Bryan Chavez
Executive Producer, Features
As the Executive Producer of Features at BTVN, Bryan Chavez overseas all stories related to Arts and Culture, Entertainment and Kickers. Chavez, a journalism major, transferred from Fullerton College where he won multiple awards. His career goal is to cover a Champions League and World Cup final. Outside of school Bryan enjoys playing and watching sports. He enjoys being active and surrounded by nature. Chavez is a father to his one year old son.
Ethan Cohen
Executive Producer, News
Ethan Cohen is the Executive Producer for News at BTVN. With a robust background in digital media and journalism, and a passion for storytelling, he thrives on creating engaging content that resonates with diverse audiences. Ethan’s experience includes writing, photography, editing and managing operations for local journalism organizations. Ethan recently won First Place for the Associated Collegiate Press Long Beach 2025 Best of Show for his photojournalism coverage of the Los Angeles Fires. With a keen eye for detail and a strategic mindset, Ethan is dedicated to developing his craft and delivering impactful journalism.
James Grech
Executive Producer, Sports
& Assistant News Director
James Grech is the Executive Producer of Sports at Beach TV News. Grech is passionate about delivering engaging and high-quality sports content. His goal is to deliver insightful coverage that connects with fans on a deeper level. He brings several years of experience in sports media, including founding Steelers Update, an NFL-verified news outlet with over 160,000 followers. While his heart may belong to the Steelers— and building the occasional Lego Star Wars masterpiece— he is eager to share his passion for sports with BTVN’s viewers. As a Southern California native, he is also a proud supporter of our local teams— go Lakers and Angels! When he is not in the studio, you’ll find Grech catching a game or hitting the gym. He aspires to work in the sports journalism field and his dream career would be at ESPN or NFL Network. He enjoys the dynamic aspects of reporting, but he would also like to explore producing, anchoring, and writing while continuing to grow Steelers Update.
Dante Estrada
Executive Producer, Digital
Dante Estrada is this year’s Executive Producer for Trending Now and Trending Now in Sports. He is a fourth year journalism major and transferred to Long Beach State University in Fall 2024 after two years in Pasadena City College where he won several JACC awards as the Social Media Editor for The Pasadena City College Courier. Since then, he held a great passion for video journalism and telling stories through this medium of journalism, in which he reported on his local community. He formerly served as Beach TV News’ Social Media Manager for the Spring 2025 semester as well as the Video Editor for the Long Beach Current, CSULB’s student newspaper, from Fall 2024-Spring 2025. Now, he serves as the Multimedia Managing Editor for The Current, where he continues to produce multimedia stories for the newspaper. Dante is well-versed in writing, photographing, video editing, and designing for several publications. This summer, he was an intern for EdSource’s California Student Journalism Corps program, he worked closely with editors to pitch and write long-form news stories.
Skylar Stock
Executive Producer, Multimedia
Skylar Stock is a journalist that wears many hats. As the Executive Producer of Multimedia, she propels Beach TV’s diverse storytelling across multiple platforms. With a love for print, video and photography, Skylar is always looking to explore different mediums to share stories with a core audience. She also works as the video editor for the Long Beach Current and interned over the summer at the Kitsap Sun. She hopes to continue strengthening her multimedia journalism skills and uncover more important stories within her community.
Sherlyn Rodriguez
Social Media Manager
Sherlyn America Rodriguez is a third-year student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in both Journalism and Communication Studies. She previously interned with the Communication Studies Department as a social media manager. From a young age, her passion for social media and storytelling has fueled her ambition to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. As the current social media manager for Beach TV News, she is committed to expanding the organization’s digital presence and strengthening its online network.
Jesús Ayala
Founder & News Director
Jesús Ayala is one of the most distinguished and decorated broadcast journalism professors in the country and brings over 20+ years of professional journalism experience into the classroom. As a veteran news producer, Ayala has won 5 national Emmys and 7 Edward R. Murrow Awards, and has trained and mentored 11 Emmy winners and 9 Murrow Award winners. Under his leadership, his students have won over 90 national collegiate journalism awards including a College Television Award/student Emmy, 4 Hearst Awards, a Pacemaker Award for overall excellence, and the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award. In 2022, the College Media Association recognized Ayala’s exceptional dedication and contributions to collegiate journalism by naming him one of the most distinguished broadcast advisers in the nation— he is the first and only professor in the CSU to receive this distinction. Prior to transitioning into academia, Ayala covered breaking news stories from around the world as a Producer for all ABC News broadcasts including World News Tonight, Good Morning America, Nightline and 20/20. He excelled as an expert covering Latin America and South America and covered the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the Pope’s visits to Cuba, civil disturbances in Venezuela, and the rescue of 33 trapped miners in Chile. In 2008, he covered Barack Obama’s historic presidential campaign as a white house pool producer. Moreover, he has covered all major natural disasters— from earthquakes, wildfires, and floods to tornadoes, tsunamis, and hurricanes, including Hurricane Katrina. While at ABC, he worked with news icons like Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Ted Koppel, and the late Peter Jennings. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism. Ayala serves as a judge for the Golden Mike Awards, the News Emmy Awards, and the Edward R. Murrow Awards.
