Producer/Director/Writer - Daniel Karslake

For six years, Daniel Karslake has been an award-winning producer for the highly acclaimed newsmagazine, “In the Life,” which airs nationally on PBS in over 120 markets. Recognition for his outstanding work for the show, which has centered primarily on issues regarding religion and homosexuality, includes an Emmy nomination from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, as well as praise from GLAAD and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.

From 2001 to mid-2002, Mr. Karslake served as Supervising Producer for ITL, overseeing all aspects of production for the news magazine. In the fall of 2002, Mr. Karslake partnered with WNET in New York to produce the pilot for “What’s Next With Andrew Shapiro” for PBS.

Mr. Karslake is also founding partner of The Atticus Group, Inc., a New York-based production company dedicated to reinventing traditional art forms and promoting discussion across a wide range of contemporary issues. The Atticus Group was represented on Broadway in 2003 by Baz Luhrmann's Tony Award-winning production of Puccini s LA BOHEME. Atticus also co-produced the innovative revival of BIG RIVER with the Roundabout Theatre Company last season.

Prior to his producing career, Mr. Karslake was a fundraising and development executive, raising money for organizations such as The Riverside Church in New York, City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute in Los Angeles, and the library system for University of Southern California where he attended the USC School of Cinema-Television. He graduated cum laude from Duke University with a B.A. in Public Policy Studies.


Co-Producer/Editor - Nancy Kennedy

Nancy Kennedy is a New York based filmmaker/editor who has edited a number of award-winning films including Sundance Grand Jury Winner WHY WE FIGHT (2005) and Sundance winners THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT and RIDING THE RAILS. She has also co-directed and edited several independent documentaries, most recently, WHO'S ON FIRST (baseball lands in Greece), and BLUEGRASS JOURNEY (chronicles of the bluegrass music explosion). Her many editing credits include work at all the major networks on series such as American Experience, Great Performances, Frontline, American Masters, National Geographic, Discovery Specials, and more. She is currently directing a film about feminism, SHE'S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE'S ANGRY.


Co-Producer - Helen R. Mendoza

Ms. Mendoza has broad experience writing and producing. She has worked in a variety of media including film and television, theater, music and the internet. Ms. Mendoza began her career as a commercial producer supervising commercial and corporate video productions for clients such as AT&T, Gillette, and Parker Brothers. The entertainment industry brought Ms. Mendoza to Los Angeles, where she worked on TV and feature productions for 20th Century Fox, and Turner Studios, NBC and Lifetime Networks. In 1995, Ms. Mendoza developed, wrote and produced Gay Daze, the first gay and lesbian soap opera on the internet. She went on to create Outbox.com, a gay and lesbian-specific search engine and community portal website. Ms. Mendoza also trained at Walt Disney Pictures/Hollywood Pictures as an assistant to a Vice-President of Production where she had the opportunity to gain experience in feature film development. Ms. Mendoza is a founding member and producer of Vox Femina Los Angeles, an acclaimed women's choir based in Los Angeles. She has written and produced their concerts and also produced the choir’s first Compact Disc, entitled Taking Shape. Ms. Mendoza graduated from Boston University with a degree in Film and Television.


Executive Producer - Bruce Bastian

Bruce Wayne Bastian was born in Twin Falls, Idaho, on March 23, 1948. He was the fifth of six children in a conservative, Mormon family, and lived in Twin Falls until moving to Provo, Utah in 1966 to attend Brigham Young University. He received a BA in Music Education and a MA in Computer Science from BYU. After leaving BYU in 1978, Mr. Bastian and his faculty advisor, Alan Ashton, decided to take a chance and started a small software company offering word processing software on mini computers. In 1983, soon after the IBM Personal Computer was announced, Mr. Ashton and Mr. Bastian rewrote their word processing product to run in the PC world. That product was named WordPerfect.

Until the mid 90's, Mr. Bastian served as Chairman of WordPerfect Corporation and also directly led all international operations of the company. WordPerfect became the best-selling word processor in several regions of the world as well as the USA.

Since the merger of WordPerfect and NOVELL Corporation in 1994, Bastian has spent an increasing amount of time devoted to charitable causes and philanthropy. Bastian’s foresight and generosity have provided more personal and financial support to local Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender community organizations than any other single individual. He is also a major donor for several national GLBT organizations.
His foundation, the B.W. Bastian Foundation has adopted a policy of only supporting organizations that wholeheartedly embrace the principle of equality. Bastian funding places a strong commitment on programs and organizations that benefit, encourage, and preserve the rights of individuals, and promote equality for the GLBT community.

Bastian puts much of his energy into politics and promoting equality. Bruce has four sons, of whom he is very proud and protective, and he resides at his primary residence in Orem where he lives with his schnauzers, Lucas and Max.


Executive Producer - Michael Huffington

Michael Huffington has a distinguished career as a dedicated public servant, successful business executive and philanthropist whose charitable activities span the globe. As a public servant, he was at the forefront of efforts to improve educational and healthcare opportunities for children. In 1998, he was the co-chairman of a successful California ballot initiative to raise the price of cigarettes by 50 cents a pack, providing hundreds of millions dollars of tax revenue to be used every year to improve healthcare for children under the age of six. He served as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995. And prior to that was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Negotiations Policy by President Reagan. He is the recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.

From 1991 to 2000 he was the co-owner of Crest Films Limited, a full-service film production company known for its Emmy-Award winning commercials, documentaries, adventure films and work on behalf of non-profit organizations. Prior to that he was Vice Chairman of the Huffington Corporation, a family-owned international energy company, where he oversaw the computer, finance, real estate and tax departments. He was co-founder of the international merchant bank Simmons & Huffington, Inc., and is currently a partner of the Gerson International Law Group.

Mr. Huffington’s philanthropic activities and commitments are varied. A partial list of those organizations that he has supported financially, and on which he has served on the Board of Directors, include: the Aspen Institute, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Culver Educational Foundation, Georgetown University, the Greek Orthodox Archdioceses of America, the Music Center of Los Angeles, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Salzburg Seminar in Salzburg, Austria and the University of California at Santa Barbara.

He graduated from Harvard Business School in 1972 with an MBA in Finance, and he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering from Stanford University in 1970. He currently lives in Boston.


Executive Producer - Robin Voss

Robin Voss has a varied background as an executive in such industries as personal care/cosmetics, fund-raising, e-commerce, and entertainment. Her expertise in management, marketing, sales and human resource motivation, has culminated into a new focus, the making of FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.

Motivated by the divisiveness, and discrimination that religion and scripture often propagate (not only worldwide but in her own back yard), this wife, mother, and grandmother of three from Orange County, California, is producing this project to encourage a more informed kind of faith and new understanding, dispelling the many myths surrounding homosexuality, and promoting an ideology of inclusiveness.


Executive Producer - Robert Greenbaum

Robert Greenbaum is a community leader in the Southern California desert and is firmly committed to the Jewish concept of tikkun olam, meaning to help to repair the world. Prior to Robert's entry into the film production, he owned a corporate team development company that focused on helping individuals draw on their own potential to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. In addition to team building work, he has been actively involved in selling real estate in the Palm Springs area. Divorced for four years with three children, Robert realizes the importance of helping to break down the barriers of stereotypes and judgments. In coming out himself, he has seen first hand how religion continues to keep so many in "the Closet." His commitment to this film is another example of how Robert continues his work in helping to repair the world and in encouraging all people to realize the gift each brings to humanity.


Executive Producer - Keith Lewis

Keith Lewis is founder and President of both The Morgan Agency and K2 Productions. For the past 15 years, Morgan has serviced the growing Real People commercial market for both television and print. The agency has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and CNN. Using his corporate success to enable philanthropic outreach, The Morgan Agency has raised over $3 million dollars and increased awareness for people living with HIV/AIDS through their Proof Positive Division. This work earned Mr. Lewis the Humanitarian of the Year Award from Samaritan Village. Other recipients of the award include the late Princess Diana and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. K2 Productions is the independent producer of MISS CALIFORNIA USA® and MISS CALIFORNIA TEEN USA®. As the executive director, Mr. Lewis is responsible for the titleholders and their preparation for MISS USA® and MISS TEEN USA®. Both pageants are owned by the MISS UNIVERSE Organization, a Donald Trump and NBC partnership. He is a series regular, co-starring opposite Mo’Nique, in the upcoming VH1 series “Charm School” due to air sometime in the spring of 2007. Mr. Lewis attended the State University of New York Albany and Lynchburg College for Business Administration. He also completed the Executive Management program at USC. A life long Baptist, Mr. Lewis is the also the father of two children.


Co-Executive Producer  – Karen A. Ellis

Karen Ellis was born to devout Southern Baptist and Episcopalian parents in a small town in West Virginia. She was brought up in both religions and, as a result, didn’t know what to believe. Upon graduating from high school, she moved to Washington, D. C., to earn a living and find her way in life. Along the way, she decided to get more education and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from George Mason University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Virginia. Still trying to find her niche, she decided to pursue a law degree from the Columbus School of Law while working as a research analyst at a Washington law firm. Graduating in 1979, she stayed with that firm for five years before accepting a position with a Newport Beach law firm as a public law attorney. She retired from that firm as a partner at the end of 2000. In 2006 Karen came out of retirement and went to work with her life partner, Sandra Hartness, in Sandra’s tax-deferred exchange business and real estate related practice.

While pursuing her various career objectives, Karen has also been supportive of charitable activities, both financially and as a volunteer. Most notably, she has served on the Board of Directors of the AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County since 1988 where she has seen first-hand the discrimination faced by AIDS patients in Orange County and their struggle to obtain basic medical services to combat this disease.

Karen has become associated with “For the Bible Tells Me So” because she believes the film can and will open the hearts and minds of people whose beliefs are founded in the Bible and provide them with an alternative to a literal interpretation of the Bible.


Co-Executive Producer – Sandra Hartness

Sandra Hartness was born in Jacksonville, FL into a Southern Baptist family who always seemed to be on the move during most of her childhood. While the frequent moves seemed disruptive, it exposed her to different cultures and religions. While she hails from Georgia, since her family spent more time there than anywhere else, she has vivid memories of the contrasting cultures from times spent in Florida, Texas and New Orleans. The exposure to the cultural and religious differences has had lasting impact. “It certainly became quite clear to me that different cultures and religious have different interpretations of the Bible and the underlying cultures seem to drive the manner in which the Bible is interpreted.”

Sandra has spent most of her professional career in the field of real estate development and real estate related businesses. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Georgia Southern University and her Masters in Taxation from Golden Gate University. In 1966, at the age of 26, she was named the Director of the Mission Inn, a national historic monument and hotel in Riverside, CA. While she views this as her first “fixer upper”, she has developed and invested in numerous real estate projects including Western Neuro Care Center, a coma hospital, in Tustin, CA. She is currently President of several real estate related businesses.

Sandra, and her life partner, Karen Ellis, devote a large portion of their time as donors and volunteers to charitable and educational activities. Sandra currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Human Rights Campaign, a national political and educational organization striving for equal rights and non-discrimination for the GLBT community. She believes the issues raised in this movie are extremely pertinent not only to the GLBT community, but to everyone. She is a strong advocate that education is the best way to fight inequality and discrimination. Her life experiences have led her to conclude that discrimination, in any form and against anyone, is the result of fear and ignorance and always diminish society, while inclusiveness and acceptance break through fear, leading to an expanding and flourishing society.


Co-Executive Producer – Michael A. Leppen

Michael A. Leppen has given leadership and financial support to a large variety of non-profit organizations in the Chicago area and elsewhere, many of them serving sexual-minority communities. His contributions have been made with a focus on the positive effects of the actual work being done. Michael co-chaired the 2002 and 2004 gala committee for Equality Illinois, an organization promoting legislation to protect the rights of LGBT individuals in Illinois, and was a major force in the Illinois Non-Discrimination Bill signed into law in January 2005. He is a former board member and now advisor to the Bishop Anderson House, an inner-city hospital ministry program.

He has been a generous contributor and consultant to Chicago’s Lesbian Community Cancer Project. For the past eight years, he has helped fight against AIDS by serving on the Dance for Life benefit committee, which he co-chaired for a year. Other current Chicago involvements include Episcopal Charities and Community Services’ Bishop Anderson House and Chase House, The Center on Halsted, and the Chicago Gay Games.In Palm Springs, he is also active with Gay Associated Youth and is a supporter/advisor to the AIDS Assistance Program and Desert AIDS Project. In New York, he helps to advise “In the Life”, the national television news magazine covering gay and lesbian issues and culture.

In past years, Leppen has also co-chaired AIDS Foundation of Chicago’s “Not Just Song and Dance” benefit, co-chaired and served on a board for Bonaventure House’s annual “ Jubilate” benefit concerts, and co-chaired Episcopal Charities’ dinner dance. He is currently a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago senior board and a member of the Shirley and Patrick Ryan Center board for the Rising Star Concerts. Leppen’s efforts have been honored by awards from the Chicago NAMES Project, Human Rights Campaign, About Face Theatre, Equality Illinois, Desert AIDS Project, and Bishop Anderson House.