About Alicia Avila

Contact Alicia Avila

Education:

University of California, Berkeley

August 2011 - May 2013

Universite Michel de Montaigne, Bordeaux 3

January 2009 - June 2009

Study Abroad Program for French language and culture. Independent research in African film history.

University of California, Santa Barbara

September 2006 - June 2010

Double Major in Film & Media Studies and Global Studies, emphasis in Eurasia

Published Stories:

Video: Learning to Fence in the Heart of the Mission

Mission Local

The Golden Gate Fencing Center first opened its doors in the Mission in 1997. Since then it has produced several national competitors and two Olympic coaches. Mike Penderson, a co-founder and head junior coach, started his fencing career as a teenager. At 50, he now has over 30 years of experience coaching students at all levels, from beginners to the 2004 U.S. Olympic Fencing team.

Ignite Conference Inspires Young Women to Engage in Politics

Mission Local

Young women filled the halls of Mission High School on Saturday for a daylong conference organized by Ignite, a California-based organization that encourages young women from low-income communities to become civically engaged and pursue careers in politics. The third annual Tomorrow’s Women Leaders Today Conference was the first time the event had been held in the Mission District. It drew 150 women from all over the Bay Area. “This year we wanted to show some love to the other side of the bay,” said Fatimah Simmons, Ignite’s director of programs.

Love Letters in the Mission

Mission Local

A chill winter breeze didn’t stop the search in the Mission last Saturday. Couples, friends, families and a few single adventurers passed through the doors of Viracocha, a vintage store at 21st and Valencia streets. Maps and clues at hand, they marched excitedly past the red balloon tethered just outside the door. They were following a trail of clues left by local artist Olga Nunes, 34, creator of the Mission’s first-ever Valentine’s Day Love Letter Scavenger Hunt. The hunt was the first of a three-act performance piece designed by Nunes and executed with a little help from her friends. From noon to 7 p.m., the searchers had just enough time to find, scan and read 100 love letters that were scattered up and down Valencia Street.

French cry foul as California foie gras ban nears

Reuters

Sunday marks a turning point in the culinary calendar of California when a ban enacted nearly eight years ago on foie gras - the gourmet food made from the fattened livers of force-fed ducks and geese - takes effect.

Grad Tradition Nixed in Nod to Diverse Sexuality

Mission Loc@l

Graduating seniors at John O’Connell High School have worn white and blue graduation gowns— white for women and blue for men — since the school opened in 1951. One student spear headed a petition to change the tradition.

MULTIMEDIA: Dolores Park Spruced Up

Mission Loc@l

The iconic and popular Dolores Park is undergoing a multimillion dollar transformation. See what residents have to say about some of the changes.

VIDEO: Keeping Occupy Alive for the 99 Percent

Mission Loc@l

A few dozen people gathered on El Rio’s outside patio Saturday afternoon to raise funds for the 99 Cent Print Collective, a group of writers, poets and artists. The group began as a collaborative effort to regularly distribute news about the Occupy movement, and has since expanded into a collective whose members support each other’s activism through print.

Residents Want Changes to 17th St. Park Plan

Mission Loc@l

Nearly 30 community members gathered inside the cafeteria of Marshall Elementary School on Sunday afternoon to voice concerns over plans for mural art and portable restrooms, among other items proposed for the park.

VIDEO: CNS Show - Plastic Bag Ban

Berkeley J-School TV/Doc

San Francisco recently adopted a new version of the plastic bag ban, extending it to small business around the county. See how community members and business owners react. 17:19

VIDEO: CNS Show

Berkeley J-School TV/Doc

Co-Anchor for the Berkeley J-School California News Service Show.

The Mission Moves from Day to Night

Mission Loc@l

After a long day filled with bustling visitors and residents, the Mission District has started its transition to a more relaxed evening. Young professionals, hipsters, families and Latino workers converge on the streets to begin the journey home.

VIDEO: CNS Show - Wild Old Women

Berkeley J-School TV/Doc

A group of senior citizens, who call themselves Wild Old Women, are protesting in front of banking institutions and trying to prevent home foreclosures. 4:36

VIDEO: CNS Show

Berkeley J-School TV/Doc

Stories about how the Occupy movement has affected different communities in the Bay are as well news on homelessness and local marijuana dispensaries. Show producer.

Mission High Remodels School Advisory Periods

Mission Loc@l

The change in the class from a four-day-a-week unstructured period to a twice-a-week structured period is all part of the curriculum modifications made in the last year, since Mission High became one of six schools in the Mission to receive a federal School Improvement Grant.

Mayor Rebuffs Homeless Families' Request to Meet

Mission Loc@l

More than two dozen families and single mothers marched from the Coalition on Homelessness offices on Turk Street to City Hall early Tuesday afternoon, demanding a meeting with Mayor Ed Lee to discuss the housing crisis that has displaced hundreds of families and left them without any resources for their young children.

VIDEO: Holiday Cuts

Mission Loc@l

Three community friends teamed up with Cesar Chavez Community Schools Coordinator Carlo Solis to host a free haircutting event for children and adults on Sunday, Nov. 21. They were inspired by a documentary chronicling similar charitable events coordinated by the Nation of Islam in the 1930s. Although this was the first event organized by this team of young men, they hope to host many more in the months to come.

Chasing Ed Lee

Mission Loc@l

We’ve tried. We’ve waited. Now, three days from Election Day, we have no profile on Lee, the interim mayor and frontrunner. That means we have no sense of how he interacts with voters, and my editor is tired of waiting. I’m sent out to find Lee, or at least see how his campaign offices operate.

VIDEO: Chess and Life

Mission Loc@l

Dozens of students at John O’Connell High School gather during their lunch break to wage war against each other on a small board. The skills they’re picking up from playing routine chess games are turning out to be more practical than they thought.

Mission Keeps Mexican Traditions Alive

Mission Loc@l

With the Day of the Dead right around the corner, Casa Bonampak, an artisan shop on Valencia and 21st streets, is making sure that the Mission community can help keep the age-old tradition of crafting sugar skulls alive.

O'Connell Students Get Excited About College

Mission Loc@l

Dozens of students congregated in the halls of John O’Connell High School Wednesday chatting about colleges and careers and making their way from workshop to workshop at the third annual College Seminar Day.

John O'Connell's New Principal, New Methods

Mission Loc@l

In many ways, the least advantaged of the 480 students at John O’Connell High School remind their new 34-year-old principal of himself.

VIDEO: Mission Students Support National Coming Out Day

Mission Loc@l

Dozens of students at John O’Connell High School sport purple clothes and accessories in support of National Coming Out Day.

Dreams No Longer Deferred, Students Say

Mission Loc@l

Governor Jerry Brown signed the Dream Act on Saturday, and undocumented students are reacting online.

VIDEO: Biking to School when You're Eight

Mission Loc@l

Increasingly, younger students are taking to the roads. Mission Local joins 8-year-old Tess Horton and her family on their morning commute to Buena Vista Horace Mann.

City College OKs Paid Internships for Undocumented and Low-Income Students

Mission Loc@l

For the first time, undocumented and low-income students attending City College in San Francisco will have access to paid internships.

Work Experience:

Assistant Editor

Mission Local  - San Francisco CA  ( August 2013 -  )

Assistant editor for Mission Local. In charge of curating the site - missionlocal.org- and helping incoming students learn to shoot and edit video.

Production Assistant

Investigative Reporting Program  - Berkeley CA  ( October 2012 -  )

Assisting to produce a documentary for the Investigative Reporting Program. Helping to manage avid media and complete transcriptions and translations of interviews.

Intern

BBC  - Los Angeles CA  ( May 2012 - August 2012 )

Intern for the Los Angeles bureau of the BBC. Production researcher - helping to research stories, set up and conduct interviews.

Freelance Producer

Reuters  - Los Angeles CA  ( December 2011 -  )

Responsible for finding stories and establishing contacts on a daily basis. Also responsible for writing my own text and editing video stories as well as junkets and handout footage. Also responsible for conducting on-camera interviews.

Associate Producer

Reuters  - Los Angeles CA  ( April 2010 - August 2011 )

Responsible for finding stories and establishing contacts on a daily basis. Also responsible for writing my own text and editing video stories as well as junkets and handout footage. Also responsible for conducting on-camera interviews.

Reporter

Univsiion  - Santa Barbara CA  ( December 2009 - January 2010 )

Daily reporter in charge of finding stories for the evening news. Responsible for video editing and writing stories as well as conducting interviews and on camera introductions.

Master Control Operator

Univision  - Santa Barbara CA  ( May 2008 - December 2008 )

In charge of editing commercial and paid programming as well as airing and editing commercial breaks and keeping track of scheduled air-times for all Central Coast Entravision programming

Intern

Univision  - Santa Barbara CA  ( February 2008 - September 2008 )

In charge of helping daily reporters find stories and aiding with editorial work. Also responsible for aiding news director with the daily rundown and the anchor with script writing.

Skills:

• Fluent in English, Spanish and French.
  Editing: Final Cut Pro, Avid, Edius