Lou Gutierrez Email & Phone Number

New York, Ny, Us

Audiobook production in English and Spanish

New York, Ny, Us

Oversaw audio division in the production of:• Thousands of audiobooks and magazines - English and Foreign Languages for major audio publishers (Audible, Blackstone, Brilliance, christianaudio, Nickelodeon, Recorded Books, Tantor, Verity ...)• Educational Multimedia - English and Foreign Languages• Accessible materials including video description (VDS/AD) and closed captioning (CC) for major networks.• ADR

Designed and developed custom database management applications for clients such as Merrill Lynch, Simon and Schuster, Phoenix Technologies, Quantum Enterprises and National Audio Company. Provided graphic design and DTP services to Prentice-Hall for their Higher Ed. Engineering, Math and Science (ESM) division.

Arlington, Virginia, Us

• Oversaw and provided leadership and strategic direction to division consisting of a vast pool of professional actors/narrators and more than 50 employees and freelancers. They included managers, marketing personnel, clerical, recording engineers, mastering engineers, proofreaders, braille transcribers, technicians, and IT staff.• Responsible for development, implementation and outcome of division's multi-million dollar budget and departmental performance plan objectives. This included monitoring for deviations in seasonalized monthly budget for production/contract fulfillment, efficiency ,and profitability.• Developed and oversaw the implementation of marketing plans.• Responsible for preparation, submission and negotiation of all bids, proposals and contracts with clients and vendors including trade (Harper Collins, Hachette, BBC America and Audible), Educational publishers (CTB/McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt) as well as corporate and government entities (Library of Congress, Medicare, Department of Education). On average, more than 600 audio publications were produced annually.• Principal Investigator and Manager for the Universal eLearner: An Innovative Approach for Universal Online Learning, a Department of Education 3-year grant under the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) Field-Initiated Development Program of the Department of Education (DOE).• Performed website evaluation for conformance to W3C/WAI accessibility guidelines on behalf of both corporate and governmental agencies.• Edited and created accessible versions of User Guides for consumer products in order to improve products' usability and meet Telecommunications Act Accessibility Guidelines. • Member of the AFB Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC).

Arlington, Virginia, Us

(continued)• In 2005, was responsible for the transition from analog to digital recordings including Digital Talking Books (DTB) for the Library of Congress productions. This involved the selection, purchase, installation and configuration of more than 25 ProTools Digital Audio Workstations (DAW), eight (8) recording studios as well as providing training to staff.• Consistently looked into ways to decrease costs and increase revenue. First year alone saved more than $100,000 in materials expenses by negotiating with vendors. Increased annual revenue by $1.5M in the trade audiobook sector..• Participated in the development of two digital audiobook standards. The first under the aegis of NISO (National Information Standards Organization), http://www.niso.org/workrooms/daisy/Z39-86-2002.html and http://www.niso.org/workrooms/daisy/Z39-86-2005.pdf. The second under the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), http://www.ce.org/AboutCEA/CEAInitiatives/3491.asp. Both standards were developed to address various accessibility, delivery and navigation limitations in existing technologies.• Converted disparate company-wide legacy databases to be used in newly developed SQL based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Sources included proprietary DOS and UNIX based databases.

• Modified production systems to increase productivity and quality – brought them up to proper working standards, hired and trained technical personnel• Improved in-house technical capabilities – trained and supported existing staff in customer service, audio and software duplication, mastering, graphics, printing, and packaging.• Setup accounting and payroll systems

• Ensured expected production goals were met• Responsible for quality assurance of main clients' projects such as Polygram (Polydor, Mercury, Verve, Pickwick, Casablanca), WEA (Warner, Elektra and Asylum), Disney, K-Tel, Moss Records...• Helped develop and test emerging technologies that became the standard in audio and data duplication. They included techniques that allowed for quick and accurate software duplication. Similar projects were carried out in the audio arena as it related to audio cassettes and 8-track magnetic tape.