FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Paul Snatchko
(412) 722-2907 (cell / text)
[email protected]

NEW YORK – The Paulist Fathers are pleased to announce the appointment of Paulist Fr. Tom Gibbons as President of Paulist Productions, an Emmy Award-winning film and television company based in Los Angeles.

He has succeeded veteran television producer Michael Sullivan who had served as President since 2018.

“We are very thankful to Fr. Gibbons for serving in this important role at the intersection of faith and culture,” said Paulist Fr. René Constanza, President of the Paulist Fathers. “We look forward to the gospel-dense and entertaining offerings he will help to create in the years ahead.”

“We also want to pay tribute to Michael Sullivan for the creativity and dedication he brought to his tenure as President of Paulist Productions, and for his decades of service on the company’s board,” said Fr. Constanza.

Ordained a priest in 2012, Fr. Gibbons first served as an Associate Pastor and Administrator of St. Peter’s Church in Toronto, Canada. He then produced “Isaac Hecker and the Journey of Catholic America,” a documentary film about the Paulist Fathers’ founder, Servant of God Isaac Hecker.

In 2016, Fr. Gibbons moved to Los Angeles where he was an Associate Pastor at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Community and began work at Paulist Productions, serving as Director of Development and Production and Vice President.

Fr. Gibbons wrote, directed, and was a producer of Paulist Productions’ Gabriel Award-winning documentary film “Hollywood Priest: The Story of Fr. Bud Kieser” and was an Executive Producer on the company’s 2024 documentary film “Fighting Spirit: A Combat Veteran’s Journey.”

“Over my last nine years, I have continually heard how much the work of Paulist Productions has impacted the faith lives of people everywhere, particularly in the unique voice the ministry has brought forth,” said Fr. Gibbons. “I am very excited to continue the great work of all of those who have come before me in order to create media that advances the conversation between the sacred and the secular.”

Fr. Gibbons also served as an Executive Producer of Paulist Productions’ upcoming documentary film “Baseball: Beyond Belief“ based on the book “Baseball as the Road to God” by John Sexton, a former president of New York University.

About Paulist Productions

Paulist Productions creates media that advances the conversation between the sacred and the secular, bringing forward a Catholic voice while inviting all people of good will to the table. The company was founded in 1968 by Paulist Fr. Ellwood “Bud” Kieser, and it has produced award-winning documentaries, feature films, television, and TV movies that address pressing social issues and important moral questions.

The company has provided programming for Paramount, Warner Brothers, PBS, CBS, ABC, A&E, the History Channel, Hallmark Hall of Fame, and UPtv.

About the Paulist Fathers

Established in 1858, the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle (“the Paulist Fathers”) was the first society of Catholic priests founded in the United States.

The society seeks to introduce the Good News of Jesus Christ to people beyond the Church walls, and to accompany Catholics who feel apart from the Church, through missions, media, campus ministries, parishes, downtown centers, the arts, and more.

In addition to Paulist Productions, the society’s media ministries include: Paulist Press, an award-winning Catholic publishing company that releases a wide variety of titles each year for adults and children; and Busted Halo, an innovative website and radio program on SiriusXM’s The Catholic Channel

The society leads parishes and centers in Austin, TX; Boston; Chicago; Grand Rapids, MI; Horseshoe Bay, TX; Knoxville, TN; Los Angeles; New York City; Rome, Italy; and San Francisco.

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