Mr. Jeffrey C. Martinez

Class of 1986
Career Pathway: Arts & Communications

At GHS, Jeff Martinez was a member of the National Honor Society and graduated in the top ten. He was a member of Student Council, attended the Hugh O’Brian Leadership Seminar, went to Boys' State and participated in plays, musicals and forensics.

He earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Michigan in 1990. While an undergraduate student, he received a U-M achievement award for four consecutive years.

Mr. Martinez taught English in rural Japan from 1992 to 1995 and then taught English in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He presently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where he works for Turner Broadcasting as a supervising producer with Turner Studios Original Productions. His current project is a new makeover show called Bushwhacked that will premiere this summer. Mr. Martinez said he is roaming the South looking for "bad yards that happen to good people." Then makeovers will be done on those yards.

Mr. Martinez is an Emmy-award winning writer/producer: He won a 2003 Southeast Regional Emmy for the best entertainment show, Liars and Legends, and a 2003 Midsouth Regional Emmy for the best documentary, The Disappearing South. He was nominated for the 2004 Midsouth Regional Emmy for best magazine show entitled Southern Living Presents. And there are, to quote him, “more to come.”

Mr. Martinez tutors children at My Sister’s House, a shelter for battered women, and volunteers for the Trumpet Awards, which honor African American achievement in fields as diverse as law, politics, public service and entertainment. He says he enjoys talking on the phone with fellow honoree Kim McDonough during commercial breaks of the show Medium on Monday evenings.