Biography
Jim Peterson is the Director of Theatre and Film in the Performing Arts Department at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana and the founding member of the Indiana Film Teachers and the Board of Theatre Teachers of Central Indiana. He is also an International Baccalaureate Organization Film SL Independent Study Diploma Examiner and is on the screening committees for the Heartland Film Festival Narrative Feature and the High School Film Competition.
While the theater director at Carmel, Mr. Peterson has directed twenty-five mainstage productions and seventeen one-act plays. He has directed productions both here and abroad. He's coached his ComedySportz team to multiple victories since its inception in 2001 including a league championship in 2012. His productions have competed regularly at Regional Thespian Conferences, State Thespian Conferences and the IndyFringe Festival here in Indianapolis, and also the International Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has collaborated with numerous playwrights, experts, and coaches, including grants from both the Indiana Arts Commission and the Carmel Education Foundation. Peterson has served as an adult Board Member for the Indiana Thespians for sixteen years and Chair of the Individual Events and Scholarship Competitions. He has served on committees and advisory boards for the Indiana Department of Education, the Professional Development Committee, the Technology Committee, and Arts Program Evaluation Committee. His committee published the State Theatre Standards through the Indiana Department of Education. In his spare time, he is a loving husband and father to two teenage boys, two dogs, and two cats.