TEAM
TKTV * VR, AR, AI, AV, and Live TV Production & Transmission Consulting Services for Civil and Public Sectors
We are a hard-working high tech consulting firm based in Southern California with a global reach. Combined with our sister companies we have offices in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, New York, Toronto and Dublin.
Our approach is simple communication. Tell us what problem you need solved, and we go to work on solving it.
Established in 1978 as Down to Earth, we were pioneers in receiving signals from satellites. In 1984 the company became STAR Satellite Television And Radio, Inc. and had become leading experts globally for ad-hoc satellite communications with a focus on broadcast & cable television transmission. We were some of the founders of the videoconference industry and STAR grew to become the second largest producers of satellite videoconferences in the world. Through the 80's & 90's we continued to add high tech including microwave & fiber optics. Within one year of the Internet becoming public domain, we were putting video on it making us some of the first in the world to do so. By 2006 we added some of the top production executives and shifted to more of a consulting and production house where we offer the very best high tech services from the top Vendors globally. Along with that came our name change to TKTV. Tim Kuglin Technical Ventures.
Tim Kuglin * CEO & Executive Producer
Timothy M. Kuglin has over 35 years of senior level television management and production/transmission experience. He serves as the Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer of TKTV, LLC and has produced, co-produced or transmitted over 6,000 live television events. He has produced and/or transmitted live sports broadcasts including more than 10 years of NFL football, NHL hockey, MLB baseball and NBA basketball games. Tim has worked on Special Event Broadcasts that include 9 Superbowls, 1988 & 2002 Winter Olympics, numerous Academy Awards, several Grammy Awards, professional boxing and live HBO entertainment events including Comic Relief and Wimbledon Tennis. He has Produced the private broadcasts of numerous corporate meetings, events and conferences for many of the country’s largest corporations including the world’s largest private videoconference that was broadcast to 1.2 million people in 54 countries. More than 100 Television Networks have entrusted Tim and his expertise.
Tim is an active member of the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) where he served as Treasurer and a Board member for over 18 years. He is also a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the Cable Television Association of Marketing (CTAM), and the National Association of Television Programming Executives (NATPE).
David Stern * Producer & Director
In his 35 plus years at the helm of productions David Stern has brought home 6 Emmy Awards and 19 Telly Awards. He has directed hundreds of network and cable television shows including news, sports, entertainment & concerts. He has also directed TV commercials, home videos and corporate video. To just list a few of David's credits they include: 9/11 Memorial from Ground Zero (2003, 2004 & 2005), World Pool Feed; Broadway under the Stars” (2004-2005), CBS; New Year’s Eve from Times Square (1997-2004), World Pool Feed; Harrison Bergeron, Showtime; Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, Syndication; The Today Show, NBC; The NBC Nightly News; 20-20, ABC; Primetime Live, ABC; The Sports Illustrated Year in Review, HBO; Superbowl & NFL Pre-Game Shows, ABC & NBC; Olympics Opening Ceremonies, World Pool Feed; Birth Day Live I, II, III, & IV, Discovery; World Series Pre-Game Shows, NBC; Tour de France, ABC’s Wide World of Sports; Monday Night Football 20th & 25th Anniversary Videos, ABC; USA vs. the World Gymnastics, FOX; Davis Cup, Australian, Paris & French Opens, USA & ESPN; and many more. David has also produced and directed numerous concerts for noted musicians such as Alanis Morissette, Phil Collins, Elton John, Tricia Yearwood, Sting, Smash Mouth, Blink 182, Limp Bizkit, Busta Rhymes, Run DMC, Wyclef Jean, Jane’s Addiction, Sheryl Crow, Alicia Keys, Usher, and Avril Lavigne.
Deni Graap * Co-Executive Producer
Deni Graap is a seasoned television production executive with more than 25 years experience with tours of duty at MTV, Showtime and A&E Networks. Deni was instrumental in the launch women’s focused cable and Internet network Oxygen. She has been responsible for new and original programming at all of these networks and has overseen all aspects of production from concept to air. Including One Ocean View (reality; ABC), Ru Paul Show (VH1 Talk Show Format), Margaux's Diary (Oxygen Network). Deni was Coordinating Producer for the Emmy Award winning Keeping Kids Healthy (PBS Series), Production Manager for Birth Day Live on Discovery. A few more notable shows on her credit list includes: The Hero Tribute September 11 Fund Raiser Telethon, MTV Video Music Awards, Million Family March, Woodstock 94 and 99, 75th Time Life Anniversary; VH1 Story Tellers, MTV Unplugged; The Concert to Free Tibet; 1992 Inaugural Ball; Live From The 10 Spot; Isaac Mizrahi Show, and countless live and Pay Per View events with artists suchThe Backstreet Boys; Alanis Morissette, Donna Summer, The Rolling Stones, The Springsteen Tribute, Oasis; Tyson - Holyfield I & II. Deni also provides technical consulting for the Academy Awards and Grammy Awards.
Joe Dea * Producer & Director
With over 35 years in TV, his 5-time Emmy-winning work has been showcased everywhere from the New York Museum of Modern Art to prime time broadcast networks. In the late 1970's Joe Dea was a founding member and creative force behindVideoWest, a groundbreaking music video, comedy, and news production company. During that period, Joe honed his directing skills in the emerging music video field. Today, much of this early, pioneering work is noted in Rolling Stone Magazine’s Top 100 Videos and Rolling Stone’s Music Video Hall of Fame. His video, Two Triple Cheese for Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen, resides in the permanent collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art. Since then, he has directed hundreds of hours in genres such as documentary, reality, stunts, comedy sketches, live music, drama, recreations and animation. His prime-time network specials for NBC and Fox include: Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects, and The Worlds Greatest Stunts. He has directed many segments for broadcast network, syndicated, and cable network reality series. As Senior Director of the TLC hit A Wedding Story Joe directed the pilot and 48 cinema verite half-hour episodes, shot all over the United States. For the past few years, he has been working primarily in the reality television genre directing talent and "real people" in both multi-camera and single camera, field and studio productions. Joe has directed many Hi-Definition productions such as Knight School with Bobby Knight; four one hour episodes of a six camera HD reality series for ESPN, and numerous projects for the History Channel.
Rich Levitt * Producer
Our dear friend Rich passed away in 2015. We decided to leave his bio up as he will always be with us. - Rich is a 30 year veteran of the broadcast industry. He has wide-ranging experience in the operations of satellite communications, TV production, post-production and sales. He has worked at network affiliated broadcast television & cable stations and he spent 16 years in the operations and satellite communications departments of HBO. While Director at HBO, Rich Levitt was responsible for the contribution and distribution feeds of innumerable live or same-day-air television events including Barbara Streisand: The Concert, Tina Turner Live From Rio!, Simon & Garfunkel Live In Central Park, Comic Relief, Live Comedy Hours and Concerts, World Championship Boxing and Wimbledon Tennis. He subsequently worked in operations and development at Triumph Communications. Rich was the founder of RHL Communications Inc., a full-fledged video production and post-production company. He has produced, directed, written and/or edited numerous Television programs. Rich also manages projects and special events for the broadcast TV, cable TV, medical, and educational industries.
Rich Levitt earned a B.S. in Television & Radio from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He is a charter member of the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI), and he is a member of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Emmy Awards).
Bill Ganz * Producer
Bill Ganz, with over 25 years experience, he has produced and/or supported almost every area of live event and broadcast television production. For 7 years he has was the exclusive event producer for Anthony Robbins. Bill has produced events for American Communications Network (ACN), Kenwood Electronics, Nissan, Delfin International Seminars, Jack Canfield, and the Denver Broncos. Bill has also supported many political events and was the number one person for the White House Communications Agency (WHCA). His broad experiences in developing and producing personal development content include: remotely linking audiences with speakers such as General Norman Schwarzkopf,Colin Powell, and Larry King; developing virtual meetings and audience response systems; and delivering one of the largest live personal development events that toured arenas throughout the country, Results 2000. Bill’s background has been diverse over the past two decades; from the touring rock & roll industry, to live stage events, and from feature films to network TV broadcast.
Chris Malburg * Producer
Chris Malburg has over 30 years of business experience at enterprises of all sizes, from Citicorp to start-up companies is also a Best selling author with over 4 million words in print on a variety of business-oriented topics published by McGraw Hill, Putnam and Simon & Schuster. He has his MBA in Finance and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Michael Hotopp * Art Director
Micheal retired in 2015 but available as needed. - Michael Hotopp has garnered 5 Emmy Awards in his 35 plus year career in Art Direction and Production Design. His television designs include: The Oprah Winfrey Show, Discovery Times Channel’s Political Dish the Summer and Winter X-Games 1997-2004, ESPN Sports Center, and NFL Prime Monday. For Fox News Channel, Michael's work includes Foxfiles, Fox News Sunday and Fox News Channel studios in New York, Boston and Washington, DC. Other television designs include The Queen Latifah Show, CBS Cable's Eye On People with David Frost, and Sports Illustrated 40 For the Ages as well as CBS' 1998 Winter Olympics in Nogano, CBS’ 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, the1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, the Final Four, Eye On Sports, and Sports Control Center. Michael also designs corporate TV sets for Coca-Cola, Gillette, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer videoconferences, and forums for Sprint, EMC, IBM, Intel, AT&T, SAP, Cendant, MCI, Mattel, McDonald's, Time Warner/Turner, and The Wall Street Journal.
Chris Augustine * Writer
Chris Augustine has over 35 years of broadcast television writing, script review, and teleprompting experience. His credits include Politically Incorrect, Home Improvement,60 Minutes, Suddenly Susan, Frazier, Star Trek, Everybody Loves Raymond, General Hospital, Murphy Brown, Good Morning America, and Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. Chris has also worked in film, most notably on Primary Colors, Parenthood, Ace Ventura Pet Detectiveand Donnie Brasco.
Valerie Mead * Executive Vice President
Valerie Mead is a detail oriented business executive with the proven ability to plan and manage multiple projects which rapidly facilitate corporate change and improvement. With over 20 years at the corporate level of the banking and financial industries she has leadership skills that have been utilized in a variety of functional areas of business including marketing, sales, human resources, finance, risk management, purchasing and facilities. Val's executive responsibilities encompass Venture Capital research, and due-diligence of all Merger & Acquisition responsibilities. She is responsible for the organization and running all trade shows and she also oversees the activities of the Office Manager and administrative staff. Val held former executive positions with StarNet Financial, American Savings Bank, Five Star Financial Services, Griffin Financial Services and she was a private investment research consultant.
Cliff Sydow * VP of Engineering
Cliff Sydow has been the right arm of Tim Kuglin for over 30 years. Cliff has been an engineer on thousands of show sites, with events ranging from Wrestlemania to the Space Shuttle Landings at Edwards Air Force Base. Cliff is ascomfortable and welcome on a satellite videoconference for Chevron as he is back stagewith Joan Rivers during her Red Carpet-Award shows. Doing a show is easy, when they go smoothly. But when they don't, from an uplink or downlink, production or computer, Cliff is the go-to guy when something doesn't work right and needs fixed. He has an Electrical Engineering degree from Cal Poly Pomona.
949-645-5444 Tim Kuglin, Principal TKTV Consulting
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