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[ Up ] [ People Behind the Scenes | Officers & Board Members ] O'Keefe Educational Media Our purpose is to promote
Mississippi tourism, We provide visual tools for the
study of Mississippi: O'Keefe Educational Media is a non-profit corporation with a vision to produce educational films and teaching tools. Mississippi has a cross section of people from diverse backgrounds. Our Mission is to present, preserve, and celebrate the diverse cultural, ethnic, historic and artistic heritage by providing film documentaries to schools, libraries, museums, attractions, other educational/cultural entities and TV throughout Mississippi and the South. Our hope is to improve and expand the knowledge and appreciation of Mississippi and her citizens which will also improve/expand economic development and tourism. Our goal is to provide educational products cost effectively. The Gulf Coast is a typical community that relies heavily on tourism and economic development. It is for this reason that our first project "Destination: Gulf Coast" involved over 120 coast businesses including the arts, museums, shopping, tourist attractions, transit, gaming, fishing, golf, hotels, parks, and events. It is supported by municipals, tourism, and economic development. "Hello, I'm Alice Moseley" project is an educational film documentary about the renowned folk artist and storyteller, Alice Moseley (1909-2004). The goal of this film was to retain the Mississippi heritages of folk art and storytelling while honoring the teaching profession and senior citizens. Alice, who left this life at 94, jokingly said that she was a tourist attraction, because her home was open every day and people came from all over the South to see her art, meet her and hear her stories. Now her memory will remain in the new Alice Moseley Folk Art & Antique Museum, a nonprofit museum being established in her home. This film is shown daily in her new museum. O'Keefe Educational Media has distributed this video to schools and libraries in Mississippi making it available for all Mississippi citizens. The video not only teaches about folk art and storytelling, but through her stories, Alice reminds the viewer in a humorous way of the things in life that are most important: life's lessons and values that we all should learn. All ages love this film. The current project is "Mississippi Gulf Coast: Recreation for People with Disabilities". This film will document much of the equipment and activities available on the Gulf Coast for people with disabilities. The project is in cooperation with the Toy & Technology Center on the Gulf Park Campus of the University of Southern Mississippi and the Institute for Disability Studies on the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg Campus. This film is in production and will be made available free to organizations who work with people with disabilities. For more information e-mail us at: People Behind the Scenes Janie O'Keefe Janie is the Executive Director for the O'Keefe Educational Media. Janie has been in the field of advertising and marketing since 1972. She is experienced in management, fund-raising, sales, marketing, and copy writing. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Tech University. Janie worked in television and radio and has served in radio positions of sales manager and part owner. On the Gulf Coast she jointly owned Gulf Printing and Advertising, J. O'Keefe Marketing, and Rose's Florist with her husband James O'Keefe. James is a son of Jerry O'Keefe, former Mayor of Biloxi and philanthropist spearheading the new Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art. Examples of projects that Janie has exclusively fund-raised and produced have been: several years of programs for Biloxi Little Theater, program for the Saenger Theater, and programs for the Gulf Coast Symphony. She created, fund-raised, and produced Coast Coupons (raised $25,000. for Coast youth projects) and the Welcome Real Estate Guide for Waveland (used by the Chamber). She has raised thousands of dollars for Sports, Band, Choir, Civic Groups, the disabled, and Boy Scouts. As President of the Biloxi/Edgewater Civitans she chaired numerous events to give fun and a social environment for people with disabilities. She has chaired numerous clothing, food and money projects for the less fortunate. She has sat on the board of the Make-a-Wish Foundation and Mississippi Assoc. for Independent Living. Janie created O'Keefe Educational Media, formerly Destination & Educational Videos. She has been the project director and driving force in all marketing and fundraising for all film projects. As a wife and mother of five, her oldest being disabled, she is dedicated to positive, moral growth for the youth, her community, and the State of Mississippi. She is a strong believer in positive achievement opportunities without racial or handicapped discrimination. She has dedicated untold hours of work to this goal, many times volunteering her talents and time.
Chris is a lifetime coast resident, husband, and father of three children. Chris founded Sky River Productions in 1998 after working as a biologist, spokesperson and media coordinator for the Mississippi Bureau of Marine Resources. As media coordinator for BMR, he began producing public service announcements and informational videos for the agency. That experience led to work as a producer and editor for the "Mississippi Outdoors" program, a co-production of Mississippi Educational Television and the State Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.
Chris
serves his community and church and uses his talents donating countless hours to
encourage positive change for businesses, churches, schools, and the Gulf Coast.
Chris is presently the Media Specialist for the J.L.Scott Marine
Education Center. AWARDS:
Mississippi Tourism Award/Best Televised Program-"Mississippi
Outdoors" OTHER WORKS OF NOTE: Commercial series for Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home chain (2000); Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art, a 7-minute tape promoting and supporting a fundraising campaign (1999); "The Keesler Connection" a 60-minute documentary on Biloxi's Keesler Air Force Base that has aired on The History Channel (1998); Welcome to Sharkheads, a series of promotional and skills development tapes for a retail outlet (2000); Destination: Gulf Coast (30 minute film promoting travel and economic development.)
Janie O'Keefe,
Executive Director **************************************************** Betsy
Walker, Attorney-at-Law **************************************************** Shelia M. White,
Director of University Relations **************************************************** George
A. Triggs, C.P.A. **************************************************** James Crowell **************************************************** Reginald Sykes,
Ed.D. **************************************************** Tom Becker ****************************************************
Mark Stars,
Business Owner Beth Carriere,
Executive Director Margaret Miller,
Executive Director Mike
McCormick, Attorney-at-law
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