Film Programs

Chris Riley

Professor of Story

Prof. Riley is a screenwriter with 20 years of experience, whose first film, After The Truth, an award-winning courtroom thriller written with his wife, Kathleen Riley, sparked international controversy when it was released in Germany.

He is a veteran of the Warner Bros. script department, Riley is the author of The Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style. From 2005 through 2008, he served as director of the acclaimed Act One Writing Program in Hollywood, which trains Christians for careers as writers and executives in film and TV.

Vernon Mortensen

Professor of Film Producing & Distribution

Prof. Mortensen is a filmmaker, businessman and a veteran of the international film festival scene. His wide-ranging career has included writing, directing & producing the western/thriller 'The Sorrow', as well as serving as an executive producer on 'The Kid: Chamaco'

Currently he works for the motion picture production/distribution company Rogue Arts as a film and television producer and a distribution executive.

Paul Rugg

Adjunct Professor of Acting

Prof. Rugg is a writer, producer and voiceover actor who has worked with Dreamworks, Nickelodeon, Disney, Warner Brothers and Cartoon Network. He has received three Emmy Awards; two for his work on Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs and another for his work on Steven Spielberg Presents Freakazoid. He was recently featured as the voice of Artephius The Alchemist on Dreamwork’s The Adventures Of Puss And Boots.

George Simon

Professor of Film Production & Chair of Communications Media

Prof. Simon created the award winning short film Get Clean promoting the sacrament of reconciliation.

He launched ‘Simon Brothers Productions’– an independent production company specializing in narrative film and live-event coverage, with his brother Joe (MBA 2010).

He produced content for New Evangelization Television and has worked on film sets, international documentary crews, and many commercial projects.

Nathan Scoggins

Professor of Film

Nathan is an award-winning filmmaker, whose credits include The Least of These, released in 2011 by Universal and starring Isaiah Washington (Grey's Anatomy) and Robert Loggia (Independence Day); the TV movie The Perfect Summer, starring Eric Roberts; and the 2022 film What Remains starring Cress Williams (Black Lightning), Kellan Lutz (Twilight), and Anne Heche (Volcano). He won the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest in 2012 and 2013 with “Sling Baby” and “Fashionista Daddy”.

Sheryl Anderson

Visiting Professor of TV Writing

Prof. Sheryl is an accomplished author, television writer, and producer with over 20 years of experience. Over the course of her career, Sheryl has written and produced for hit TV shows such as Charmed, Flash Gordon, Ties that Bind, and the Netflix original series Sweet Magnolias. She began her career as a development executive for Grant Tinker's GTG Entertainment where she wrote for half-hour sitcoms Parker Lewis Can't Lose and Dave's World.

Sheryl has also published four novels in her Molly Forrester series. In addition to her writing, she has taught for Act One, an instructional program for Christian screenwriters, and for UCLA's Writer's Extension Program.

Bill Marsilii

Adjunct Professor of Screenwriting

Prof. Bill Marsilii is an American writer, producer, and director who broke records with his screenplay for the time-travel thriller movie Déjà vu starring Denzel Washington and Paula Patton.

He also co-produced the drama, sports movie Woodlawn in 2015, telling the story of a gifted football player battling racial tension on and off the field.

He also been a guest lecturer and professional mentor to a wide variety of film and screenwriting programs across the United States, including USC, UCLA, Pepperdine University, and Barry University in Miami.

Shun Lee Fong

Adjunct Professor of Media Law

Prof. Shun Lee Fong is the CEO of Genuine Productions, LLC – a creative media production company with a focus on film, new media and music..

He is the founder and creative director for ‘The Greenhouse’ – a non-profit organization for training, equipping, and engaging creative artists.

He performed in a number of productions in film, theater, commercial, and print, and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Steve Barsotti

Adjunct Professor of Sound Design

Prof. Steve Barsotti is an educator, audio post engineer, and audio artist. He has been teaching college students for over 30 years, including at Columbia College in Chicago, the Art Institute of Seattle, Cornish College of the Arts, and The Seattle Film Institute. As owner/operator of Ragmatic Audio, Prof. Steve has recorded, mixed and mastered audio for client projects including podcasts, films, music, multimedia art, documentaries, and commercial projects.

Ray Siposs

Adjunct Professor of Film and TV Production

Prof. Siposs is a Producer/Director/Cinematographer who has worked in Hollywood for over 40 years. He is a current member of the International Cinematographer Guild.

He has worked on many well known television productions such as The Four, Hollywood Game Night, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, The Winner Is, Food Fighters, Martha & Snoop's Pot Luck Dinner Party, Celebrity Name Game, NBC Dateline, Billboard Latin Music Awards, and the Emmy's Red Carpet.

Melinda Simon

Adjunct Professor of Post Production

Prof. Simon is an Emmy-Award winning producer and editor. She graduated from John Paul the Great Catholic University in 2013 and has worked in Catholic media for over ten years. As a student, Melinda produced an award winning short film, which led to work on an international documentary project for New Evangelization Television.

Melinda currently works as an independent producer and editor. She has produced three award winning narrative films and continues to craft stories that are steeped in truth and love.

Courtney Moorehead Balaker

Adjunct Professor of Film and Acting

Prof. Balaker is an award-winning filmmaker, theatre director, and co-founder of Korchula Productions. Courtney wrote, directed, and produced Little Pink House, an award-winning feature film about Susette Kelo’s historic fight to save her home and neighborhood. The film stars two-time Academy Award nominee Catherine Keener (Get Out) and Emmy nominee Jeanne Tripplehorn (Grey Gardens). It has won a variety of awards including the HBO Audience Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival and the Vail Film Festival Audience Award. Additional film and television credits include Can We Take A Joke?, The Coddling of the American Mind, and America in Primetime, an award-winning PBS documentary series including interviews with Ron Howard, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Alec Baldwin.

She began her film career at Neo Art & Logic, a feature film production company with an overall deal with Dimension Films where she developed new screenplays and went on to serve as Vice President of Development. She spent five years in New York City directing Off-Broadway plays, working with actors such as George Morfogen (HBO's Oz) and Joseph Gorden-Levitt (Inception). Her theater credits include works at SoHo Playhouse, Ensemble Studio Theater, and Theater for the New City.

Courtney holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Colorado at Denver and a master’s degree in theatre directing from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and King’s College London where she received classical acting and theater directing training under the leadership of Fiona Shaw and Lord Richard Attenborough.