FACULTY
Over 150 esteemed faculty and mentors have taught for Act One as part of the Writing for Film & Television Program or the Producing & Entertainment Executive Program.
If you are a faculty member and wish to update your information, please send your 100 word bio to Genevieve Parker at Genevieve@actoneprogram.com
Here is a list of current faculty:
Sheryl J. Anderson has worked as a television studio executive, screenwriter (optioned, never filmed) and a half-hour series writer (Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, Dave’s World), among other adventures in Hollywood. She is currently an hour-long series writer/producer (Charmed, Flash Gordon) and a novelist, having written a series of comic murder mystery novels with her husband Mark Parrott (Killer Heels, Killer Cocktail, Killer Deal, Killer Riff). Sheryl and her family are members of Westchester Lutheran Church, where she and Mark write a variety of worship material, including an annual Lenten drama series.
Dean Batali worked as a writer on That 70s Show for seven years, serving as an executive producer for the show’s final season. He wrote for the initial two seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and has written for Duckman, Hope and Gloria, The Half-Hour News Hour and The Adventures of Pete and Pete. He has written pilots for Touchstone TV, the ABC Family Channel, and the Cartoon Network, and has developed projects for Teen Nick and Walt Disney Television Animation. Before coming to Los Angeles, he worked as an actor and playwright for Taproot Theatre Company in Seattle, Washington, and has written and produced numerous musical theater productions. He is a graduate of the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, and lives in La Crescenta with his wife, Beth, and two daughters, Erin and Katharine.
James Scott Bell is the best-selling author of several novels of suspense, including Deceived (Zondervan) and Try Darkness (Hachette/Center Street), and was the winner of the first ChristyAward for Excellence in Christian Fiction (Suspense category). He is also the author of Plot & Structure, Writers Digest Book’s bestselling title for the past five years. He recently completed a screenplay adaptation of Randy Alcorn’s bestseller, Deadline, for Chuck Norris’s film company. He has taught screenwriting and novel writing in many conferences, colleges and universities, including Pepperdine. A former trial lawyer, he lives and writes in LA.
Will Bigham is a writer/director, currently with a development deal at Paramount Pictures. An MFA grad from Florida State University, Will has been working and living in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters for the past five years. In 2007, Will competed in the DreamWorks Television and Mark Burnett Productions reality competition “On the Lot.” From the initial 12,000 entrants, Will was selected to be one of 50 directors competing for the top prize, and by the end of the summer, Will was the last man standing. He is now developing several projects through his production company, Shamrock Motion Pictures.