Chad Gervich – Founder, Co-President (A&S, 1992)

Chad Gervich is a writer, producer, and author who has written, developed, and produced shows for 20th Century Fox, ABC, Warner Brothers, Endemol USA, E! Entertainment, Tru TV, Style Network, and The Weinstein Company.  He is also the bestselling author of Small Screen, Big Picture: A Writer’s Guide to the TV Business, and contributes regularly to Daily Variety, Script magazine, Writers Digest, Orange Coast, and several other nationally available publications.

Rich Hull – Co-Founder, Co-President (A&S, 1992)

As an award-winning film and television producer/financier constantly on the leading edge of market trends, Hull quickly proved himself as one the most prolific in the business with collaborations that include virtually every major studio, network and media company.  His 20+ projects, primarily geared toward teen and young-adult audiences, have collectively grossed hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide and include one of the most successful teen movies in history, “She’s All That.”

Paul Young – Director of Film Studies

Paul Young first saw H. R. Pufnstuf: The Movie in an unairconditioned theater in March of 1975, and realized a few moments after being seated that the film merely anthologized old episodes of the TV series. This is probably when he decided to make his living either producing films or complaining about them. Forgetting this lesson, he found to his chagrin that architecture students were expected to design buildings that “stand up,” and consequently received his BA in English at the University of Iowa in 1990. At Iowa, Dudley Andrew’s tutelage in European film history made clear to him that, had Francois Truffaut had to sit through H. R. Pufnstuf: The Movie as a child, he would likely have figured that the French cinema de qualite was just dandy by comparison and might never have launched the French New Wave. While Young neither produces films (much) nor complains about them (all that much) today, he believes that critical analysis and historical research provide a pleasing middle ground. He has lived happily in Nashville, among colleagues he adores, since 2003.

Beth Fortune – VU Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs

Beth Fortune is the vice chancellor for public affairs at Vanderbilt University. She leads the university’s comprehensive communications, government and community initiatives and serves as the chief spokesperson. She joined Vanderbilt University as associate vice chancellor for public affairs in September 2000. In that role, she served as the principal deputy to the vice chancellor for public affairs and oversaw the university’s news and communications functions, including the News Service, Vanderbilt View, Science and Research Communications, Web Communications and Creative Services.

Tiffany Franklin – Assistant Director, Vanderbilt Career Center (1996)

Tiffany works as assistant director of the Vanderbilt Career Center, where she works with Vandy-in-Hollywood to coordinate the summer internship program.

Sam Girgus – Professor, English Department

Sam B. Girgus is professor of English at Vanderbilt and author of seven books on film and literature, most recently Levinas and the Cinema of Redemption: Time, Ethics, and the Feminine. He has taught film at Vanderbilt for two decades including a period when he taught Chad Gervich everything he knows and came to use about being funny.

William M. Akers – Senior Lecturer, Theater Department

A Lifetime Member of the WGA, William Akers has had three feature films produced from his screenplays.  He has written scripts, series television, and documentaries for Overture, MGM, Disney, and Universal Studios, as well as Fox, NBC, ABC, TNN television networks.  He co-produced and shot URIM AND THUMMIM, a feature documentary which screened at the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival.  He teaches screenwriting and filmmaking at Vanderbilt University, does story consulting, and gives writing workshops and seminars around the world.  His bestselling book, Your Screenplay Sucks!, 100 Ways To Make It Great, has a five star rating at Amazon.com.  Currently, he is rewriting a screenplay for White Water Productions in Los Angeles.

Alexandra Gaines – ViH Events Coordinator(A&S, 2007)

Alexandra moved out to Los Angeles just two months after graduating and has worked on such shows as “24″ and “The Cleveland Show.”  She hopes to one day combine her love of animals and television, but until then will continue volunteering with Kitten Rescue and working hard in the entertainment industry.

Andrew Saunders (Peabody, 2005)

Andrew Saunders is an Agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), an entertainment and sports agency based in Los Angeles with offices in Nashville, New York City, London, and Beijing.  In his role at CAA, Saunders works with major brands and their agencies to identify, develop and implement unique branded entertainment programs.  His work includes projects with Cisco Systems, Flip, Toyota and Pepsi as well as integration into top properties including the hit series AMERICAN IDOL and 2010’s SALT starring Angelina Jolie.  Saunders’ work has been featured in Wired Magazine and was highlighted in CAA’s feature in Fast Company Magazine’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2009.

Hayley Dickson (Peabody, 2005)

Hayley Dickson started her career in entertainment as an assistant in the Business and Operations department at Reveille, the independent production company behind such hit shows as “The Office,” “Ugly Betty,” “The Tudors,” “The Biggest Loser” and “MasterChef.”  Reveille was purchased by the Shine Group in 2008 and Hayley has since moved over to Shine International, the international sales and distribution arm where she works in Acquisitions and is in charge of acquiring content from U.S. producers and Networks to distribute to international broadcasters worldwide, while at the same time scouting for scripted and unscripted formats to adapt for local production in the U.S. market.

Brian Seabury (A&S, 1999)

Bryan Seabury is a development executive who has worked as a Vice-President of scripted drama series at CBS, CBS-Studios, Mark Johnson Productions and Susanne Daniels Productions. Past shows he has developed include CBS’s THE GOOD WIFE, NCIS:LOS ANGELES and The CW’s 90210.

Will Lowery

William Lowery runs the literary department of Generate Management in Los Angeles.  Currently working with a group of filmmakers, writers, and actors residing in almost a dozen countries around the globe, Lowery is a regular on the festival circuit and works closely with both the major domestic studios as well as independent financiers to seek out the best solutions to consult Generate clients at the highest level.   As a writer, Lowery has sold two original feature ideas to studios.  At Vanderbilt, Lowery wrote for “The Hustler” and was a varsity football letterman graduating in 2000.

Sam Miller (A&S, 2007)

Sam Miller is one of Vandy-in-Hollywood’s first success stories.  While at VU, he co-wrote and co-produced a VTV half-hour sitcom… which went on to be syndicated nationwide.  Then, after participating in Vandy-in-Hollywood’s first summer internship program, Sam turned his ABC Studios internship into a full-time paid position.  He’s worked in both comedy and drama development, as well as in production on hit shows like “Desperate Housewives.”

Josh Rothstein (A&S, 2003)

Josh Rothstein is Vice President of Development at Double Feature Films.  His credits include EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser.

Kate Varley

Kate works as Director of Short Form Content at The Tennis Channel.

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