EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
 

Scott Young - Festival 2003 Chair Rev. Scott Young is the 2003 Chair and Co-Founder of the City of Angels Film Festival.  He served on the ecumenical jury at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival and was co-director of Reel Spirituality, 1999.  He is the director of Faculty Relations for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in the Southern California region.  Scott is the director of “The Soul of Los Angeles” photographic exhibit.  He is adjunct faculty at Fuller Theological Seminary, Art Center: College of Design, and Biola University.

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Craig Detweiler - Producer Craig Detweiler is the new associate professor and chair of Mass Communications at Biola University.   His feature screenwriting credits include The Duke and Extreme Days.   Baker Academic just published Craig's first book (co-written with Barry Taylor) A Matrix of Meanings:  Finding God in Pop Culture. Craig is producing the City of the Angels Film Festival for the third consecutive year.

David Tlapek David Tlapek was a practicing attorney in Dallas, Texas before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film. He received his Masters Degree in Film Production from USC in 1995.  As his thesis project, he directed and wrote "The Search for Martin Frye," which has garnered numerous festival honors, including an award from the City of the Angels Film Festival.  Mr. Tlapek recently completed a documentary on the Nuba people of Sudan entitled "THE HIDDEN GIFT: War and Faith in Sudan."  David is also the Chairman of Open Call, which is one of CAFF's sponsoring organizations.

Barbara R. Nicolosi Barbara R. Nicolosi is the Director of Act One: Writing for Hollywood, an educational program sponsored by Inter-Mission to train screenwriters from the Christian community for mainstream entertainment industry careers.  Miss Nicolosi is a screenwriter, monthly media columnist, and frequent speaker at writer's conferences.

Robert K. Johnston, Ph.D. Robert is Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. Dr. Johnston teaches courses both in Theology and Film and in Constructive Evangelical Theology.  His books include Evangelicals at an Impasse: The use of the Bible in Theology-Evangelical Options, and his most recent, Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue.  He and his wife Catherine Barsotti are regular movie reviewers for The Covenant Companion.

Rebecca VerStraten-McSparran Rev. Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran is the pastor of Tribe, a new church located in the Miracle Mile District of Los Angeles.  She has for many years been involved in urban ministry, living and working in urban communities with families and gang members, currently spearheading the development of the inner city Commonwealth Neighborhood Council.  Rebecca also is very involved with ministry in the visual arts and film arts, having created a gallery, leading and facilitating art and film groups and retreats. She is on the board of Reel Spirituality.

Jerry L. Jackson An award-winning feature writer/producer/director (CINE Golden Eagle, New York, Chicago, and Houston International Film Festivals, CINDY Awards, Excellence in Media Angel Award, C.V.M. Crown Awards), web designer, new media journalist, film festival director, conference speaker, teacher and dad.  Jerry is an active  member of the Writer's Guild of America where he serves on the Committee Advisory Panel, the Writers Education Committee, chairs the New Members Committee, and has served on the New Media Committee and two Board Nominating Committees.  He has developed curriculum for UCLA Extension as a member of their Curriculum Advisory Board.  As V.P. of the International Interactive Communications Society, he co-produced and hosted the first Interactive Summit Awards and served as a judge in the first National Information Infrastructure Awards.  He has also served as a finals judge for Excellence in Media's Angel Awards.

Annette Lopez Annette Lopez is the Resident and Student Life Director of the Los Angeles Film Studies Center.  She also teaches very part time at the Mid-Wilshire Christian Shools as a computer instructor for all grades.  If working with students is not enough, she is also a student at Fuller Seminary, pursuing a Masters degree in worship and the arts.  Any free time she has is spent with her church Tribe or at a coffee shop.

Rev. Wilfred J. Raymond, CSC National Director of Family Theater Productions, a Catholic production company in Hollywood. During his first year, Family Theater produced four half hour dramas aimed at teens and families, linking social issues; also a third series of Spanish-speaking dramatic radio programs, “Historias para Mejorar El Mundo” (Stories for a Better World) developed a contemporary billboard campaign on prayer and featured a student film festival honoring college-level filmmakers. Before coming to Family Theater, Father Raymond was provincial and served as Chairman of the Corporate Members and President of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committees of both Stonehill College in Easton, MA and King’s College in Wilkes Barre, PA.

Brian Oppenheimer Writer.  Brian's work has appeared on stage and screen and in local and national newspapers and magazines.  He has also served as a judge for the Humanitas Prize, the Angelus Awards and the Malibu Film Festival.  For the past four years, Brian has been the Event Coordinator for the Catholics in Media Associates Awards.

Garrett Lambert Garrett Lambert is a screenwriter/filmmaker and a former youth pastor.  He is the founder of Centurion Media Project, an LA-based production company specializing in both video and print.  In March 2001, he began Dialog, a group designed to stimulate thought and growth through the opening of a conversation between Art and Theology.

George Adams

Marliese Becker
 
 

Mary Cass Mary V. Cass, is from Boston and graduated in Social Work from Simmons College (Boston).  Mary did graduate work in Florence Italy in philosophy and the social sciences.  After a career of 16 years in Social Services, Mary now serves the international Focolare Movement as Co-Director of the West Coast Region - after directing Focolare Centers in Boston and New York.

Monica Ganas Monica Ganas, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Communication Studies at Azusa Pacific University and a 20-year-veteran of the entertainment industry, performing as actor, writer, and occasional producer/director, principally in satirical comedy.  She holds a doctorate in Communication from the University of Kentuck, and a masters degree in English from San Francisco State University.  Her areas of scholarship, publication and teaching are popular culture,  media, theatre, community development and communication for social change.  Having developed the Media Studies emphasis in Communication Studies, she recently co-authored APU's new Cinema and Broadcast Arts major.  The wife of a pastor, she is co-director of the Azusa Renaissance Center, a grassroots movement to restore arts in Azusa through workshops and performance venues.  She also directs plays for APU Theatre, and is now co-authoring a Theatre major at APU.  She serves on the organizational boards of the City of Angels Film Festival and Reel Spirituality and is a frequent presenter at the National Communication Association and Popular Culture Association conferences.

Aaron Gautschi

Michael Gose
 
 

Norris Harrington Norris Archer Harrington is a screenwriter and educator.  He graduated from the Act One: Writing for Hollywood with the LA class of 2001.  A former Navy diver, Norris teaches commercial deep sea diving at the College of Oceaneering and is currently working on "Red Diver," a screenplay set in the world of Navy diving.

Mike Hernandez

Fred Messick
 

Monika Moreno Director of the Angelus Awards Student Film Festival, honoring student filmmakers whose work reflects the complexity of the human condition and triumph of the human spirit. A screenwriter, she is now completing the UCLA Writers Program, and has won or placed in several competitions, including UCLA Diane Thomas Dreamworks, HBO Montage, & Telluride. Her radio play credits include “The Midget and the Music” and “Ship of Hearts.”  Story Editor, Family Theater Productions & Associate Producer and story analyst for the Nicholls Foundation, project of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences.

Larry Wilson
Larry Wilson has been a journalist, writer, and editor for 18 years, since graduating from Multnomah Bible College with graduate certificates in Bible and in Religious Journalism.  For 12 years he edited such award-winning magazines as Moody Monthly and World Vision.  In 1999 he co-wrote Praying for the World’s 365 Most Influential People, which was nominated for a Gold Medallion award.  He is currently the managing editor of the American Bible Society’s ForMinistry.com, publishing articles and reviews equipping churches, families, and individuals to make a difference in their communities and in the world.