DR. TED BAEHR is Founder and Publisher of Movieguide® (aka www.movieguide.org) and Chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission®, as well as a noted critic, educator, lecturer, and media pundit. His life’s purpose is to be used of God to redeem the values of the media while educating audiences on how to use discernment in selecting their entertainment.  Ted was president of the organization that produced The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe for CBS-TV in 1980, boasting 37 million viewers and winning an Emmy Award.  Baehr also has produced hundreds of programs for PBS television. Ted is the Publisher of Movieguide®:  The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment. www.movieguide.org offers in-depth analyses of current movies from a biblical perspective.  Not only are issues of violence, sex and profanity directly addressed, Movieguide® digs deeply into the moral statements and worldviews of the movies, videos and television programs it reviews.  Ted also writes a syndicated column for publications nationwide.

Ted will be discussing How To Succeed in Hollywood (Without Losing Your Soul) in his workshop

BRIAN GODAWA is the screenwriter for the award-winning feature film, To End All Wars, starring Kiefer Sutherland. He is currently slated to direct his horror script, Descent of the Gods for Golden Leaf Pictures. He previously adapted to film the best-selling supernatural thriller novel The Visitation by author Frank Peretti for Ralph Winter (X-Men, Wolverine), and wrote and directed Wall of Separation, a PBS documentary, and Lines That Divide, a documentary on stem cell research. Mr. Godawa’s scripts have won multiple awards in respected screenplay competitions, and his articles on movies and philosophy have been published around the world. His book, Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment has been released in a revised edition from InterVarsity Press. His new book Word Pictures: Knowing God Through Story and Imagination (IVP) addresses the power of image and story in the pages of the Bible to transform the Christian life. Mr. Godawa is a member of the Studio Task Force at Biola University; a contributing writer for CRI Journal; and Senior Fellow of Film for the Center for Cultural Leadership, CA. His websites are www.godawa.com and www.hollywoodworldviews.com. See the trailer for his new novel Noah Primeval, about fallen angels, giants, and monsters before the Flood now available at www.NoahPrimeval.com.

Brian will be speaking on Subversive Storytelling for Christian Filmmakers and Horror as a Biblical genre for Movies

DR. CARL A. MOELLER is president of Open Doors, USA and is a dedicated advocate for the millions of Christians around the globe who are denied religious freedom and basic human rights. He travels to the world’s most oppressive regimes, meeting with and encouraging Christians who live in the shadows of discrimination, imprisonment and even death for their faith. Moeller is a passionate spokesperson focused on raising awareness of the plight of those who are persecuted for their religious beliefs. His mission is to mobilize Christians to pray, encourage and advocate on behalf of suffering believers.

As a leading authority on religious freedom and advocacy, Moeller is an articulate communicator.  He has appeared on media such as NBC Los Angeles, ABC’s Good Morning America, Hannity & Colmes, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), and CNN Radio. He is also a columnist for Crosswalk.com and is the host of UNDERCOVER with Persecuted Christians which San Diego Christian Film Festival is pleased to be able to present as part of our programming.

SDCFF will host a Roundtable discussion with Dr. Moeller and Rev. El Shafie exploring the topic of Christian persecution around the world.

REV. MAJED EL SHAFIE Born in Cairo, Egypt into a prominent Moslem family of lawyers and following in the footsteps of his father and uncles, Rev. El Shafie chose to become a lawyer.  Through the witness of his best friend Tamir, he made the decision to give his life and service to the Lord. Rev. El Shafie was arrested, severely tortured and sentenced to death in Egypt because of his faith.  He eventually escaped to Israel.  Legally he could not stay there, but, if sent back to Egypt he would be executed. Through the intervention of Amnesty International and the United Nations he relocated to Toronto where started his own organization One Free World International. One Free World International is an international human rights organization that focuses on securing the rights of religious minorities around the world and advocates on behalf of religious minorities and individuals in various countries for those who are persecuted because of their beliefs or for expressing opinions considered contrary to the prevailing belief-system.

Rev. El Shafie's passion is to help the persecuted Christians around the world and to be their voice when their voices are not heard. In the documentary the "Freedom Fighter" you will follow the efforts of Rev. El Shafie and his organization over a four year period as he travels to Pakistan and Afghanistan to investigate claims of abuse, persecution and slavery.  You will also witness the horrific story of what happened to a little girl and her family in Pakistan and Rev. El Shafie's fight to save their lives.

SDCFF will host a Roundtable discussion with Dr. Moeller and Rev. El Shafie exploring the topic of Christian persecution around the world.

DR. GARY DAVID STRATTON is lead teacher for worldview formation and film at Bethel University, as well as Senior Editor for "Two Handed Warriors" a Hollywood-based online community for artists, intellectuals, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs seeking to reimagine faith and culture one story at a time. Gary has served in Hollywood as a story consultant, as well as executive director of Act One, a nonprofit organization training Christians for careers in mainstream media. Act One alumni include the Emmy Award-winning producer of Intervention (A&E), creative staff for films such as The Blind Side (2009), The Book of Eli (2010), and Dolphin Tale (2011), as well as writers for TV shows such as The Unit (CBS), Justified (FX), Leverage (TNT), and Hawaii Five-0 (CBS).

Gary will be speaking on the topic:

If You Live It, They Will Come (to the Theater, that is):
What Hollywood Taught Me About Walking with God (and visa versa)

JOHN SULLIVAN is an entertainment executive with over 17 years of experience across a variety of consumer entertainment platforms.  He started his career in the concert business as a promoter, and during his tenure provided marketing and logistic management for more than 200 concerts and festivals.  John also spent 4 years in the marketing department of Great America, one of the nation’s leading family theme parks.  He later transitioned into film and video production serving as a producer, editor, and writer on over 200 hundred commercials and videos for major corporate and non-profit clients. His feature film debut  was the documentary Expelled featuring Ben Stein, which opened on 1,000 screens nationwide, and is the 17th largest theatrical box office for a documentary and spent 2 years in Amazon’s Top Twenty documentaries.  He is currently producing several feature films along with serving as the managing director of Kaleo Films a production and distribution company focused on faith based films under $1mm.  In addition he serves as a strategic advisor to Shelter Pictures and another film production company which will be releasing a slate of major theatrical films starting in 2012.  He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Kristin of 15 years and their twin daughters.

John will speak on "Distribution and Marketing and Writing a Business Plan for Filmmakers" and be a panelist on the SDCFF Film Finance Roundtable.

JOHN WARD began his show business career at age 12 when his little sister, Jennifer, became Drew Barrymore’s photo double for the film, Firestarter.  Within a few weeks of shooting, Drew moved in with the Ward family, and John was thrust into Hollywood.  Catching the acting bug, John appeared in 27 feature films and television episodes including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sleeping with the Enemy, and Matlock to name a few.  In 2009, John wrote, directed, and starred in his first faith-based feature film, entitled I AM.  The movie portrays the Ten Commandments, unknowingly lived out by ten different characters as their lives intersect on the streets of Los Angeles.  Released by 20^th Century Fox in October 2010, I AM made history by premiering on 10/10/10 to over 2500 churches on 6 different continents to an audience estimated at 1.5 million people. John currently serves as president of Bay Ridge Films, where he creates feature films and television as well as consults on fiction and other multimedia communications.

John will be speaking on  "Crossing over without selling out:  The future of Christian film".

JOHN DAVID WARE is the founder and president of the 168 Film Project (168).  168 has helped propel the lives and careers of thousands of media professionals all over the world by teaching them to focus on excellence of craft and on God's Word.  John has written feature-length screenplays and is the writer/director of a short film spoof of Hollywood stereotypes entitled "The Chronicles of Hernia: the Lion, the Ditch and the Studio."   Originally from Columbus Ohio, John went to film school at Miami University and graduated with honors.   In 1998, he co-founded SLATE Entertainment Fellowship at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, which he led for 5 years.

John will be speaking on the relevance of Project 168 to emerging filmmakers and share a number of the best of the short films from recent competitions.

DERRICK WARFEL has indeed had a checker-boarded background that has led him to his current role as director on Montreal World Film Festival official selection "Midnight Reckoning": a graduate of Princeton University, a construction worker, a teacher in the L.A. School District, a Masters in Theology recipient, a college campus ministry director, a real estate agent, and an M.F.A. graduate from the U.S.C. Film School. Since moving to California, Derrick has written screenplays and teleplays and been a member of the Warner's Writers Workshop. He's sold and optioned screenplays and written and directed short films over the years and the new feature "Midnight Reckoning". He's also has worked as a script analyst and script doctor. Derrick was co-producer with Ben Hur Sepehr of the award winning film The Desperate which SDCFF screened during our 2010 season. This year Derrick is working as Co-Producer on a project with Ken Wales (Producer "Amazing Grace") about the true life thriller of Ashley Smith who in 2005 was held hostage in Atlanta by a quadruple killer, but managed to get free by sharing her testimony and excerpts from the devotional, "The Purpose Driven Life". 

Derrick will be speaking on "How to recognize the ways filmmakers hide messages in the films" and will illustrate this with specific examples from recent films.

Tom Zaczyk’s extensive experience in post production follows a 35 year career in Motion Picture Film Restoration and Preservation, High Definition Video Mastering and the current File Based Data Workflow. Serving as Executive Director of Sony Pictures Asset Management during his 10 years in the department, Tom successfully managed and directed a Team to preserve and digitize the comprehensive film and television library for Sony/Columbia/Tri-Star. In addition, he created proper processes and procedures for handling, protecting and repurposing film, video and digital elements owned by the studio. Title knowledge and catalogue management was the hallmark of the Asset Management Department, understanding all aspects of a major film library.

Tom is the Co-Founder of Shelter Entertainment Studios, Inc. a faith based motion picture studio located in Valencia California.  Additionally he serves as President and Chief Operating Officer for the company.

Tom will be speaking on "Preserving Your Digital Images"