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“Faithful Presence in the Arts and Media”
Panel Discussion
Saturday, March 6, 2010
1:30 pm- 3:00 pm
“...a year of research shows the leading influencers in American society to be movies, television, the Internet, books, music... The Christian church is not among the top dozen influences these days...”-- Barna research findings
“Art and media are the means and bridge over which the current philosophy of the philosophers reaches the general culture.” “Whoever controls the media controls the culture.”-- Francis Schaeffer , author of
How Should We Then Live?
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. -- Proverbs 23:7
Participants
Eric Metaxas (Moderator)
David Kiersznowski
Dr. John Seel
Mike Snyder, Advent Film Group, LLC
Tom Swanson, Possibility Pictures, LLC
Eric Metaxas
Eric Metaxas is the New York Times-bestselling author of Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery, the official companion book to the feature film, and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (but were afraid to ask), which has been praised by Dick Cavett, George Gallup, Ann B. Davis (Alice of The Brady Bunch), and Tim Keller ("The difficulty is not to gush. ...a wise, funny, and disarming book"). Metaxas is the founder and host of Socrates in the City, a popular Manhattan speakers series on "life, God, and other small topics," and he is particularly proud to be a co-founder of the New Canaan Society. Eric has been a staff writer for Chuck Colson's Breakpoint and for VeggieTales, where he was also the voice of the narrator on the Esther video. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Christianity Today, National Review Online, Beliefnet, and First Things. He is the author of 30 children's books, including the bestselling Squanto & the Miracle of Thanksgiving. Metaxas appears as a cultural commentator on CNN and the FOX News Channel and has been featured on Hannity & Colmes, NPR's Morning Edition and Talk of the Nation, and many other programs. His next book, scheduled to be released in March 2010 is a biography of the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
David Kiersznowski
Dave is founder and co-owner (with his bride Demi) of DEMDACO, a wholesale gift company founded in 1997 and headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. He is also a founding member of the Wedgewood Circle, which is a national network of high net worth investors, foundations, cultural gatekeepers and creators contributing to the renewal of culture by strategically investing in “cultural artifacts” that are good, true and beautiful for the common good (Wedgwood focuses on the art and entertainment industries, covering the sectors of film, music, television, publishing, theatre, fashion, fine arts, comics and graphic novels, computer/console gaming and new media). In addition, he is a patron and Director of the International Arts Movement, which is a non-profit organization that gathers artists and creative catalysts to wrestle with the deep questions of art, faith and humanity in order to inspire the creative community to engage the culture that is and create the world that ought to be.
Dr. John Seel
John is the president of nCore Media, which provides extreme-computing solutions to the entertainment industry particularly in computer-generated images and visual effects. Dr. Seel a cultural renewal entrepreneur. He works with people and projects that foster human flourishing and the common good. He is active in the entertainment industry serving as an executive producer on various film projects. Seel is a Senior Advisor to the Wedgwood Circle, an angel investment firm investing in art and entertainment. He also serves as a Senior Fellow for Cardus, a Canadian think tank, where he conducts research on educational reform. He is also a Senior Fellow at The Clapham Institute, a consulting firm aligning people and organizations with an accurate assessment of human nature. He was a co-founder and Administrative Director for the Williamsburg Charter Foundation, a national reaffirmation of the First Amendment for the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution as well as The Trinity Forum, a leadership academy contributing to the transformation and renewal of society through the transformation and renewal of leaders. He has served as a Senior Fellow and Research Assistant Professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia.
Michael A. Snyder, J.D.
After serving in an advisory capacity to AFG, Mike joined Advent Film Group (AFG) as a Principal. He brings his business and legal experience, as well as his mentoring and Christian worldview teaching and message development experience. He focuses on general business and legal matters, marketing and distribution relationships and strategies, and the whole-life mentoring aspect of fulfilling AFG’s mission to raise up the next generation of filmmakers for Christ. Mike’s efforts include maximizing distribution of our movies by building on his existing relationships with national ministries and developing new relationships. He was a Sr. Vice President at Prison Fellowship, overseeing its Christian worldview teaching and public policy advocacy activities, including the creation of its Centurions Program. After completing his work at Prison Fellowship, Mike served in a strategic consulting role for several Christian not-for-profit organizations, focusing on vision and mission clarification, church leadership development, major project or program development and strategic marketing. Prior to his work in ministry, he was a partner in three major law firms over his 26-year legal career, focusing on business transactions, including debt and equity financings and restructurings, and mergers and acquisitions.
Tom Swanson
Tom Swanson is Executive Producer and Chief Marketing Officer for Possibility Pictures and Vertical Innovation. His partners include David Nixon, producer of Facing the Giants and Fireproof, and Kim Dawson who produced the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies, the Mickey Mouse Club, and Bobby Jones - Stroke of Genius. Their first film project together, Letters to God, is a heart-warming faith-based film that will provide hope to anyone who has ever been touched by cancer. This film is being released nationally through Universal Vivendi on April 9th and is on track to potentially sell out the first weekend because of Tom's innovative theater buy-out strategy. Tom and his partners also started Vertical Innovation LLC, a content distribution company, with a goal to become the category leader in distributing faith-based films and media. Tom's background includes thirty-plus years in the sports and entertainment marketing industry handling major sponsorship programs for such clients as Hershey, Reebok, Dunlop/Slazenger, McDonalds, Coca Cola, Georgia Pacific, Bausch & Lomb, UPS, Blue Cross & Blue Shield and M&M Mars. Over the years, Tom has been recognized as one of the industry’s leading sponsorship and event marketing specialists. Tom recently executive produced his first feature film Come Away Home. Along with his Executive Producer duties, Tom secured all of the sponsorship and product placements for the film. Tom's time and talent are focused on building Possibility Pictures into the category leader in faith-based films and media.
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