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Brief Biographies
of Latter-day Saint and/or Utah
Film Personalities

I


Biographical sketches are arranged alphabetically on separate pages, by last name.
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Maria Ilieva
Latter-day Saint. Made the short experimental film "Of 2 Rectangles" (2003, 4 minutes), which competed in the 3rd LDS Film Festival (Jan. 2004) and was described thus: "A girl rewrites the story of the creation. Then her story comes to life."
Robert B. Ingebretsen
Latter-day Saint. Died 2 March 2003 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also credited as: Robert Ingebretsen. Invented the technology that translated analog sound into a digital format -- a discovery that eventually led to the development of compact discs (CDs and DVDs). In 1999 he received an Academy Award for his contributions to the entertainment industry. Bio from obituary article in Salt Lake Tribune (http://www.sltrib.com/2003/mar/03072003/utah/35959.asp):
As a precocious teenager in the 1960s, Robert B. Ingebretsen built robots and primitive computers that could talk. As a University of Utah graduate student, Ingebretsen restored scratchy old recordings by opera great Enrico Caruso by transferring musical sounds into computer codes and back again. But it was his pioneering work in digital sound for which Ingebretsen, who was 54 when he died of heart failure Sunday at his Salt Lake City home, received an Academy Award in 1999. Ingebretsen and his mentor, former University of Utah professor Thomas Stockham, invented technology that translated analog sound into a digital format -- a discovery that eventually led to the development of compact discs. "He was a genius in every sense of the word," said younger brother Richard Ingebretsen. "When I was a kid we were always going to award ceremonies for my brother." A graduate computer science student at the U. in the early 1970s, Ingebretsen studied under Stockham, an expert in sound enhancement hired in 1973 to scrutinize President Nixon's secret White House tapes. After graduation in 1975, Ingebretsen joined Stockham at Soundstream Inc., a Utah company where Ingebretsen wrote the software for the first practical digital audio editing system. Soundstream later branched into film and briefly operated an editing studio at a Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles, directly upstairs from the "Mork and Mindy" set. Ingebretsen commuted from Utah to Los Angeles, where he supervised the new digital recording for the 1982 re-release of Disney's "Fantasia." He and Stockham also made what is believed to be the first digital film, a 20-second portrait of a human hand. But Soundstream lost out to consumer electronics giants Sony and Philips in the race to produce CDs and players. Ingebretsen, Stockham and hardware engineer Bruce Rothaar never patented the digital audio editing technology they created, costing them untold millions. Ingebretsen "had the patent papers on his desk but never filmed them," his brother said. Ingebretsen spent the next 15 years in near anonymity in Salt Lake City, founding a series of small high-tech companies. Then in 1998, he received a letter from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences informing him that he and Stockham had won Scientific and Engineering awards for their work. The next year Ingebretsen, in a rented tux, accepted the gold-plated award -- a cousin of the better-known Oscar statuette -- during a ceremony at a Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel. Ingebretsen also helped pioneer satellite communications technology. In recent years, he worked for a Centerville-based startup that develops software for hand-held computers. But the mild-mannered father of five will always be best known for his achievements almost 30 years ago. Services will be today at 2 p.m. at the LDS Ensign Fourth Ward, Ninth Avenue and K Street in Salt Lake City.

Jason Todd Ipson
Filmmaker from Salt Lake City, Utah. Graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a Doctorate of Medicine. General Surgery Residency, Tufts University, New England Medical Center, 1999. Master of Fine Arts, Cinema from the USC Cinema-TV, Peter Stark Producing Program, 2001. Interested in filmaking since he was a student at Highland High School. Director of the short film "Peeping Tom" (2002), which competed at the Slamdunk Film Festival in Utah. Director of the short film "A Modern Vampire" (2001). Webpage: http://www.peepingtom-usc.com/jasonbio.htm
Richard Irvine
Born 10 April 1910, Salt Lake City. Died 30 March 1976, Los Angeles, California. Art director. Received an Academy Award nomination for "Sundown" (1941). Art director for over 30 feature film, including: Taxi (1953); Vicki (1953); For Heaven's Sake (1950); The Gunfighter (1950); Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949); Apartment for Peggy (1948); Chicken Every Sunday (1948); Miracle on 34th Street (1947); The Three Caballeros (1945); No Place for a Lady (1943); House Across the Bay (1940); Eternally Yours (1939).
Janet Irick
Latter-day Saint. Had a small role as the mother at the lake in the Feature Films For Families video "Secret of Treasure Mountain" (1993). The 1st Assistant Director and Associate Producer of "Secret of Treasure Mountain" was Janet Irick's husband Jeff T. Miller, who would go on to be the producer of a number of feature films and IMAX documentaries.
Tim Irwin
Latter-day Saint. Film student at Brigham Young University. Director of the documentary "Watson" (2001) and the short films "2 NE 211" and "B.Y. Shoe."
Gary Ishmael
Latter-day Saint. Born in Leicester, England on September 11, 1965. Currently living in Citrus Heights (Roseville), California. Served a mission in the West Indies. Graduate of BYU Film School. Worked on various commercial, educational and non-profit projects in Utah, including "The Race" by DH Groberg (with fellow BYU Film graduate Geoff Groberg). Also served as the Supervising Producer on the short-lived "Kids Talk" program, produced independently, and aired on the PAX-TV affiliate in Salt Lake City. Gary currently writes, directs, shoots and produces for Government Access Cable Channel 11, Roseville's city-owned station. In addition to personally directing approximately 6-8 hours of live television per month, he has been the principal writer (as well as director, co-AVID editor and contributing videographer) for the monthly half-hour current events magazine program, "FYI News." Gary also produces Public Service Announcements and provides audiovisual support for employees of the City of Roseville. Gary and his wife Christine have been married since January 2000, and they have five children.
Jeff Isom
Latter-day Saint. Resident of Providence, Utah. Producer of the Church-financed "Fourth Witness: The Mary Whitmer Story" (1996), available on video.
Phil Isom
Also credited as: Phil Isoms. Videographer (along with Grant Williams) for the 86-min. KBYU program "Letting God Have His Way": A Conversation about C.S. Lewis (1999). Camera operator for the KBYU documentary "The Call of Story" (2002). Won a gold medal (along with 10 co-recipients) for "Best Multi-Faceted Promotional Campaign" in the 1998 Utah Broadcasters Association Awards (The "UBEE" Awards) for the "Smell of the Playoffs" campaign he helped create for KSL.
Bob Ivanjack
Lives in St. George, Utah. Sometimes credited as: Bob 'Dolly Bob' Ivanjack; Robert Ivanjack. Credits as dolly grip include: Stuart Little (1999); Jackie Brown (1997); Sydney (1996); From Dusk Till Dawn (1996); Four Rooms (1995); The Haunting of Seacliff Inn (1994); Natural Selection (1994); 12:01 (1993). Key grip for "Nightwatch" (1998). Best boy grip for "Excessive Force II: Force on Force" (1995), "Philadelphia Experiment II" (1993) and "Suburban Commando" (1991).
J. Scott Iverson
Latter-day Saint. Writer/director of "A Kurt Bestor Christmas" (1994), and documentaries, including "M*A*S*H Bash," "Native AND American," "A Tapestry of Judaism: An Historical Portrait" (1984) and "Let Your Light So Shine." Co-writer (along with Michael McLean and Allan Henderson) of the story treatment for the classic film "Mr. Krueger's Christmas" (1980), produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Screenwriter for "Celebrate the Miracles," "Children's Miracle Network Telethon," "George to George: 200 Years" (President Geroge Bush Inaugural), "A Gift of Time." Producer of the videos "Is There Life After Housework" (1986), "The Farley Family Reunion," "Pony Tales" (1998) and the PBS special "An Easter Gift of Music." Producer/director of the regional Emmy award-winning TV series "ZiNj-TV" (1994-1996) and also "Music and the Spoken Word" (featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). Writer for PBS' "WonderWorks Family Classics" TV series. Company: JSI Creative. Website: www.jsicreative.com
Stephen Ivey
Non-LDS. Lives in Los Angeles, California, where he works as an actor. Previously was an actor in Utah. Had the lead role as Joseph Smith in "Seer" (Arcadian Films). Lead role as a homeles man in "The Pie," a student final project at Vassar College. Appeared in a supporting role in the commercial "Utah Alive!" (Kovo Productions). Lead role as Henry in Macbeth (Plan-B Theatre Co). Lead role as Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha, Westminster College. Supporting roles in Big River (Pioneer Theatre Co), As You Like It (Pioneer Theatre Co.) and Troilus and Cressida (Powerhouse Theatre Co.). Voiceover work playing various characters on Monday Radio Theatre, WVKR 93.1 FM, Poughkeepsie, NY.


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