After the passing of the Agency's founder, Tom was encouraged to start his own production company, forming IVY & ASSOCIATES in a small two room office. But from humble beginnings, a roster of production clients began to grow. Expanding oversees projects brought with it a name change to IVY INTERNATIONAL, and finally THE IVY COMPANY, Ltd.
Along the way, Tom married his college sweetheart, Gloria Hine-Butler and together they raised two children, David and Christine.
Son David followed dad to USC, graduating with honors from the School of Cinema. Today David pursues his own feature film writing/directing career under his banner FOURTH MAN FILMS. An equally gifted composer, David has scored the music to several IVY COMPANY productions.
Daughter Christine took graduating honors from the nationally ranked School of Dance of Long Beach State University. She is corporate Choreographer and Creative Director of the national dance company LUCENT DOSSIER, besides instructing Pilates at selected LA studios. Christine is regularly seen as well on stage and television as an actor/dancer/performer.
The Ivy Company story is essentially the journey of Tom Ivy and those who have creatively shared that journey with their contributions both personal and professional. As a successful writer, director, producer, and production designer, Tom Ivy's award-winning work spans six continents and more than 500 films, television specials, and live events around the world from third world exotic locales to world capitals and major Hollywood studios. The beginning was less impressive.
Tom grew up in Rockford, Illinois, the oldest of three children, producing his first stage play as a seventh grader at his junior high school, in a rather forgettable production of 'A Christmas Carol' and a disastrous follow-up effort at staging 'The Wizard Of Oz'. College followed at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, where he earned his BA in Communication Arts before migrating, as do many young filmmakers, to Los Angeles, where he pursued his MFA at the School of Cinema/Television at the University of Southern California.
Joining the ad agency Walter F. Bennett, Tom began directing inspirational tv programs including THE HOUR OF POWER with Dr. Robert Schuller, eventually helming the worldwide direction of television specials for DR. BILLY GRAHAM, introducing the young director to international film and television production across Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Our Story...
Ultimately, the IVY COMPANY story is told in the films, television specials and series, and mega live events staged around the world on which Tom Ivy has served as writer, producer, and/or director. The countless men and women whose creative energies are part of those productions make up the rest of this fascinating journey. They share the credit for what has been and continues to be achieved by Tom Ivy and THE IVY COMPANY, a story still being written, a journey that remains rewarding, and even 'fun'!
Tom Ivy outside the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel