The Team
Scott Sheppard
Director, Producer, Editor
Scott Sheppard was raised the son of a United Methodist minister in rural Michigan. He comes from a long line of Methodist ministers and missionaries, and he chronicled much of that family history in his debut documentary, Planes, Trains & Autorickshaws.
As an editor, he worked on director Antoine Fuqua’s Showtime documentary about infamous gangster rap mogul, Suge Knight. He has also edited short documentaries, commercials, and short films for organizations such as American Heart Association, Harvard University, Canon, TEDx, GOOD, Open Society Foundations, Sheryl Sandberg, and Elvis Presley Enterprises. He currently resides in Los Angeles.
Kate S. Logan
Producer
Kate S. Logan's directorial debut, Kidnapped For Christ, follows the harrowing journeys of several American teenagers who were taken in the middle of the night by strangers and shipped to an Evangelical reform school in the Dominican Republic. Kidnapped won the Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival and is currently airing on Showtime, and available on iTunes, Amazon Prime, and other VOD outlets.
Previously Kate has worked on Showtime's controversial documentary on the infamous gangster rap mogul Suge Knight, directed by Antoine Fuqua, as well as the upcoming Independent Lens/PBS documentary Meet the Patels. She also worked with the independent distribution team that brought Simpson's actor Harry Shearer's film The Big Uneasy to theaters.
Pauley Perrette
Executive Producer
Pauley Perrette is known to millions around the world as "Abby Sciuto,” the brilliant but offbeat forensic scientist on CBS' NCIS , the #1-rated drama in the world. Her additional credits include appearances in Almost Famous (2000), The Ring (2002), 24 (2001), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Murder One (1995), The Drew Carey Show (1995), Jesse (1998), Time of Your Life (1999), Philly (2001), Special Unit 2 (2001), Haunted (2002), and many independent films, commercials and music videos.
In addition to being a talented actress, Pauley is also a director, producer, published writer, poet, photographer, spoken-word artist and singer/songwriter. A passionate and dedicated advocate for civil rights, she is directing and producing a documentary about U.S. civil rights attorney and author Mark Lane. An ardent social and civil activist, Pauley is involved in many charitable organizations that work on behalf of animal rescue, civil and LGBTQ rights. She is on the board of Project Angel Food and supports Habitat for Humanity, PATH (People Assisting The Homeless), EQCA (Equality California), AIDS Walk LA, The Humane Society, AIDS Task Force, NOH8 Campaign, Los Angeles Zoo, The Trevor Project, Hope Gardens, Union Rescue Mission, DonorsChoose.org, APLA (AIDS Project Los Angeles), The Amanda Foundation, the American Red Cross, Out of the Closet, Top Cops, 5p21 (AIDS clinic), Strike Out AIDS, Petfinder.com, Hollywood Homeless Lunch, Campaign for Care and Save the Children. Pauley is also an active congregant of the social and civilly active Hollywood United Methodist Church.
Mike C. Manning
Executive Producer
Mike C. Manning is an actor and producer of award-winning film and television projects. Manning executive produced the film Kidnapped for Christ alongside Tom DeSanto (Transformers franchise) and Lance Bass (N'Sync). It debuted at the Slamdance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award and premiered on Showtime in July, 2014. Other producing credits include: Folk Hero & Funny Guy (executive producer), Black Hearts (producer), Campsite Killer (writer/producer), An Act of Love (executive producer), Showpony (producer), Lost in America (producer), the television pilot The Passion Project (producer), and the award-winning teen soap opera Youthful Daze (executive producer).
As an actor, he has worked on networks like Disney Channel, Disney XD, MTV, Comedy Central, The Hallmark Channel and CBS. Mike is an official youth ambassador for the organization "Boo 2 Bullying" as well as a mentor for "Young Storytellers Foundation." In early 2014, he was featured in the New York Post as an up-and-coming "producer to remember." Having lobbied Congress on behalf of several organizations in Washington, D.C., Mike now hopes to use art to create change and inspire others to do the same.
Bill Smith
Executive Producer
As a founding partner of Civitas Public Affairs Group, Bill is a sought after political operative who has built his career on advancing significant public policy initiatives and winning elections. He has nearly two decades of experience in campaign management, message development, communications strategy and media production, and advises a wide variety of national progressive organizations.
As the national political director at the LGBT movement’s leading political organization, Gill Action Fund, Bill’s guidance and advice helped win nearly 200 successful state elections across the country. During his five-year tenure, Bill led the development of innovative strategies to pass, block, and protect marriage equality and nondiscrimination protections around the country. He also counseled a network of donors that invested over $15 million into targeted campaigns to advance equality.
Bill has worked extensively as a general consultant, providing critical counsel to members of Congress, governors, state legislators, judges and political organizations across the country. A member of the American Association of Political Consultants, Bill has run successful independent expenditure campaigns that have received both Campaigns & Elections and Pollie awards.
In addition to his work with elected officials and progressive advocacy organizations, Bill has worked with Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, and leading national foundations. He has led teams of the nation’s premier pollsters, media consultants, and campaign operatives on both sides of the political aisle.
A lifelong Methodist and native of Alabama, Bill resides in Washington, D.C. with his husband, Mark.
Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis and Kristopher Carter
Composers
Emmy Award-winning composers Michael McCuistion, Lolita Ritmanis and Kristopher Carter, collectively known as Dynamic Music Partners, have created hundreds of hours of music for a variety of different genres, including TV series, independent films, video games and live performance events. They have collectively earned twenty-eight Emmy Award nominations and six Annie Award nominations as composers for Batman: The Brave And The Bold, Justice League, Teen Titans, Batman Beyond, The Zeta Project and The New Batman Superman Adventures.Original concert works and suites of their scores have been performed in festivals and special events; from New York’s Lincoln Center to The Hollywood Bowl, Tenerife – Spain and beyond, their music has received critical acclaim. Their Prime-time Emmy Award nominated musical “Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Mayhem of the Music Meister,” starring Neil Patrick Harris was a historic first Batman musical to ever be composed. Read More here.