Biographies
Chris Wheeler – Executive Producer/Partner
With more than 30 years experience, Wheeler is the primary creative force behind Great Divide Pictures. In addition to serving as Producer/Director, Wheeler is also Principal Photographer. On selected projects, he also serves as writer. Along with Sonny Hutchison, Wheeler founded Great Divide Pictures in 1996. From 1997-2010, Wheeler also served as partner and Co-Chief Creative Officer of High Noon Entertainment, one of the nation’s most successful producers of non-fiction programming. Prior to founding Great Divide and High Noon, Wheeler worked at television stations in Denver, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Toledo, and Lima, Ohio. In 1987, he was honored as “NPPA Photographer of the Year,” the top award given annually by the National Press Photographers Association.
Sonny Hutchison – Executive Producer/Partner
An award-winning producer and photographer, Sonny Hutchison is a partner and producer with Great Divide Pictures. He has produced and directed numerous projects for the National Park Service including films for Zion National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Shenandoah National Park. Pipestone: An Unbroken Legacy, a film produced for Pipestone National Monument by Hutchison and his partner Chris Wheeler, was winner of the American Indian Film Festival’s 2009 award for Best Documentary Short. Sonny was co-producer of the critically acclaimed documentary How The West Was Lost, for the Discovery Channel. A 13-part historical series chronicling the plight of the American Indian, the series was the winner of a 1995 National CableACE award, two CINE Golden Eagles and a Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.
His early television career included work as a cameraman/editor for WLKY-TV and WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky, his hometown. Sonny worked at the Denver NBC affiliate, KUSA-TV, for 17 years and was named Executive Producer of Local Programming at KUSA in 1996. Sonny received his Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Brockport. In 1981-82, he was a Cinematography Fellow at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
Holly Johnson – Associate Producer
Having worked with Great Divide Pictures since 2005, Holly Johnson is an integral part of managing many operations from research, field coordination and all post-production work. Prior to Great Divide, she worked with Liberty Media, Jones Intercable and High Noon Entertainment where she produced original and prime time series for cable networks Home & Garden Television, History Channel and Food Network. In 2006, she co-produced Life After Katrina, a one-hour special chronicling the lives of New Orleans and Gulfport residents in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This HGTV special was awarded the Gold World Medal for Best Documentary Special at New York Festivals.
Currently, Holly is working with Great Divide Pictures to produce National Park Service films for Shiloh National Military Park, Grand Portage National Monument and Crater Lake National Park, among others. In 1993, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Communication from the University of Colorado at Boulder.