Digital Marketing Strategist

Aaron Spears

Hard to believe that Metro Studios could actually hire a normal person ... that is, a Normal, Illinois native. With a bachelor's degree in geography from Southern Illinois University, Aaron shouldn’t get lost when he’s camping or fishing. Aaron worked for a Fox affiliate in Illinois before coming to Iowa to launch the WB affiliate in Iowa City. As a creative director at KWKB for 7 years, he has lots of experience shooting, editing and with client relations. Will he teach his beautiful daughter, Kiah (b. 2005), to bait his hooks?

Editor

Adam Kokontis

As a young boy snapping beans from the family garden, Adam Kokontis watched Pulp Fiction, Ghostbusters, and Good Morning Vietnam hundreds of times each on VHS. But these days, the Metro Studios editor loves the free form art style of Director Terrence Malick and Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. The Cedar Rapids native also enjoys all types of music. His mother taught him guitar, he graduated to the drums, and later played with a touring punk rock band. Adam graduated from Loras College with a degree in Video Production and worked for nine years as a videographer and editor. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking; recording and writing music; listening to a wide variety of music ranging from Miles Davis to Mount Kimbie and My Bloody Valentine to Mbaqanga; and watching Breaking Bad, Arrested Development, and America’s Test Kitchen.

President / Owner

Al Schmidt

Al grew up in Wall Lake, Iowa and ventured to Cedar Rapids to attend Kirkwood Community College. He started his own company in 1985, which was originally named Metro Video. As the business grew, he built a new facility and changed the name to Metro Studios. Al and his wife, Karen, have two children, Amber (b. 1991) and Austin (b. 1993). Al has worn many different hats in his life: shooter, gaffer, and makeup person for major political stars ... but he also enjoys cooking up a big juicy steak on the grill!

Sports Editor / Producer / Owner

Amber Dennis

Amber grew up in Cedar Rapids, okay, she grew up with Metro Studios. Yep, she’s Al and Karen’s daughter, and probably knew the difference between an XLR and a BNC cable before she could do multiplication. She started freelancing for Metro in 2005 and signed with our team in 2009. Amber is the official Cedar Rapids Kernels and RoughRiders video producer, texter, and all-around go-to-girl for sports production. When she’s not at a game or editing highlights, you will find her behind a camera. In her spare time, Amber enjoys still photography.

Business Development Manager

Ashley Weaver

When you think about life’s milestones, Ashley has ticked off quite a few in the last two years. She graduated from college at the University of Iowa. Check. She landed her first job. Check. She got married and moved. Check and check. And now she and her husband have welcomed a new furry member into their home, Dakota, the Golden Retriever. Check again. A native of New York, Ashley moved to Naperville, Illinois at age 8. She chose the U of I for its great business program and also picked up a minor in psychology. Ashley met her “sweet and down-to-earth” husband through a mutual college friend. In her spare time, Ashley enjoys watching episodes of Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy and House of Cards on Netflix.

Vice President / Office Manager / Owner

Becky Olsem

Becky graduated from Kirkwood Community college with an associate degree in accounting and business management. She then became one of the first Metro employees in 1986. Becky balances the busy Metro office with an even busier home life; two sons, Joshua (b. 1995) and Jared (b. 1999) keep Becky and her husband, Dave, on their toes. They enjoy golfing, camping, biking in RAGBRAI, and spending time with friends and family.

Digital Marketing Strategist

Brittany Meiners

As a young girl in South Dakota, Brittany Meiners was always drawing houses. At the University of Nebraska, she studied architecture, but switched to public relations and advertising. She is, however, married to an architect. In her current role as digital marketing strategist, Brittany enjoys both the creative and analytical aspects of her job. She says working with multiple clients makes each day unique. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her son, Finn, and husband, Andru; reading non-fiction books; listening to music from the 70's; and supporting her beloved Huskers.

Content Writer

Cody Nie

Senior Writer / Producer

Connie Westpfahl

Connie has worked at Metro since 1999 and has done a lot of great things during her 30+ years of professional experience in California and Iowa. She’s written hundreds of TV spots and videos, bought thousands of dollars of media, freelanced for nearly every possible sports network, and won some awards along the way. Even though there’s no trophy for 100% client satisfaction, it’s the most important part of her job. Connie and Tim married in 1989, and have two sons, Zachary (b. 1991) and Jakob (b. 1993), and these three men mean the world to her.

Web Maintenance / Web Developer

Erik Aksland

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Erik Aksland always wanted to be a teacher. After all, he came from a long line of educators. But once he started college at Augustana, he soon fell in love with computer science. The web maintenance/web developer says "Coding is a lot of like a puzzle. You get that feeling of accomplishment when something works; it's insanely gratifying." A former high school track star, Erik's events included the 100, 200, and 400 meter sprints. In his spare time, he enjoys lifting weights, playing video games, and spending time with both his girlfriend and rescue dog. Someday he hopes to visit New Zealand, the Maldives, and Norway, where his ancestors own farmland.

Senior Editor

John Fenton

John grew up in Ames, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State University. Then he spent the next 17 years working at various television stations around the country, including two start-up stations. He joined Metro Studios in 1999 and continues to amaze his co-workers with the large amount of coffee he drinks every day. John and Cindy were married in 1983, and have one son, J.T. (b. 1989), plus a menagerie of various animals. In his spare time, John enjoys doing home improvement projects, camping, and watching football.

Web Developer

Jonathan Cook

Jonathan Cook was 11 when he first became interested in computers. Those were the days of WebTV. He realized that people got paid to create websites and he wanted to be one of those people. Now as Metro Studio's Web Developer, Jonathan loves turning simple lines of text and code into actual projects that others can see and use. Born in Florida and raised in Arizona, Jonathan moved to Iowa to be nearer to his wife's family. Saying he's a "typical computer nerd," in his spare time he enjoys coding, role playing games, and video games.

Web Designer / Front-End Developer

Kerry Cutsforth

Kerry has been interested in the creative arts all his life, a passion that was ignited when he took private art lessons as a child with Barb Prall, a Cedar Rapids based artist. After graduating from Cedar Rapids Washington High School, he continued his art education at the University of Northern Iowa, where he earned a B.A. in Graphic Design. Kerry joined Metro Studios with more than six years of web design experience. When not designing interwebs, Kerry enjoys spending time with his wife, Kristy, and their two cats. Kerry also likes going to concerts, photography, biking, comics and annoying his wife with the latest PS3 games.

Vice President / Owner

Kirk Hayden

Born and raised in Wyoming, Iowa, Kirk graduated from St. Ambrose University in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in communications. He joined Metro Studios shortly afterwards. Kirk enjoys sports, music, traveling, and family time with his wife, Brenda, son Alex (b. 1994), and daughter Sydney (b. 1997). Most of his time outside of Metro is spent trying to "catch" all his children's college sporting events.

Digital Marketing Strategist

Paige Buresh

Having summers off as a teacher sounded really appealing . . . until Paige Buresh realized she didn't really like kids that much. The digital marketing strategist graduated from the University of Dubuque with degrees in human resources and marketing. In her role at Metro, Paige helps her clients by creating posts, Facebook ads, and looking at their website analytics to assess their SEO needs. She likes her job here because she can work on something different every day. Looking ahead, she'd like to travel internationally and become established at the top of her field.

Digital Marketing Strategist

Sam McCreedy

Growing up in Lost Nation, Iowa (population 400), Sam McCreedy loved the quiet and freedom he experienced in a small town. When he attended the University of Dubuque to study marketing, he enjoyed meeting people from many locations around the world. "I liked seeing how we were different and the same," he said. As Metro's Digital Marketing Strategist, McCreedy helps a variety of clients stay ahead of the trends. "I like getting notes from clients saying they're happy or hearing about that from our SEO team. We all have our own clients, but we help each other."

Front-End Developer

Steven Radig