Governance

Dallas Jenkins is our Chief Creative Officer and a member of our board of directors. Since 2000, Mr. Jenkins has served as the president of Jenkins Entertainment and is primarily responsible for the oversight of the production of all films and videos produced by Jenkins Entertainment. Mr. Jenkins is also a film writer who has worked in Hollywood for nearly two decades, creating films for Warner Brothers, Lionsgate, Hallmark Channel, PureFlix and Universal. Mr. Jenkins has created several faith-based films, such as Midnight Clear, What If…, Though None Go With Me and The Resurrection of Gavin Stone. Mr. Jenkins is the son of celebrated Christian author Jerry B. Jenkins (the creator of The Left Behind Series and The Jesus Chronicles Series). Mr. Jenkins graduated from Northwestern College with a bachelor’s degree in Bible and Communications.

Derral Eves is our Chief Strategy Officer and a member of our board of directors. Since January 2006, Mr. Eves has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Creatus, LLC. Mr. Eves is the creator of VidSummit, the leading professional conference for social media creators. Mr. Eves is one of the world’s top YouTube and online video marketing experts. The content on Mr. Eves’ distribution channels have received over 24 billion video views on Youtube and over 9 billion views on Facebook. Mr. Eves is also the mentor of some of the biggest and most impactful YouTube and social media stars. He has been featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, ESPN, FORBES, AdWeek, Christians Today, World Religion News, and several other media outlets. He was recently featured in an article published by Forbes as #4 on the list of “20 Must Watch YouTube Channels That Will Change Your Business.” Mr. Eves graduated from Southern Utah University with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Public Relations and a minor in Spanish.

Brad Pelo serves as the President of the Company. Mr. Pelo is a seasoned business executive having served as co-founder, president or CEO of Ancestry.com, Folio (Microsoft), NextPage (Proofpoint),I.TV(DirecTV) and Radiant Studios. Prior to his appointment as President of the Company, Mr. Pelo served as an Executive Producer of The Chosen since August 2021. Previously, Mr. Pelo was Chief Distribution Officer at Angel Studios from October 2020 to August 2021. From May 2018 to February 2020, Mr. Pelo was President of Radiant, a portfolio of web properties and apps that engage daily with faith and family-based audiences totaling over 147 million users. In the film and television world he was executive producer of The Legend of Johnny Lingo (MGM), Outlaw Trail and Forever Strong as well as an annual telecast for the Pentagon Channel, Stadium of Fire. He serves on charitable boards that support the arts and leadership development.

JD Larsen is our Chief Finance Officer. Mr. Larsen has a broad range of experience working with organizations from technology start-ups to fortune 500 companies both private and public, most recently, from November 2021 to November 2022, as VP of Finance and Operations for Driven Technologies, a start-up focused on cyber security and network modernization. Prior to that, Mr. Larsen spent 10 years, from January 2012 to November 2021, at Presidio Networked Solutions, a $4 billion dollar technology company, where he held various executive level positions throughout his tenure, most notably Division CFO for Presidio’s largest division. Prior to that, Mr. Larsen spent six years at Marriott Vacations Worldwide and assisted in the successful tax-free spin-off from Marriott International as independently traded company. Prior to that, Mr. Larsen worked for the Walt Disney Company as a key leader in Disney’s highly selective Management Audit Organization as well as other finance roles where he worked with numerous operating segments, including Studio Entertainment, to optimize financial operations both domestically and internationally. He started his career working for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Pittsburgh, PA as a Certified Public Accountant assisting clients through various public offerings and SEC reporting issues. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in accounting from Grove City College.

Kyle Young is our Executive Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer. He leads distribution and international for the Company across platform partnerships, global expansion, and international audience connection. From August 2012 to July 2022, Mr. Young worked at a firm he founded and led called Tiny Horse, an award-winning entertainment production and marketing company that sold to Team Whistle in 2020, overseeing partnerships and network growth from Charlotte NC. Mr. Young previously led the launch and growth of Halogen TV, a millennial-focused cable network subsequently sold to Participant Media in 2012. Prior to this, Mr. Young led INSP’s development of their international cable network across 80 countries. Having worked with with media companies across the U.S. and EMEA, Mr. Young has extensive experience in entertainment, marketing, and corporate finance.

David Stidham serves as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel. Prior to working for The Chosen, he served at RightNow Media, which is a B2B faith-based streaming platform that serves churches, businesses, schools, and non-profit ministries around the world, from October 2017 to June 2023 as the General Counsel & Director of Licensing. During his time at RightNow Media, he negotiated and closed well over 1,000 licensing deals and served on the Executive Leadership Team. Prior to joining RightNow Media, Mr. Stidhamspent from January 2016 to October 2017 serving as an Assistant District Attorney in Dallas, TX, which,at the time, was the 8th largest DA’s office in the country. He prosecuted and oversaw a wide range of cases in the misdemeanor and felony divisions. Mr. Stidham holds a BBA and MBA from Harding University, a JD from New England Law Boston, and graduate certificate in Negotiation Mastery from the Harvard Business School Online.

Adam Swerdlow serves as our Vice President of Operations. From April 2011 to March 2019, Mr. Swerdlow served as a Financial Advisor at Northwestern Mutual. During his tenure at Northwestern Mutual he accomplished many goals including achieving million dollar round table (MDRT) and other numerous company and industry accolades. Mr. Swerdlow was also responsible for recruiting, building and managing teams of Financial Advisors in his respective offices. Mr. Swerdlow left Northwestern Mutual in March 2019 to practice as an Independent Financial Advisor and also co-founded The Financial Advisors Alliance, a coaching and consulting firm for Financial Advisors. In January 2020 The Financial Advisors Alliance was acquired by Model FA where Mr. Swerdlow continued to serve as a consultant until April 2022. Mr. Swerdlow not only brings a wealth of knowledge from his near decade as a Financial Advisor, but also has extensive experience in business development, operations and management. Mr. Swerdlow graduated from University of Massachusetts-Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and a minor in Film.

Robert Starnes is our Vice President of Product Distribution & Licensing. Mr. Starnes has served as an executive in the licensing, product distribution space for more than 30 years. From January 2008 to February 2022, Mr. Starnes was a partner at Brentwood Studios. His career began in retail at Target, where he served as one of the youngest operations executive in their history. Building on his time at Target, Mr. Starnes went on to open a chain of children’s retail stores which won the Playthings Magazine award for “Best Up and Coming Toy Retailers of the 90’s” (FAO Schwarz was the co-winner). Mr. Starnes went on to oversee stores for Lemstone Christian Bookstores and then served as VP of Licensing and Publishing at Big Idea VeggieTales before opening Brentwood Studios with former COO of VeggieTales Terry Pefanis and Brock Starnes. Serving as the Senior partner he oversaw three divisions of the worldwide brands in consulting, publishing, and production for more than 13 years. Mr. Starnes is known as the key licensing and distribution executive on products with a Biblical worldview.

Katherine Warnock is our Vice President of Original Content. She began working with the Company in May of 2021 as a Producer with Angel Studios and joined the Chosen as a full time employee in September 2021. From March 2016 to July 2020, Ms. Warnock has a background in strategic content, marketing, and branding-based leadership spanning media, fashion, and social enterprise. Previously head of faith and family content at MGM Studios, Ms. Warnock helped to steer growth by 985% to a 24 million-plus audience, averaging 1.4 billion organic video views yearly. A dual resident of America and the UK, Ms. Warnock has worked with elite brands from Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, and Sony to Ford, Aerie, and Gillette with a goal of positively affecting culture through purposeful, anchored, mission-driven media.

Jeremiah Smith serves as a Vice President and Marketing Director of the Company. Mr. Smith has worked in marketing at scale in three distinct industries. As a young pastor in New England, he cut his marketing teeth as a consultant for Purpose-Driven Ministries and the Willow Creek Association. Then, as a content strategist and producer for multiple global brands, his work appeared in over 20 languages across print, digital, and television. Most recently, Mr. Smith was responsible for brand and creative across Walmart communications, including two of their largest branding efforts in company history.

Cris Doornbos is a member of our board of directors. Since February 2022, Mr. Doornbos has served as Chief Executive Officer and founder of Leadership Shaping LLC, a company focused on helping CEOs improve performance by transforming their organization’s culture, leadership, and governance. Mr. Doornbos is a 39-year veteran in the publishing, media, and educational spaces of music, books and curriculum. From September 2005 to August 2021, Mr. Doornbos was CEO of David C. Cook, a nonprofit Christian publisher based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, successfully re-imagining, re-investing and re-inventing the company’s three different business units of music, books, and curriculum on a global scale. From 1997 to 2005, Mr. Doornbos was Executive Vice President at Zondervan Publishing, an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he developed global strategies for growth. He has also served as Board Chairman for Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), President of the Church Music Publishers Association (CMPA), and as Board Chair for Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) for the Southern Colorado region, as well as a member of the FCA State Board of Colorado. Mr. Doornbos previously served as a committee member of The Advisory Committee for the Economic Development in Colorado Springs. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Calvin University.

Matt Rearden is a member of board of directors. He is an experienced attorney and Chief Operations Executive. Mr. Rearden has served as Chief Operating Officer for Maxwell Leadership, Inc, a global provider of leadership training and development, since October 2021. From January 2018 to October 2022, Mr. Rearden served as Chief Operating Officer for Four Star Homes, a real estate sales and brokerage company. From 2010 to 2018, Mr. Rearden held various positions with SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, Inc., including Sr. Business Development Officer, VP of Business Affairs, and Assistant General Counsel. Between 2001 and 2010, Mr. Rearden held several positions with International Speedway Corporation, including Managing Associate General Counsel and Corporate Counsel. He holds a Juris Doctorate from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Science in finance from Oral Roberts University, where he also serves on the Board of Trustees.

Brooke Asiatico is a member of our board of directors. She is a practicing attorney with significant expertise in the not-for-profit, tax-exempt organizations sector. Ms. Asiatico currently serves as Managing Partner for Asiatico & Associates, PLLC, a firm she founded in 2006. Ms. Asiatico and her firm serve as General or Special Counsel to organizations of all sizes, including many of the largest non-profit, tax-exempt corporations in the United States, and their interests throughout the world. Formerly, she was a Partner at Brewer, Sr., Asiatico & Associates, LLP from 2004 - 2006. She holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law (2003) and a Bachelor of Science in Government and Politics from The University of Texas at Dallas (2000).

David Bagheri is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Bagheri is a social and business entrepreneur. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Hillsong Music and Invorto LLC, the largest music export from Australia in the Christian Music Industry, with over 25 years of releasing albums resulting in 10 that have gone platinum and a Grammy Award in 2018. Since November 2019, Mr. Bagheri also serves as a non-executive Director of Lind Motor Group, a family owned and operated automotive retailer since 1992. From September 2017 to June 2019, Mr. Bagheri was Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Precision Tech, Inc. a Workforce Management Platform was launched in 2018 as a one-system approach to back-office technology. From May 2013 to June 2019, Mr. Bagheri held several positions with Precision Global Consulting, including Managing Director and Director of International Business. From 2010-2013, Mr. Bagheri was the National Development Manager for Many Rivers Microfinance, a social enterprise in Australia providing microenterprise support to Indigenous and other Australians. From 2005-2010 Mr. Bagheri was a Centre Manager at Hillsong CityCare, a social welfare organization working in Sydney.

Dallas Jenkins is our Chief Creative Officer and a member of our board of directors. Since 2000, Mr. Jenkins has served as the president of Jenkins Entertainment and is primarily responsible for the oversight of the production of all films and videos produced by Jenkins Entertainment. Mr. Jenkins is also a film writer who has worked in Hollywood for nearly two decades, creating films for Warner Brothers, Lionsgate, Hallmark Channel, PureFlix and Universal. Mr. Jenkins has created several faith-based films, such as Midnight Clear, What If…, Though None Go With Me and The Resurrection of Gavin Stone. Mr. Jenkins is the son of celebrated Christian author Jerry B. Jenkins (the creator of The Left Behind Series and The Jesus Chronicles Series). Mr. Jenkins graduated from Northwestern College with a bachelor’s degree in Bible and Communications.

Derral Eves is our Chief Strategy Officer and a member of our board of directors. Since January 2006, Mr. Eves has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Creatus, LLC. Mr. Eves is the creator of VidSummit, the leading professional conference for social media creators. Mr. Eves is one of the world’s top YouTube and online video marketing experts. The content on Mr. Eves’ distribution channels have received over 24 billion video views on Youtube and over 9 billion views on Facebook. Mr. Eves is also the mentor of some of the biggest and most impactful YouTube and social media stars. He has been featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, ESPN, FORBES, AdWeek, Christians Today, World Religion News, and several other media outlets. He was recently featured in an article published by Forbes as #4 on the list of “20 Must Watch YouTube Channels That Will Change Your Business.” Mr. Eves graduated from Southern Utah University with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Public Relations and a minor in Spanish.