It’s the beginning of a new era in the faith-based entertainment industry: the official launch of The Faith in Entertainment Guild! Membership includes two Guild Gatherings a year plus MUCH more.
RSVP HERECheck out the schedule and speakers for our first official Guild Gathering May 7-8 at Lifeway Resources headquarters in Brentwood, Tenn.
View Schedule View SpeakersAmong the key topics: the state of the faith-film world. We have heard you say you want to know more about how faith films are performing and what movies are coming up the rest of 2024 into 2025. We have experts with information ready to share with you at the Gathering.
Not only will you get the inside scoop, you’ll also hear from ...
Best of all, as a Faith in Entertainment Guild member, there is no charge for Guild Gatherings. (Membership is required to attend Guild Gatherings.)
RSVP HERE Become A Member
Lori McCreary is the CEO of Revelations Entertainment, a film and television production company she and actor Morgan Freeman founded in 1996 with a mission to produce entertainment that reveals truth. The duo first worked together on McCreary's critically acclaimed Bopha! (Freeman’s directorial debut) in 1992.
McCreary’s film and television credits include the upcoming Rendezvous with Rama (to be directed by Dune’s Denis Villeneuve); award-winning Invictus; 5 Flights Up; the groundbreaking documentary film about cancer, The C Word; and the CBS’s hit television series Madam Secretary starring Téa Leoni, for which she was Executive Producer for 120 episodes. She is an Executive Producer of the highest-rated series in National Geographic Channel history, The Story of God, as well as the expansion series The Story of Us. McCreary also served as Executive Producer of Discovery Science’s Emmy-nominated series Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, exploring how science pushes the boundaries of our understanding of the universe.
McCreary is a unique combination: part film producer, part UCLA-trained computer scientist. She maintains a passionate, ongoing dialogue with filmmakers, talent, and executives to stay ahead of technology, and works to change the landscape for diversity in the industry. She is President Emeritus of the Producers Guild of America (PGA), founder of the PGA’s Motion Picture Technology Committee, served as a Co-Chair of the PGA Awards, and now chairs the PGA’s One Guild committee. McCreary sits on the Board of Trustees for the American Film Institute, is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and has been profiled by The Wall Street Journal and featured in The Hollywood Reporter’s “Most Powerful Women in Hollywood” issues.
Rich Peluso is the Executive Vice President and Head of AFFIRM Films, AFFIRM Television, and AFFIRM Originals, divisions of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) focused on the development, production, acquisition, distribution, and marketing of faith-based and inspirational films and television content.
AFFIRM content spans a wide range of genres and budgets and enjoy the various global distribution platforms at SPE including theatrical, television, streaming, non-theatrical exhibition, and home entertainment. Peluso reports to Sanford Panitch, President, Columbia Pictures; and Josh Greenstein, President, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.
Peluso works with writers, directors, and independent producers at various stages of production from concept and script, through production and completion, to produce and distribute quality feature film and television entertainment that inspires, uplifts, challenges, and captivates.
His studio head and executive credits include HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, WAR ROOM, MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN, A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, SOUL SURFER, THE STAR, RISEN, OVERCOMER, COURAGEOUS, FIREPROOF, WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL, PAUL APOSTLE OF CHRIST, MOMS’ NIGHT OUT, JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM, ALL SAINTS, and BIG GEORGE FOREMAN. Upcoming projects include the new Kendrick Brother’s film, THE FORGE, releasing in theaters worldwide August 2024.
Peluso has led AFFIRM Films since its inception in 2007 and launched AFFIRM Television in January 2020 and AFFIRM Originals in 2021. Over the last 17 years AFFIRM Films has earned 6 coveted A+ CinemaScore© ratings and exceeded $650 million in worldwide box-office, making it the largest and most successful faith-based film studio in the world.
Prior to joining Sony Pictures Entertainment, Peluso served 15 years at EMI Christian Music Group/EMI Music (now known as Capitol Christian/Universal Music) as the president of EMI CMG. He was also president of The Safe Side Company, a children’s entertainment company founded by Julie Clark (Founder of The Baby Einstein Company) and John Walsh (Host of America’s Most Wanted).
He lives in Leiper’s Fork, TN with his wife and commutes to his office at Sony Pictures in Culver City, Calif.
Jesse Hutch was born in the same location as the Marvel hero Wolverine. This could be nothing more than a fun fact. He drowned when he was 19, fell from a 25-foot rock quarry while free climbing in middle school, had his stomach cut open by a barbed-wire fence when he was 10, and moved across the country (solo) when he was 21 to pursue acting—the first time he was ever on an airplane. Hutch says he’s still working on his “23-year overnight success story.”
You may have seen him in classics such as Freddy vs Jason or The Butterfly Effect. Maybe you saw him in the 1960’s as Jimmy Riley on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand (American Dreams). Dark Angel, Kyle XY, Smallville, Arrow, Almost Human, Supernatural, Batwoman, and Project Blue Book are a few of his television roles. Keep an eye out for his latest role in Homestead, a present-day, post-apocalyptic series from Angel Studios. Hutch is now a partner at a film-development company, Third Coast Film, based out of Nashville. When asked what his best role has been, his response is: “My best role of all time is that of husband and father. I believe that giving your life for others is one of the greatest gifts you can strive for. Turns out this is also the best acting class you will ever take: life.”
His performances range from drama to action to comedy and back again. We are always in a state of mystery as to what his next role will be. His ability to be extremely grounded allows depth, yet he can be funny, charming, dangerous, and even scary at times. He can play many roles with believability. His stunt ability is backed by a Navy Seal regiment style of training. One of the unique aspects of Hutch’s acting is his ability to listen. This may be a lost art these days; however, Hutch commands the screen regardless of whether he is speaking or listening. As a final note, his social media presence is fun, genuine, and family friendly.
Bob Elder is an industry leader in Faith-Based Entertainment who has been navigating the transformative media marketplace for more than three decades. The experience applied from his arduous career continues to strengthen his impact on the landscape of Christian media today. Bob founded Collide Media Group in 2016 with a mission to “elevate media that inspires a deeper relationship with Christ.” Collide continues to grow, recently adding distribution, marketing services, and church exhibition to the group. This creates the opportunity for Bob to serve by using his marketplace aptitude for missional impact on our culture.
Ben Howard has been living at the crossroads of art, commerce, and faith for more than 30 years.
Ben brings his 30+ years of experience in the entertainment business to help creatively gifted people exercise those gifts in a way that can build an ongoing business actively engaged in helping people find hope and meaning through storytelling. He has spent a great deal of time working on the broken investment model that results in undercapitalized artists/filmmakers and a resulting lack of faith-friendly content being released into our culture, and investors who oftentimes are one-and-done in the media world. His vision is to be a catalyst in connecting creative people with investors in long-term, mutually beneficial relationships that increase the impact of faith-connected storytelling worldwide.
Ben is currently working with The Wonder Project as this new entity gets off the ground. Wonder is dedicated to telling stories that restore faith in things worth believing in. Additionally, he serves as Senior Advisor at the Impact Foundation, having joined in 2022 to bring greater expertise to their Entertainment and Media investing practice. Impact is actively involved in putting charitable capital to work in Kingdom businesses. Ben is also CEO of THIRD COAST CONTENT, a media company based in Nashville that develops and produces film and television projects with a goal of telling stories that inspire people to hope and finding meaning in life. And Ben is a partner with Dennis and Laura Quaid in Bonniedale Films.
Ben’s previous stints include Sony-owned Provident Films (Kendrick Brothers, Erwin Brothers) for 11 years, Big Idea Productions (VeggieTales) for 7 years, and Reunion Records for 4 years. He has degrees from Vanderbilt University (MBA) and University of Alabama (BS Accounting). Ben and his wife Gwen live in Brentwood, Tenn.
Barry Landis is the President of Pivot Music, an innovative digital-only record label that produces music for movies; Executive Director of The Briner Institute, a non-profit think tank dedicated to helping young people influence culture; the Founding Partner of the Faith in Entertainment Guild, a networking gathering of more than 4000 people working in faith-based storytelling; and the co-founder of the Ribbow Media Group, a digital marketing firm that worked on movies such as Jesus Revolution (Lionsgate/Kingdom Story), Paul, Apostle of Christ (Sony AFFIRM), The Shack (Lionsgate), Hacksaw Ridge (Summit Entertainment), War Room (AFFIRM / Sony TriStar), Woodlawn (Pure Flix) and more than 100 others. Before Ribbow, Barry was a partner in WTA, which was later acquired by K-Love, and led the marketing campaign for the theatrical launch of the first Pure Flix theatrical movie, God’s Not Dead, which earned more than $63 million at the box office.
He is the former Associate Publisher of Howard Books/Simon & Schuster, where he published both fiction and nonfiction trade books, including 5 New York Times #1 books with authors including Dave Ramsey, the Robertson family of Duck Dynasty fame, and Karen Kingsbury. A Warner Bros. Records employee for 20 years, he was President of Word/Curb Records, where he launched POD and Plus One to multiple platinum albums and led the company in a remarkable financial turnaround by reestablishing one of the world’s leading country music artists, Randy Travis, to prominence with the Country Music Song of The Year in 2003, “Three Wooden Crosses.” Christian Radio/Retail Weekly Magazine called him one of the Top 50 Most Influential People in America and Worship Leader Magazine selected him one of the 20 Most Influential Voices in Christian Music. During his career, his strategies have been responsible for the sale of more than $100 million worth of music, home videos, books, and theatrical ticket sales.
He served on the board of the Nashville Chapter of NARAS (Grammys) for nine years. He has he has worked with award-winning music producers Quincy Jones, David Foster, Maxx Martin, Rudy Perez, Chris Farren, Kyle Lehning, and Rodney Jerkins and has more than 25 Gold/Platinum sales awards from artists with whom he has worked. (See his music credits.)
He is on the faculty of Belmont University in Nashville where he teaches courses on Motion Pictures Marketing & Distribution as well as Record Company Operations. He began teaching his “Christianity in the Entertainment Industry” course started there in 2000 and it continues to today. He has been honored by two of the three universities where he holds degrees. In 2002 he was given the Outstanding Alumnus Award by Western Kentucky University where he received his master’s degree. In 2005, he was presented the Medallion Alumni Award from Mt. Vernon Nazarene University for his Outstanding Achievement in the field of Entertainment. In the book-publishing world, he was a contributor to Devotional Ventures (Regal Press, 2006); editor of What We Want to Say to Grads (David C Cook, 2009); author of Get Wisdom (Briner Press, May 2019); and in 2024, he became the publisher of Roaring Lambs.