Who We Are –
We’re people who care deeply about our students and their successes. At Compass, you’re family. You’re part of our production family. You’re part of the success stories who graduate, walk out our doors and take part in the Compass community of professionals making marks in the business of entertainment.
We know that filmmakers, video producers, people in digital arts, not only work—but they create, too. The creative side often requires a little different approach to education. We’ll fuel your creative side, help you grow it and polish the skills, and we’ll teach you the business side. Maybe they’re right and left brain disciplines, but we know that they have to co-exist in this business, and you can learn to maximize both to help you master the game. To that end, take a moment to get to know who we are. We’ll certainly get to know you.
Keri Lowe - President
Keri Lowe is President of Compass College of Cinematic Arts. Keri has an extensive background in business leadership and management in the entertainment, education and travel industries. Her most recent experience, before coming to CCCA, was serving as Chief Operating Officer at Eagle Productions in Orlando, Florida, where she oversaw the film and video production of leading entertainment and educational clients, including The Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios, Monsanto, Motorola, Montel Williams Show, Mattel Toys, The Disney Institute, Harcourt Publishing, Scott Foresman Publishing, Orange County Schools, Osceloa School District and more. She also was the Executive Producer for several national PBS documentaries, including Zora’s Roots, River Into the New World and The Sponge Divers of Tarpon Springs. Prior, she oversaw the Public Relations team for Disney Vacation Club. Her marketing tenure at the prestigious Robison, Yesawich and Pepperdine Advertising Agency included managing the publicity and promotional efforts for the some of the world’s largest travel industry clients. Previously, she was a college instructor, teaching English, Marketing, Advertising and Behavioral Science. Keri has won several top awards for her leadership, film and promotional work, including Telly, Addy, Golden Bell, Golden Image, and National Microphone Awards. Keri holds a Journalism and Communications degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, with specialty in Film and Television and a minor in Psychology. She also served as a lay minister for over 25 years where she continued her studies in counseling, particularly from a Christian perspective. Keri is a board member on charitable, civic, entertainment, and educational boards. Additionally, she’s an avid reader and, as a hobby, continues to edit book manuscripts for published authors.
Jill Postma - Vice President
Jill Postma joined the Compass team in 2002 shortly after the school's inception. She has earned business degrees from both Davenport College and Cornerstone University. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Higher Education.
Jill brings more than 20 years of administrative experience in both for-profit and non-profit settings. She enjoys interacting with students and has accompanied student groups on tours to Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Greece.
Her taste in books, movies, art, and music is eclectic, though her favorite film genre is science fiction. Jill's favorite films include Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Star Wars, Unbreakable, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and The Sound of Music.
Cort Langeland - Instructor: Story, Screenwriting I & II, Producing II, Artistic Vocation I, II, & III
Cort Langeland joined Compass in 1999 before Compass was even a school. As the Director of Development and later Executive Producer, Cort helped to raise funds for various Compass film projects and worked with clients around the country to help produce their media. Cort was involved in the formation of Compass' film school in 2000 and worked to build the curriculum, recruit students, and raise funds to support the school. As the school grew, Cort taught various subjects including story, screenwriting, producing, artistic vocation, and the post-production process.
Cort continues to work in the film industry as a producer, strategist and story analyst through his company Langeland Entertainment.
Before working at Compass, Cort was involved in music. He wrote and produced music while teaching private lessons in guitar and saxophone.
Cort enjoys Red Wings hockey, Michigan football, duck hunting, decoy carving, cooking, history and economics. He and his wife Wendy have three children: Grace, Gabe and Andrew.
Phil Worfel - Student Services Coordinator, Academic Advisor, Instructor: Film History
Phil Worfel is the Student Services Coordinator and Academic Advisor at CCCA. He works with students regularly to make sure that each student is getting the most out of their education. At traditional schools, a student may never meet an academic advisor, but CCCA believes that it is important for students to have frequent and consistent mentorship and access to student services, which serves to broaden the scope of the students’ experience during their time at the college.
In addition, Phil teaches the Film History course, which requires students to watch films, and study the origin and evolution of the craft of filmmaking. He also has been a guest lecturer in the film programs at Huntington University, Trinity International University and the Chiaroscuro Film Festival.
Phil is a graduate of Compass College of Cinematic Arts and earlier studied education at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Among Phil's credits, he has worked on feature films, written and directed commercials for The Holland Museum and Golden Corral, and developed promotional media for Quixtar, Kids Hope USA, AimWest, and Campus Crusade. He also works as a professional photographer on film sets and for media events.
Phil is an incurable, inveterate, and unapologetic film snob who will pontificate and argue for hours on the virtues of Sidney Lumet, the obscenities of Michael Bay, and why The Jazz Singer must be simultaneously revered and reviled. He watched Tron: Legacy seven times in IMAX 3D despite its many flaws, drove four hours to watch Blade Runner on the big screen, and counts seeing Lawrence of Arabia at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood among the great moments of his life.
Phil's Current Top 10 (in no particular order):
1. Network2. Blade Runner
3. Chariots of Fire
4. Roman Holiday
5. Day For Night
6. Man on Wire
7. The Station Agent
8. Lawrence of Arabia
9. Once Upon a Time in the West
10. All the President’s Men
Evan Koons - Industry Relations Specialist, Instructor: Creative Communication, Protocol
Evan Koons is an Emmy® nominated filmmaker, Industry Relations Specialist, and instructor originally from Dearborn, Michigan.
His first film, The Burning, was an official selection of the Damah Film Festival. His follow-up script, The Dirt on Harley, although never produced, was traded like a baseball card for a personal computer—and that’s when the madness truly began.
Since then, Evan has written for and worked in nearly all sectors of film and video. Apart from the writing, he’s fetched coffee, filled butane lighters, tweaked lights, orchestrated crews, and emoted profusely.
In 2007, he was a story contributor for 20 Q, starring Victoria Jackson. He later penned Bishmalachooga, the only U.S. film invited to screen in the "Three-Minute Quickie" program at the Internationales Kurzfilm Festival in Hamburg, Germany.
In 2008, Evan completed researching and writing Except for Six, a documentary on Hospice care. Produced locally, the film received critical acclaim from Ken Burns and landed a Michigan Emmy nomination in 2010.
As the Industry Relations Specialist and an instructor at Compass College of Cinematic Arts, Evan acts as a liaison to the film industry and provides production staffing through highly experienced alumni and highly trained interns. He also teaches Creative Communication, Guest Speaker & Protocol, and offers niche lessons within Film Fundamentals, Story, Producing, and Artistic Vocation.
Creatively, Evan continues developing projects. In addition to his writing, he’s simultaneously producing two films: one is a documentary about the joys and horrors of filmmaking with fourth graders. The other is a feature film called That Time of the Month, written and directed by Compass instructor Joshua Courtade. Apart from film, but also creatively, Evan is working on being married and raising two kids. He loves a good seven-layer Jell-O.
Tom Greenberg - Instructor: Film Fundamentals, Post Production 1 & 2, Cinematography
Tom Greenberg is an Emmy®-winning editor and 30 year production industry entrepreneur. He began his career in professional recording and spent many hours in studio sessions with big-name musical artists, learning the art of sound mixing and sound editing.
His first film experience came in 1987, when he was asked to consult on sound design for Moontrap, a feature film starring Walter Koenig (Mr. Chekov of the original “Star Trek”) and a very young Bruce Campbell. He ended up working on Moontrap as a sound effects editor and sound designer for eight hours every evening for four months (after finishing up at his "regular" job).
As a result of the Moontrap experience, he decided to form a company to do similar work with two of the other editors on the film. In 1989, they opened Paradise Post, an all-digital audio post-production facility, specializing in sound design and mixing for films, corporate videos, and commercials.
By 1992, Tom was seriously interested in video editing and computer graphics. Paradise Post purchased an early non-linear video editing system, but no one knew how to run it, so he volunteered. That was the beginning of his long career as a video editor.
In 1994, seeing a need in the Detroit market for an innovative video and animation studio, Tom also started Braincell Pictures and acted as producer, post-production supervisor, and project manager on numerous large projects. He worked as Braincell’s primary editor for a wide variety of clients, ranging from General Motors to the Detroit Institute of Arts. During this period, he also worked on several feature films in the visual effects and sound departments.
After moving to West Michigan in 2005 to pursue his passion for Great Lakes' salmon fishing, Tom co-founded EO MediaWorks, a media creation company specializing in content-management websites. In 2009 he brought his skill set to CCCA, teaching editing and post-production classes. Tom also teaches Cinematography and Film Fundamentals.
Joshua Courtade - Instructor: Producer I, Directing
Joshua is a prolific writer, director, actor, and instructor from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who began making movies with his parents' clunky VHS camcorder when he was eleven years old. He later graduated from Grand Valley State University with a BA in Writing and a classy, framed certificate stating that he was the Writing Department's Outstanding Student that year. He also attended Compass Film Academy, followed by Act One's intense summer Screenwriting program in Los Angeles. All the while, Joshua cranked out one short film after another.
Quite a few of his short films (including Defector, I Denti (The Teeth), Mugs, Neurotica, and Donald) have been selected to play at prominent festivals including the East Lansing Film Festival, the Grand Rapids Film Festival, the Michigan Film Festival, the Made-in-Michigan Film Festival, the HollyShorts Film Festival, the Chiaroscuro International Film Series, and the Short Film Corner at the Cannes International Film Festival.
In 2011, after a number of Michigan screenings, Joshua's short fantasy/dramedy Playing House (created in collaboration with Production Designer/Compass Instructor Diane Kowalski) was nominated for awards in five categories at the Detroit Independent Film Festival, including Best Michigan Short Film and Best Short Screenplay. The film won for the Best Actress in a Short thanks to the amazing lead performance of Rachel Clare Higgins.
Joshua's campy Internet serials, featuring intrepid adventurer Hank Danger, have become modest local hits. He and fellow CCCA instructor, Evan Koons currently are developing a feature film, That Time of the Month, which they hope to produce in the very near future. And, in January 2012, Joshua and his writing partner, Ryan Leeder signed an option agreement for their feature screenplay, The Boiling Point. While this is not a guarantee that the script will actually be filmed, it is certainly an exciting step in the right direction.
Proud to call himself a film nerd, Joshua has an extremely eclectic taste in movies. His favorite is Casablanca, but he also loves The Godfather, The Muppet Movie, On the Waterfront, The Seventh Seal, City Lights, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Maltese Falcon, Sullivan's Travels, A Shot in the Dark, Fargo, and pretty much any movie featuring the Marx Brothers or directed by Woody Allen.
In 2008, Joshua began teaching at Compass where he continues to impart his love for cinema to new generations of filmmakers.
Diane Kowalski - Instructor: Production Design
Diane graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2003 with a degree in film production and a minor in art. Wanting to write, but not getting very far, she attended classes at Compass and discovered her passion for the art department.
Diane has worked on countless short films – including the award-winning Playing House, on which she collaborated with fellow Compass instructor, Joshua Courtade. She also has eight feature films under her belt, where she worked in the art department.
Diane's favorite film is Moulin Rouge. Her current passions are set/interior design, art history, kittens, Renaissance festivals, sword fighting, and roller derby. She dreams of doing production design for a movie about a Renaissance themed roller derby team.
Stephanie Bergman - Admissions and Marketing Coordinator
Stephanie Bergman first experienced film at Compass College almost 10 years ago. When she was in high school, Stephanie competed in Compass' 24-Hour Film Festival with a group of friends. Their short film, The Gatherer, took third place in the competition.
Since that time, Stephanie graduated from Kuyper College with Bachelors degrees in Youth Ministry and Bible/Theology, as well as minors in Music and Worship Studies and Communication Arts. Stephanie currently spends her spare time studying for a Master of Arts in Counseling degree at Spring Arbor University, tackling various home remodeling projects with her husband, and playing with her puppy. Stephanie serves Compass College as the Admissions and Marketing Coordinator.
When asked about her favorite films, Stephanie says: "I may not understand all of the technical terminology when it comes to film production, but I do love the feeling of entering a new world and letting my imagination take over when I watch movies. One of my favorite films is The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe because I love the power the film has in bringing the Gospel to life right before my eyes."
Stephanie loves Compass College of Cinematic Arts because of the students. She is passionate about helping prospective students discover all that Compass has to offer and loves to see students discover their gifts and talents as they learn how to bring their passion for film to life.
Nancee Vander Heide - Enrollment Representative
Nancee earned her degree in Nursing and spent several years caring for people in the health care field. After twelve years of running a home business, Nancee joined Compass as an Administrative Assistant in 2007.
Nancee now works as an Enrollment Representative in the Admissions Office at Compass. She enjoys working with people as they journey from beginning the process of discovering Compass to joining the Compass family as a student.
She says, “I have gained a new appreciation for films and the work that goes into them since coming to work at Compass. There is more thought now into the process when I watch a movie. It is also wonderful to see the passion the students bring to Compass as they learn more about their vocation and the field they have been called into.”
In her time away from Compass she enjoys photography, camping and reading. She and her husband, Gary, are currently involved in the renovation and remodeling of a recently purchased farmhouse that was built in 1901.
Rachel Vander Stelt - Development Coordinator
Rachel graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan (the second happiest town in the United States), with a BA in International Studies, Spanish, and Music. Rachel began working at Compass College as the Development Coordinator in 2011.
Rachel married her high school sweetheart, Adam, in 2009. They began dating as soon as he figured out she was pursuing him by “accidentally” showing up at the same places at the same time. Together, they are fond of backpacking, hosting porch parties, and traveling the world.
While at Hope College, Rachel and Adam had the opportunity to live in Spain studying art, culture, and language. Since the fifth grade, Rachel had always wanted to travel to Paris, and she accomplished that goal in 2009, fulfilling all of her dreams of seeing the breathtaking city. Furthermore, she rode camels in Morocco, swam with stingrays in the Caribbean, and climbed the pueblos at Mesa Verde.
In Rachel’s spare time, she enjoys imaging herself in the title role of her favorite musicals through dancing and singing in her small apartment. Her husband will sometimes join her in her insanity and play various other roles in the musicals. She also enjoys extreme Sudoku and would love to enter a Sudoku competition at some point in her life. Other interests include cooking new and interesting meals, tickling the ivories (playing the piano), attending the Grand Rapids Symphony, and learning anything and everything!
