Executive Team

TODD EDWARDS - CHIEF CREATIVE, WRITER/DIRECTOR

TIMOTHY HOOTEN - CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, Producer

KATIE HOOTEN - producer

PRESTON STUTZMAN - producer

Blue Yonder Films

BLUE YONDER FILMS is a group of uniquely visionary, wildly creative and highly driven filmmakers who are dedicated to producing original films that are commercially viable, socially relevant, and artistically inspiring. Founding partner Todd Edwards serves as chief creative while producers Katie Hooten, Preston Stutzman, and producer/COO Timothy Hooten complete the executive team.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Blue Yonder Films’ animated hit Hoodwinked vaulted to $150 million worldwide, catching studios and audiences by surprise with its fresh take on the classic tale of Little Red Riding Hood and making history as the first CG animated feature to be independently produced with a wide theatrical release. The Blue Yonder team was vital to every step of the Hoodwinked process, including writing, producing, directing, casting, editing, character and set design, and song-writing. Released in December 2005 by The Weinstein Company, the low-budget hit stars Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, James Belushi, Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick, and Anthony Anderson. Since Hoodwinked, Blue Yonder has forged ahead on many other animation projects, including the upcoming Hoodwinked II, also contributing significantly on Arthur and the Invisibles and TMNT. Blue Yonder is also producing the animated feature Escape From Planet Earth, with the animated feature Dragons, co-written by Todd Edwards and Peter Bedgood, to follow soon after, both under The Weinstein Co. banner.

Prior to Hoodwinked, Blue Yonder independently financed, produced, and found distribution for the live-action feature Chillicothe, written and directed by Todd Edwards, which premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Immediately after Sundance ‘99, Blue Yonder moved to Los Angeles, intensifying the focus on developing original projects.

With its success in animation, Blue Yonder continues to develop new projects for that genre. Blue Yonder also has many live-action properties at various stages, most recently producing Jeffie Was Here, an indie comedy feature written and directed by Todd Edwards. Produced by Katie Hooten and Timothy Hooten, Jeffie Was Here stars Peter Bedgood, Alexis Raben, Todd Edwards, Cristine Rose, Ken Marino, and Steve Little.

BIO

Todd Edwards (writer/director) is a founding member of Blue Yonder Films. He most recently wrote, scored, and directed his third feature, Jeffie Was Here, an indie comedy in which he also plays the title character, Jeffie. Todd’s first feature Chillicothe premiered in 1999 at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival where it won rave reviews. Todd wrote, directed, and starred in this beautifully conceived and artfully executed film that was shot largely in Tulsa, Oklahoma, utilizing over 90 locations and scores of local production and acting talent. His next major effort was as writer/co-director of Hoodwinked, where he also showcased his skills as a songwriter and musician. Todd wrote nine original songs for the film, including “Great Big World” performed by Anne Hathaway, and “Red is Blue” performed by platinum recording artist Ben Folds.

Since Hoodwinked, in addition to developing and writing several live-action projects, Todd has penned Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil (January 2010) with co-writers Cory Edwards and Tony Leech and Dragons with co-writer Peter Bedgood, both animated features to be distributed by The Weinstein Co. Todd has also recently produced the album “Blick Van Glory: The Search for Quest”, and directed the music videos “The Sophomores” and “Eskimo Love Song”.

KATIE HOOTEN (producer) has worked with Blue Yonder Films both in front and behind the camera since 1995. Most recently, Katie produced the indie comedy feature Jeffie Was Here. Prior to serving as Associate Producer on Hoodwinked, Katie worked on commercials and music videos for various clients, including WGN, MTV, Newline, and Nickelodeon. In 2001, Katie joined the production team at Walt Disney Feature Animation Studios, working on such films as Atlantis, Lilo and Stitch, Spirited Away, and Treasure Planet. Her promotion to the Walt Disney Studios Development Department paired her with Disney’s top directors, producers, and executives on a variety of projects. Just prior to Jeffie Was Here, Katie produced two Blick Van Glory music videos, “The Sophomores” and “Eskimo Love Song”.

PRESTON STUTZMAN (producer) has been with Blue Yonder since its founding in 1995, initially as marketing director and then serving in a host of production capacities. Prior to his current role as producer on the animated features Escape From Planet Earth and Dragons, Preston produced the animated Wobots and Hoodwinked!, the Stacie Orrico music video Genuine, and served as associate producer on the live-action feature Chillicothe. Independently, he produced and edited Uncertain Tomorrow, a documentary that takes the viewer on a journey through a bone marrow/stem cell transplant to attempt to save the life of a leukemia patient, the writer and director of the piece, who happened to be Preston’s brother. This documentary won the President’s Choice Award at the Heartland Film Festival in 2002.

TIMOTHY HOOTEN (COO, producer) has worked with Blue Yonder in various capacities since the company’s inception, providing leadership with infrastructure development as well as serving in production slots ranging from art director to UPM to AD, most recently producing the indie feature Jeffie Was Here. Timothy came to Blue Yonder full-time as COO in 2006 after over a decade of stellar local and national leadership in the areas of civic engagement, community development and higher education, where he demonstrated the ability to turn corporate challenges into lucrative opportunities, advancing partnerships and self-sustaining community development programs and growing his agency exponentially. His experience with asset management, fundraising, grant-procurement, and marketing is accentuated by his diverse production experience with Sony, WGN, MTV, and as writer/director of educational and promotional industrials.