Careers in Filmmaking

Barbara Freedman Doyle has been active in film production and film education for more than 20 years. She began her film career at Creative Communications, in Boston, producing promotional films for non-profit clients and political campaigns, then moved to Los Angeles where she soon became the Assistant to the Senior VP of Worldwide Production at Tri-Star Pictures. During her five years at Tri-Star she was involved in the administration and organization of over forty feature films.

 

Barbara left Tri-Star to work in production on national commercial spots, music videos, network television movies, and feature films. She was Production Supervisor on television movies for the Disney Channel, NBC Productions, Hearst Entertainment, HBO, Showtime and Hallmark and worked on feature films for 20th Century Fox, Interscope, and Warner Brothers. She was Production Supervisor on the films "Two If By Sea" with Sandra Bullock and Denis Leary (Morgan Creek Productions), and "Lost and Found" with David Spade (Alcon Entertainment).

 

In 1999, Barbara became an Associate Dean at the prestigious American Film Institute. She left the AFI in 2002, and in 2003, while a Chair at Brooks Institute of Photography’s Motion Picture/Video program, she served as Line Producer on the BBC/Granada Television documentary, Martin Scorsese’s British Cinema.

 

Barbara joined the team at MPS Productions in 2003, as Line Producer of the Kaiser film project, On the Same Side. She produces and consults for the company on feature film and documentary projects, and is currently on the faculty at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. She is a frequent guest lecturer at colleges and universities specializing in film studies, and is working on her first book, Surviving the Business and Politics of Making Your Feature Film-the Answer Book For First-Time Filmmakers.

Through her company, Pimpernel Productions Inc, Cristen Carr Strubbe provides breakdowns, board and budgeting services for independent and studio majors alike. As a Production Manager Mrs. Carr Strubbe collaborates some of Hollywoods best directors, writers and financiers. Since 2001 she has worked along side Sam Remi, Aaron Sorkin, Christopher Nolan, Sam Mendes, Mike Nicols, Michael Mann and Steven Spielberg. Mrs. Carr Stubbe's credits include: AMERICAN BEAUTY, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, ALI, CHARLIE' WILSON'S WAR, and THE PRESTIGE.

David Stump, ASC, works on numerous motion pictures and television productions as Director of Photography, as Visual Effects Director of Photography and as a Visual Effects Supervisor, garnering Emmy nominations and an Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement for Camera Data Capture Techniques.  His credits include such projects as James Bond 22 A Quantum of Solace, Flight Plan, Fantastic Four, X-Men 1 & 2, Into the Blue, Garfield, Panic Room, Deep Blue Sea, Batman Forever, Hollow Man, Men of Honor, Stuart Little, The Sphere, Contact, Batman & Robin, Mars Attacks, Executive Decision, Stargate, Free Willy, and What Love Is, among others.

 

A member of the Producer's Guild of America (PGA), the Visual Effects Society (VES), the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), Stump has been involved in Digital Visual Effects for over 20 years, since the advent of Computer Generated Images for film.  He has also been involved in shooting High Definition images for many years and has been an advisor and consultant to numerous HD camera manufacturers.  In 2001 he was accepted for full membership into the American Society of Cinematographers, where he is currently chairman of the Camera Subcommittee of the ASC Technical Committee.  His work there helps to shape the future of digital cinematography, by bringing together working cinematographers with the builders of their tools. He is currently working on a book that will demystify digital and high definition cinematography.
 

Drew Lauer is a Los Angeles-based camera operator.  Owner of Hollywood Special Ops, a high-speed cinematography rental and acquisition company, Drew's work has been seen in dozens of television show, commercials and features.  His credits include "Drive," "SmashLab," "SportScience," "National Geographic," and many others.

Ed Joyce is a Los Angeles-based gaffer whose credits include National Geographic

While pursuing a degree at NYU, Edward Ricourt sold his first screenplay, following his graduation, Edward sold the film “Year 12” to Paramount. While both scripts weren’t produce Edward’s writing was gaining attention and he made “The Black List.” Working alongside, Boaz Yakin, of “Remember the Titans” fame, they created the story and original screenplay for the blockbuster heist film, “Now You See Me,” which grossed over $350,000,000 dollars worldwide.

Josh McLaglen graduated from UCLA in 1980 with a major in History.  After working with his father, director Andrew McLaglen, as a stuntman and a production assistant, he joined the DGA in 1984. He worked as a 2nd AD with his mentor Duncan Henderson on several films.  In 1987 he became a 1st AD on the TV mini series, AMERIKA, and his current film, REAL STEEL, marks Josh's 40th film as a First Assistant Director.  In 2002, he started working in a dual capacity as a Co-Producer/1st AD and now works as an Executive Producer/1st AD. Josh has had the pleasure of working with accomplished directors such as current DGA President: Taylor Hackford, as well as Robert Zemeckis, Francis Lawrence, Michael Bay, Shawn Levy and James Cameron.  He's been nominated twice for the DGA Award: AVATAR in 2009 and TITANIC which he won in 1997.  Josh is one of the industry's pioneers of the motion capture technology and has the distinct honor of having the two highest grossing films of all time: #1 (Avatar) and #2 (Titanic) on his resume.

In her role as the director of features at the San Diego Film Commission, Kathy McCurdy worked on such films as Almost Famous, Transformers 2, Traffic, and Mr. Wrong. As a location manager, she has been credited on films such as The Price She Paid, Tainted Blood, Rubdown, and Accidental Meeting. She is the author of Shoot on Location: The Logistics of Filming on Location, Whatever Your Budget or Experience. She currently speaks about location shooting every semester at various film schools.

Larry Jordan is a producer, director, editor, consultant and Apple-Certified trainer with over 25 years video production and post-production experience. He is currently using his award-winning skills in training editors to use Final Cut Studio. He is the Executive Producer and Host of Creative Planet's Digital Production BuZZ, as well as author of five books on Final Cut Studio, along with a monthly on-line newsletter covering Final Cut Studio; now in its sixth year of publication. A member of both the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America, he is a post-production consultant to Los Angeles broadcast and production studios. In addition to his broadcast credits, Jordan is recognized as one of the Top 100 Corporate Producers in America and is frequently a featured speaker at trade shows, industry events and user groups around the U.S. As an Apple-Certified Trainer in Digital Media, specializing in Final Cut Studio, Jordan combines his extensive production experience with his teaching skills to bring a wide-ranging, real-world perspective to his classes. He was one of the first four Apple-Certified trainers in the U.S. to receive credentials as an “Advanced level" Final Cut Pro instructor. In addition to authoring five books on Final Cut Pro, published by Peachpit Press and Focal Press—including Adobe Production Premium for Final Cut Pro Editors, Jordan has produced hundreds of hours of on-line training for Lynda.com and MacProVideo on all the applications in Final Cut Studio.

Richard Mall is one of Hollywood's most accomplished key grips.  With over 78 feature film credits on his resume including Avatar, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Gi: Joe, Gulliver's Travels, Twilight, XXX: State of the Union, The Italian Job, The Majestic and What Lies Beneath, Richard's contribution to modern cinema is apparent. In 2013, Richard won the Academy Award, Technical Achievement Award for the design and development of the Matthews Max Menace Arm.

Rick Taylor is a Los-Angeles based Camera Operator and Cinematographer whose credits include On the Lot, The Price of Happiness, Timecode, Perfect Game, Team Knight Rider, Ghostbusters and He-Man

Ron is an Emmy-nominated set decorator on the TV shows The X Files, Help Me Help You, Californication, Cold Case, and Pacific Blue. He has also worked on the films In the Mix, The Day After Tomorrow, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Daredevil. Ron is also the president of Set Decorators Society of America, a non-profit oranization dedicated to supporting the set decorator profession.

Vanessa Ament was born in Glendale, California, and raised in the central coast county of San Luis Obispo. She grew up the granddaughter of the early film pioneer Earl L. McMurtrie. Vanessa was a singer and dancer in her youth and performed in many plays and cabaret shows. At Whittier College, she earned a B.A. in Theatre, and after graduation, worked for the Glendale Regional Arts Council as an "Artist-in-the-Schools" in the field of theatre. She "fell" into the work of a Foley Artist by mistake when she auditioned to replace a voice for a film and her accurate sync caught the attention of the mixer, Robert Deschaine and the manager of Gomillion Sound James L. Honore. She started training as a Foley Artist at Gomillion, thinking it would be "a good gig between acting and singing jobs."

 

This fill-in job became her primary career for over twenty years. Along the way, she began voice casting and acting, Foley and ADR editing, and writing and singing her own songs in the L.A. cabaret and jazz scene. In her thirties, Vanessa earned an M.Div. as a Unitarian Universalist at Starr King School for the Ministry, in Berkeley. Vanessa has always loved teaching, and had various stints as a Sound Supervisor for students at AFI and USC, as well as an educator at various schools and colleges, including Cuesta College, in San Luis Obispo, as well as both DePaul University and Columbia College in Chicago. Vanessa has been a member of MPSE, CAS, BMI, AFM, SAG, Equity, Society of Composers and Lyricists, Women in Film, and The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She has won three Golden Reel Certificates for Foley for the films The Dollmaker (1984), Predator (1987), and Die Hard (1988), and has had several nominations for other films.

 

Vanessa has been featured at film festivals, sound festivals and in various publications. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, she published MovieSound Newsletter. Music is Vanessa's true calling and she released her first CD in 2004. The most challenging thing Vanessa ever did, other than keep the faith that "work would come," was home school her son for seven years.