David N. Ray

Background

About David N. Ray

A creative catalyst w/ 43 Telly Awards and 18 years communicating for billion-dollar brands, I’ve now returned to the classroom - to raise up a new generation of storytellers. Before teaching I was most recently based in Atlanta, where I served for four years as assistant manager of corporate media for Norfolk Southern, a Class I freight railroad. As writer, director, producer, editor, and on-camera spokesman, I co-led our internal agency’s team of creatives that produced 100+ projects a year. Next I joined Southern Company, the second-largest energy utility in the U.S, as writer, producer, director and editor in the natural gas division. In this role I established its first full-service production studio and developed the team that won 41 Telly Awards in just six years. Prior to those media roles, I traveled the U.S. as a corporate trainer opening new markets for the Fortune-50 pharmacy Walgreens, and designed and led its 32-store management training program in Virginia Beach, Va. During this time I earned my Master of Fine Arts degree in Script & Screenwriting from Regent University, and then joined Norfolk Southern's corporate university as a classroom facilitator and instructional designer. Beyond my normal duties I wrote a cinematic edu-tainment script series, keynoted events as president of Toastmasters, and served as writer and on-camera host for the CEO's internal TV news program - and was promoted to help lead the corporate studio in Atlanta. Now I blend both passions - storytelling and teaching - to lead the Cinema & Media Arts program at my alma mater, Oral Roberts University, in Tulsa, OK. Within the College of Arts & Cultural Studies, I teach classes such as Advanced Television Production, Senior Portfolio Project, Production Software, Fundamentals of Screenwriting, Writing the Short Film, and Advanced Storytelling.