A festival like ours can't happen without dedicated volunteers who spend countless hours from concept to execution...supported by production staff and an Advisory Board. Professionals all, with a focused passion to deliver an intensive, expanding and inspiring experience for all of you.
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Rev. Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran, 2007 Festival Chair
Rebecca has participated as panelist, emcee, co-producer and head of panels over the last seven years. She is the director of the L.A. Film Studies Center. She is also on the planning committee for Reel Spirituality, a think-tank for filmmakers and theologians sponsored by Fuller Theological Seminary. Rebecca speaks on film, culture and theological issues at Reel Spirituality, Act One (faculty) and at various conferences and colleges/universities. She was on the revision team for the book Reel Spirituality and has written a chapter in the newly released, Reframing Theology and Film: New Focus for an Emerging Discipline (Cultural Exegesis).
Rebecca (MDiv.) is the founding pastor of Tribe of Los Angeles, NACCC, a new church across from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Screen Actors Guild. The church ministers to artists, filmmakers and graduate students. Elected to the Mid City WEST Community Council, she is chair of the Arts and Recreation Committee in the area where LAFSC is located and oversees the monthly Miracle Mile Art Walk with 45 galleries. |
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Monica Jimenez-Grillo, 2007 Festival Producer
Monica has worked primarily as a field producer and assistant director for episodic television (The New Detectives, FBI Files), feature films, and music videos. Monica left her beloved Dominican Republic to study music in Belgium, and later earned her BA in Communications from Trinity International University, where she developed her passion for film. Continuing her training, she earned an MA in Directing and Editing from Regent University. Monica is a graduate of the Act One Executive Program in Hollywood, and the President of Cricket Films. |
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Jerry L. Jackson
Jerry is a dad and an Elder in the Disciples of Christ church. His professional career began in college as the 1st A.D./Second Unit Director on Donald Thompson's seminal Rapture film A Thief In The Night (1972) which has been seen by over 350 million people worldwide, spawned 3 sequels and inspired the Left Behind novels. On graduating, he went mainstream, coming to Hollywood as Sydney Pollack's assistant with primary responsibilities in development. Since then he has become an award-winning feature writer/producer/director, cinematographer/videographer (CINE Golden Eagles, New York, Chicago, and Houston International Film Festivals, CINDY Awards, Excellence in Media Angel Award, C.V.M. Crown Awards), new media designer/consultant/journalist, published photographer, and founder/owner of Water's Edge Communications.
Jerry is an active member of the Writer's Guild of America where he is a founding member of 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 and taught 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, VisionFest in the mid 80's and co-produced/hosted the first Interactive Summit Awards in the 90's. He has also served as a finals judge for Excellence in Media's Angel Awards and The Gabriel Awards. This is his ninth year with CAFF. |
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Brian Oppenheimer
Writer/producer Brian Oppenheimer’s work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, on the stage and TV. He has written episodes for the TV series Mike Hammer with Stacy Keach" and Flatland. He is currently developing the pilot "Harrington House" and the movie Times of Hope for Paulist Productions. Brian is also a reader for the Humanitas Prize and is on the Executive Committee of the City of Angels Film Festival. Brian is a two-term Vice President of Catholics in Media Associates and has produced the CIMA Awards for the past 8 years. |
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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. |
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Dr. Craig Detweiler
Craig is a filmmaker, author, and cultural commentator who's been featured in The New York Times, CNN, and NPR. Films he has written include The Duke (1999) for Disney's Buena Vista and the comedic road trip, ExtremeDays (2001). His one-hour documentary, Williams Syndrome: A Highly Musical Species (1996), premiered at the Boston Film Festival, won a Cine Golden Eagle, the Silver Award at WorldFest Charleston, Best Documentary at the Carolina Film and Video Fest, and the Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival. Craig co-directs the Reel Spirituality Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His first book, A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture, connects the dots between movies, music, TV and the divine. It has been adopted as the standard text in the field of theology and pop culture on college campuses around the world.
Craig grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. He's a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Davidson College and earned an M.F.A. from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema/TV. Craig just completed his Ph.D. in Theology and Culture from Fuller Seminary. His dissertation, Soul Meets Body: Faith in the Internet Movie Database, will be published in 2008. Craig and his wife, Caroline, live in Los Angeles, with their children, Zoe and Theo. |
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Nirvana Adams
is thrilled to be working with the City of Angels Film Festival. Sheʼs been involved with Volunteer Coordinating since 2004 and her first festival visit was way back in 1999, while she was still a measly student at Azusa Pacific University. Since graduating she has made a career of script supervising to pay for her writing habit and hopes to someday make it to “panel status” at the festival. |
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Dr. Paul Begin
Paul is an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Pepperdine University, where he teaches Spanish language, literature, and cinema. He has recently published academic articles on subjects such as the transnational character of contemporary Spanish youth culture and theoretical writings of Luis Buñuel. |
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Thomas Deason
currently serves as the Executive Director of Act One, Inc. and is a member of the Biola University Studio Task Force and the Azusa Pacific University Film Advisory Board, as well as a guest lecturer and panelist at high schools, universities, conferences, and film festivals nationwide. |
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Barbara Gangi
is one of Catholics In Media Associates' founding members and has served two terms as President. Ms. Gangi is Vice President of Development at Paulist Productions, supervising both development and production on theatrical and cable documentaries, made-for-television movies and new media designed for the Internet. |
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Ryan Fritzsche
is an independent producer, editor and graphic designer. Along award-winning directors Justin Monroe and Daniel Sullivan, he co-owns and runs Tandem Arts, an independent production company in Hollywood. |
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Gillian Fritzsche
a recent graduate of the Act One Executive Program, hails from Canada where she managed a professional theatre company, also directing and performing in several shows. Gillian has numerous production credits to her name as an AD/UPM and hopes to move into the enigmatic career path of development. |
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Phil Bloom
worked under mega producer Joel Silver at Silver Pictures on the Warner Bros. lot. He there worked on such films as The Matrix, Made Men, House on Haunted Hill, Dungeons and Dragons and Proximity. He later would create In Full Bloom Productions. There, he has served as director or producer on a number of corporate videos, music videos and commercials. He also served as producer on the feature film The Guardian and director for the short film Cold. |
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Lance Spot
Lance is a filmmaker, graduated from Baylor University with a degree in Film and Digital media. He began his work in Hollywood with an internship at New Line Cinema, and worked on such films as The Number 23 with Jim Carrey. Currently, he is the Associate Director of the Angelus Student Film Festival. |
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Advisory Board
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Ralph Winter
has been involved in the City of the Angels Film Festival since its inception. He started in film as a visual effects wizard and was involved in the Star Trek film franchise beginning with Star Trek II, emerging as an Executive Producer for the series in 1986. He has subsequently Executive Produced a string of major blockbusters, including I, Robot, X2: X-Men United, X-Men, Fantastic 4, and X-Men 3 and 4. |
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Dr. Robert K. Johnston
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. |
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Barbara Nicolosi
is a screenwriter and monthly media columnist. She teaches theology and spirituality to converts from the entertainment industry and frequently lectures on screenwriting and film spirituality at writerʼs forums throughout the United States. |
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Sr. Rose Pacatte
is the founding Director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies. She teaches media/film studies to adolescents, parents, teachers and clergy. Sr. Rose has an M.A. in Education in Media Studies from the University of London, UK. She is a founding member of Cine & Media (USA affiliate of O.C.I.C.), a member of the executive committee of Unda-USA, the national Catholic association for communicators, a member of the Religious Communications Council and the Catholic Press Association. |
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Rev. Wilford J. Raymond, CSC
is the 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. |
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Dr. Darryl Tippens
is the Provost of Pepperdine University, where he is also Professor of English. 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's completed the second edition of an anthology of literature called Shadow and Light: Literature and the Life of Faith. |
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Production Team
Director
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Rebecca Ver-Straten-McSparran |
Producer |
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Monica Jimenez-Grillo |
Assistant Producer |
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Nathan White |
Co-Floor Manager |
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Nirvana Adams |
Co-Floor Manager |
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Gillian Fritzsche |
Volunteer Coordinator |
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Nirvana Adams |
Program Book |
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Gillian Fritzsche |
Intern |
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Matt McCrorey |
Key Art Design |
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Jerry L. Jackson |
Check the SCHEDULE for ticket information.
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