Deb Havens is a screenwriter, producer, and television host. She started Traveling Moon Productions to provide quality services to the film and television community in West Michigan.

 A retired educator, Deb Havens holds degrees from Western Michigan University, the University of Florida in Gainesville, and a doctorate from Eastern Michigan University. She’s taught in public high schools and as adjunct professor at Grand Valley State University. She’s also had a second career in television production that started at WZZM TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan and took her all over the United States and the world before her return to Michigan.

In 2000, Deb created the curriculum for the Communications Arts Academy at Southfield-Lathrup High School, and supervised the construction and programming for the in-school studio and student production classes. At the same time, she researched and wrote her dissertation in preparation for her doctorate degree in Education Leadership from Eastern Michigan University.

Deb founded Traveling Moon Productions and the West Michigan Film Video Alliance (WMFVA) in the mid-2000s. She chaired WMFVA for a decade and worked with state legislators from both parties to create innovative ways to stimulate the economy during the early years of the Great Recession. She also completed her doctorate. After teaching at Grand Valley State University, she began organizing the first-ever Conference of Women Governors. Sponsored and hosted by the GVSU Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies — and co-sponsored by the National Governors Association — the 2017 conference hosted women from across the United States who had been first-time female governors of their states. Deb ran for the Michigan State Senate in 2014, concerned about the future of Michigan’s students as test results show us falling further and further behind.

Deb recently received the peer-generated 2017 Hyperion Award for a lifetime of contribution to building the media production industry in West Michigan. She is currently running for County Commissioner in Kent County’s District 1.

Traveling Moon recently completed a feature-length documentary, The Abandoned Bride, produced by Deb Havens and her sister Lynette Doele, which was submitted to several film festivals and screened in Europe. They are in pre-production on a new documentary feature, Waking Up In Dreamland. Both films are inspired by long-kept and sometimes unsettling secrets in Deb’s family past which carry important lessons for today.

West Michigan Film Video Alliance

Deb Havens founded the West Michigan Film Video Alliance (WMFVA), a 501c3 non-profit, in 2005 to promote a thriving film and video production community in West Michigan. Its goal is to support all members of the production community in order to promote a well educated and diverse creative and economic work force in our region. Additionally, WMFVA works to retain our "creative class" here by encouraging partnerships and teaching relationships between our veteran members and those starting their careers.

The WMFVA has taken a leadership role since its inception in promoting the film industry as an alternative force for economic development by providing programs, resources, networking, and support to filmmakers while promoting West Michigan as vital and influential in this industry.

WMFVA board members are local professionals from the film and video production community. The WMFVA considers the West Michigan Film Office to be the economic engine of the drive to build the film industry in our region. A grant program is currently being designed to help provide training opportunities for other communities to establish certified film commissions in an effort to establish the highest standards of performance and service to filmmakers bringing projects to West Michigan. The WMFVA also maintains an ongoing relationship with the Michigan Film and Digital Media Office and sponsors numerous festivals, competitions, and events, often in partnership with its members.

Korean Connection In West Michigan

One of Deb’s passions is cultural connection and understanding. In 2013, she helped found the Korean Connection in West Michigan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting cultural and business exchange between West Michigan and South Korea. The group members share a blend of professional and personal interests: former Korean nationals, some now American citizens; Korean adoptees and family members; families with Korean and American members living apart on separate continents.

Korean Connection is engaged as ambassadors in a Friendship City relationship developing between the City of Grand Rapids and the District of Jung-gu in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea.

The organization hosts an annual presentation of Korean traditions and culture at the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts in June, building awareness of the Korean population in West Michigan through art forms including food and performance.