Vernon E. Mortensen

Biography:

Vernon has led an amazing life. The son of Christian Missionaries, he was born in Thailand and has traveled to over 83 countries around the world. He served as a US Navy SWCC (pronounced "swick") commando in the Navy's elite Special Boat Teams deploying with platoons from SEAL Teams 1, 3 and 5 to war-zones around the world. He has also worked as a college professor, an engineer, an EMT, a bodyguard and as private investigator who went undercover at a major US airport to take down an international smuggling ring. An award winning filmmaker, Vernon is know for writing, producing and directing movies and television with some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Oscar winners Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) and Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River), legends like Martin Sheen (NBC's The West Wing) and Michael Madsen (Kill Bill 1&20, as well as supermodel/actress Cara Delevingne (DC's Suicide Squad). Behind the camera, Vernon has collaborated with Oscar winning director and TV writer Robert David Port (CBS' Numb3rs, Twin Towers), legendary studio director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Thirteen), and the amazingly talented Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures, Fox's Empire). Vernon has an MFA in Screenwriting from USC where he studied under world renowned script guru Syd Field and received an Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Fellowship, as well as an MBA from USIU.