Since 1980, Catherine L. Wyler has been the owner of Wyler/Rymland Productions, Inc., where she operates as an independent producer of film and television programs. With decades of production experience, she worked as the founding artistic director of the High Falls International Film Festival in Rochester, New York, from 2001 to 2009. The acclaimed festival focuses on celebrating women in film. Prior to this role, Ms. Wyler garnered experience as the senior vice president of production for Columbia Pictures from 1987 to 1988 and as the director of cultural and children’s programming for PBS from 1982 to 1987. She began her career in 1976 as the assistant director for the media arts program with the National Endowment for the Arts, a position she held until 1981.
Committed to civic engagement, Ms. Wyler has served since 2018 as a board member for IndieCollect, a nonprofit organization that helps independent filmmakers preserve their work. Similarly, since 2012, she has been a board member of the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital. Ms. Wyler has shared her expertise as a contributor to PBS and as a board member for Women in Film and Video in Washington, D.C., from 2009 to 2015. After earning a diploma from the Westlake School, she pursued higher education at Stanford University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in modern European literature.
As an accomplished producer, Ms. Wyler’s work has been featured in various film festivals. She produced “Memphis Belle” with Warner Bros. in 1990 and “Hot on the Trail: Search for Sex and Romance in the Old World and the New,” a documentary directed by her late father, the renowned William Wyler. Ms. Wyler also produced “Witness to Hope,” a biography of Pope John Paul II, for PBS and is working on “Dalai Lama’s Gift to the World,” a documentary about Tibetan Buddhism coming to America and the West. The documentary is based on her partner and colleague, Ed Bastian, a Buddhist scholar from Iowa whose family is among the oldest in the country. His ancestors even signed the U.S. Constitution. Ms. Wyler is committed to ensuring the film is of the highest quality possible and plans to release it within the next five years.
While growing up, Ms. Wyler learned many valuable lessons from her father, contributing to her success as a producer and filmmaker. He instilled in Ms. Wyler an attention to detail, which she believes has been instrumental in achieving her professional goals. She did not initially plan to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, as opportunities were limited for women at the time. Not wanting to be an actress or editor, she chose to pursue a higher education in literature with the hopes of becoming a literary editor. Inspired by her father’s expertise as a director, Ms. Wyler gradually discovered her own calling in film direction and production, leading to her first film, “Memphis Belle,” based on a documentary of the same title that her father made. Notably, Ms. Wyler’s mother was an actress, and both her parents were listed in Marquis Who’s Who publications.
For her accomplishments, Ms. Wyler has been recognized with numerous accolades, including a Golden Reel Award as the producer of “Memphis Belle” and an award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Moreover, she received an award from Women in Film & Video DC and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Information Special for Best Documentary in 1987. In 1986, Ms. Wyler was honored by the Council on International Nontheatrical Events, a nonprofit film organization that focused on selecting American films for international festivals. She cherishes time with her family and greatly enjoys reading and music.