FACULTY B - C
Brian Bird is currently writing and/or producing four films: The Shunning, When Calls the Heart, Jake’s Run and Deep in the Heart all as co-founder with Michael Landon, Jr. of Believe Pictures. Most recently, Bird and Landon wrote and produced two novel inspired films for Fox. Bird wrote and co-produced the Tri-Star film Not Easily Broken. His script Call Me Claus became the highest rated cable film of 2002. Brian’s other film credits include Bopha!, Captive Heart: The James Mink Story, In Silence, Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation, Before Time Runs Out, The Deaths of Sybil Bolton, and A Dirty Business. Previously, Bird served as Co-Executive Producer and senior writer for four seasons on the series Touched By An Angel and his TV writing/producing credits include more than 250 episodes of Touched By an Angel, Evening Shade, Step by Step and The Family Man.
Terry Botwick is partnered with Ralph Winter in 1019 Entertainment. Terry was previously the President of Vanguard Films & Animation, during the production and marketing of production of Space Chimps, released by Fox in the summer of 2008. Previously Terry founded Thunderpoint Partners, a co-finance and production company. He has also served as President and COO of Big Idea Productions (Veggie Tales). Terry’s credits include Jonah-a-Veggie Tales Movie, Kids Say the Darndest Things, The Grammy Awards, The Tony Awards, The People’s Choice Awards and more. Over his career, Terry has been responsible for over $500 million of co-financing dollars and 400 plus hours of content.
Todd Burns is the co-founder and COO of Mpower Pictures, his venture with Act One instructors Stephen McEveety and John Shepherd. He began his career as a grip and editor on local San Diego productions, and worked for the Shepherd Group, WorldWide Pictures, and Dean River Productions on numerous feature films after relocating to Los Angeles. An attorney with a
BA in Economics and English from UCLA and a JD-MBA from Pepperdine University, Todd has also worked in the areas of legal affairs, financing, and creative development in the US and London, and assisted with internet startups DEN.net and Pop.com.
Bobette Buster is a world-renowned lecturer on “What’s the Big Idea? The Art and Craft of Feature Film Development” and “The International Principles of Cross-over Success.” Bobette’s career as a Hollywood Creative Executive includes working for director,Tony Scott, screenwriter, Larry Gelbart and producer, Ray Stark, while also serving as an Adj. Professor at USC since 1992, where she created the first ever MFA curriculum for feature film development. For the past eight years, Pixar Studios has asked her to create a lecture series for their animators. Bobette also consults major production companies worldwide, including Disney Animation, Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, Cattleya Productions (Universal), and Twentieth Century Fox who commissioned her to create a major lecture on the History of Hollywood Economics, “Fox Thru Film.” As well, Bobette has served on the Visiting Faculty of La Fémis in Paris, the University of Milan, and the Media Business School in Ronda, Spain, along with guest lecturing at the Sundance Lab for Latin American Writers, and film programs in Ireland, Mexico, Cuba, Berlin, Prague, Denmark, Norway and Japan. Bobette has various screen credits and is also completing the book and DVD to her international course. In the past twelve years, Bobette’s students’s works have been in the Top 10 Box Office worldwide, and have won or been nominated for Oscars, Emmys, Cesars, Cannes Jury Prizes, etc. Some examples of projects created or headed up by Ms. Buster’s former students include: The Proposal, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Harry Potter franchise, Chocolat, Dodgeball, What Women Want, Big Fish, Grey’s Anatomy, and House.
Charlie Robert Carner is a prolific writer/director who has made his mark on entertainment in both films and television. He wrote and directed the Lionsgate comedy Witless Protection; other feature credits include Let’s Get Harry and Blind Fury. For television, he wrote and directed A Killer Among Friends (CBS), Who Killed Atlanta’s Children? (Showtime), Vanishing Point (Fox), and Red Water (TBS), among others. He also wrote, produced, and directed The Fixer (Showtime); directed Judas (ABC); and wrote Crossfire Trail, one of the highest-rated cable movies in television history. His new microseries for Turner is Back Country. Charlie’s proudest accomplishment is his marriage to Debra Sharkey, and their joint productions — Michael, Grace Noelle, and Vincent Joseph “Don Vincenzo.”
Phil Cooke advises many of the largest and most effective Christian organizations in the world, and his ideas are changing the way people of faith use media to communicate with the culture. Christianity Today magazine called him a “media guru” and you’ve seen him on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and numerous national magazines. His blog at philcooke.com is a highly respected resource on media, faith, and culture. Phil is also a founding partner in TWC Films, an award-winning TV commercial company in Los Angeles that produced two spots for Super Bowl 2008.
Jim and Karen Covell are veteran Hollywood professionals with a passion for challenging the church to see Hollywood as the world’s most influential mission field. Together, they have authored two books, How to Talk About Jesus Without Freaking Out and The Day I Met God, and contributed to several others,
including the Act One book, Behind The Screen. They travel the country on behalf of the Hollywood Prayer Network, which Karen founded and directs; and in Los Angeles, you’ll find them practicing what they preach. Karen is a producer whose credits include Headliners & Legends with Matt Lauer for MSNBC. Jim is a composer whose musical scores, currently featured on the new Veria Network, range from nationally performed orchestral works to feature films (Dennis The Menace Christmas), television series and specials. The Covells have two sons who hope to be part of the next generation of Hollywood tent-makers.