Mike’s biography:

Mike Castellucci (born: Salida, Colorado) is an American journalist and creator of "Phoning It In" on ABC-8 in Dallas, Texas. Since 2016 he has served as a Professor of Practice and Artist in Residence at Michigan State University, School of Journalism.

Life & Career

Both sides of Mike's grandparents came from Italy. His maternal grandfather settled in Salida, Colorado, often appearing atop the list of Best Small Towns in America, and worked on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. His paternal grandfather settled in Pueblo, Colorado.

Castellucci realized his longtime aspiration to work for a broadcast television station in his home state. He watched newscasts from Denver and admired the great storytellers like Charles Kuralt and local legends Steve Lusk and John Nickel. He pursued broadcast journalism at the University of Northern Colorado, earning a bachelor's degree in Communication and a minor in journalism.

Upon graduating, Castellucci went to work in Grand Junction, CO at KREX-TV and then in Colorado Springs, CO at KRDO-TV where he earned his first Emmy in 1993 for a half hour show he wrote, produced and hosted.

Castellucci got his big break one day when master storyteller Steve Hartman departed CBS-2 in Los Angeles for a national spot on the CBS Network. Mike sat outside the CBS General Manager's office day after day until he caught him one day and handed the GM his resume reel. Mike was hired in 1999 to replace Steve and ended the daily 5pm broadcast with his unique brand of storytelling.

He has earned 28 Emmys and 4 Edward R. Murrow Awards to date.

Career History

Grand Junction, CO

KREX-TV (1987-1989)

Colorado Springs, CO

KRDO-TV (1989-1993)

San Diego, CA:

KUSI-TV (1993-1998)

Los Angeles, CA:

KCBS-TV (1999-2002)

Dallas, TX:

WFAA-TV (2003-2008)

San Diego, CA:

KUSI-TV (2008-2013)

Dallas, TX:

WFAA-TV (2013-Present)

In 2016, Michigan State University offered Mike the chance to teach his storytelling craft and to develop dedicated storytelling with phones courses that are now an integral part of the journalism core. He co-chaired an ad-hoc committee that helped develop a brand new major within the Communications Arts and Sciences School called Digital Storytelling.

2021 RECIPIENT OF THE NATIONAL EDWARD R. MURROW AWARD:

On October 27, 2021 in New York City, Castellucci was honored at the Edward R. Murrow Awards Gala. He was among 120+ national winners who were selected from more than 5,200 entries from hundreds of digital and broadcast network journalism organizations.

Watch the 2021 Edward R. Murrow Awards Gala here

Relationship with Apple

Today, Castellucci's innovative work with his Apple iPhone has netted him worldwide attention and acknowledgment as a pioneer in mobile journalism.

Castellucci is an Apple Distinguished Educator. ADEs are part of a global community of education leaders recognized for doing innovative things with Apple technology in and out of the classroom. They explore new ideas, seek new paths, and embrace new opportunities. That includes working with each other and with Apple to bring the freshest, most innovative ideas to learners everywhere.

• Attended ADE Institute, Bethesda Maryland in 2019.

Provided 3 days of team building, content development, collaboration, thought leadership and professional growth.

Headed Storytelling with iPhone and iPad workshops at Apple's Learning and Leadership Academy. Scottsdale, AZ in 2019. Apple's Festival of Learning Virtual Meet. Workshop lead. Sold out capacity crowd. Topic: USE YOUR PHONE TO CREATE BROADCAST QUALITY VIDEO.

• Invited by Apple to speak at Storytelling with IOS workshops BEA convention. Las Vegas, NV. April 8-10, 2019.

• One of the most satisfying projects to date with Apple was creating a 3-minute video telling the story of why Detroit and MSU should get North America's first Apple Developer Academy. The satisfaction comes with the announcement that Apple WILL be building it. Castellucci received praise for "landing the plane" with his video. The video ultimately solidified the relationship between Apple, MSU and the City of Detroit. Castellucci understood it to be the only thing Apple executives needed to see after months of meetings and presentations, shot entirely with Castellucci's iPhone.

In 2015 while working for WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas, Castellucci shot an entire half hour special on his iPhone called Phoning It In which he also produced, wrote and edited. The piece captured popular acclaim for his unique style of storytelling, receiving both Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Awards. Castellucci followed up with a sequel setting the stage for additional awards and speaking invitations regarding the ground breaking show.

Before shooting with an iPhone, at KUSI in San Diego (1993-1999 and 2008-2013) Castellucci applied his passion for storytelling to write, produce and edit a half hour program using an inexpensive pocket flip camera. His Open Mike concept for broadcast news reporting in San Diego went on to win several coveted awards including recognition from the San Diego Press Club (SDPressClub.org), Los Angeles Press Club (LAPressClub.org) and, not one, but two Golden Mike Awards from the Radio Television News Association of Southern California (RTNASoCal.org)

28 EMMY AWARDS

Heartland Region (1993)

Pacific Southwest Region (1993-1999 and 2008-2013)

Los Angeles Chapter (1999-2001)

Lone Star Region (2003-2008 and 2013-Present)

Michigan Region (2016- present)

Category wins include:

Outstanding Journalistic Enterprise

Outstanding Solo Journalist

Outstanding Talent Reporter

Outstanding Talent Host

Outstanding Talent Specialty Assignment Reporting

Outstanding Writing Non News

Outstanding Writing News

2008 LONE STAR EMMY-Outstanding Achievement Feature News Report, Light Feature-HOME ON THE RANGE

2015 LONE STAR EMMY-Outstanding Achievement Specialty Assignment Program-PHONING IT IN

2015 LONE STAR EMMY-Outstanding Achievement Writer, Program (Non-News)-PHONING IT IN

2016 LONE STAR EMMY-Outstanding Achievement Specialty Assignment Program-PHONING IT IN

2019 LONE STAR EMMY-Outstanding Achievement Specialty Assignment Program-PHONING IT IN

2019 LONG STAR EMMY-Outstanding Achievement Talent/ Performer/Program Host-PHONING IT IN

2020 LONE STAR EMMY-Outstanding Achievement Solo Journalist-PHONING IT IN

2011 PACIFIC SOUTHWEST EMMY Writer/Program (Non-News)-WHAT ARE WORDS FOR

2011 PACIFIC SOUTHWEST EMMY On Camera Talent/Program Host-ALL ALONE WITH A FLIP

2011 PACIFIC SOUTHWEST EMMY Magazine Program-FLIPPED OUT

2016 MICHIGAN REGIONAL EMMY Video Journalist-STEAM MEDICINE

2017 MICHIGAN REGIONAL EMMY Video Journalist-A MEETING AT HOME

EMMY AWARDS

2003

FEATURE REPORT

Story: "Showdown"

WFAA-TV, Dallas/Ft. Worth

Douglas Burgess, Photojournalist

Mike Castellucci, Reporter

2004

MAGAZINE FORMAT PROGRAM

Show: "Why TV"

WFAA-TV

Mike "The Why Guy" Castellucci, Executive Producer

Douglas Burgess, Executive Producer

Juan Renteria, Executive Producer

SPECIALTY ASSIGNMENT REPORT - PROGRAM / SPECIAL / FEATURE / SEGMENT

Show: "Daybreak"

WFAA-TV

Mike Castellucci, Reporter

2005

LIGHT NEWS FEATURE

Story: "A Spark In His Eye"

WFAA-TV Dallas-Ft Worth

Douglas Burgess, Photojournalist

Mike Castellucci, Reporter

2007

ON-CAMERA TALENT-REPORTER/FEATURES/HUMAN INTEREST

Compilation: Stories With No Filler Added

WFAA-TV

Mike Castellucci, Reporter

2008

FEATURE NEWS REPORT

Story: "Home On The Range"

WFAA

Mike Castellucci, Reporter

Douglas Burgess, Photojournalist

2015

SPECIALTY ASSIGNMENT REPORT - PROGRAM / SPECIAL / FEATURE / SEGMENT

Show: "Phoning It In"

WFAA

Mike Castellucci, Producer

WRITER

Show: "Phoning It In"

WFAA

Mike Castellucci, Producer

2016

SPECIALTY ASSIGNMENT REPORT - PROGRAM / SPECIAL / FEATURE / SEGMENT

Phoning It In

WFAA

Mike Castellucci, Anchor/Producer

Brandon Baker, Post Production Editor

2019

SPECIALTY ASSIGNMENT REPORT - PROGRAM / SPECIAL / FEATURE / SEGMENT

Phoning It In

WFAA

Mike Castellucci, Producer

Justin Anstead, Senior Designer

TALENT - COMMENTATOR / EDITORIALIST / PERFORMER / NARRATOR / PROGRAM HOST

Phoning It In

WFAA

Mike Castellucci, Host

2020

VIDEO JOURNALIST

Phoning It In: Texas Stories

WFAA

Mike Castellucci, Video Journalist

Edward R. Murrow Recipient/Lone Star Region:

Excellence in Innovation 2020

Excellence in Writing 2019

Excellence in Writing 2016

Speaking Engagements

TedX (MSU) June 2018

2021

Guest Lecturer, UNT. Led broadcast class for one week to start semester.

Guest Lecturer, SDSU. Led broadcast class.

Guest Lecturer, UWV. Led capstone broadcast class.

Kiplinger Foundation. Led workshop with professionals and students from all over the world.

Guest Lecturer, Bond University, Australia.

2020

• Workshop Creator. Learn how to shoot using your phone. The Slate. March 7, 2020. Dallas, TX.

• Featured Presenter, YouTube Live Event-Mobile Creators Summit. April 24, 2020.

• Workshop lead. Apple's Festival of Learning. Capacity crowd. July, 2020.

2019

• Featured Speaker, MoJoFest Mobile Journalism worldwide conference. Galway, Ireland

• Co-investigator, Brazil Multimedia Journalism Program. Taught storytelling and mobile journalism to selected university students at the U.S. Embassy. Brasilia, Brazil. Renewed in 2020 with double the funding.

• Speaker, RTDNA Excellence in Journalism conference. San Antonio, Texas

• Workshop leader, Apple Learning and Leadership Academy. Scottsdale, Arizona

• Breakout speaker, Apple Distinguished Educator Institute. Bethesda, Maryland

• Speaker and workshop lead, Apple's Storytelling with IOS. BEA, Las Vegas, Nevada

• Speaker and workshop lead, iPhone Video Workshop. The Slate. Dallas, Texas

2018

• Selected to head panel session on Storytelling with a phone in the newsroom: future or. gimmick?, SPJ/RTDNA Excellence in Journalism Conference, Baltimore, MA

• Conducted workshop for 13 hospital marketing/PR/Advertising group titled, "Production with your phone", Dallas, TX

• TEDx Featured Speaker, Innovation in Storytelling

• Guest Speaker, Ithaca College, New York

• Panel Speaker, Titled Civic Journalism Today, Broadcast Educators Association, Las Vegas

2017

• Conducted sold-out workshop titled, "Storytelling With Your Phone," San Diego, CA

• Speaker, Michigan Student Emmy Awards, Royal Oak Theatre, Royal Oak, MI

• Speaker, "Creating Broadcast Television Using Your Phone," BEA Conference, Las Vegas, NV

• Selected to lead panel discussion on "phonography", SPJ/RTDNA Excellence in Journalism Conference, Anaheim, CA

• Speaker, Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, Lansing, MI

• Guest Speaker, Ithaca College, New York

• Conducted iPhone workshop for filmmakers titled, "Shoot Movies With Your iPhone", Sandbox Series, Michigan State University