Sonny Sandoval

Sonny Sandoval, lead singer of the multi-platinum selling rock band P.O.D. was awarded the Briner Impact Award at a ceremony at the Biola Media Conference held on the 21st Century Fox lot.

"Sonny has lived Bob's ideals in the field of rock music," said Mark Joseph, co-creator of the Briner Award. "He's a great example to young people of how far hard work and a commitment to excellence can take you."

"I know Bob would be pleased to have a man of Sonny's accomplishments receiving this award," noted Briner's widow Marty who also serves on the awards committee. "But more importantly he'd be proud of the kind of character Sonny so obviously exhibits."

Kim Lawton

Kim Lawton is an award-winning reporter, producer, writer and editor who has worked in broadcast and print media covering religion, ethics, and culture.

Lawton received the Robert Briner Impact Award at the 2015 Biola Media Conference.

She is Managing Editor and Correspondent for the highly-acclaimed national public television program “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly,” where she oversees news coverage and appears as a regular on-air correspondent. She also provides exclusive content for program’s award-winning website.

Lawton is a frequent commentator on issues of faith and spirituality, appearing on outlets including MSNBC, CNN and the BBC. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications including THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS and THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER.

In addition to the Briner Impact Award, Lawton has received many awards for her work, including Wilbur Awards in 2012 and 2010; a 2011 Gracie Award; “Best Television Reporting” awards from the Religion News Writers Association in 2010, 2009, 2007 and 2003; the 2008 Gold Medal in the New York Festival’s TV Broadcasting Awards; and “Excellence in Media” Angel Awards in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Mark Zoradi

In 1992, Zoradi was plucked from Buena Vista Television to set up a stand-alone international theatrical marketing and distribution organization named Buena Vista International. Under his leadership as president, BVI shattered records by earning more than $1 billion at the international box-office for 12 consecutive years, generating $16.8 billion from 1995-2006. Following these achievements, Zoradi then rose to the top, assuming his post as President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group in 2006. Zoradi left Disney in late 2009.

Howard Kazanjian

Howard Kazanjian has been associated with the film industry as a producer for more than 25 years. He has worked as an Assistant Director with such legends as Alfred Hitchcock, Clint Eastwood, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Wise, Elia Kazan, Joshua Logan, and Billy Wilder. While vice president of production for Lucas Films, Ltd. for seven years, Kazanjian produced two of the highest grossing films of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Return of the Jedi. In addition to winning an Emmy for Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark, his films have received a half dozen Oscars and more than a dozen Oscar nominations.

In addition to his film and television success, Howard is also an author. His works include a biography of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans titled The Cowboy and the Seniorita. A graduate of the film school at USC, he is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the Television Academy of Arts and Science, and was appointed to the California Film Commission.

Al Kasha

Al Kasha has reached the top of every field that he has lent his talents to: as a writer, producer, composer, motivational speaker and executive working in theatre, film, television, home video, music publishing, and recording.

Mr. Kasha is one of those rare artists who, as a composer/lyricist, has had hit records over the last five decades, starting in the sixties and continuing on to the seventies, eighties, nineties and into the present, ranging from Elvis Presley to Aretha Franklin to Helen Reddy to Sherrie Austin to Donna Summer.

He has been awarded two Oscars and had two Academy Award nominations for his critically acclaimed work in films. His first Academy Award for Best Song was for "The Morning After" from The Poseidon Adventure, and his second for "We May Never Love Like This Again" from The Towering Inferno. Two additional nominations came from the Live-Action Animated Walt Disney classic Pete's Dragon. He also received Tony nominations for his work on Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and the musical, David Copperfield. In addition, he has received two Grammy nominations, an Emmy, four Golden Globe nominations and the coveted People's Choice award.

Ken Wales

Veteran filmmaker Ken Wales was the Executive Producer of the critically acclaimed and award-winning CBS Television series, Christy. But prior to that success, Kens fifteen-year partnership with director Blake Edwards, produced many memorable films including The Tamarind Seed and The Wild Rovers. He also served as associate producer on many feature films including Darling Lili with Julie Andrews, The Great Race with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, and The Party and Revenge of the Pink Panther, both starring Peter Sellers.

Wales co-produced the ABC 8 hour miniseries, Emmy nominated and Golden Globe winner John Steinbeck's East of Eden, starring Jane Seymour, and was associate producer of the first season of Cagney and Lacey. He was Vice President of Production for Walt Disney Pictures and has served as production supervisor and consultant for many other features.

Kens long running career as a producer extends itself to the 2006 theatrically released film Amazing Grace, based on the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce, directed by Michael Apted, starring Ioan Gruffudd and Albert Finney. Ken is currently preparing the shooting scripts for the sequel to Chariots of Fire and C.S. Lewis The Great Divorce.

Phil Vischer

Phil Vischer exemplifies Bob Briner's worthy aspirations. He has given millions of children and adults enduring characters like Bob The Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, Junior Asparagus and others. Along the way he has nurtured godly character and principles through these beloved vegetables, an array of memorable animation, while demonstrating professionalism, excellence and a steadfast faith in the midst of sometimes trying circumstances.

Phil Vischer made his first animated film when he was nine years old. After a brief stint in Bible College, Phil struck out on his own, looking for a way to integrate his faith with his dream of filmmaking. This quest led him to a tomato and a cucumber. The year was 1991, and Phil was a newly married 25 year-old with no financial backing and no idea how his vegetables would ever see the light of day. Today, almost 50 million VeggieTales videos have been purchased and Phil's faith-filled stories can be found in 1/3 of all American homes with young children.

Although Phil's original company, Big Idea Productions, collapsed in bankruptcy in 2003, Phil continues some involvement with VeggieTales' new owner Big Idea, Inc. while actively developing new ways to integrate faith and storytelling through his new company, Jellyfish Labs. Phil captured the breathtaking rise and heartbreaking fall of Big Idea Productions in the book Me, Myself & Bob - recently published by Thomas Nelson.

Vischer joins a stellar group of past honorees, which has included Touched By An Angel producer Martha Williamson, X-Men producer Ralph Winter, Steve McEveetey, Producer of Braveheart and The Passion of The Christ, ABC News Senior producer Jody Hassett, Jars of Clay singer Dan Haseltine, Chicago Tribune Editor Lou Carlozo, author critic Steve Turner and others.

Vischer was chosen by a panel of Bob Briner's friends, which includes write/producer Mark Joseph, musician/dproducer/director Steve Taylor, columnist Terry Mattingly, music executive Barry Landis, musician Charlie Peacock, his widow Marty Briner and Dr. John Mark Reynolds of Biola's Torrey Honors Institute

Stephen McEveety

Producer Steve McEveety exemplifies Bob Briners lofty ideals. He has given filmgoers good and enduring things like Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ. He has demonstrated professionalism, excellence and a steadfast faith in an array of memorable projects.

Steve McEveety had been making the kinds of movies that Bob Briner dreamed might someday be made in 1993 when he wrote his book Roaring Lambs, said Mark Joseph a friend of the late Briner and member of the Briner Impact Award committee. Briner spoke often about the need to be excellent and to take ones beliefs and life experienes into the public square. This is exactly what Steve has done.

Through Icon Productions, McEveety produced acclaimed films like What Women Want, Payback, Anna Karenina, Immortal Beloved, The Man Without A Face and Braveheart, which won five Academy Awards. He also served as producer for The Passion of The Christ, Paparazzi, We Were Soldiers , 187 and Airborne, which he also wrote.

Steve executive produced the upcoming feature, Bella, which won the audience award at the 2006 Toronto Film Fest. He is currently in pre-production on The Monkey Trial. McEveety recently formed The Mpower Company, which is involved in all aspects of the arts including film, TV, radio, cell phones and the Internet.

McEveety joins a stellar group of past honorees which has included Touched By An Angel producer Martha Williamson, X-Men producer Ralph Winter, ABC News Senior producer Jody Hassett, Jars of Clay singer Dan Haseltine, Chicago Tribune Assistant Editor Lou Carlozo, author and rock critic Steve Turner and others. Steve McEveety was chosen by a panel which includes Dr. John Mark Reynolds, Mark Joseph, Bob Briners widow Marty, record producer and film director Steve Taylor, columnist Terry Mattingly, and music executive Barry Landis.

Ralph Winter

The original plan was seminary and full-time ministry. Yet somehow, a job overseeing training videos for the Broadway department stores evolved into supervising visual effects on the Star Trek movies. Ralph Winters accidental career is a tribute to excellence, perseverance, and character.

The autographed movie posters that line his office are more than a tribute to boffo box office. They express the appreciation Ralph has earned by being wise, frugal, and conscientious. Hollywoods elite thank him because he has been a calming presence amidst high stakes storms, an adult amidst children.

He is a class act. From vintage wines to fine cigars, Ralph exudes taste and style. He walks with the confidence that he first carried onto the basketball court. He stands above his competition, yet demonstrates such a willingness to serve others and put the team first.

He has faced tough choices. He has been willing to admit mistakes and put family before projects. Ralph has given (sometimes too) graciously to those who have asked, from serving on numerous boards to church search committees. He has leveraged his Rolodex for the sake of others, offering so many aspiring filmmakers a helping hand. No one has given back more to the Christian community in Hollywood. In fact, no one has produced or ministered with more grace and good will than Ralph Winter, the embodiment of the Robert Briner Impact Award.

On behalf of the countless people Ralph has mentored, encouraged and aided, we are pleased to say, Thank you!

Louis Carlozo

Louis Carlozo, was the former assistant editor at the Chicago Tribune. He now teaches Reporting & Writing and was advisor of the student newspaper The Phoenix for several years. In Spring 2008 he also taught a course in arts and entertainment writing in the Journalism program.

Carlozo graduated from Rutgers University, Camden, N.J., with a B.A. in English. He graduated as a Henry Rutgers Scholar and member of Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society.

When asked about his teaching philosophy he said, Tap your passion, explaining, that anyone can write if they get in touch with what they love.

Steve Taylor

Steve Taylor has blazed a trail across the recording industry, helping to define, refine, and satirize Contemporary Christian music. He brings profound wisdom and restless creativity to his evolving roles as musician, album producer, and record label executive and now filmmaker.

Steve is one of the true mavericks--creating groundbreaking music like (I Want to be a Clone, Meltdown, I Predict 1990), leading acclaimed bands like Chagall Guevara, and producing best-selling albums by the Newsboys and Sixpence None the Richer. He combined artistic taste and business acumen in creating Squint Records, home to Burlap to Cashmere, Chevelle, PFR and L.A. Symphony. For the third act of his varied career, Steve has recently directed his first feature film, SECOND CHANCE, starring Michael W. Smith.

Steve summarized the ethos of the Biola Media Conference in his liner notes for the Roaring Lambs CD he produced as a tribute to author, Bob Briner:

"This record is a sampling of artists who have...answered the call to pursue excellence in their craft, to willingly enter the 'marketplace of ideas', and to let the light of God shine uniquely

through their own lives and individual expression." your own text.

Jody Hassett Sanchez

Jody is president of Pointy Shoe Productions (PSP), a documentary and long-form production company that explores issues of faith and culture. She was named a Senior Fellow of the Trinity Forum in 2005.

Before becoming a filmmaker, Jody spent seventeen years in network television, most recently at ABC. She covered religion, culture, and education for ABCs World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, as well as filing stories for Nightline.

Prior to ABC News, Jody traveled the globe with CNN for almost twelve years. As the State Department producer covering Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, she reported from Mongolia one week and a refugee camp in Macedonia the next.

Jody was a senior producer of CNNs series on the legacy of the Cold War and was an arts reporter for CNN International. Her honors include an Edward R. Murrow Award, a National Emmy Award, USC Getty Annenburg Fellowship for Journalism in the Arts, and Journalistes en Europe Fellowship.

A graduate of Smith College and a native Cape Codder, Jody lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband George Sanchez. Her web site is jodyhassettsanchez.com.

Michael Ramirez

Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Ramirez is a Senior Editor and the Editorial Cartoonist for Investor's Business Daily. Ramirez combines an encyclopedic knowledge pf the news with a captivating drawing style to create consistently outstanding cartoons. "Editorial cartoons should be smart and substantive, provocative and informative," he says. "They should stir passions and deep emotions." Ramirez says, "Editorial cartoon should be the catalyst for thought and frankly speaking, if you can make politicians think, that is an accomplishment itself."

A regular contributor to USA Today and a regular guest on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS Television, Michael Ramirez's work is seen world-wide with a distribution of over four hundred and fifty newspapers and magazines through Copley News Service. He has been on CNN, CNN International, BBC Television, and BBC Radio and is a highly acclaimed international speaker. His work is reprinted in such publications as The New York Times, the New York Post, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, US News and World Report, and is featured on the websites of Townhall.com and DennisMillerRadio.com.

Michael Ramirez cartoons appear daily on the pages of Investor's Business Daily and in color at IBDeditorials.com/cartoons.

Martha Williamson

As Executive Producer of the hit CBS drama Touched By An Angel, which is now in its fifth season, and Promised Land, which also starts its successful third season, Martha Williamson is only the second woman to solely executive produce two hour-long dramas simultaneously on U.S. network television.

With Touched By An Angel, Williamson's impact on television and, in particular, the dramatic genre, is immeasurable. According to the Los Angeles Times, which profiled her in an extensive Sunday magazine cover story, she is the force behind the uncommon hour-long series...giving hersomething in common with Steven Bochco, David E. Kelley, Aaron Spelling and Chris Carter." Under her direction, the series was nominated for an Emmy in the "President's Award" category. Williamson herself has been honored with such pre-eminent awards as the Templeton Prize, the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith's Deborah Award, the Catholics in Media Associates Award, the Covenant Award, the Excellence in Media Award, the Gabriel Award and the Swiss American Faith and Values Award. Most recently, she received the prestigious "Nova Award" from the Producers Guild of America.

Williamson began her career in television in 1984, writing for musical variety programs for Carol Burnett, Joan Rivers, Walt Disney Television and others; she later became writer and story editor on the long-running comedy series The Facts of Life. Williamson also was producer and writer on the comedy series The Family Man, with Gregory Harrison, and Jack's Place, starring Hal Linden. Prior to Touched By An Angel, she was Co-Executive Producer of the acclaimed CBS Network drama Under One Roof, which starred James Earl Jones.

She created Promised Land, as a spin-off of Touched By An Angel. The drama, following the adventures of a family crossing the country in search of a better life for themselves and the people they encounter, received critical praise (including an Emmy for Guest Actress Cloris Leachman) in its second season and achieved bona fide rating success. Promised Land stars Gerald McRaney, Wendy Phillips and Celeste HoIm.

A native of Denver, Colorado, Williamson received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College. She and her husband, series Co-Executive Producer Jon Andersen, currently reside in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City Utah, where both series are filmed.

Daniel Haseltine

Daniel Haseltine is an American singer best known for being the lead vocalist for the group Jars of Clay. Dan is also the founder of the non-profit organization, Blood:Water Mission, where he currently sits as part of the board of directors. He is a regular writer and speaker about worship music, HIV/AIDS in Africa, social justice and church reform. Haseltine is also a regular columnist for Relevant Magazine, and has contributed articles to Moody, CCM Magazine, Christianity Today, World Vision, Campus Life and Beliefnet.

With aspirations towards becoming a singer, Haseltine attended Greenville College to hone his vocal and songwriting skills. While there, he attended a local concert and was noticed by pianist and fellow Greenville College student Charlie Lowell, who noticed Haseltine for wearing a Toad the Wet Sprocket T-shirt. The two became friends and began musical group Jars of Clay with guitarist Stephen Mason. Later the trio enlisted guitarist Matt Bronleewe, who was with the group for a short while before leaving as the group found some success and all left college before graduating in 1995, however Bronleewe wanted to complete his studies at the college. He was then replaced by Matt Odmark from Rochester, New York.

In 2001, Haseltine and the rest of Jars of Clay were awarded honorary graduations from Greenville College due to their demonstrated understanding of their craft. Haseltine has collaborated with other artists and authors in books such as "The Revolution: A Field Manual for Changing Your World" (2006) and "I.Am.Relevant: A Generation Impacting Their World With Faith" (2002).

In September 2007, Haseltine released his first children's book entitled, "The One, the Only Magnificent Me".

The Robert Briner Impact Award