FACULTY J - L
Donovan Jacobs is a creative executive, story analyst and script consultant who has helped create numerous theatrical films and movies for television, including High School Musical 2 for Disney Channel and the Humanitas Award-winning Ruby Bridges for The Wonderful World of Disney. Donovan recently served as Story Editor on the documentary series pilot Crimes of the Century. He is a graduate of the prestigious Warner Bros. Writers’ Workshop. Donovan also currently reviews movies for Episcopal Life Online, has written widely on media, spiritual and social issues for Sojourners and contributed an essay to the Act One book, Behind the Screen.
Howard Kazanjian is a film and television producer and the entertainment executive responsible for producing two of the highest grossing films of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Return of the Jedi. A graduate of the film school at USC, he has worked as an assistant director under creative legends like Francis
Ford Coppola, Alfred Hitchcock, Elia Kazan and Billy Wilder. He also produced the pilot and first season of the television drama, JAG. Howard is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild of America; he also serves as a trustee at Azusa Pacific University.
Robert Kirbyson is currently completing postproduction on his first feature film, Snowmen, which he wrote and directed for Producer Steve McEveety (The Passion, Braveheart). Robert is also writing and directing a webseries for NBC Universal based on his award winning short film, Ctrl Z. A veteran of the Canadian film & television industry, Robert directed the TV movie, The Christmas Orange, and four seasons of the CBC series, It’s A Living. Previously he worked as a field producer for seven seasons of Sesame Street. Robert is also an accomplished Cinematographer and University Instructor.
Chuck Konzelmen and Cary Solomon are a writing team whose feature film credits include the supernatural thriller Tokyo Ghost Story for Fox Studios/Davis Entertainment and Inferno for Joel Silver/Warner Bros., an action adventure based on the successful Solomon-Konzelman comic book series of the same name. They have also written the pilot scripts for Nowhere Man for ABC/Touchstone Pictures, Dead Again for CBS/New Line and Stealing Tomorrow for Cheyenne Pictures/MGM, based on an idea by Stan Lee. Their original independent feature, The Insatiable, starring Sean Patrick Flannery and Michael Biehn, enjoyed a 2006 theatrical run, and was recently released on DVD. Responding to a call from the Lord, they left the secular filmmaking world in 2008 to pursue Christian-themed projects.
Shun Lee Fong is an actor, writer and musician. He is the President & Creative Director of The Greenhouse Arts & Media, Inc., the Director of Hollywood Connect, the CEO & Creative Principal of Genuine Productions, LLC. He graduated summa cum laude from Creighton University with a degree in journalism & mass communications. After obtaining his Juris Doctorate at the University of Iowa, he practiced law for five years. He also taught Mass Media Law for three years at Creighton University. In 2003, he left his law practice in Omaha, Nebraska, and moved to Los Angeles to pursue creative opportunities full-time. He has acted in various film, stage, commercial, and print productions, and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. He has spent a significant amount of time on stage and in the studio as a songwriter and musician. He has written a number of screenplays, articles, essays, and other works and is an often-requested speaker.
Christina Lee-Storm, an international independent producer with a wealth of experience in both Asia and the U.S., is a partner in Accelerated Entertainment. Her producing credits include The Mission, I Love Your Work, American Fusion, and four award-winning short films. Christina solidified her knowledge of distribution and sales as Overseas Manager with a Hong Kong based company, working in the Cannes Film Market, American Film Market and Hong Kong Filmart; she also provided digital production management support for films including Happy Feet, Superman Returns, and Evan Almighty during a stint at Rhythm & Hues. An alumna of the Act One Writing Program, she is currently producing The Least Of These with fellow graduates Nathan Scoggins and Jimmy Duke, and instructor Ralph Winter, as well as two documentaries.
Dan Lin (Executive Producer) is the founder and CEO of Lin Pictures, with exclusive deals with Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. Lin Pictures’ primary focus is event films for a global audience, and has five 2009 releases for producing Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr, This Side of the Truth, and The Box, and for executive producing Terminator Salvation, and Shorts. In September 2008, Lin was honored as one of Variety’s “10 Producers to Watch.” Earlier in 2005, he was profiled on the Hollywood Reporter’s “Next Generation List.” From 1999-2007 Lin served as Warner Bros. Pictures’ Senior VP of Production. Lin received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1999 and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Benjamin Daniel Lobato is a staff writer on The Unit (CBS), as well as an award-winning filmmaker and playwright. His latest film Stealing Home garnered eleven nominations at the 2009 168 Film Festival. His short film Mariposa Canyon was a finalist at the Student Academy Awards. His play Soldier in the Eclipse was a winner of the Fifth Annual National Hispanic Playwriting Festival. He has received the Goldberg Playwriting Fellowship and the ABC/Disney Scholarship Grant Program. He holds an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts as well as degrees in Media Arts and Creative Writing. In other lives, he served on the front lines in the War on Drugs as a member of the Army’s elite Joint Counter-Narco-Terrorism Task Force. He received a Medical Discharge in 2004 and was honored with a community service award from the FBI. He is repped by CAA, and Sheree Guitar Entertainment.
Dick Lyles (Act One Graduate), Ph.D., is CEO of Origin Entertainment, a company that produces transformative movies combining mastery of craft with unparalleled depth. He has thirty years’ experience as a speaker and management consultant with an international clientele including Fortune 500 companies, and numerous government and nonprofit entities. He is past CEO of Relevant Radio and host of their weekly program, LifeWorks. He currently hosts The Catholic Business Hour on EWTN. Dick co-authored Achieve Leadership Genius, and wrote the best seller, Winning Habits: Four Secrets That Will Change The Rest Of Your Life, and five other books translated into more than 40 languages. A graduate of the Act One Writing Program, he currently serves on the Act One Board of Directors.