The Crew
The People
Behind The Frame
Darla Rae is an award-winning director, producer, and Founder of Film It Productions LLC. She is the director, producer and screenwriter of Chili for Christmas, bringing decades of leadership, storytelling, and production experience to inspirational family entertainment.
Her most recent film, Courageous Warriors: Beauty from the Ashes, narrated by Dee Wallace, received over 27 film festival awards, including Best Director, Best Editing, Best Composer, and Best Documentary Feature, while earning a 100% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Rae is recognized for creating films that inspire, uplift, entertain, and encourage audiences through authentic stories centered on faith, hope, compassion, and family values. She also mentors emerging filmmakers and young creatives entering the entertainment industry.
Through "The Courageous Warriors Project," Rae develops true-story films highlighting individuals whose lives have impacted others through perseverance, courage, and faith-driven purpose. Her work has been recognized nationally, including screenings on Capitol Hill before members of Congress and receiving the Denver Mayor's Award for Global Impact.
Her films have helped bring awareness to families affected by Dandy-Walker syndrome, contributing to conversations surrounding medical research, education, and family advocacy. Rae and her team have collectively received more than 100 awards, including honors for directing, editing, music, score, and inspirational family film storytelling.
Beyond filmmaking, Rae brings more than 30 years of executive experience in aerospace manufacturing and procurement, managing multimillion-dollar contracts involving McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed Martin, NASA, and Space Station-related programs. Her background in operations, strategy, construction, and development strengthens her ability to lead complex productions, solve problems efficiently, and build mission-driven entertainment brands.
Mike Carpenter grew up behind the camera, his father was a photographer, and his family runs a custom photography lab in the Denver metro area. Mike started shooting and editing video in 2004 and was instantly hooked. Mike is an award-winning filmmaker and videographer, winning over 90 national and international awards for short films and documentaries he has shot and edited over the years. You can find some of his videos on amazon prime, streampix, Hulu, Purefix and Netflix.
Timothy Buckman is a composer, guitarist, and songwriter based in Denver, Colorado, whose music spans the concert hall, the screen, and the stage. His works for orchestra and chamber ensemble have been performed internationally, and his scores for film and television have reached audiences worldwide across platforms including Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, TV Land, Tubi, and Plex.
His screen credits include WondLa (Apple TV+ / Skydance Animation), Lopez (TV Land), Kourtney and Kim Take New York (E!), The Bad Girls Club (Oxygen), and feature films Jurassic Thunder, No Sin Unpunished, Tiger Lily, and Slaw. His documentary score for Courageous Warriors: Beauty from the Ashes — narrated by Dee Wallace — earned Best Original Song and Best Motivational/Inspirational Score from the Impact Docs Awards, and Best Original Score from Docs Without Borders Film Festival.