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 The Filmmakers
Michael Collender D.Phil.: Writer / Director
Michael Collender is an alumnus of the Los Angeles Film Studies Center who worked in Hollywood on various independent films in the phases of development, preproduction and production, including the capacities of Assistant Director and Second Unit Director.
Michael Collender currently teaches in the graduate leadership studies programs of the School of Professional Studies at Gonzaga University, in the fields of philosophy, leadership studies, organizational ethics, and systems theory. He did his doctoral work in the problem of modeling complex systems, explaining how metaphor and narrative open neural systems and economic systems to being understood. His particular area of academic research is identifying what data or actions are necessary to open a system to being understood and discerning what actions are necessary to bring about systemic changes. He has been a Visiting Fellow in the Philosophy Institute of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He has also researched and lectured at the National Defense University's Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk, VA, regarding how joint task force commanders can understand complex systems and make plans to change them within complex operational environments. His work on understanding complex systems is listed, with explanation and endorsement, as recommended reading for military planners in the campaign design text Art of Design, published by the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS).
Michael Collender is applying both his filmmaking experience and his academic training to make RED SEPTEMBER. His goal in making this film is to produce a narrative which permits the American people to understand both America's precarious situation and the kind of leadership is necessary for leading America clear of her present dangers.
George Escobar: Producer
In 2007, Mr. Escobar founded Advent Film Group, LLC, a film production and distribution company based in Northern Virginia. Mr. Escobar has been working in the film and entertainment industry since 1983 when he completed his film studies as a Producing Fellow at the American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles, California. After AFI, Mr. Escobar worked in Hollywood in various capacities: freelance story analyst, producing intern, assistant to the director on LOVE BOAT and several other television pilots. He later worked at AOL for over six years as Executive Director for AOL's broadband division, responsible for AOL Video's products and services. Before joining AOL, Mr. Escobar was Vice President of Product Technologies for Tele-TV, an interactive TV company headed by Howard Stringer, now Sony's CEO. Prior to founding Advent in 2007, Mr. Escobar was Vice President of Product Development for Discovery Communications, responsible for online video products for the consumer education market.
During Mr. Escobar's tenures with AOL and Tele-TV, he invented various video authoring tools and Internet predictive viewing and browsing technologies, which have been awarded seven U.S. patents. He was also a contributing author to Kit Laybourne's revised edition of "The Animation Book," a seminal book on animation production.
Most recently, Mr. Escobar successfully produced and co-directed Advent's first film, COME WHAT MAY, which was released in 2009 by Provident Films, a unit of Sony, to Christian bookstores and online retailers nationwide. In 2010 Mr. Escobar and Advent's Co-Founder, Michael Snyder, were Producers of two feature films, HERO and ALONE YET NOT ALONE [AYNA]. Mr. Escobar also served as co-writer and Co-Director of AYNA. Both films are now in post-production.
As an emerging leader in the Christian film industry, Mr. Escobar is a regular film workshop and keynote speaker at many home school state and national conventions, including those held in Virginia, North Dakota, New Mexico, Florida and New York. He has also spoken at professional conferences, such as the Screenwriting Expo held in Los Angeles, CA.
Michael A. Snyder, J.D.: Producer
Mr. Snyder is Co-Founder of Advent Film Group, LLC, a film production and distribution company based in Northern Virginia. In 2010, Mr. Snyder and Advent's Founder, George Escobar, were Producers of two feature films, HERO and ALONE YET NOT ALONE [AYNA]. Mr. Escobar also served as co-writer and Co-Director of AYNA. Both films are now in post-production.
Mr. Snyder brings to Advent his business and legal experience, as well as his experience in Christian worldview teaching and message development, program development, and mentoring young adults. He focuses on general business and legal matters, marketing and distribution relationships and strategies, and the long-term development of the mentoring aspect of Advent's mission to raise up the next generation of filmmakers for Christ.
Mr. Snyder served as a Sr. Vice President at Prison Fellowship, leading its Christian worldview teaching and public policy advocacy activities, such as the creation of its Centurions Program and ongoing efforts on Capitol Hill to advance pro-life and pro-marriage policies. Beyond Prison Fellowship, Mr. Snyder has also 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, Mr. Snyder, a graduate of Cornell Law School, served as a partner in three major law firms over his 26-year legal career. His practice focused on business transactions, including debt and equity financings and restructurings, and mergers and acquisitions. He concluded his career in private practice as a partner with Reed Smith LLP in Pittsburgh, PA, counseling clients in institutional lending, manufacturing, technology, health care, and professional sports, including a National Hockey League Franchise. |
