The Team
Christopher Angel
Director & Writer
Christopher Angel is a lifelong bird-watcher and graduate of Yale University and the University of Southern California School of Cinema. He won a student Academy Award for his film, “Mr. October,” and was nominated for an Emmy for his work for director James Cameron on the feature documentary “Expedition Bismarck”. He has directed five feature films and recently completed the screenplay adaptation of Thomas Keneally’s (“Schindler’s List”) book about Africa, “To Asmara”. He is currently adapting Stanford Professor Peter Stanksy’s seminal biography of George Orwell as
a feature film screenplay.
Director Statement:
Last December, I read in the national newspapers that a rare snowy owl had arrived in Southern California. I am a lifelong birdwatcher, who finds magic and peace in these amazing small creatures who can fly through the sky.
But I had never seen a snowy owl before. On January 2nd, after a New Year’s bird-watching walk at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, I drove to Cypress with my
11-year-old son to look for the owl. Having been disappointed before by wild animals proving to be impossible to find, I stopped the first person I saw who was carrying a large camera. When I asked for directions to the owl, the man laughed, and said to go around the corner and park and I would see. I followed his directions, to find two hundred people in the street, looking up at the bird on a roof.
The owl was a star. She had transfixed the neighborhood. And she transfixed my son and I.
She was beautiful and inspiring – this powerful predator and visitor from the arctic. Then, a short while after,
I received a phone call from producer Walter Josten,
with whom I had collaborated previously on researching a biopic feature film about John James Audubon. Walter was looking for a filmmaker to create a documentary about the owl. It was kismet!
This documentary is as much about people as it is about the owl. This bird touched an entire community in unexpected ways. We zero in on three residents whose lives were changed by the owl. The owl represents to me why we need to conserve nature and wildlife. It gives us perspective and meaning that can change how we live.
Walter Josten
Producer & Writer
Walter Josten is one of a select group of producers in Hollywood who has been involved in nearly every aspect of film and television development, production, financing, distribution, and international sales, often in the traditional roles of producer or executive producer. He studied art, photography and film at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Post college, Walter began his career as an artist. Shortly after, in 1984, he moved to Southern California and began making films. Walter co-founded Blue Rider Pictures in 1991 with his wife, Patricia. Together, they have produced over 200 films and television productions.
Walter is recognized as an industry pioneer of independent film financing, being among the first to leverage tax incentives, and one of the first to introduce the concept of bridge financing to the independent motion picture community.
Some of Walter’s favorite projects include SoCal SNOWY OWL, which he recently co-produced and co-wrote. The film won the Audience Award for best short documentary at the 2024 Newport Beach Film Festival. Also, he co-produced and co-wrote UNCOMMON KINDNESS, a documentary about Father Damien of Molokai, narrated by Robin Williams, which won a CINE Golden Eagle Award. THE INCREDIBLE MRS. RITCHIE, starring James Caan and Gena Rowlands, garnered Walter an Emmy Award. He won a Telly Award, with his son, Patrick, for producing THE MOSS METHOD, a documentary on former NFL superstar, hall of famer, and current ESPN studio analyst, Randy Moss.
Walter also wrote, and executive produced, the film SILVER WOLF. This Family Channel Premier won the prestigious Star Boy Award at the 18th Oulu International Children’s Film Festival in Oulu, Finland.
“I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to be involved in every aspect of the filmmaking process, from story idea, to script, all the way through to financing, production, and distribution,” Josten remarked. “One reason I enjoy my work so much is that it requires a mix of creative, financial, and business skills. Every day, I’m involved with a full range of creative professionals, lawyers, accountants, entrepreneurs, and financiers. Having played high school football and baseball, I’m convinced that making movies is the ultimate team sport.”
Patricia Josten
Producer, Writer & Vocals
Patricia Josten is a graduate of California State University in California, Pa. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Education, minoring in Theatre & Music, she segued into filmmaking upon co-founding Blue Rider Pictures, with her husband, Walter Josten in 1991.
To date, she has been involved with the development, production, financing, and distribution of over 200 Blue Rider feature films and documentaries. Patricia is especially proud of her recent documentary film, SoCal SNOWY OWL, which she co-produced, co-wrote and sang vocals on the soundtrack.
“The ever changing landscape of the film industry keeps filmmaking more than interesting, It is often challenging, but the reward of entertaining audiences, worldwide, is what keeps the Blue Riders riding.”
Denver Holt
Producer
Denver’s research has been published in many academic journals, he is currently the team leader for Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s Snowy Owl species account, as well as an authority who has been acknowledged by the media, including a cover story for National Geographic Magazine in Dec. 2002 and featured in the New York Times in 2011. His work has been the subject of many television bits on all the major networks, as well as featured on Audubon’s Up-Close series, PBS’s Bird Watch, Disney, and David Attenborough’s Life of Birds, and the film The Magic of the Snowy Owl, among others. His research on Snowy Owls has been showcased on documentaries for National Geographic Explorer, NHK Natural History Unit of Japan, and the Norwegian Broadcasting Company Natural History Unit. His Snowy Owl research has been the focus of the British Broadcasting Company’s (BBC) documentary series, Frozen Earth, a sequel to the highly acclaimed Planet Earth series. In 2011, Denver worked closely with a PBS documentary film crew featuring the breeding ecology of the Snowy Owl at his research site in Barrow, Alaska. Denver has also been the keynote speaker for many major bird festivals in the United States and he gave a TEDxBozeman talk in 2023.
About the Owl Research Institute:
Founded by Denver Holt in 1987, the Owl Research Institute (ORI) stands as one of the most active owl research groups in the world. Their organization is reinvigorating the essence of ‘boots on the ground’ field research. For over 40 years, Denver and the ORI have been dedicated to the pursuit of in-depth and lasting studies that illuminate the enigmatic world of owls and their intricate ecology. While many wildlife biologists have gradually shifted away from fieldwork, ORI continues their determined exploration of owl habitats throughout the entire year.
ORI maintains eight major research studies, some of which have 30 to 40 years of data. Simultaneously, their younger projects, still in their infancy, offer 5 to 10 years of invaluable observations. This long-term research and monitoring allows us to decipher the rhythms of local and area-wide owl population fluctuation, empowering us to drive meaningful conservation efforts and make informed management decisions.
Roy Raush
Producer
When SoCal Snowy Owl arrived in Cypress, Roy was struggling with his father’s passing, but seeing Snowy for the first time reignited Roy’s passion for birdwatching. He went on daily missions to track Snowy’s location and became the point person for rallying the Cypress community around the owl.
Philip Braun
Producer, Writer & Editor
Philip Braun is a documentary filmmaker from New Orleans who graduated as the Top Scholar of the Communication School at Loyola University New Orleans. Early in his career, he sharpened his story-telling skills at The Times-Picayune newspaper and PBS (WLAE). In 2022, his award-winning documentary, I Lived on Parker Avenue, was adapted into a feature film, Lifemark, by the Kendrick Brothers.
Philip has also worked behind the camera on a variety of independent documentaries, including the jazz funeral documentary, City of A Million Dreams, and John Kennedy Toole: The Omega Point.