Since 1965, Cleveland State University (CSU) has offered various programs and courses for individuals, regardless of backgrounds, to explore. The university has been a staple of Cleveland culture and higher education for millions of students from Cleveland and beyond.
Today, the university has programs that cover over two hundred specific areas of study across eight main campus buildings. For students, most of these buildings can be accessed without stepping foot outside via the Innerlink. On the west end of campus, one specific school exists without Innerlink access, but for a reason that one may not expect.
Located at 1375 Euclid Avenue on the sixth floor of the Ideastream Public Media building, stands CSU’s School of Film and Media Arts (FMA). The film school being positioned atop one of the cities’ largest public broadcasting companies makes perfect sense for a city like Cleveland, a place that isn’t known for its entertainment and arts industry the way Hollywood or New York is.
As Cleveland’s film and media industry continues to grow, partnerships between creative arts colleges and organizations Ideastream provide students and young professionals with real-world experience, professional connections and pathways to stable careers in media.
One example of this relationship at work is that of Jason Liechti, a production manager at Ideastream Public Media, and instructor of CSU’s FMA 363 course, titled Multicam Production. Liechti sat down with The Cauldron to discuss his background, his role at Ideastream, the relationship between Ideastream and the university and what the future has in store for the two.
Jason received his bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis on video production fromOhio University in 2004.
Post graduation he moved West to California after spending a few months doing weddings videos. Once he settled down in Los Angeles, he started working at Premier Radio, where he scheduled commercials for programs.
After just six months, a friend invited him to stay with him and his father in Hawaii. He took the jump and stayed there for five months doing freelance video work. “…Ran out of money though, and had an opportunity come up in San Diego, California to start as a production assistant at a local news affiliate there.” Jason said.
He worked his way up through the different positions within the control room at the news station “Just through observation and trying to pay attention to what everyone else was doing around me, I kinda built myself up and by the time I left there I was directing the weekend morning news show.”
Liechti thinks back on his mentor, a man named Mike K. “He was a professor at Clermont Community College who was doing kinda what I do [now]. I owe a great debt of gratitude to him.” Liechti said.
This inspired Liechti to pursue the career path he is on today. He remained in the news industry and moved to Denver, where he worked as a technical director at KWGN, He later moved to San Francisco to begin working for the now defunct Current TV.
“I wasn’t really planning on leaving Denver as soon as I did, but it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up,” Liechti said.
The startup promoted the “democratization of media”by allowing producers worldwide to submit content for its’ cable network. Working overnight from San Francisco, Liechti operated live broadcasts aligned with the United Kingdom’s time zone.
“We ended up having fiber lines across the world essentially, to transmit the audio and video feedback from the UK in real time to the control room in San Francisco,” said Liechti.“I was a solo operator and was working on UK time in San Francisco.”
After the company built a control room in the UK, Liechti was given two options: accept a layoff and severance package, or move to Los Angeles to manage the control room there. He chose Los Angeles, but two years later, he was laid off when the company was sold and became a distribution network.
“I got to build a nice little network and started getting some exposure to short films and started freelancing again,” Liechti said.
After travelling for a while, Liechti returned to production at WTIU, a PBS member station operated by Indiana University. Although the position introducted him to public broadcasting, he said he was not happy living away from home.
Liechti eventually returned back to Cleveland and worked doing event production until the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the industry. He later joined EQ Technology, a Nord Ridgeville company specializing in residential and commercial audiovisual installations. However, the physical demands of the job led him to pursue another opportunity.
“I figured that at my advancing age the physical labor was a little too much, and I had an opportunity to come into Ideastream Public Media as a supervising producer director.” Liechti said.
Liechti has worked at Ideastream for three years and now serves as Production Manager.
His connection to CSU began when Mark Rosenberger, Ideastream’s chief content officer, recommended him to Cigdem Slankard, director of CSU’s School of Film & Media Arts. The school was searching for a new instructor for its Multicam Production course. Liechti is now teaching the course for his third fall semester.
“I’ve been enjoying teaching,” Liechti said.
His work with student operators at Indiana University gave him mentorship experience that has translated into his current teaching role.
Liechti’s position also reflects the growing relationship between Ideastream and CSU’s film school. He said the partnership supports Ideastream’s goal of becoming better known as a cultural institution in Northeast Ohio.
“We have such great institutions already — the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Orchestra and Playhouse Square,” Liechti said. “They’re really working hard to forge partnerships and collaborations between different educational, arts and cultural organizations within the region. Being in the same building is a natural fit, and our work is related.”
Ideastream offers internships year-round, while courses such as Liechti’s allow students to learn directly from professionals working in fields connected to the school’s curriculum. The partnership may also help students begin their careers without leaving Cleveland.
“From our perspective at Ideastream, we’re looking at this as a career pipeline,” Liechti said. “We get to see students and the work they’re doing and hopefully have a local organization that can be one of their steps in their career path.”
Liechti said he is proud to contribute to the partnership and values Ideastream’s commitment to distinguishing fact-based journalism from commentary.
“You get a lot of editorial disguised as journalism these days, and I enjoy being part of an organization that is very upfront about presenting when something is editorial and when it is fact-based and unbiased,” he said.
Liechti’s class is currently producing a podcast-style interview show highlighting former CSU film and media arts students.
