SoCal Connected is KCET's award-winning signature news series. This half-hour local news magazine offers viewers substantive, in-depth reporting on vital issues that impact Southern Californians.

Since its debut in September 2008, SoCal Connected has been honored with prestigious journalism awards, including eleven L.A. Area Emmy Awards, thirteen Golden Mikes, a George Foster Peabody Award, a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for Excellence in Journalism.

The show airs four times a week: Friday at 8:30pm, Saturday at 6:00pm, Sunday at 6:30pm, and Monday at 10:30pm.

Bret Marcus - Executive Producer

Bret Marcus has won 13 Emmys, three duPont Awards, and one Peabody Award. He has produced California Connected, California at War and Global Watch for KCET, where he is also Senior Vice President for Programming and Production. Marcus has also worked at ABC, NBC, MSNBC and CNBC.

Justine Schmidt - Co-Executive Producer

At KCET, Justine Schmidt has produced several award-winning shows, earning her a Peabody, two duPont Awards, and several Emmy, Golden Mike, Headliner and L.A. Press Club awards. Previously Schmidt was a Bureau Chief for Fox News, an executive producer for an investigative team at WBBM, and a Senior Producer for several nationally syndicated news programs. She started her career as a cameraperson/editor for NBC and local news in Houston, Texas.

Val Zavala - Anchor

Val has won 14 L.A. Area Emmys and 8 Golden Mikes. At KCET since 1987, she was an anchor, reporter and executive producer for Life & Times. In 1992 Val was a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. She holds a Masters from American University in Washington, D. C., and a B.A. from Yale. Read more...

SoCal Connected has received various awards since it began airing in 2008 including numerous Peabody, Emmy and Golden Mike awards. Click here to see a complete list.

Questions, comments, story ideas? Send us an E-mail at socalconnected@kcet.org.