Blaise J. Noto is assistant professor of communications in the Department of Communications in the School of Visual, Performing, and Communication Arts. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn.; and earned his Master of Arts degree in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. He also taught film marketing at the Beijing Film Academy in the People’s Republic of China, and advertising and marketing at the University of North Carolina, School of the Arts.
Noto worked in marketing, publicity, and corporate public relations at Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures where he served as executive vice president of worldwide publicity, and in various PR and marketing capacities at other major and independent studios over his career of 30+ years. He received four awards from the Publicists Guild of America for best PR campaigns: “Titanic,” “Braveheart,” “Forrest Gump,” and “Spider-Man.” He also spearheaded Oscar campaigns for the Best Picture winners “Titanic,” “Braveheart”, and Forrest Gump,” and for “Passion of the Christ,” “Ali,” “Blue Velvet,” “Ghost,“ “Godfather, Part III,” “Amadeus,” and “Apocalypse Now,” among many others.
His membership in professional organizations includes the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, PR Branch (and an official judge of the Student Academy Awards); the Publicists Guild of America; Cinematographer’s Guild; Academy of Television Arts and Sciences; and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In addition, he received an Emmy Award nomination (San Francisco Chapter) as a member of the producing team of the feature documentary film, “When the Mountain Calls: Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan” that aired nationally on PBS; and was associate producer of the feature film “Heart of a Dragon” by Oscar-nominated producer Mark Gordon (“Saving Private Ryan”), and 16-time Grammy-winning music producer/composer David Foster.
Prior to joining Barton College, he was president of Blaise Noto & Associates, an international communication and marketing company based in North Carolina, during which time he worked on projects with non-profit organizations, and on motion picture, television, and music productions. He also co-founded the Angkor Wat International Film Festival in Cambodia.