About the Filmmakers
Photo credit: David Puu
CITIZEN McCAW has been produced pro bono by four Santa Barbara residents with long film and arts careers of various types, each of whom felt that the story is important to the Santa Barbara community and its historical record, as well as to the national debate about media ownership and journalistic ethics.
The producers of CITIZEN McCAW are Rod Lathim, Charles Minsky, Peter Seaman and Sam Tyler. Brent Sumner of Studio 8 in Santa Barbara is the principal cinematographer and editor. Jesse Rhodes contributes music to the film.
Together, the producers have almost 140 years of award-winning experience in various aspects of dramatic, television, and feature film production.
Rod Lathim
ROD LATHIM is a fourth generation Santa Barbaran. He enjoys embracing his life long goal of utilizing the arts to enlighten and affect social change. He attended school in Santa Barbara public schools and then the University of Kansas. Shortly after attending KU he founded and served as Artistic Director of Access Theatre from 1979-1996. He developed the company from a grass-roots community theatre, to a professional, award-winning, international touring company.
A few of the awards for Lathim’s artistic and civic work include the Princess Grace Foundation USA Outstanding Achievement Award presented by Frank Sinatra and the Royal Family of Monaco, Maxwell House’s America’s 100 Heroes, Santa Barbara Magazine’s Big Canvas Award, multiple Media Access and Drama-Logue Awards. In 1998, Stage Directions Magazine honored Access Theatre as one of Ten Theatres Nationally who have “Made a Difference.”
An award-winning documentary featuring Lathim, titled Speaking Through Walls, was directed and produced by Anthony Edwards (NBC’s ER) in 1989. Storms and Illuminations: 18 Years of Access Theatre by Cynthia Wisehart has been published by Emily Publications, and was released in May of 1997.
As a freelance director, Rod has worked at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura overseeing Equity productions of The Boys Next Door and Children of a Lesser God.
Rod is the President of the Board of Directors and served as Project Manager and Development Director for the creation of the Marjorie Luke Theatre in Santa Barbara. This award-winning, historic landmark theatre was completed in October of 2003 and has become Santa Barbara’s most talked about new performance venue, being utilized by over 140 area arts and educational organizations.
Rod is a freelance consultant and has worked with non-profit organizations and foundations. Lathim has written original material for performances at conferences, business seminars, workshops and benefit events for such organizations as IBM, The National Endowment for the Arts, VSAarts, The National Association of Theatre and Accessibility, The Santa Barbara Foundation, The ELA Foundation, The Foundation Round Table, The Dream Foundation and Life Chronicles. Rod is dedicated to nurturing local culture and artists that live and work in Santa Barbara. He has served on the Boards of The Lobero Theatre, Center Stage Theater, Boxtales Theatre Company, and served as a Santa Barbara County Arts Commissioner.
Lathim penned two editions of the book The Spirit of the Big Yellow House - a history of Summerland’s founding family. Rod is a member of the Editorial Board for a quarterly national journal on arts accessibility published by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Charles Minksy
CHARLES MINKSY was born in Philadelphia and raised in both Philadelphia and New York. He spent his early years on the East Coast, moving to Los Angeles when his parents moved the family in time for his senior year of high school in Los Angeles. He finished high school at Beverly Hills High School, and then attended UCLA, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
He began his working career as a Social Worker with the Department of Social Services, but he lasted less than a year. He worked at several jobs, when two years later, he began his career in the film business. He started working on low budget films, finding his way into the camera department and beginning his long career there. He started as a film loader and has worked as a camera assistant, camera operator and finally a Director of Photography. He has also worked sporadically as a director, both in commercials and television.
His career as a director of Photography has spanned 34 years, working in commercials, television and feature films. Some of his credits include “Pretty Woman”, “The Producers”, “You, Me and Dupree”, as well as smaller films like “Guenivere” and “Keeping Up With The Steins”. His latest television credit is “The Russell Girl,” for Hallmark Hall of Fame. His career has taken him all over the United States and Canada, as well as the rest of the world.
Mr. Minsky moved to the Santa Barbara area 15 years ago and now lives in downtown Santa Barbara. He has three children, his youngest still attending Santa Barbara High School. He has also mentored with cinematography students in the Brooks Institute 35mm project for the past four years and lectured at USC.
Peter Seaman
PETER S. SEAMAN, a long-time Santa Barbara area resident, has spent a 30 year career in the entertainment industry as a writer, producer and director. He has numerous motion picture credits, along with his writing/producing partner Jeffrey Price, including the 2006 Paramount release Last Holiday, which they both wrote and executive produced, the 2000 adaptation of Dr. Suess’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas, as well as writing the 1988 ground-breaking, live action/ animation film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, Who Framed Roger Rabbit has been credited with helping reinvigorate the animation industry and went on to win four Academy Awards. Seaman (and Price) received Best Adapted Screenplay nominations from both the Writers Guild of America and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in 1988 for their work on Roger Rabbit. They also received a BAFTA Childrens’ Award nomination for their work on How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
The writing pair’s most recent credit was on Shrek the Third, which ended 2007 as the #2 movie at the domestic box office.
Seaman has worked in television as well. In 1992-93, he created and executive produced eight episodes of the critically hailed, Nielsen challenged series Johnny Bago for CBS-TV. He also worked on HBO’s Tales From The Crypt anthology, writing two episodes and directing My Brother’s Keeper, for which he earned a CableACE Award nomination for Best Direction.
Peter is a graduate of Harvard University and originally from Lake Forest, Illinois. For the last 20 years, he and his wife have made their home in Carpinteria, California where they have raised two daughters. He has been an active supporter of local causes, particularly those concerning the environment and the arts. He served on the Board of Directors of Rod Lathim’s Access Theatre along with Sam Tyler.
Seaman is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Director’s Guild and the Writer’s Guild of America.
Sam Tyler
SAM TYLER has been involved in creating and producing television programs since his pioneering documentary In Search of Excellence in 1985. A few years after the release of the film, Tyler began a second career as a speaker, using his film clips and stories to inspire audiences in all kinds of organizations.
Good to Great, a documentary based on Jim Collins’ best-selling book, is Tyler’s most recent work. Funded by Verizon, the program is a look at the principles of greatness in action at organizations as diverse as Southwest Airlines, The Dallas Police Department, Starbucks, and an elementary school in Yuma, Arizona. The program is airing nationwide on Public Television in 2007 and 2008.
Prior to becoming an independent producer, Tyler was VP for Development at WGBH Boston, one of PBS’ flagship stations, where he was involved in funding programs such as Julia Child’s Kitchen, This Old House, NOVA, and Frontline.
Tyler is also responsible for 20 video and film projects including the launch of The Harvard Business School Video series and other PBS films, including The Excellence Files and The Entrepreneurial Revolution. He recently produced a profile of Lance Armstrong.
Tyler is a graduate of Princeton University. He is married and has five children. He has run 5 marathons, skis and snowboards, and serves on the board of a major foundation in Santa Barbara.
Brent Sumner
Educated at Brooks Institute of Photography, Brent started as an editor in the reality and documentary realm. His early credits include ABC’s The Bachelor and WB’s The Living Edge. He moved on to a documentary series which took him around the world to interview the likes of Ben Kingsley, Janet Leigh, and Michael Caine to name a few.
Highlights of his career were shooting and directing a pilot for HBO entitled Stardust and receiving a Gold medal at the International Film Awards for both cinematography and editing of a documentary featuring Robert Duvall. He has since opened Studio 8 and currently works out of Santa Barbara.
Jesse Rhodes
JESSE RHODES has been involved with music his entire life. Born into a musical family, in 1998 he made a record for Warner Brothers as a singer/songwriter/guitarist (Stegosaurus). Since 2000, he has been focused on composing for film and television. Raised and based in Santa Barbara, his credits include The Learning Channel, The Discovery Channel, National Geographic Explorer, ESPN, Women's Entertainment Network, Bravo, MTV, numerous film trailers, and various independent films.