Chuck Temple
Co-Founder
Chuck Temple has been experimenting with technology ever since he was a child trying to play a 3 1/2 inch floppy on a record player! He and his good friend, Benjamin, started DVD-Photo-Memories.com, which was later re-named DVD Your Memories, during a project transferring DVD's for a local film festival. He realized the need for a local image scanning and video conversion service and discovered that his skill set was uniquely tailored to such a business.
Chuck's experience with technology ranges from C++ programming to PBX telephone systems, and from web design and internet marketing to mathematical modeling. His wide-angle and macro thinking provides a tremendously successful perspective to running a media transfer company and achieving measurable business development goals. As a cum laude graduate of San Diego State University in Psychology with a minor in religious studies, Chuck is attuned to the human value of preserving family memories and to the importance of providing respectful, thorough, and genuine customer service.
Although it is my dedicated employees (past and present) that make this company run, here are some of the non-employees that have given me the most help since starting DVD Your Memories.
Bryan Clark
Operations Manager
Bryan Clark has been working with computers for 19 years. He's worked as a network administrator in Poway for both an international printing company and a major building framing company; troubleshooting Operating Systems in Japanese, fixing computer guided power saws, and generally "nerding out" are all second nature to him.
He also does discounted work as a technical consultant at Mount Miguel Covenant Village, a retirement center in Spring Valley. He has gone to school for both audio and video editing, and is very passionate about music. Bryan does a lot of DVD Your Memories' general tech support, research, and maintenance, in addition to planning and opening our new locations. It is said he is more awesome than the best qualities of the Highlander, Uncle Jesse from Full House, and Clint Eastwood combined.
Richard Uruchurtu
Director of Training
Richard Uruchurtu's experience working in post-production for over 10 years makes him a veritable expert in all things multimedia! Richard is a film school graduate from The Zaki Gordon Institute for Independent Filmmaking. He has worked on several independent projects including short films, music videos, TV shows, and feature films. Richard began at DVD Your Memories as a video tape transfer technician and he quickly earned creative license to perform video editing. His ambition and expertise are a powerful resource when helping customers to create exciting and memorable slideshows, film projects, and video presentations.
In 2009, Richard was called upon to pioneer the second store in DVD Your Memories. The Orange County location quickly became a success helping hundreds of families preserve their family media. Also taking on the challenge of DVD Your Memories biggest project! The digitization of the City of Irvine's meetings from the 70's till present day. In 2011 Richard was promoted to Director of Training. Where he imparts his passion and expertise to the future employees of DVD Your Memories. In his free time Richard enjoys reading, gaming, and traveling.
Brandi Mitchell
Bookkeeper and Business Development
Brandi Mitchell was a customer of DVD Your Memories when we hired her as our in-house bookkeeper and business assistant. She used her family home videos on DVD as "in-van entertainment" during a long drive the previous summer. As a result of "DVD-ing" her memories, she discovered that her kids love watching videos of themselves as babies (better than Sponge Bob!) and we found an employee who shares our company's vision! She is committed to documenting her life and family history through the lens of her digital SLR camera. Her family and friends love the updates to her online photo and video gallery and enjoy flipping the pages of her custom photo books at home. She is known around here for assigning office "theme days" (with required snapshots), recounting tales of her two young children's latest discoveries ("Mom, I know leprechaun's exist, but, come on, is there really a Solar System?!"), and final score announcements from her weekly women's league soccer games. Brandi has fifteen years of professional experience in small business management, customer service, and bookkeeping, and is a graduate of French Language and International Policy Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Her interests, skills and enthusiasm for capturing the sights and sounds of the present and past make her a fantastic fit for the DVD Your Memories team!
Anthony San Nicolas
Manager - San Diego Store
Anthony is the store manager and digital image expert at DVD Your Memories San Diego location. On a typical day, this San Diego native processes more individual pieces of media than all other departments combined and uses up to 6 scanning devices all at once. Graduating from San Diego Platt College, where he studied graphic design, Anthony is currently doing production work promoting the electronic music culture. In the future he would like to start his own urban wear clothing company. When Anthony is not enhancing family memories he enjoys studying the Japanese language and culture.
Blake Fertig
Manager - Orange County Store
Blake has been writing, editing and shooting short films and events for over ten years. He graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a degree in Film and Visual Culture. Since then, he has worked steadily as an independent filmmaker and a freelance videographer. Blake has worked as both the Film Transfer Technician and the Editor here at DVD Your Memories and in 2011 he became the Orange County Store Manager. Blake enjoys working at DVD Your Memories because of the dynamic atmosphere of working with technology and using his knowledge to enhance family memories.
Brian Elwell
Manager - Los Angeles Store
Brian is our resident audiophile in Los Angeles. Brian fell in love with music at a young age, and was heavily involved in his school's music program for 7 years. He then further enhanced his audio expertise by spending 4 years in his school's radio program using industry standard recording equipment. Over the years Brian has spent countless hours recording and mixing audio for the highest sound quality. Brian attended Long Beach State University receiving his bachelors degree in Political Science specializing in international relations. After college Brian spent time working in Ethiopia. In his time overseas he served as the deputy director of IT for a new college, further enhancing his technical skills. With his computer expertise, and extensive audio/video knowledge, Brian is the complete package.
Steve Hoemke
Manager - Denver Store
Steve was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and was raised in several different cities in Southern California. Joining the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of 18 Steve first became involved in the photography and audio visual fields. Responsible for all types of audio visual equipment, the use and repairs of the equipment and being a combat photographer Steve was hooked. Upon leaving the Marine Corps after 10 years of service Steve ran his own business in electronic repair and continued his association with various types of AV equipment, computers and media. Steve graduated with his Masters in Business Administration and is striving to earn his Doctorate in Business as well. Hired as the manager for the Denver location of DVD Your Memories Steve will be working closely with all of our Denver customers to help insure that they receive the best possible service and support with all of their media transfer needs.
Chris Papciak
Search Marketing
Chris Papciak is in charge of handling the company's online marketing efforts as well as help out around the stores. He was born and raised with a family that was heavily involved with photography throughout San Diego County, which has fueled a passion for the industry. He has attended SDSU as well as vocational training for computer repair and networking certifications. In addition to previously managing a high-volume retail store, he has over 10 years experience troubleshooting and repairing computer hardware and peripherals.
Ilo Neukam
Assistant Manager/Film Transfer Technician - San Diego Store
Originally from New Hampshire, Ilo Neukam grew up with a passion for the arts. Even from an early age, she could be seen acting in television, theatre and on film. At Appalachian State University in North Carolina, she shifted her interest from the front of the camera, to the action behind it, graduating with a B.S. in Electronic Media and Broadcasting. Since her 2006 graduation, she has worked in television, film and radio in North Carolina and New Zealand, before she decided to hang her hat in San Diego. Since her move to America's Finest City, she has worked as a Weather Producer and Operations Technician for San Diego's ABC affiliate KGTV 10news and has freelanced in various other media ventures such as CBS's short lived television series The Ex List, The Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon and Discovery Health Channel's Mystery ER.
Neukam, now working as the Film Transfer Technician for DVD Your Memories, feels that she is an integral part of preserving history. "When I see families grow up on film I know that I am saving a piece of that family's history to share with future generations, it's pretty neat to see how mom or dad behaved when they were children."
Daniel Sigman
Image Scanning Technician - San Diego Store
Daniel is the image scanning technician at DVD Your Memories. He was born in San Diego and has always enjoyed the production of media in all its forms, from music to movies. In addition to majoring in video production at Grossmont College, he also took classes in audio production, digital photography, and graphic design. He spent five years creating and managing audio, video, and photographic media at Lake Murray Community Church. One day he hopes to be involved in church media full-time.
Ed Stroh
Audio/Video Technician - San Diego Store
Ed's technical prowess and strong background in digital media give him the perfect skill sets to be the video and audio transfer technician at the San Diego DVDYM Store. Ed is an aspiring audio engineer currently attending Mesa Community College to complete his Certificate of Music Technology. He is a graduate of High Tech High School in the Point Loma area of San Diego where he gained a great deal of knowledge surrounding computer technology and digital arts. He also produced a number of indie films with classmates and friends during his senior year which became an ongoing passion. He is now studying to become a studio engineer and an audio technician for film.
Caleb Christofer
Slideshow Editor - San Diego Store
Caleb began developed his editing talent while in high school producing Star Wars and Lord of the Rings fan-films. Since that time, his passion for film has grown into a profession. He has edited a multitude of productions including free-lance events, corporate videos, and independent films. Caleb's first love is Narrative Film Production. Outside of DVD Your Memories, Caleb will still be found at a computer, producing his satirical webseries "News to Me," writing screenplays, or editing his latest short film. At the moment, he is also somewhat obsessed with the movie "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World".
Derek Chinn
Audio/Video Technician - Orange County Store
Derek has been using editing and animating programs for over five years. He has directed and edited short animations as well as won several awards for his work. He is a Computer Programming student at Fullerton College. In his extra time, he games, writes, reads and enjoys the outdoors. He has been playing the violin for over 10 years with numerous orchestras and ensembles. Derek joined DVD Your Memories' Irvine location to bring together his skill in multimedia and computing for the benefit of the customers he serves.
Rustyn Sa
Assistant Manager/Image Scanning - Orange County Store
Rustyn's background in professional photography, both as a student and in her work as a portrait photographer, reflects her commitment to capturing, preserving and restoring memories. She started her career at a photo print shop, developing negatives and slides into prints. As an image scanning and restoration specialist at the Irvine location of DVD Your Memories, Rustyn provides a keen technical eye partnered with a natural talent for composition, scale, color balance, contrast and lighting.
Andrew Ng
Film Transfer Technician - Orange County Store
Andrew Ng graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a degree in Studio Art and Film & Media studies. Outside of DVD Your Memories, Andrew is a Director of Photography for narrative and commercial film working with various productions throughout Orange County and Hollywood. He is also an active member of the UC Irvine film community working with fellow colleagues on an annual film festival as well as a production club. With his appreciation for film and visual communications Andrew joined DVD Your Memories' Irvine location as a Film Transfer Technician. He is proud to be restoring and digitizing your memories.
Best Memory: Family trip to Sedona, Arizona about seven years ago. Dad figured it would be a great idea to take the rental car on a designated off-road trail. Turns out it was meant for cars that could really go off-road. There is a home video somewhere with myself "praying" that we make it down the big drop. The rest of my family was totally calm. Now if only I could find this video, I would definitely DVD this memory.
Varun Gurunath
Slideshow Editor - Orange County Store
Varun Gurunath graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a degree in Film and Media Studies and History. He is familiar with several editing programs such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas, and Avid Newscutter. His editing background spans over 6 years and he still continues to create many teasers, trailers, and dance video shorts. His creativity, technical skills and outgoing personality add to the creative process as he provides high quality video for all of our editing clients. Outside of DVD Your Memories, Varun is a professional dancer and choreographer who has traveled around the USA and internationally to teach Bollywood dancing and Hip Hop. He has performed on and worked with So You Think You Can Dance, America's Best Dance Crew, Nickelodeon, Natalie Portman, and Steve Carrell, to name a few.
Stephanie Barberi
Image Scanning Technician - Los Angeles Store
Stephanie Barberi graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a BFA in photography. She has been invested in both analog and digital photography formats for the last nine years. Before coming to DVD your memories, Stephanie worked for numerous artists, gaining hands-on experience in the fine art and photographic world. Heavily interested in fine art and portrait photography, she is constantly shooting and can always be found with a (vintage) film camera on her shoulder. "I believe in grain, golden hour, color corrections, composition, the square, random chance, the banal, light leaks, aging film, experimental processes, the romanticism of Polaroids, nonsense, and color harmony." One of Stephanie's favorite things to do is digitally restore age-worn images to their original state.
Ryan Brown
Audio Technician - Los Angeles Store
Originally hailing from a small town in northern California, Ryan Brown came to Los Angeles in order to be educated at UCLA and be a part of the large multimedia culture that existed there. Each of these dreams have since come to realization, as he now has his BA degree in English and is an audio transfer technician at DVD Your Memories.
DVD Your Memories is a perfect fit for Ryan, as he feels he can be truly passionate about his work. He believes preserving your memories is an incredibly rewarding experience.
Ryan has a love of all things media, especially music. When he is not doing his best to provide customer service and a great product at DVD Your Memories, he will be found writing, playing, and editing his own music.
Ethan Arnold
Film Transfer Technician - Los Angeles Store
Ethan Arnold hails from a faraway land in the East...Philadelphia! His passion for film and storytelling lead him to the Art Institute of Philadelphia where he studied visual art, varying from commercial art to video and film production, and received his degree in 2006. After graduating and working as a film transfer technician in the Philly suburbs for several years, he heard the call of Hollywood. Not lamenting the brutal Pennsylvanian winters, he packed up his SAAB and set out for the West Coast, eventually landing at DVD Your Memories. He enjoys riding his bike, gaming, movies and literature, and hopes that his experience and dedication will bring customers the highest-quality product.
Lonnie Lopez
Slideshow Editor - Los Angeles Store
Lonnie is our dynamite Slideshow Editor in Los Angeles. He has over 10 years of career experience including editing for broadcast news, commercial projects, documentaries, and special events. Having earned a degree in Electronic Engineering with a minor in Television Broadcasting, Lonnie contributes intricate technical know-how about both the guts of computers and the images he works with on the screen. He strives to perfect and push forward the art of editing for himself and those around him. He has always championed the use of Sony Vegas Video Pro as THE editing software of choice on a Windows computer. Feel free to ask him question about the editing software, he'll talk for days about the matter!
Marissa Mason
Image Scanning Technician - Denver Store
Originally from Arkansas, Marissa majored in studio art with an emphasis in photography at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Her personal work consists of abstract, mixed media drawing/painting and staged photography. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring Colorado, experimenting with new artistic techniques, canoeing, and indoor rock climbing.
