnerships in order to bring Pacific Islander stories to an even wider audience, especially with stations and strands on NPS,” said Ferrer. “In partnership with CAAM and WETA, we’ve recently provided R&D funding for Jeff Beiber’s latest series, The Asian Americans, and in 2012 we funded a NOVA episode with National Geographic, The Mystery of Easter Island, which was very well received. We have also partnered with PBS Newshour Weekend on several segments, including a Hawaii GMO story we helped to fund, which won a first place National Headliner Award for environmental reporting. It is more stories like these that we want to make available to the public media audience – on television and online.”
Leanne Ferrer is an award-winning filmmaker with over 20 years of experience in the film and
television industry, including work for Disney Films, PBS Hawaii, and 1013 Integrated, Hawai‘i’s
longest running full-service production company. Leanne is a previously funded PIC producer whose film aired nationally on PTV. Since joining PIC in 2008, Ms. Ferrer has managed numerous
productions and created the organization’s first series, Pacific Heartbeat, which, now in its third
season, is distributed by APT and airs on WORLD Channel and APT subscriber stations.
As Executive Director, Ms. Ferrer will ensure that PIC continues to deliver quality content about
Pacific Islanders to a national audience by providing the professional opportunities and training Pacific Islanders need to tell their own stories.
Cheryl Hirasa joins PIC from the Independent Television Service (ITVS) where she worked for over eight years on more than 50 films that were broadcast on public television, most recently as Senior Production Manager. In her new role as Director of Program Development & Content Strategy, Ms. Hirasa oversees the Media Fund, PIC's primary funding initiative for projects that air nationwide on public television. In addition, she manages all PIC-funded projects, creates and oversees talent development, and is the series producer for Pacific Heartbeat.
In an effort to expand PIC’s digital initiative, Amber McClure has been promoted to Digital
Engagement Manager. In her new role, she will be making more of PIC’s content available online,
managing social media and their newly designed website, and working to enhance the organization’s partnerships with filmmakers and stations. Prior to joining PIC in 2010, Ms. McClure worked for over five years as a multimedia project manager with various Hawaii youth and community groups.
Read the press release here.
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