KSUT has fulfilled a significant benchmark in its multi-year strategic plan with the hire of Colten Ashley as Tribal Media Center coordinator.
Ashley is a Diné filmmaker originally from the Four Corners. He studied Media Arts at Brigham Young University, with an emphasis in narrative filmmaking and critical media studies.
His professional background includes working for such companies as ESPN, ABC, BYUTV, Hallmark, and he's contributed to work that has appeared on Utah PBS. In addition to his work in film and TV he has mentored college and high school students with trainings and workshops based on film production including the "Hands on a Camera program", teaching students how to create documentaries about their community. He will be returning to the Four Corners from Utah as KSUT’s new Tribal Media Center coordinator.
The Tribal Media Center will offer multimedia training to Native American and Indigenous individuals with a goal of expanding first-person and narrative storytelling content that can be distributed broadly, to both native and non-native audiences throughout Indian Country. Tribal Media Center projects already underway include Native Braids, Native Lens and numerous partnerships with Rocky Mountain PBS, Fort Lewis College, Dream Warriors and Vision Maker Media.
