Benztown West Coast Commercial Production Dir. Kelly Dies
| RADIO ONLINE | Sunday, August 15, 2021 | 5:47pm CT |
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 Jeff Kelly |
Sad to report that Jeff Kelly, West Coast Commercial Production Director for Benztown, died late Friday night, August 13 in Los Angeles at the age of 50. He joined Benztown in January and had just recently moved to L.A. to work with the Benztown team in the company's Glendale, CA studios.
Jeff Kelly became, in his own words, a "True Radio Geek" at a very early age, listening to Scott Shannon, Jeff Gonzer and Mark & Brian in his native Southern California. After his high school graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and proudly served his country. Once he was discharged, he couldn't wait to pursue his true passion, radio.
Kelly started his radio career in 1994 at K-MIX/KHJ, in his hometown of Lancaster, CA. Following that, he moved across town to then-number-one Country FM 103.1 TPI in 1995. In 1996, Kelly headed to Cheyenne, WY, where he joined the team that launched 97.9 KING FM/100.7 KOLT FM. It was there where he would earn his first PD stripes. Success followed in Northern Colorado and later in Albuquerque, NM, where he joined iHeartMedia in early 2016. It was there where he made the decision to shift the direction of his career from programming to production.
During his four years as Production Director at iHeartMedia Albuquerque, Jeff won nine New Mexico Broadcasting Awards (NMBA), sweeping every category for which he was eligible on more than one occasion. Equally rewarding was the role he began to play in iHeartMedia's production process. Kelly joined forces with Production teams in five other major/large markets across the Southwest to form the Western Division Production Center. This collective pioneered a process of sharing resources -- voices, sounds, styles and time -- which would evolve into iHeartMedia's "Production Center," now the companywide standard for handling production.
In January, 2021, Kelly took his dream job as West Coast Commercial Production Director for Benztown and YamanAir, which brought him home to Southern California just weeks ago, when he moved to L.A. with his fiancee, Melissa. Throughout his life, Kelly was incredibly proud of his Irish heritage, hosting multiple Irish events and festivals as emcee and rarely missing one if it was nearby. A passionate Manchester United soccer fan, Kelly was also excited about getting back to surfing upon his move back home. Above all, he was a proud father of three grown children, Jordan, Christina and Darian.
Benztown President Dave "Chachi" Denes said, "We are deeply saddened we were not able to spend more time with Jeff and we will miss him very much. Jeff was incredibly energized and excited about working for Benztown and his recent move to L.A. from Albuquerque, and his positive attitude and tremendous talents were inspiring. His production, writing and VO skills were among the very best in the business and I am incredibly grateful for his contributions to our company, the Commercial Production Department and YamanAir. The entire Benztown team sends our deepest condolences to Jeff's fiancee, Melissa, his children, Jordan, Christina and Darian, and his parents, Joe and Linda."
