Madeline Meistrich, Campus Director - madeline@mediatech.edu
Madeline Meistrich came to MediaTech Institute with extensive experience in education and
management.  She has prior experience as a School Director, having served in that position at
Marinello School. Madeline has a strong background in academic administration. She was an
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at DeVry University and has held Department Chair positions
at ITT Technical Institute and National University. Additionally, she managed an MBA program at the
California State University campus in San Marcos. Madeline provided faculty development programs
through the Center for Learning and Teaching at the University of San Diego, where she also earned
a Doctor of Education degree. Prior to that, she had been awarded her Master of Business
Administration degree from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University
of Texas. With a demonstrated respect for the importance of education to personal growth and
fulfillment, Madeline is committed to ensuring student success and helping all students to realize
their potential.



Cedrick Courtois, Audio Instructor AUD10, AUD201, PSD101 - cedric@mediatech.edu
Cedrick Courtois was born in Brest in the beautiful coastal region of Brittany in Northwestern France.
Playing drums at 4, and picking up piano by 11, Cedrick finally settled on guitar as his primary
instrument when he was 15. He started playing in bands at age 17. After graduating from high school,
Cedrick enrolled in The University of Rennes studying Biology and Chemistry with the intent of
becoming a Marine Biologist and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology in 1994. This was about
the time that Cedrick’s passion for music took over and a friend suggested checking out Sound
Engineering so he could combine his scientific mind and musical passion into a career. Then Cedrick
immediately entered into two years of technical college to get a certificate in Audio Engineering from
ESRA in Rennes, France. From there, Cedrick interned in various studios in Paris and decided France
wasn’t where he wanted to be. So he decided to move across the pond and landed in Houston, Texas.
Cedrick quickly moved up the ladder from studio to studio and ended up as First Engineer at Sunrise
Sound Studios. (www.sunrisesound.com) While at Sunrise Sound Studios, Cedrick worked with the
likes of Beyonce, Destiny’s Child, Ludacris, Chris Walker (Al Jarreau), Lenny Kravitz, Michelle Williams,
Earshot, Scarface, B2K, Marcel Khalife, and Solange Knowles. Before moving to Hollywood in 2007,
Cedrick taught Advanced Audio Engineering Techniques at MediaTech Institute’s Houston Campus.

All the while, Cedrick was playing in bands, notably Spiracell, a heavy metal group Cedrick started
circa 2002 before moving on to play guitar with Earshot in 2007. Cedrick’s natural musical ability and
band experience is a great enhancement for his engineering skills. In April of 2007, Cedrick came to
Hollywood to play guitar on the third Earshot album and that’s what made him want to move West.
So he packed his bags again and decided to further his journey by permanently moving to Hollywood.
Cedrick quickly found himself on board his most challenging and eclectic project to date: a rock
opera/horror movie called Repo! The Genetic Opera. As one of the recording engineers, Cedrick
worked with all the actors including Paris Hilton, Paul Sorvino, Alexa Vega, Anthony Head, and Sarah
Brightman. www.repo-opera.com This project gave Cedrick a taste of working in the film business as
well as extensive experience doing anything from recording an orchestra or choir to Korn’s drummer,
Rob Zombie’s bass player, and Nine Inch Nails’ programmer. He also mixed for the “Behind The
Player” DVD series (www.imvdvd.com), featuring members of Godsmack, Korn, Alice In Chains,
Rob Zombie, and Slipknot. This led him to expand his audio palette into working on sound design and
mixing. Cedrick earned his first re-recording mixer credit on an independent film called Montana
Amazon: The Adventures of the Dunderheads, featuring Olympia Dukakis, Haley Joel Osment, and
Alison Brie. His most recent work includes doing sound design and mixing for an action sports feature
film, The Windsurfing Movie II by Poor Boyz Productions. It didn’t hurt that windsurfing is one of Cedrick’s
many passions. www.thewindsurfingmovie.com Primarily a mixing engineer, Cedrick specializes in a
broad genre of Rock. His past experiences also led him to engineer and mix R&B, Hip Hop, and
Gospel as well as Classical music. Currently, Cedrick is going back to his roots of mixing and
producing rock bands. His credits include Destiny’s Child, Beyonce, Earshot, Blowing Up the Moon,
Necrofaith, Cynical Dialogue, and SweetEverAfter. For samples of his work, please go to: www.praxxismedia.com Cedrick is an expert in Pro Tools editing and is experienced with SSL and
Neve analog consoles as well as Digidesign’s control surfaces. Some of the great studios he was
fortunate to work at include Westlake Studios in Hollywood, One on One in North Hollywood, and
Sunrise Sound Studios in Houston, Texas. If you’re interested in consulting with Cedrick on any of
your audio projects, please call MediaTech Oceanside Studios at 760-231-5368.




Sandra Scholz, Student Services Representative - sandra@mediatech.edu
Sandra has been a member of the Oceanside team since the beginning of the school.
Her efforts in the initial operations and accreditation process were invaluable in the back
office functions as well as promotion and marketing. Sandra’s current project is Financial Aid,
where she continues to refine her skills while providing outstanding service to both current and
potential students. A true southern California girl, Sandra has lived her whole life near the
beach and eagerly waits to assist all MediaTech students in obtaining their dreams.





Tanya Beatty, Financial Aid Advisor - tanya@mediatech.edu
Born and raised in San Jose, CA brings to MediaTech Institute over 9 years of experience in
Financial Aid. She came from Academy of Couture Art in Beverly Hills, CA the capitol of the fashio
industry. Also worked for Kaplan College, Advanced Training Institute, and National Career education.
Tanya is a member of California Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators-CASFAA, and has
received certifications from the Department of Education as well as CASFAA. Tanya enjoys spending
time with her friends and family.





Matt Wallace, Admissions Representative - matthew@mediatech.edu
Matt brings over 5 years of professional experience in admissions to MediaTech Institute.  After
graduating with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Communications from San Diego State University,
Matt immediately flourished as an admissions representative at both Kaplan College and Ashford University.  While at Kaplan, Matt earned certification in Dimensions of Professional Admissions as
well as praise for demonstrating the highest ethical and moral standards.  All of this while also earning back- to-back annual awards for funniest employee! When Matt’s not working hard helping students,
he enjoys surfing and spending time with family.

Tommy Richardson, Lab Instructor - tommy@mediatech.edu
Tommy is a graduate of the Digital Film/Video Arts program of MediaTech Institute. Tommy runs
film company known as Mad Scientists Films, which specializes in creative digital media, from
music videos to web based training systems. Mad Scientists Films has worked with national recording
acts, as well as fortune 500 companies, and continues to be a major player in the video industry.
Tommy is also an accomplished singer/songwriter and studio musician. As a multi-instrumentalist,
Tommy has recorded, engineered, and produced a number of recording artists. He continues to work
in the audio recording field, honing his recording craft and instructing the future of tomorrow's
producers through Mediatech Institute. Tommy also specializes in motion/still graphics, web design,
creative writing, and photography.

Websites:
www.madscientistsfilms.com

C. Michael Brae, Instructor - michael@hitmanrecords.com
As a native New Yorker, Mr. Brae began his career on NYC’s Wall Street after graduating with a double
Bachelors degree in Marketing in advertising from the University of San Francisco. He currently also
holds a Master’s Degree in marketing from Madison University and currently is working towards a
PhD Candidate in marketing & business sciences. Mr. Brae began Hitman Records in 1991 and
solidified a joint venture with SOLAR (Sounds of Los Angeles Records - “A Division of RCA Records”).
Later in 1997, Hitman Records obtained "exclusive distribution" through corporate Tower Records
distribution arm Bayside Distribution. The record label then began a period of artist acquisition and
development, which focused on Hip-Hop, Rap, R&B and Gospel genres. During this period, Mr. Brae
represented well-known and established artists, such as Samuelle (double-platinum and Grammy
award winning singer from the R&B group Club Nouveau) Mac Dash Mone (former member of the
double-platinum group Digital Underground) and Johnny Paycheck who produced 6 gold albums,
1 platinum album, 1 double platinum and 33 hits. Hitman Records is based in San Francisco,
Los Angeles and Nashville. Hitman Record's physical distribution partner Victory Multimedia has
retail distribution with DreamWorks, Time Warner, Blockbuster, Best Buy, Baker & Taylor, Ingram Book,
Ingram Micro Canada, Wal Mart, Anderson Merchandisers, Hastings, Amazon, Costco,  Target,
Universal Music, Ingram Entertainment and Alliance Entertainment Corporation, to name a few.
In addition, Hitman Records has digital distribution partnership with Believe Digital. Mr. Brae has
taught over 8 years of business courses in the Music Industry as an adjunct professor at several
prestigious universities and colleges as UCLA (Entertainment Studies), San Francisco State University
(MRI), University of the Pacific (Music Business), Dominican University of California and has conducted
music business seminars at SAE (Nashville) to name a few. He has authored "Music Distribution:
Selling Music in the New Entertainment Marketplace, which is used as a music business coursebook
throughout colleges and universities.

www.cmichaelbrae.com
www.hitmanrecords.com

James Saenz, Studio Technician - jsaenz@mediatech.edu
James grew up in Texas and was exposed to music at a very young age. Growing up, he was given
the opportunity to attend the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts, which helped him further expand his
knowledge of music and instrumentation. At first, James gravitated towards guitar, but slowly he
began to develop an interest in creating electronic music with such programs as FL Studio and
Propellerheads Reason. After graduating from high school, and being pressured to attend college,
he felt that college just wasn't for him. So James, began to look for other, more focused schools.
He found MediaTech, and upon touring the campus, knew that it was a perfect fit for him. He graduated
from MediaTech Institute in 2011. In his time spent there, he became Protools 8 certified, and gathered
much knowledge about the audio world, but really found passion in producing and engineering.
Already having developed a love for hip hop and electronic music, he began to materialize what were
once only dreams. Armed with the newfound skills in audio engineering, he decided to take them and
use them to further craft his unique sound as a hip hop producer. Feeling constrained in Austin, James
decided to make the move to California. He is now happily employed at MediaTech's Oceanside
campus as a studio tech, and is very excited about the direction his life is going.

Jason Steck - Film Instructor - jason@mediatech.edu
Jason Steck discovered his passion for film and music very early in his life. Encouraged by his film
writer /producer father and dancer / instructor mother, he began self producing short films and skits,
and multitrack recording on drums, bass, guitar and vocals at the age of eleven. While attending
high school, he was involved in several bands playing alongside national acts at clubs, bars, and
party's. While attaining his associates degree in audio technologies, he invested in a recording studio
and began to record bands for profit.  Never losing the film bug, Jason moved to Los Angeles and
entered the film industry  as a production assistant. Over the next several years. Jason worked his
way up through grip, lighting, camera and editing departments until finally ending up focusing
on Cinematography and Directing. Jason has since done cinematography and directing work
for many companies and artists including Pepsi, Luis Vuitton, BBC America, Mattell,  Nicky Minaj,
Alanis Morrisette, Pete Yorn,  Madlib and many others. A variety of Jason's music and video work
can be viewed at  www.universalsubjective.com.

Phillip Manor - Instructor - audio1pro@gmail.com
Phillip Manor has had a multifaceted career in professional audio. Since 1980, he has been deeply
involved in various music, corporate and house of worship live sound productions. Education includes
a Bachelors Degree in Education, a Masters Degree in Business Administration, and certifications from
many manufacturers and pro sound industry programs. He has completed professional level training
at top level manufacturers such as Yamaha Commercial Audio and JBL Professional. Phillip has also
attended and completed specialized training at the Sound Master School of Recording Engineering
and the California Institute of Concert Sound Engineering. He also holds certifications from the Live
Sound, Syn-Aud-Con professional audio as well as Yamaha and Digidesign digital console
workshops. Phillip’s global work experience includes projects in manufacturing, marketing, sales,
contracted sound/installations, customer service, product/technical and management platform training
skills, conducting several sound production classes and consulting for many manufacturers and
Houses of Worship as well as operating his own sound production company.

He has done tour management and sound mixing for many individual artists, production companies,
sound reinforcement and touring sound companies. Phillip has done work in the past for such artists
as Ledisi, Euge Groove, Mindi Abair, Everette Harp and Grammy winner Norman Brown. Additionally,
he has had mixing engineer duties for such clients as Herbalife, the Los Angeles Auto Show, Andrae
Crouch, Clive Davis’s Pre-Grammy Gala, and Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union Conference.
Most notably, he has also done productions with White House Communications for Presidents
Clinton and Obama.

Scott Ragotskie - Lab Instructor - scott@mediatech.edu
Scott attended Fullerton College where he earned an Associates degree in Communications with an emphasis on Music Production. During College Scott began working as an audio engineer for McCune Audio in Anaheim, CA. At McCune Scott worked with such clients as Comedian Gallagher, JPL, Los Angeles Coliseum, the Los Angeles Raiders, USC Trojans, and the Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festivals.

After Graduation in 1986 Scott went to work for Bandwest Productions in Anaheim, CA. as Chief
Engineer. Bandwest Clients included Disney, Richard Street of the Temptations, Atis, X-Members and
No Doubt.

In 1996 Scott founded Sound Matrix Studios a 10,000 square foot Music and Video Production facility located in Fountain Valley CA. Scott was co-owner, President and Chief engineer until 2011. Some of
the Clients and Artists that utilized his facility for pre tour production, video production and recording services included, Blink 182, The Offspring, Avenged Sevenfold, Sublime with Rome, No Doubt, Jacks Mannequin, Sugar Ray, Slayer, Taco Bell, Hyundai, Speed TV, Electronic Arts, Warner Brothers,
Sony, and Universal Music Group.

In 2001 Scott began teaching the Recording Arts classes at Fullerton College and continues to do
so part time as an adjunct faculty member. Scott also serves on the industry advisory board and
continues to advise in the overall development of the music technology curriculum. In 2011 Scott
formed Slightly Elevated Entertainment an Artist Management- Development and Production company. Scott also formed Home Recording Services a boutique consulting company for Home Studio
Enthusiasts. Scott is currently working as a staff engineer & producer for Studio 770 in Brea, Ca.

Scott is an Avid certified Pro-Tools operator, a member of the A.I.M.P. and a member of the producers
wing of N.A.R.A.S.





Dennis Elia - Instructor - dennis@mediatech.edu
Dennis brings to MediaTech 10 years of experience as an instructor. Born and raised in Boston, Ma,
Dennis displayed an interest in music at a very young age, singing in theater and choir as a boy.
By the age of 18, Dennis was touring the east coast as the front man for the hardcore band League
of Pain, producing 2 cd’s and featured as special guest vocals on a few records. When it was time to
decide on a career path, Dennis relocated to Orlando, Florida to attend Audio Recording Technology Institute. It was apparent to him that this was exactly what he needed to do with his life, to become an
Audio Engineer. Dennis was hired by ARTI as the studio manager while still in school. Before
graduating, he found he also had a passion to help others who shared the same love of sound, and
started training to be an instructor. Dennis taught MIDI, Analogue and Digital Audio, and Post
Production Audio for Film. ARTI partnered with the University of Central Florida’s Film department and Dennis soon found himself as Lead Engineer on all Animation projects that came through the school.

Dennis also landed a gig with Extreme Makeover Home Edition as Boom Op and Production Sound
Mixer for a show shot in Altamonte Springs following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and also as Production Mixer of  the Blue Man Group affiliate the Sound Factory.  After 6 years of teaching with
ARTI, Dennis moved on to help the FIRST school (Florida Institute of Recording Sound & Technology)
with its core curriculum and taught with the school for 2 years as a Logic Pro® Certified Trainer and
End User. All the while, staying active in Orlando’s live music scene, mixing live sound at area venues
plus performing as lead vocal of the hardcore/metal band What Passes for Winter. Dennis also helped
start a concert series called TechDeth, which was the first to match up and coming DnB Dj’s with local bands to showcase area talent. Dennis went on to teach at Full Sail University in Recording Arts for
2 years as a Lab Instructor, passing his knowledge of Pro Tools HD and Logic Pro onto his students.

Dennis relocated to California in 2010, and currently is the A2 at Fox Theater Riverside, mixing
monitors for national Broadway plays & Grammy winning artists such as Kenny Loggins, BB King,
Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Colbie Colait, Natalie Cole, Bob James, Poco, Pure Prairie League, Peter Frampton, Fire Fall, Bill Cosby, Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience, Los Lobos, Leon Russell,
Dr. John, Weird Al Yankovich, Jeffery Osborne, Joe, Jon Secada, MythBusters LIVE, Legally Blonde, Forever Plaid, Ring of Fire. Dennis is also an Audio/Stage Tech for Morningstar Productions providing
event production services for Corporate events  and Festivals throughout southern California like
BB Jazz Fest, Newport Beach Jazz Summer concert series with performers such as David Pack,
Jeff Goleb, Mindi Abair, Jonathan Butler, Eric Darius, Maysa, Starship, Toto, Kool and the Gang
and other major artists.

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