About MediaRites

"MediaRites is a tax-exempt, 501 (c ) 3, nonprofit production organization based in Portland, Oregon, dedicated to telling the stories of diverse cultures and giving voice to the unheard through the arts, education and media projects. Since 1984, MediaRites has produced award-winning radio and film documentaries, interactive websites, theatre and outreach projects."

Dmae Lo Roberts

Dmae Lo Roberts, Executive Producer and Board Member is an award-winning independent radio artist and writer who has written and produced more than 400 audio art pieces and documentaries for NPR and PRI programs. Her work is often autobiographical or about cross-cultural peoples and is informed by her biracial identity.  Her Peabody award-winning documentary Mei Mei, a Daughter’s Song is a harrowing account of her mother’s childhood in Taiwan during WWII.

Her largest three-year project was Crossing East the first Asian American history series on public radio. The eight-hour series ran on more than 230 stations around the country. Through MediaRites, Roberts has also produced the 13-part Legacies: Tales From America and the 3-part  Legacies, Faith Hope and Peace series, Sorting Through Shadows, Stories1st.org, and The Breast Cancer Monologues.

Currently she is spearheading new MediaRites projects including the Mei Mei Film and Archive Project,  Media Training Seminars and the Theatre Diaspora project staged readings of Asian American plays.

Awards and grants include the Peabody, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism award, the Casey Medal, the United Nations Silver award, the Clarion Award, two Heart of America awards, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Award, two CPB awards and an AIR award for innovation and excellence.

As the executive producer of MediaRites, she continues her personal mission to create works that bring diverse communities together. Though Roberts was born in Asia and lived there as a child, Oregon has been her home since the age of ten. There she continues to write from a Northwest perspective while working on community and national projects.

Amanda Anderson

Amanda Anderson (associate producer)  graduated from Western Oregon University in 2018 with a B.F.A in Technical Production. She is currently a freelance Intimacy Choreographer in Portland, specializing in working on queer, femme projects as well as with youth and young professionals. She has recently worked at Linfield University, Portland Opera, Bag & Baggage, and was also Intimacy Coordinator for multiple productions at Portland Center Stage in the year of 2022 and 2023.  She is currently the resident Intimacy Choreographer for Valley Shakespeare Company. She is also a Stage and Production Manager in the Portland Area. Currently, she is the Production Manager of MediaRites Productions, one of the Stage Managers in rep at Oregon Children’s Theatre, and on the Stage Management team at Portland Center Stage.

Sandra de Helen

Sandra de Helen has been a produced playwright for many years. Her one-act play Singer Clashes with Cougar was produced in New York in July 2014 by {Your Name Here} : A Queer Theatre Company. She is also an author and poet. De Helen’s The Hounding and The Illustrious Client are available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook. These Shirley Combs/Dr. Mary Watson mysteries can be purchased in bookstores or online. Her poetry chapbook All This Remains to be Discovered is available at Another Read Through bookstore in Portland, Oregon, or online. Samples of her work are available at SandradeHelen.com. De Helen is a long-time member of the Dramatists Guild.

Tara Gatewood

Tara Gatewood (Isleta Pueblo), Host & Producer: Tara joined the Native airwaves in 2005. For 20 years she has worked in Indian Country in the arenas of health and community development. She has more than 19 years of experience as a journalist. Beyond radio broadcasting, her palette of experience also includes working in Washington, D.C., South Dakota, Minnesota, Massachusetts and New Mexico. She was a reporter and photographer for several major news organizations. Her past works can be found in the Boston Globe, Aberdeen American News, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Transmission Magazine, Albuquerque The Magazine and Native Peoples.

Shelley B Shelley

Shelley B Shelley arrived on the Portland scene in 1987 as a recently-separated single mother. Far from her mind was anything having to do with theatre. She put herself through Portland State University, graduating in 1991.  She landed at the Metropolitan Arts Commission as the Technical Assistance & Outreach Program Manager, where her first assignment was to compile a database and printed directory of ethnic minority artists and arts organizations in Greater Portland. She became involved with the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, the Homowa Festival, Sojourner Truth Theatre, and Hyalite Historical Society. As an actor, Shelley in the late 90’s landed a role in Nightly Comes The Hurting Time with Bridge City Productions. She hadn’t acted in 15 years. After that Shelley was privileged to work on stages throughout Oregon, as well as appearances in Texas, Missouri, and Colorado.

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