Cindy Vandor
Cindy Vandor (Cindy Druss) was born on May 11, 1955. After graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism, she went on to Washington, D.C. where she handled production duties for The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and NBC News Updates. She also reported for NBC’s all-news radio station. There, she attracted the notice of the Independent Television News Association which hired her to cover Capitol Hill, and later, The White House.
Journalism career
When Ted Turner launched a 24-hour cable news television channel, Cindy was chosen for the management team that created CNN. She opened CNN’s Chicago bureau, serving as Bureau Chief and Midwest Correspondent. Hired by The Tribune Company in New York City to anchor and report for a nationally syndicated nightly newscast, as well as WPIX-TV’s local newscast, Cindy was honored with two Emmy nominations for Best Spot News Reporting and Best Public Affairs series. When Tribune teamed up with Dow Jones to launch an innovative business news program, Cindy was tapped to Produce, Anchor and be Senior Correspondent of The Wall Street Journal Report.
Moving to Los Angeles, Cindy’s work for Fox News At Ten was honored with an Emmy nomination for Best News Reporting. Hired by Disney to report and anchor for KCAL-TV, Cindy earned two Golden Mike Awards for Best Coverage of the L.A. Riots and Best Live Coverage of a News Story: L.A. Floods. She was also nominated for another Emmy for Best News Reporting.
KNBC-TV hired Vandor to help create and launch The Local Story, L.A.’s first daily, live newscast produced exclusively for the Internet. October 20, 2006, she scored another first in electronic journalism by reporting the verdict live from inside the courtroom in the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market trial where no cameras were allowed. Cindy’s ground-breaking reporting was aired live on MSNBC, CNBC, and on websites around the world.
Other projects
Vandor was Program Executive for the syndicated series Strange Universe. She was a Producer of the National Enquirer Television Show, responsible for script supervision and story content. Cindy launched, produced, and wrote iFilm@IFC, a weekly magazine series for The Independent Film Channel produced by iFilm.com. Recently, she wrote for the first season of The Animal Planet’s hit series Untamed and Uncut.
For commercial clients, Cindy produces events, videos, and promotions that go viral and get buzz. She got GEICO international coverage by arranging and producing the appearance of the Caveman character at The 2007 Academy Awards and at Oscar parties. She has produced and written web videos for McDonald's. For Mexico’s avocado growers, Cindy produced the making of the world’s largest guacamole, smashing a Guinness Book record and attracting worldwide media attention.
Personal life
Cindy is married to television producer turned teacher Ronald Vandor. She has three children, and lives in Malibu, where she is a passionate environmental activist and community advocate. She has also taught journalism at Pepperdine University in Malibu, and she continues to write and produce on a freelance basis.