Jay April

President / CEO

Jay April has served as Interim President/ CEO of Akaku since January 2007, and has previously served on Akaku’s Board of Directors from 2001 to October 2006. Mr. April is a television producer, director, video journalist and artist whose work has been featured on many national networks and won awards from film festivals worldwide. Credits include special correspondent to CNN’s Environmental Unit, the TODAY Show on NBC and the much acclaimed PBS series, The 90s. He was responsible for the successful start up of E!  Entertainment Television as founding producer, and he has produced, directed, written and shot hundreds of television segments and commercial spots in a variety of genres. His documentaries about ecology and American culture have been called, “prolific and passionate” by The Wall Street Journal, “poignant” by the LA Weekly, and “provocative” by The Los Angeles Times.

In recent years, Mr. April has specialized in documentaries about Hawaiian culture, and he has been exploring the parameters of emerging digital video tools to make ground-breaking new media. He is currently developing strategic partnerships with talented video and internet era veterans to launch a first wave artist-in-residence television station to debut on the worldwide web.

Mr. April is an experienced national cable television consultant with a specialty in telecommunications policy, cable regulation and community programming. Clients have included the State of Connecticut, the City of Los Angeles, municipalities, non-profits, universities, and cable television companies. He brings eight years of managerial and administrative experience in PEG access; and he is one of the pioneers of the PEG access concept in the United States and a founding member of the Alliance for Community Media.

Awards include Hawaii International Film Festival (1999) San Francisco International Film Festival (1992, 1993), Chicago International Children’s Film Festival (1993), American Film Institute National Video Festival (1980, 1991), Sony Visions of US (1993), Jackson Hole International Wildlife Film Festival (1993), International Wildlife Film Festival (1992, 2001), Advertising Club of New York City (1997) and a National Cable Ace Nomination (1989).

April has taught courses in video for social change at Yale University. He holds a B.A. in English and Education with a minor in Theater Arts from Boston College. He also took graduate courses in Television Production at University of Connecticut.