The Blimp! Team

A man of many hats, Jon Endres was the narrator for this production. In addition, he was responsible for much of the animation in the documentary. Endres is a media and technology specialist at the Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Akron. When he isn’t doing media digitization, preservation and organization at the museum, he’s producing short documentaries called “5 Minute History Lessons” for the organization.

Kathleen Endres served as producer, director, writer and researcher for BLIMP!
When she isn’t working on the documentary, Endres teaches in the School of Communication at The University of Akron, which gives her ample opportunity to see the Goodyear airship in the sky.

Amy Freels was the official photographer of BLIMP! She captured the airships from the ground—and from the air, venturing into the sky to get those bird’s eye views of the airships. In her non-blimp life, Freels is the editorial and design coordinator at The University of Akron Press.

Jamie Newhall had many jobs in this documentary. He was responsible for this website. He shot much of the videography—at the Wingfoot hangar and those rare dirigible/blimp shots over the University of Akron. He also was responsible for the recording of the narration. Newhall is a multimedia producer at the Design and Development Services at the university.

Video production specialist Matt Rafferty served as editor of BLIMP!, which was no small task given the complexity of the story. Rafferty is an award-winning editor, having won Emmys, the IRE Medal and the Alfred I. Dupont/Columbia University Award for broadcast journalism for his work at WJM-TV in Cleveland.

The man behind the BLIMP! theme song was Gabriel Schray, a producer and musician living in Akron. He was given a tough job—transforming that special blimp feeling into music. Click on the icon to hear some of the theme song. During the day, Schray is the development coordinator for the Akron Art Museum.

As a videographer of the BLIMP!, Gabor Smith stalked the blimps as they flew in the Akron skies. He covered the christening of both Wingfoot dirigibles, recorded interviews and assisted with the editing of the documentary. During the day, Smith is an academic adviser, instructor and PhD student at the University of Akron.