GERALD R. MOLEN – OSCAR AWARD WINNING FILM PRODUCER

Gerald “Jerry” Molen was born in Great Falls, Montana, the son of Edith Lorraine (née Meyer) and Gerald Richard Molen.^[5] He grew up in North Hollywood, California, after moving from Montana, with a number of younger brothers and sisters. His mother ran a diner, “The Blue Onion”, which was located across from one of the major studios. Molen got his start in the movie business by changing tires on studio trucks. Molen received an Oscar as producer of Schindler’s List and has appeared in supporting roles or cameos in several of the films he has produced, including Rain Man, Days of Thunder, and Jurassic Park. The name ‘Molen’ can be seen painted on the front of a large black cauldron in the movie Hook as the camera pans across the pirate docks in Neverland. ]

TED BAEHR, FILMMAKER, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER MOVIEGUIDE

In 1975, at the encouragement of a friend, Baehr read the Bible, which changed the direction of his life and career. He applied to the Institute of Theology at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and received his Doctor of Humanities degree from Belhaven College. He became the Director of the Television Center at the City University of New York.^{[citation needed]} While there researching the impact of media in education, he also launched his first ministry, the Good News Communications, Inc. ministry. In 1979 he was elected President of the Episcopal Radio and Television Foundation and began conceptualizing the Christian Film & Television Commission. He also served on the Communications Board of the National Council of Churches. It was during this time that he met the former director of the Protestant Film Office, George Heimrich and was inspired to resurrect the activities of that group, which, until it was closed in 1966, had participated heavily in “approving” scripts of the major Hollywood studios for compliance with the MPAA‘s self-imposed Production Code. 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. In 1985 Baehr began publishing Movieguide as a biweekly magazine of movie reviews, which has now expanded to an online database of movie reviews.^[11] Movieguide‘s reviews use a “Biblical perspective” and are aimed at helping parents use informed judgment when deciding what entertainment products are suitable for their families’ enjoyment. In 1986 Baehr founded The Christian Film & Television Commission (CFTVC), which encourages the major media companies to produce “wholesome, family entertainment.” By cross-indexing Movieguide‘s moral criteria with box office statistics, Baehr’s commission produces an annual Report To The Entertainment Industry which attempts to prove that the American public prefers “wholesome, worthwhile, moral movies.” The Report also includes a listing of the ten best “family friendly films” and ten best “morally edifying mature audience films” of the year, all of which are awarded plaques at Movieguide‘s annual award show. Baehr also has produced hundreds of programs for PBS television and television networks around the world.After studying at several universities in Europe, Baehr graduated summa cum laude in comparative literature and as a Rufus Choate Scholar from Dartmouth College. He then received a Juris Doctor degree from the New York University School of Law, where he served as Editor of the NYU Law School newspaper. Ted has been featured on shows such as Oprah, Hannity & Colmes,^[4] CNN, ABC, Fox News,^[5] AMC Specials, Entertainment Tonight, and The 700 Club.^[6] His opinions have been featured in major newspapers and magazines, including the Wall Street Journal,^[7] The New York Times, Time, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post,^[8] The Hollywood Reporter, and U.S. News & World Report. He has given lectures at the European Parliament,^[9] Parliament of the UK, the Parliament of Norway, the Parliament of the Philippines, as well as at Oxford, Dartmouth College, University of Virginia, Yale University, UC Berkeley,^[10] and UCLA. He taught at the Bombay Communication Institute. Ordained as a bishop in the Independent Christian Churches International and in the International Ministerial Fellowship, Baehr has preached throughout the world.

ELYSE PETERSON HALES -ANCHOR NEWSCASTER

Elyse Peterson hales from the great state of Texas. She attended Brigham Young University on a public speaking scholarship. While at BYU she studied abroad in Israel for 5 months and shadowed CNN’s Walter Rogers; served a full time mission in Marseille, France for The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She graduated in Broadcast Journalism, where her passion for sports led her to apply for ESPN’s DREAM JOB. She competed for five months in hopes of becoming a sports anchor. She was selected as one of 35 finalists for the show. She then began her full time TV broadcasting career at the   NBC affiliate in Idaho as the morning anchor. Recruited by KJZZ, the flagship station for the NBA’s Utah Jazz, Elyse became the face of the Jazz reporting on and off the basketball court as their television sideline reporter and producer. Elyse moved to Huntington Beach in 2010 to pursue a masters at California State University-Fullerton in Interpersonal Communication. Upon completion of her masters, she has been teaching fulltime at the university in the broadcast journalism and human communications departments. Teaching has become her passion coupled with free-lance reporting. In her spare time, Elyse loves to spend time with her family and friends, speaking in public and helping out with several nonprofits like The United Way Foundation and The Make a Wish Foundation. She also teaches weekly spin and yoga classes on the side at 24-Hour Fitness and Core Power Yoga. Elyse just got married for the first time in May and is excited to start this blissful new chapter of her life with her husband Michael.

KIM CAMERON – PROFESSOR, AUTHOR, LECTURER UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Kim Cameron is the William Russell Kelly Professor of Management and Organizations in the Ross School of Business and Professor of Higher Education in the School of Education at the University of Michigan.  He is a co-founder of the discipline of Positive Organizational Scholarship—the scientific study of what produces extraordinary performance in organizations and their employees. His research on organizational virtuousness and the development of cultures of abundance has been published in more than 140 academic articles and 15 scholarly books.  He was recently recognized as among the top 10 scholars in the organizational sciences whose work has been most frequently downloaded from Google. He has served as Dean of the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, Associate Dean at Brigham Young University, and as Associate Dean and academic department chair at the University of Michigan. He actively consults with business organizations on five continents, federal and military organizations, and health care and educational organizations. He received BS and MS degrees from Brigham Young University and MA and PhD degrees from Yale University.  He is married to the former Melinda Cummings and has seven children.

JEFF WHITING – BROADWAY DIRECTOR-CHOREOGRAPHER

Recently acclaimed as a ‘director with a joyous touch’ by the New York Times, Jeff Whiting is a director and choreographer for theater, opera, television, special events and concerts around the world. On Broadway, Jeff was the Associate/Resident Director for the Broadway productions of Bullets Over Broadway (6 Tony Nominations – Susan Stroman), Big Fish (Norbert Leo Butz), The Scottsboro Boys (12 Tony nominations), Hair (Tony Best Revival), Young Frankenstein (Sutton Foster, Megan Mullally), and Wicked’s 5th Anniversary (Stephanie J. Block, Ashanti). National Tour credits include Hairspray, Young Frankenstein, Bullets Over Broadway, Rockin’ Road to Dublin, Christmas in Killarney, and The Producers. Having been praised on THE VIEW as ‘a truly remarkable talent,’ Jeff’s theatrical direction and choreography includes development and World premieres of Loch Lomond, Chasing Rainbows (starring Ben Crawford, Ruby Rakos), Fly More Than You Fall (Best Musical), The Scottsboro Boys (Phoenix Theatre Co.), The Lost Colony (Waterside Theatre), Big Fish (Milwaukee), Single Wide (NYMF), Hairspray (Brazilian Production), Big (Milwaukee), In The Light (NYFA), Catch Me If You Can (New London Barn), The Sound of Music (Phoenix Theatre Co.), and Gypsy (Michele Ragusa). UPCOMING PROJECTS: The Baker’s Wife (Stephen Schwartz), In The Light (Michael Mott), Crazy For You, The Imaginary (Josh Betancourt, Trent Jeffords), Love Affair (Joe Simeone), Echo and Narcissus, Invincible (Mark Sonnenblick), TRIBU, Joan Crawford in Flesh and Blood (Joe Major), Troy (Jon English, David McKay) . Opera direction and choreography includes We Open In Paris (Glimmerglass Opera). Television direction includes Disney’s Magical Moments Parade, which premiered in Rio De Janiero, Brazil and continued on a 15-city national tour. Special Event direction and choreography includes James Taylor Live (Carnegie Hall, co-starring Bette Midler, Steve Martin, Sting, Tony Bennett, Barbara Cook, Dianne Reeves), Stro! Gala Honoring Susan Stroman (Hudson Theater, starring Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Rebecca Luker, Boyd Gaines, Veanne Cox), New Victory Arts Awards 2015 (starring David Hyde Pierce, Martha Plimpton, Marin Mazzie, Sherie Rene Scott, Joshua Henry, John Lithgow, Kelli O’Hara), New 42nd Street: 25th Anniversary (starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Karen Ziemba, Tony Yazbeck, Kecia Lewis, Mark Linn-Baker). T-Mobile’s Annual Event (Kodak Theater, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones), MAIR! (Inner Circle, Starring Mayor Mike Bloomberg and the Broadway company of HAIR!), Film Premiere of Chronicles of Narnia (Southeastern Premiere). As a member of Disney’s Creative Team, Jeff has directed and choreographed over 50 shows and events, including Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club (India), Power Rangers (Brazil), Disney’s Very Merry Christmas, Disney’s Enchanted Princess, Disney’s 100 Years of Magic, Disney’s Magic Mirror (Mexico City). Jeff is the owner and Artistic Director of The Open Jar Institute, a music theatre training program founded in 2003 for the development of music theatre artists of all ages. He is the owner of Open Jar Studios, home to the largest rehearsal studio in New York City, and founded The Broadway Relief Project employing over 400 individuals during the shutdown to make PPE for NYC public hospitals, in response to COVID-19, co-founded SwifTest which provides Covid Compliance support for the Broadway community. Stage Write Software, designed and developed by Jeff, marks the worlds first digital method for documenting staging and choreography and is already in use for over 80 Broadway shows and tours, including NEWSIES, BOOK OF MORMON, MATILDA, THE PRODUCERS, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, and HAMILTON. Whiting was invited to give a TEDTalk on February 6, 2016 at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, where he spoke about his innovative philosophy of “Open Jar Thinking” with his talk entitled “Rising Beyond Limits with Open Jar Thinking.”