Monday, November 14, 2011

INSIGHTS 50th ANNIVERSARY!

Please join us Friday, November 18th for a 50th Anniversary Screening of Paulist Productions award winning series INSIGHT at the Billy Wilder Theater located in the Armand Hammer Museum at 7:30pm on the corner of Wilshire and Westwood Blvd.

Watch two classic episodes starring William Shatner, Beau Bridges, and Ed Asner, among others.  Afterwards,  hear from the creative team who made it all possible.

Admission is free!  For more info check out this link:
INSIGHT ANNIVERSARY

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Check out Living the Eucharist!

Paulist Productions sister ministry Paulist Evangelization Ministries has just launched its new parish program entitled "Living the Eucharist".  Paulist Productions produced all the promotional and training videos for Adults in English and in Spanish.  Father Eric Andrews, CSP, President of Paulist Productions also served as the "spokespriest" in the English Segments.

To learn more about the program, visit their website www.livingtheeucharist.org.

Many thanks to all who participated in the filming of these segments, especially the West Side L.A. parishioners, priests, and staff of St. Paul the Apostle Church, St. Sebastian's Church, St. Clements Church, and the UCLA University Catholic Center.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Paulist Productions Welcomes Marybeth Sprows

Paulist Productions is pleased to announce that Marybeth Sprows became the new Director of Development on May 2, 2011.

Marybeth began her career in entertainment as a Production Assistant on the long running family series, 7th HEAVEN.  From there she went to work for J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves on the series FELICITY.  She continued to work with Abrams for the next 5 years on JOY RIDE, ALIAS and LOST moving up the ranks to Associate Producer.

Her next career move landed her with another television great,  Greg Berlanti.  Greg was Executive Producing the ABC drama BROTHERS AND SISTERS as well as writing and producing the pilots, DIRTY SEXY MONEY and ELI STONE, both of which were picked up to series on the ABC Network.

Marybeth was then afforded the opportunity to work with longtime friend and mentor, Francie Calfo, who was leaving ABC as the EVP of Drama and Comedy Development to create her own production shingle, Long Run Productions.  Marybeth served as Creative Executive for the company.  During her tenure, the company sold numerous pilots and produced ABC's Summer Series, SCOUNDRELS.

Most recently, Marybeth was Coordinator of Development at Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Imagine Television.  There she continued in the tradition of developing high quality television for both network and cable buyers.  She contributed to Imagine's pilot, THE PLAYBOY CLUB,  which is garnering much buzz this current development season.

She is thrilled to be able to work with Father Eric and Paulist Productions to develop television and film that truly honor the mission of the company.

Marybeth grew up in the Philadelphia area and is a graduate of University of Scranton, a Jesuit Institution in Pennsylvania with a degree in English and Communications and a minor in Writing. She also hold her Masters of Information Sciences from Drexel University in Philadelphia. She is a member of the Producer's Guild of America, Academy of Television Arts and Science and Jr. Hollywood Radio and Television Society.

THE BIG QUESTION airs on DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL May 28th

Tune in to the Documentary Channel on Saturday, May 28th at 8:00 p.m. for the television premiere of Paulist Pictures' THE BIG QUESTION.  This feature length documentary explores astonishing acts of forgiveness, courage, and will.

To learn more about this awesome movie, go to: www.bigquestionthemovie.com.

Go to www.documentarychannel.com for channel listing information.

Tell your friends!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

PAULIST PRODUCTIONS at Religious Ed Congress in Anaheim

Come visit Paulist Productions at the L.A. Archdiocese Religious Education Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center near Disneyland.   We will be located at booth #306 next door to the Paulist Press.

We will be getting the word out about our exciting, new program FilmClips for Catholic Youth Faith Formation. This program combines clips from well known movies and study guides designed for Catholic youth groups, confirmation formation programs, and religion classes in parochial schools.  The program can also be easily adapted for adult faith formation settings.  It is a great way to jump start faith sharing, especially among hard to reach teenagers!

Come meet Paulist Productions President Fr. Eric Andrews, C.S.P.; Producer-Director Mike Rhodes, the creator of the FilmClips program; and Catholic educator extraordinaire Joan Doyle who authored the new Catholic FilmClip study guides.

We will have special raffles of the FilmClip DVDs every hour at the Congress as well as free Paulist Productions give aways (aka swag).

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Paulist Productions Featured in Palisades Post



Fr. Eric Andrews, president of Paulist Productions, is pursuing new programs and various media platforms. 
Photo: Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer 

The New Hollywood Priest
By Libby Motika, Senior Editor
2011-03-10
'Quality programming appropriate for all ages.' This sentence, seemingly so simple, is larded with qualifiers, especially in 2011.

For 50 years, Paulist Productions, founded by the indomitable Paulist priest Elwood 'Bud' Kieser, has navigated that narrow entertainment bracket by relying on strong stories that resist both spiritual didactism and crass sensationalism.

The Pacific Palisades film company, ensconced in the Spanish Revival building on Pacific Coast Highway'the infamous Thelma Todd Caf'continues its dedication to programs that 'challenge our viewers to love others, and to liberate one another from all that is dehumanizing.'

Now under the leadership of Fr. Eric Andrews, the company is headed into new territory, exploring myriad programming platforms, including Internet and DVD.

Andrews, who took over as president in September 2009 from Fr. Frank Desiderio, came in on the production phase of 'The Lost Valentine,' the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation that aired in January on CBS.

The story starred Betty White, as a woman who returns to the train station on her wedding anniversary, Valentine's Day, where she said good-bye to her husband who was shipping out to the Pacific, and who later was missing in action. His ultimate fate remains a mystery. Jennifer Love Hewitt ('The Ghost Whisperer') assists in solving the mystery.

The drama was the highest-rated show on that Sunday night, and number three in the weekly ratings.

Parlaying that success, Andrews has been able to take stories, pitched to Paulist Productions that are in various stages of development, while also furthering his own ideas within the Hollywood community.

'The Hallmark project was a good human drama and people related to it, but that lasts only for so long,' Andrews says. 'I hope that a year from now we have several very strong projects that work on cable and/or on a network slot.'

Understanding that 'even the most distinguished people in town are having a hard time [funding projects],' Andrews says that the Hallmark project helped him establish more relationships in the industry, but that 'we're going to have invest more of our endowment to fund new projects in the short run.'

Fr. Kieser incorporated Paulist Productions in the late 1960s, separate from the Paulist Fathers, for purposes of fundraising. All the money in the endowment has come from donations and proceeds from feature films. The company is not in the moneymaking business, but has a well connected advisory board that helps raise funds. Palisadians who serve as advisors include writer Jim McGinn, producer Mike Sullivan, and producer Vin Di Bona ('America's Funniest Videos').

Andrews, 46, comes to the job with a business and film background. In fact, it wasn't until after he graduated from New York University Film School and worked at The Jim Henson Company that he pursued his religious calling. The Paulist community originally appealed to him because of its focus on communications as a means of teaching. He was ordained in 1995 and first served as associate pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in New York City until 1999, when he worked for a year as executive producer of Paulist Media Works.

Andrews then served six years as associate pastor/campus minister at John XXIII University Parish at the University of Tennessee, where he learned fundraising and managing personnel.

'I took this job [Paulist Productions] against my better judgment,' Andrews says, halfway in jest. 'I've worked in showbiz; it's hard work and there are hard deals. This is a sport for younger people.' However, he claims confidence as a communicator and schmoozer'much like Fr. Kieser, known as 'The Hollywood Priest,' who was a master at getting top talent in Hollywood to work for him for a pittance. 'People will do for God what they won't do for money,' said the charismatic Kieser, who died in 2000.

'Bud built this company at a time when commercial stations had to give away 30 minutes of programming a week,' Andrews explains. 'It could be scattered over a week or used all in one piece.' With that window, Kieser launched 'Insight,' the half-hour anthology series that ran on Sunday mornings from 1961 through 1983.

'He sold it market by market, so eventually 'Insight' was syndicated all across the U.S. He was not afraid to take on controversial issues, like drug abuse, teen sex, cloning, and even corrosion in the media. In 1982, he did a mock reality show in which a person was promised $1 million to play Russian roulette with their loved one.'

Andrews is talking to Martin Sheen, who has starred in many Paulist productions throughout the years, about a retrospective documentary on 'Insight.' Another project in the works is a reality piece, 'Should I Marry You?' that will offer a format for questions that might help couples make decisions.

'After my 16 years of preparing couples for marriage, I have questions,' Andrews says, adding that he is still working out how best to structure the program, but that it would have to be 'watchable, celebratory and entertaining.'

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentines Day Press for Paulist Productions.

Today, an article about our efforts with INSIGHT appeared in Daily Variety and Fr. Eric got a mention in Broadcasting & Cable. Here's the text:

Hollywood calling
Paulist Productions sets docu 'Insight' series


By Alexa Harrison--Daily Variety
Posted: Mon., Feb. 14, 2011, 4:00am PT

"Insight" was a staple of Sunday morning TV for decades. The half-hour anthology series, which often featured notable actors, offered feel-good morality tales.

The syndicated skein, which ran from 1961-83, is now the subject of a TV docu in the works from Paulist Prods., the shingle behind the original series.

The story of "Insight" is also the story of Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser, a Roman Catholic priest who was skilled in the art of Hollywood networking and schmoozing. His pulpit at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Westwood afforded him connections in the entertainment industry, which spurred him to establish Paulist Prods. as a vehicle for producing uplifting movies and TV shows.
Kieser, who died in 2000, was the host of "Insight," and he also founded the Humanitas Prize to honor film and TV scribes. Through Kieser's connections, "Insight" was able to draw such thesps as Martin Sheen, Patty Duke, Paul Sorvino, Bob Newhart, Cicely Tyson, Louis Gossett Jr. and Ron Howard, as well as established writers, producers and directors.

"God put him in the right place at the right time," says Father Eric Andrews, who now runs Paulist Prods., of Kieser's legacy.
The "Insight" docu is part of a renewed effort at Paulist to ramp up production activity. In the 1970s and '80s, Paulist produced numerous TV movies and the 1989 feature "Romero," starring Raul Julia as the slain archbishop of El Salvador.

Revisiting the history of "Insight" for the docu has been inspirational for the contempo Paulist team, given the wide range of issues and topics -- everything from mental illness to alcoholism to the Cold War -- that the show tackled over more than 250 episodes. The company is also exploring ways to distribute the vintage segs, possibly on DVD or via Web streaming.

Andrews says they're also thinking about remakes and other ways to "gather young actors and actresses and writers to do a half-hour on a topic of interest," he says. "The documentary raises awareness and hopefully opens our minds to what we can do now."



As CatholicTV gears up, other faith-based networks are cautiously optimistic about 3D
By Andrea Domanick -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/14/2011 12:01:00 AM


Like their mainstream peers, many faith-based networks are waiting to see if 3D on TV and on the Web gains momentum. Some of these broadcasters are already producing 3D Web content and teeing up programming for conversion if 3D ends up being worth their wait.

CatholicTV Network is leading the pack with 3DCatholicTV.com. The site hosts 3D videos of some of the channel’s most popular series, including Catholic Destinations, and online extras, like a 3D version of the net’s visit with Pope Benedict XVI. Viewers can request a free pair of 3D glasses from via an online order form. “3D and holographic technology is the next big thing,” says Father Robert Reed, CatholicTV Network president. “However, like HD, it is going to take a while for [3D] to settle into the living room.”

While CatholicTV’s engineering budget is still focused on completing its update to HD, the network plans to allocate resources to its move into on-air 3D programming in the next fiscal year.

Other religious broadcasters are waiting to see if 3D catches on before considering the switch. “We want to learn what others are doing with the technology first so we can better understand how to develop it,” says John Mattiello, director of marketing and affiliate relations for The Word Network. He says TWN hopes to incorporate 3D to showcase its gospel music programming in a way that viewers can feel like they’re right there in the ministries.

CBN CEO Gordon Robertson says that the upcoming animated series Superbook, along with all of CBN’s new content going forward, is designed to be modifi ed for 3D—should household sets make the leap of faith. “Until they figure out a way to get rid of the glasses, I don’t think 3D television is going to catch on big,” he says.

Rev. Eric Andrews, president of faith-based Paulist Productions, is concerned less about the technology than about whether 3D makes sense for religious audiences in the first place. “I don’t know if people want a 3D version of Jesus getting nailed to the cross,” he says. “We’ll use the latest technology if it’s helpful in telling the story. If it is, I don’t think we’d rule [3D] out.”


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Paulist Productions President Featured in LA Business Journal

Check out this article about our company in this week's LA Business Journal:

http://labusinessjournal.com/news/2011/jan/31/spiritual-mission-hollywood/

Just a clarification about the article...  The Lost Valentine came to Paulist Productions before my time, thanks to the efforts of Fr. Frank Desiderio, CSP, then President of Paulist Productions, Barbara Gangi,  VP of Production/Development, and Joseph Kim, then VP for Business Affairs.  Barbara Gangi was Producer on the movie throughout development, production, and post-production phases.   As the head of Paulist Productions at the time of the release, I couldn't be more pleased with all who worked on making this movie such a success and having an opportunity to play a role in the production and promotional phases of this great project!

Lots of Ratings Love for "Valentine"

The scene that made America weep!

We are so proud to announce that The Lost Valentine was a ratings hit this weekend!

Not only was the movie the highest rated show on Sunday night, beating the Pro Bowl on FOX, but it was #3 in the weekly ratings, right behind two editions of American Idol.  As the movie progressed, more viewers joined the broadcast.  The last 30 minutes of the movie, the audience peaked at 15.7 million viewers.  

This was the highest rated Hallmark Hall of Fame movie in four years.  Hats off to Betty White, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and the entire cast for such memorable performances.  Kudos go to the Production Team as well.  Paulist Productions is proud of Producer Barbara Gangi, VP Production/Development, who brought the project to Hallmark and stayed with the creative process throughout.  

To help ensure success, Paulist Productions was very active in reaching out to Faith Based media organizations including the Catholic News Service, EWTN, Catholic TV, Telecare, The Knights of Columbus, Busted Halo on Sirius Digital Radio, Catholic Moms, as well as numerous other evangelical based organizations.  

Finally, we have to thank God for His guiding hand throughout the project.  

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Paulist Productions on NIGHTLINE

Paulist Productions will be featured on this Thursday's NIGHTLINE/ABC.  NIGHTLINE is doing a story on exorcism.  The segment will use excerpts from our documentary in development "Who the Hell is Satan"  and additional interviews shot Friday with Paulist Producer Barbara Gangi and an individual freed from evil.  Depending on the news cycle, the piece may be pushed to Friday, so program your DVRs appropriately!  

Of course you already have The Lost Valentine scheduled, right?

What a week!


Monday, January 24, 2011

Paulist Productions working with Paulist Evangelization Ministries



Paulist Productions is currently videotaping marketing and training video segments for the upcoming parish program Living the Eucharist for its sister ministry Paulist Evangelization Ministries, based in Washington D.C.

The hosts for the English language segments are Paulist Production's President Fr. Eric Andrews, CSP  Wendee Bresee (pictured above).  Local L.A. Pastor Rev. Anthony Gonzalez and Maria Casas host the Spanish language edition.  Many Westside Parishes have graciously opened their doors to our film crew including St. Paul the Apostle (Westwood), St. Sebastian's (West L.A.), University Catholic Center at UCLA, and St. Clement's (Santa Monica).

Living the Eucharist is designed for individuals and faith communities to deepen their Eucharistic Spirituality.  It is scheduled for a Lent 2012 launch in parishes across the United States.

While Paulist Productions is known primarily for Film and Television Projects, it also produces videos for various Paulist Father's projects.  Check out our You Tube Page!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Catholic News Service Review of THE LOST VALENTINE

"The Lost Valentine," Jan. 30, CBS 
By John Mulderig Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- With the first of the baby boomers turning 65 this year, the ranks of their parents -- the children of the Depression and the youthful GIs and Rosie the Riveters of the Second World War -- are rapidly thinning. So perhaps it's an appropriate time for a celebration of the values and ideals cherished by those who have aptly been called the "greatest generation."
"The Lost Valentine" -- a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, produced in association with Paulist Productions -- offers just such a salute. Based on James Michael Pratt's novel, and directed by Darnell Martin, the sweetly romantic, family-oriented drama premieres Sunday, Jan. 30, 9-11 p.m. EST on CBS.
Each Valentine's Day -- her wedding anniversary and the anniversary, a year later, of her husband's departure for service in the Pacific -- Caroline Thomas, touchingly played by the indefatigable Betty White, returns to the railroad station where she saw her courageous and high-minded spouse, Neil (Billy Magnussen), for the last time.
Though he was reported missing in action shortly after the birth of their son a few months later, 65 years on, Neil's ultimate fate remains a mystery.
Assigned to cover Caroline's story as a human interest piece, initially doubtful TV reporter Susan Allison (Jennifer Love Hewitt) rapidly finds herself drawn to the plucky octogenarian and -- more significantly -- to Caroline's biggest fan, her protective grandson, Lucas (Sean Faris).
Susan's feelings for Lucas are complicated, however, by her relationship with longtime boyfriend, Andrew (Will Chase), a globetrotting photographer who, in an early scene, proposes to Susan shortly before departing for his latest journey to distant climes.
The unabashedly old-fashioned teleplay, by Maryann Ridini Spencer and Barton Taney, showcases Caroline's enduring marital love and -- as the circumstances of his last days are gradually uncovered -- Neil's selfless heroism.
As for Susan's dilemma, it pits the modern taste for a lifestyle abundant in space and freedom, typified by the possibilities of marriage to the often-absent Andrew, against the hometown closeness and simplicity offered by Lucas.
If the proceedings occasionally seem over-idealized, this is, nonetheless, that current rarity: quality programming appropriate for all ages. So parents can feel entirely comfortable gathering the clan for a wholesome and inviting stroll back in time to the days of swing music, victory gardens, and demanding commitments -- both personal and patriotic -- fulfilled.
- - -
Mulderig is on the staff of Catholic News Service. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.
END

Press Coverage for The Lost Valentine

The Lost Valentine, our collaboration with the Hallmark Hall of Fame, is getting great news coverage.

Here's an article from the Catholic News Service, that is distributed to all Catholic Newspapers throughout the country:


PAULIST-HALLMARK Jan-13-2011 (790 words) 
Paulist Productions gets co-producer credit on new Hallmark TV movie
By Mark Pattison
Catholic News Service
            WASHINGTON (CNS) - The next "Hallmark Hall of Fame" made-for-television movie will feature a couple of firsts -- a rarity for the venerable TV franchise, which has logged more than 200 such movies over the decades.
            For one thing, Paulist Productions is getting a co-producing credit on "The Lost Valentine," slated to air Sunday, Jan. 30, 9-11 p.m. EST on CBS.
            For another, it will be the first Valentine's Day-themed Hallmark movie. "This is pretty astounding, considering how many valentine cards they sell," mused Paulist Father Eric Andrews, the head of Paulist Productions for the past year and a half.
            Hallmark Productions worked with CBS to air last year's Christmas movie over this past year's Thanksgiving weekend so that Hallmark could devote more time to properly promote "The Lost Valentine."
            The movie stars Betty White as the wife of a World War II soldier who left the home front for the Pacific theater on Valentine's Day -- their first wedding anniversary -- and some months later was reported missing in action. Every Valentine's Day since, White's character has returned to the train station in a stoic vigil to wait for the man who promised to return to her.
            She gets some help in solving the mystery of his disappearance from a TV news reporter played by Jennifer Love Hewitt of "Ghost Whisperer" fame; Hewitt is listed as one of the movie's executive producers.
            The Paulist connection came courtesy of Barbara Gangi, the film's producer and a board member of Catholics in Media Associates.
            "I was waiting for a plane, I went to the airport gift shop, I saw this novel, and it looked like a cute little romance, set in the Forties," Gangi told Catholic News Service from her home in Burbank, Calif. She read it and loved it, but promptly forgot about it.
            "Several years later, someone brought me a script. I thought, 'Gee this sounds familiar,' and sure enough it turns out to be the book that I had read," Gangi said. "I took it to Hallmark. It was the only place I shopped it. ... They loved it. Four years later, it was a process of licensing and contracts, but it finally got made."
            Gangi's partner in the production was Paulist Father Frank Desiderio, Father Andrews' predecessor as head of Paulist Productions. Father Andrews said it was only a matter of timing that his own name is on the closing credits and not his predecessor's.
            But it was also timing that led to the teaming of White and Hewitt to head the cast. White's been on a hot streak unprecedented for many Hollywood octogenarians since the Television Critics Association gave her its lifetime achievement award in July 2009, which led first to a popular Snickers commercial, then a successful Facebook effort to have her guest host "Saturday Night Live." White now co-stars in a hit cable-TV comedy, "Hot in Cleveland."
            "She told her agent, 'I'm not going to do any more movies. I don't want to take the time, and I'm not going out of town,'" Gangi told CNS. "I took it to her agent (and he said), 'She told me: "Don't bring any more scripts." But I'm going to give it to her because it will resonate with her."
            White read the script at her agent's insistence. "I cried it when I read it," she reported, "then I cried the next 10 times I read it. I want to do it, but don't take me out of town too long." The filming schedule in Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tenn., was a compact 25 days.
            The chances of getting Hewitt attached to the project, Gangi said, were "not that great because at the time she was doing 'Ghost Whisperer.' We went back and forth and Betty came on, and Jenny's series was canceled, so it was a matter of all these great forces coming together at once."
            Father Andrews, talking to CNS from Paulist Productions headquarters in Pacific Palisades, Calif., raved about White's performance. "She's known for comedy, but to see her (character) grieve helpfully, to get in touch with her feelings and be able to emote about them, is just incredible," he said.
            "I was a big 'Password' fan, Father Andrews added, referring to the popular daytime game show hosted by White's late husband, Allen Ludden. "The way he presided on television, I picked up some of those traits when I preside at Mass."
            When Father Andrews told this to White on the set, "she teared up and said, 'You don't know how much that means to me. His birthday was a couple of days ago.' She cried. We both cried."
            CNS staff critic John Mulderig gave a hearty endorsement to "The Lost Valentine," calling it "that current rarity: quality programming appropriate for all ages."
END

Monday, January 3, 2011

INSIGHT RETURNS!

Our 50th Anniversary is the perfect time to bring Insight back to television! Fundraising efforts are underway to underwrite a retrospective of this award winning series and its creator, Fr. Bud Kieser. We believe that this documentary will create enthusiasm and support for a new version of the series that will explore the human issues of today.

Helping the Paulist Fathers Keep the Mission Alive

Paulist Productions is currently working with the Paulist Fathers on four projects designed to carry out and promote the Paulist mission.

Living the Eucharist - The Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association (PNCEA), which was founded by the Paulist Fathers in 1977 to equip Catholics to spread the Gospel, has asked us to produce video segments for their new parish-based spiritual renewal program, Living the Eucharist. The program is designed to heighten participants’ experience of the Sunday Eucharist. It will also provide strategies for creating more vibrant liturgies and inviting inactive Catholics home.

Vocation Video – Over Labor Day weekend, a Paulist Production film crew traveled to Washington D.C. to interview Paulist priests and seminarians for a new Paulist vocation video designed especially for the internet and Paulist web site, Paulist.org. Paulist Productions has produced many Paulist vocation films and videos starting with “Fishers of Men” in 1960.

Annual Paulist Appeal & Planned Giving - The Paulist Development Office needed to find new ways of presenting valuable information to potential donors and benefactors and turned to Paulist Productions for help. These Videos will be available in January 2011.