Tom Berrigan |
Applying and Teaching Communications |
About Tom Berrigan |
|
|
|
Writer, teacher, public speaker and actor, Tom Berrigan has been based in the Los Angeles area since the summer of 2000, moving there after spending a lifetime honing his career skills in the northeastern United States and in our nation’s capital. Born and reared in Williamsport, Pa.
Yes, it sounds familiar because it is the birthplace of Little League Baseball and the Little League World
Series -- Berrigan got his first stage roles as a high school and college student. And it is while attending Lycoming College in his hometown that he got another gig as an all-purpose radio announcer at radio station WLYC in Williamsport. After transferring to Drew University in Madison, N.J., and while he earned both a BA and MA in Political Science, Berrigan became a news reporter for a local station, WMTR, then moved on to print journalism for more than three years as a reporter and columnist for the Morris County, N.J. Daily Record. While there, then-candidate for Congress Helen Meyner recruited him as press secretary for her successful 1974 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. After serving two terms with Meyner, he went on in 1979 to join the staff of U.S. Sen. Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.) for more than six years. Berrigan left Capitol Hill and moved to downtown Washington, D.C., where he served for nearly 15 years in a variety of capacities -- editor, director of communications and speaker -- for the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA). During his tenure at TIA, which took him to all parts of the U.S. and, occasionally, to Europe, he was a featured speaker, panelist, moderator or host on dozens of occasions. After arriving in Burbank, Calif., Berrigan continued to write, edit and speak on a contract basis. But, living within a 10-minute drive of three major Hollywood studios (Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal), it was not long before his interest in acting reawakened. He has performed as a background extra, and has had featured roles in small independent films and featured spots in major studio productions such as Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, director) and Looney Tunes: Back In Action (Joe Dante, director). He’s also had roles in some small stage productions. Burbank also furnished Berrigan with the opportunity stay active in another endeavor. During the 2004-2005 school year, he became a substitute teacher in the Burbank Unified School District, handling assignments for grades K-12. He has also tutored school children for the Huntington Learning Center and for other in-home tutoring services. His professional background makes him especially strong in working with students who need help in writing and communications skills, or in the study of U.S. government. Berrigan still writes and edits all sorts of material (newsletters, news releases, feature articles speeches and more) including, as this shows, brief biographical sketches of 500 words or less that fit on one page. For more information, write Tom at tom@tomberrigan.com or click on: |
| Writing Editing :: Teaching & TutoriNG :: Speaking & Acting | |
| © 2006-2007. Last modified August 2007. |
