Father Ellwood “Bud” Kieser

Paulist Productions was founded in 1960 by the Paulist priest Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser to produce the religious television program Insight.

Fr. Bud grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from La Salle College and joined the Paulist Fathers in 1950. He earned his Ph.D. in theology of communications from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA in 1973 with a dissertation entitled “Cinema as a Religious Experience.”

Fr. Kieser founded Paulist Productions in 1968 with the sole intention of producing life-enriching programming that could address social issues and moral questions. For 23 years Fr. Kieser executive-produced the inspirational weekly anthology series Insight for Paulist Productions. As one of the longest-running weekly syndicated shows, Insight explored the search for meaning, freedom and love through various storytelling forms such as comedy, melodrama, and fantasy. Believing in the power of television and film to change culture, Kieser founded the HUMANITAS Prize Awards in 1974 to encourage and empower writers to focus on the best of human values and strive for meaningful content.

Paulist Pictures was later formed for the purpose of film production, creating the features Romero (1989) and Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (1996). Kieser was regarded as a champion of Roman Catholic heroes and entertainment that focuses on modern moral dilemma.

Fr. Bud passed away in 2000.