Meet the VCC Leadership
VCC’s senior team is a powerful combination of innovative executives who understand the quality, reliability, and economic demands of modern media based on decades of direct experience in communications technology and production, corporate leadership, intellectual property development, and Wall Street analysis.
Tom Wolzien
Chairman, Founder
Tom is The Video Call Center’s founder, executive chairman and inventor of the VCC’s patented enabling technology. Tom is a five decade veteran of television news, broadcast and cable network management, and the media research sell-side on Wall Street. He holds multiple patents related to interactive media and communications including those used by The VCC and “click for more info” buttons found on many TV remotes. More at Wolzien.com.
Larry Thaler
CEO
Larry joined the VCC team full-time in late 2015 after guiding business strategy and technical development as the company’s senior advisor for more than two years. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the media business and has earned four Emmy awards. Thaler was formerly an executive at NBC Universal and the Chairman of Positive Flux, a media consulting firm helping companies implement strategic technical changes.
John Rose
Vice Chairman
John is VCC’s Vice Chairman, bringing years of media leadership and C-Suite experience to the company. He is a Senior Partner and Managing Director of the Boston Consulting Group where he has led the global Media Practice, co-led the US Private Equity practice, and helps lead the Global TMT practice. John has followed VCC since its first workshop show in 2013, and became a member of the senior leadership team in 2019.
Meet the Sales & Business Development Team
Tom Delehanty
Sales Manager
Tom joined the VCC Team in 2016 and has an extensive 30+ years of corporate and creative successes within traditional TV, OTT, radio, and film; including 22 yrs with HTN (Now The SWITCH). He also has a solid foundation to support what goes on in front of and behind both camera and microphone being a proud member of SAG-AFTRA since 1988 (credits on *LinkedIn*). TD has been recognized by the NY Sports Emmy’s, The Connecticut AP Broadcasters Assoc, and his alma mater, Western Connecticut St Univ. He holds a master’s degree from NY Tech and his unique experiences offer VCC a dynamic combo of corporate talent and artistry.
Bonnie Optekman
Business Development
Bonnie Optekman leads VCC’s development efforts with principle focus on news and entertainment. She has a deep background in national news and digital content. Prior to VCC she was NBC News vice president of connected TV focusing on streaming video, audience engagement, and content partnerships.
Bonnie is also a professional voice over artist in New York City.
Josh Koller
Manager, Customer Success & Sales Engineering
Josh leads the sales team for VCC. He also manages the transition from sales lead to live production client, assisting in onboarding and implementation. Josh supports clients in Customer Success ensuring they get maximum benefit from their remote production products. Josh holds a Bachelors in Africana Studies and Politics from Oberlin College where he also sits on the Oberlin Alumni Entertainment Network group. He enjoys helping clients solve problems, cooking and spending time with his dogs.
Meet the VCC Team
VCC’s team has been carefully curated and forged with important goals in mind. Everyone in our team comes from a variety of strengths and backgrounds and is able to give insight from a variety of perspectives and skill sets. This helps the VCC team to foster an environment of true reliability and be a tour de force of unique development and production skills, unlike anything else that exists in the industry today.
Jonni-Lynn Gulden
Director of Customer Success
Jonni is VCC’s Director of Customer Success and Senior Producer. She has put more live smartphone remotes on air than anyone else on the planet and is VCC’s principle trainer for both clients and new employees. She literally “wrote the book” for the new job of Call Producing as the author of VCC’s training handbook for call producers. Jonni’s background is in broadcast media and music.
Alex Maisey
Director of Software Engineering
Alex leads The VCC’s software development team and creator of the proprietary Caller Acquisition Tool (CAT™) among dozens of other innovations. He has worked in the IT industry for 20 years as a consultant and programmer.
Samantha Gross
Director of Operations
Samantha is the Director of Operations for VCC, pre-producing and producing smartphone-based remotes for air. She started at VCC as a college intern and returned full time after two years working for a local news broadcast operation where she was a videographer in the field and news editor and motion graphics producer.
Dave Silverstein
Systems Engineering Manager
Dave joined VCC initially as a Call Producer and has grown and expanded his role to include technical support and eventually to VCC’s systems engineering manager. David led the support for the International Emmy awards, including remotes from 19 countries.
Scott Leibowitz
Marketing Team Lead
Scott leads VCC’s marketing efforts. He has diverse marketing, sales and journalism experience working for companies of all sizes– start-ups and Fortune 500, and non-profits, too.
Evan Sirof
Marcomm-On-Call
Evan is a content marketing and public relations specialist who supports small- and mid-sized technology vendors with effective publicity, compelling writing, and insightful communications strategies. Emphasis on building global brand awareness, establishing credibility in new markets, and transitioning companies from “talking tech” to speaking clearly to potential customers.
Arthur Kabore
Software Engineer
Arthur hails all the way from Montreal, Canada and recently graduated from Polytechnique in Cybersecurity. Arthur is working on creating and implementing Virtual Backgrounds into our system soon!
Angel Rodriguez
Systems Engineer
Angel is a 2019 Full Sail graduate who has been in the engineering field for more than 10 years. He is certified in audio productions, media communications, and protools. Angel has a lifelong passion for creating music, producing and managing projects. When he is not producing, or in the studio, you can find him spending time with his daughter, Sophia.
Hania Sarsar
Producer & Marketing Associate
Hania received both her BA, Summa Cum Laude, and MA in Communication from Monmouth University at the top of her class. She is a Mass Communication and Media Production professional and has been a tremendous asset to the VCC team in a number of major productions. She is highly committed to excellence and quality service.
Isaiah Barnard
Associate Producer
Isaiah graduated from Oberlin College in 2020 as a Philosophy major. Day to day, he optimizes guest shots, lighting, and audio for live & pre-recorded television. Isaiah helps the VCC produce quality remote broadcasts for premier television networks, sports organizations, and production companies.
Emmy Merkert
Associate Producer
Emmy is a student at University of Delaware and is majoring in Communication with a Concentration in Media. Emmy is currently the Executive Producer of Real Talk, a student-run talk show at UD. She is highly motivated and excited to work with VCC!
Annabelle Paulino
Associate Producer
One of our most recent additions to the VCC team! Annabelle is a multimedia journalist and digital content manager with a Bachelor of Science from Brooklyn
College. She currently manages PR and marketing for The Meta Movie (immersive experience). She was also a writer for lifestyle magazines like The Garnette report, a field reporter for the Brooklyn News Service, and is a founding member of The Fem League- a global culture design and community building firm that creates inclusive cultures.
College. She currently manages PR and marketing for The Meta Movie (immersive experience). She was also a writer for lifestyle magazines like The Garnette report, a field reporter for the Brooklyn News Service, and is a founding member of The Fem League- a global culture design and community building firm that creates inclusive cultures.
Jay Kochiss
Associate Producer
One of our most recent additions to the VCC team! Jay has had a varied career in broadcasting and media production. He has worked in News, Sports and Entertainment as a director and Producer for CNN, Bloomberg and EuroSport among others in the US, China and Brazil. Most recently has traveled the US on a motorcycle and sidecar shooting a documentary.
Alicia Boudreau
Bookkeeper/Office Manager
Alicia joined VCC with years of experience behind the scenes in the construction business. She’s responsible for back-office operations including A/P, A/R, personnel, and contract management.