EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Scott Young - Festival 2004 Chair Rev. Scott Young is the 2004 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.

David Tlapek David Tlapek was a practicing attorney in Dallas, Texas before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film. He earned a Master of Arts in Film Production from the University of Southern California, a Law Degree from Georgetown University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from The University of Missouri-Columbia (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). He also studied abroad at Oxford University.   David's latest project, "Divining the Human: The Cathedral Tapestries of John Nava," is a soon to premiere documentary about California artist John Nava and the tapestries he created for the new Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels, in downtown Los Angeles.   "The Hidden Gift: War and Faith in Sudan" was David's previous feature film. This highly acclaimed documentary has been influential in the movement toward a peace settlement in Sudan's long civil war. "The Hidden Gift" has been broadcast in the U.S., Canada, Rome, London and throughout Africa and the Pacific Rim. It continues to be a major fund-raising tool for ongoing Catholic ministry in Sudan.  As his Master's Thesis project at USC, David directed, co-wrote and produced the short film, "The Search for Martin Frye," which claimed numerous awards and festival honors.  David lives and works in Los Angeles, developing film and television projects, has taught at Loyola Marymount University and is on the Board of Directors of Catholics in Media Associates.

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, a faculty member of Act One: Hollywood and a speaker at the Focolare Conference in Italy in Novmeber.

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, conference speaker, teacher and dad.  Jerry is an active member of the Writer's Guild of America where he serves on the Writers Education Committee, chairs the New Members Committee, and has served on the Committee Advisory Panel, the New Media Committee and two Board Nominating Committees.  He has developed curriculum for UCLA Extension as a member of their Curriculum Advisory Board.  Jerry  was the Executive Director of the groundbreaking Refocus International Film Festival in the mid '70's and VisionFest in the mid 80's.  In the 90's, 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 and, most recently, The Gabriel Awards.  This is his sixth year with CAFF.

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.   Fr. Raymond focuses heavily on the work of Joseph Pearce who is the author of several books, including biographies of Tolkien, Chesterton, Solzhenitsyn and Oscar Wilde. Pearce currently holds the position of Writer in Residence at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

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, the Gabriel Awards and the Malibu Film Festival.  Since 1998, 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.

Darryl L. Tippens Dr. Tippens is the Provost of Pepperdine University, where he is also Professor of English.  He has served at Pepperdine University for almost four years.  Prior to his service at Pepperdine he taught English literature at Abilene Christian University and at Oklahoma Christian University.  He serves on the editorial boards two periodicals: New Wineskins and Explorations in Renaissance Culture.  Darryl is a scholar who enjoys researching and teaching literature from the English Renaissance, but he also has a strong interest in contemporary culture and frequently writes film reviews.  With Stephen Weathers and Jeanne Murray Walker, he is completing the second edition of an anthology of literature called Shadow and Light: Literature and the Life of Faith which will appear in early 2005.