Doing a bit
of everything

An award-winning documentary producer, Dianne Becker is unique in the world of television, because she can often be found doing a bit of everything: writing, directing, producing, shooting, editing. She credits the University of Missouri School of Journalism for a well-rounded education. Or perhaps it was growing up on a farm in rural America, where everyone did everything.

Working in five television markets — as a news reporter, producer, and news management, producing PM Magazine, documentaries and public service campaigns — Becker has held numerous jobs in a variety of locations and garnered numerous awards, including a regional Emmy, 13 Emmy nominations and a New York Festival Silver.

Leaving the northeast television markets, Becker made it her job to see the world — traveling throughout Europe, and into the eastern and southern hemispheres.

Seven years later, she took a leave of absence from her job at the CBS affiliate in St. Louis, and embarked on a sabbatical year of helping others. From building homes in Guatemala to producing videos in Sri Lanka, the adventure didn't let her return, but re-directed her career to producing documentaries around the world.

Becker serves on the board of the Brackett Foundation, which helps educate Burmese refugees, and The Micah Project, giving opportunities to street kids in Honduras.

Becker has been a private pilot since her college days, flying the family Cherokee Six. She's an open-water certified scuba diver. Although she lives out of a suitcase, home is the family farm where she is sometimes found driving big machinery or checking cattle.