At the 85th Academy Awards in February, TCU was well represented. With 24-plus years of combined service at the Oscars, (left to right in photo above) Colin Deford ’94, Justin Paulk ’98, Chris Strong ’98 and (third from left in photo on right) Marc Istook ’98 once again came together to work on this prestigious event.

Paulk is a fiber optic business-segment manager with Bexel Corp., which supplies technicians and solutions for events like the Oscars. Paulk manages the fiber optic infrastructure at the Hollywood and Highland complex, including feeds for the main ABC production, live shots for clients and rapid transfers of data for still photographers from the red carpet to editors at the Loews Hotel.

Deford is a freelance technology manager and worked for Oscar.com at the awards. He oversaw the technical facilities and crew behind the Oscar.com production live from the event. He’s also helped kick off the ball drop in Times Square in New York every New Year’s Eve, managed technology for Showtime’s boxing productions and a multitude of other events.

Strong, also a freelance tech manager for Bexel, worked with Deford at the Oscars on Oscar.com’s live webcast. Strong has also managed the technology for the four tennis majors for ESPN, some NBA games, and then when fall hits, it’s back to a little “Monday Night Football.”

Istook was on camera for TV Guide Network for his 5th consecutive year of hosting the “Oscar Awards Live Countdown.”  He was perched above the Red Carpet on the bridge that spans Hollywood Boulevard. He has been a local newscaster and host of many national shows on networks, ranging from TV Guide, to ABC.com, to Yahoo!, to the Food Network, to Speed.