Ange-Aimée Woods

Education:
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Cinema from Concordia University; Ange-Aimée also holds graduate diplomas in journalism and communication studies from Concordia University.

Professional background:
Ange-Aimée joined Colorado Public Radio in November, 2013 as arts reporter. Her position was part of CPR’s first comprehensive multi-media bureau covering the arts.

Before coming to CPR, Ange-Aimée spent a decade working at CBC Radio One in Montreal, Quebec. She filled just about every role at the CBC during her 10-year stint working for Canada’s Public Broadcaster: arts reporter, researcher, news reporter, host, news editor and senior producer of “Homerun,” a three-hour, live drive-home program focused on news and current affairs. Most recently, Ange-Aimée served as the organization’s social media reporter, managing social media production for three programs and cultivating an online presence for listeners to participate in conversations around news.

In addition to her experience in radio, Ange-Aimée also worked in film as an associate producer at Park Ex Pictures. While there, she was assistant to film producer Kevin Tierney, the producer behind the top grossing film in Canadian history, Bon Cop Bad Cop. She also worked as an assistant programmer with the Festival Nouveau Cinema in Montreal.

Awards:
Ange-Aimée worked on two shows that won Radio Television Digital News Association (RTNDA) awards. Live coverage of the Party Québécois victory rally shooting during Quebec Election 2012 earned the Gord Sinclair Award, while the program “Daybreak” won honorable mention for the Peter Gzowski Award for News Information.

Q & AWhy did you become a journalist?
I never expected to be a journalist but I was always that one kid in the class who always had her hand raised with a question and answer for everything. I feel most at home in a newsroom because I am surrounded by people who were also “that kid.” I’ve always been curious and sometimes downright nosy, qualities present in all the journalists I know. But I think what attracted me most to journalism is the power the media has to help people make responsible and informed choices. Good journalists monitor everything around them; they ask the difficult questions and push for answers.

How did you get into radio?
I grew up listening to public radio. I obtained an internship with CBC while studying journalism in Montreal. I was hooked instantly and started working for the CBC as a researcher before even graduating from my program. What attracted me most about this medium is how easy it is to tell complicated and compelling stories with little or no budget. I also love the instant, impossible-to-replace immediacy of live radio.

How did you end up at CPR?
I never expected to leave my comfortable, permanent position with Canada’s public broadcaster but when a friend passed the job listing for the arts reporter position in the new multi-media arts bureau at CPR, a position that is in every way my dream job, I jumped at the opportunity. In the weeks leading up to my interview I read everything I could about Colorado and slowly came to the realization that life is good here. This was more than confirmed when I arrived in Denver and witnessed the mountains and culture for myself. I grew up in the United States, graduated from high school in Tacoma, Washington. After high school I moved to Canada to benefit from the great colleges and inexpensive tuition and ended up staying 22 years. This was possible because I have dual-citizenship. My father is African-American from West Virginia and my mother is French-Canadian from Quebec. I always said I would return the U.S. for the right opportunity and CPR is most certainly it.