Christopher Trela
Assistant Professor, Artistic Faculty
Film and Media Arts, Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts
Email: trela@chapman.edu
Biography
Christopher Trela teaches Entertainment Public Relations, Entertainment Marketing,
Media Relations, PR Case Studies, Student PR Agency (including the national Bateman
competition), and the capstone course PR Campaigns. He is also the faculty advisor
to the Chapman University PRAA (Public Relations and Advertising Assoc.), and a member
of the Dodge College Curriculum Committee.
Trela is the lifestyle editor for the Newport Beach Independent, and executive dining columnist for the Orange County Business Journal. An award-winning writer and photographer, he is the author of the photo/essay book Newport Beach Centennial: Celebrating a Century. During Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration, he was under contract as a writer for the park’s special events department.
Over the past 35+ years, Trela has had more than 3,000 articles and columns published in various newspapers and magazines. He has contributed arts, food and wine, health, business and travel articles to Westways, OC Metro, OC Menus, Coast Magazine, The Orange County Register, Newport Beach Independent, Newport Beach Magazine, and many others.
He is the owner and president of ArtsPR, a boutique PR consulting firm whose clients have included Pacific Symphony, Laguna Playhouse, Irvine Barclay Theatre and Long Beach Symphony, among other arts organizations.
He is also the past president of the Orange County Press Club and a former arts commissioner for the City of Newport Beach. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Newport Beach Film Festival, OC chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, Arts & Learning Conservatory and New Voices Playwrights and is on the advisory board for Culture OC.
An acclaimed playwright and director, Trela is the co-founder of New Voices Playwrights Workshop. He has written more than 20 short- and full-length plays that have been performed at various theaters in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area and New York. The Daily Pilot named Christopher the 1998 Man of the Year in Theater for his work with New Voices.
A member of the Public Relations Society of America, Trela has received two PROTOS Awards and three Awards of Excellence from the Orange County chapter of PRSA, as well as a special PROTOS award in 2021 for Distinguished Service. He has also received multiple Hermes Awards, MUSE Awards and MARCOM awards for public relations campaigns and published articles.
Trela has received numerous awards for writing and photography at the OC Press Club's annual Journalism Awards and was named to the Orange County Business Journal’s OC 500 List in 2023. In 2026, Trela was awarded the Sky Dunlap Award from the OC Press Club for Lifetime Achievement and Community Service.
Trela is the lifestyle editor for the Newport Beach Independent, and executive dining columnist for the Orange County Business Journal. An award-winning writer and photographer, he is the author of the photo/essay book Newport Beach Centennial: Celebrating a Century. During Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration, he was under contract as a writer for the park’s special events department.
Over the past 35+ years, Trela has had more than 3,000 articles and columns published in various newspapers and magazines. He has contributed arts, food and wine, health, business and travel articles to Westways, OC Metro, OC Menus, Coast Magazine, The Orange County Register, Newport Beach Independent, Newport Beach Magazine, and many others.
He is the owner and president of ArtsPR, a boutique PR consulting firm whose clients have included Pacific Symphony, Laguna Playhouse, Irvine Barclay Theatre and Long Beach Symphony, among other arts organizations.
He is also the past president of the Orange County Press Club and a former arts commissioner for the City of Newport Beach. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Newport Beach Film Festival, OC chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, Arts & Learning Conservatory and New Voices Playwrights and is on the advisory board for Culture OC.
An acclaimed playwright and director, Trela is the co-founder of New Voices Playwrights Workshop. He has written more than 20 short- and full-length plays that have been performed at various theaters in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area and New York. The Daily Pilot named Christopher the 1998 Man of the Year in Theater for his work with New Voices.
A member of the Public Relations Society of America, Trela has received two PROTOS Awards and three Awards of Excellence from the Orange County chapter of PRSA, as well as a special PROTOS award in 2021 for Distinguished Service. He has also received multiple Hermes Awards, MUSE Awards and MARCOM awards for public relations campaigns and published articles.
Trela has received numerous awards for writing and photography at the OC Press Club's annual Journalism Awards and was named to the Orange County Business Journal’s OC 500 List in 2023. In 2026, Trela was awarded the Sky Dunlap Award from the OC Press Club for Lifetime Achievement and Community Service.
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Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications