ENTERTAINMENT THAT
MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Pollack Films produces entertainment that makes a difference.
We share stories that touch the hearts and minds of a broad audience, amplify the voices of creatives, and reflect our diverse world. Our rich legacy of storytelling includes extensive experience in both film and television production, creating content with dynamic impact striving to be a shining beacon for change.
LEADERSHIP TEAM
MICHAEL POLLACK
Chairman & CEO
Michael Pollack has held leadership positions for more than 35 years in the legal, financial, and entertainment industries. Michael is the founder and former President of a litigation support firm that is today part of an international group of companies. He has held directorship positions for more than a dozen financial institutions that are both private and publicly held. Specializing for decades in M&A and Turnaround Management, he has spearheaded tens of billions of dollars of financing in commercial real estate, business, and entertainment-related transactions. Michael has acted as a consultant and trusted advisor to entertainment industry leaders for nearly forty years on the finance, production, and distribution of feature films. Stage and screen projects in which Michael has played an integral role in financing and/or producing have grossed more than $3 billion at the box office.
Michael's current projects include the feature films Delfino's Journey, Major, Because of You, Mattress, Out of the Woods, Cold Feet: A Wedding Tale, A Six Gun for the Devil, Meet Me in the Kitchen at Midnight, The Angel Of Harlem, Moonlight Blonde and The Untitled Chic Harley Project. In addition, Michael has developed and recently announced two new episodic series titled Hoops Without Borders and Studly Vegan. Both are currently in production and expected to reach the public by 2025.
JOSEPH N. COHEN
Chief Financing Advisor | Executive Producer
Joseph N. Cohen is highly regarded for his investment banking and media expertise, with extensive experience in international finance and the entertainment industry. A Yale and Oxford graduate, Cohen has held senior positions at leading investment banking firms, including N.M. Rothschild & Sons, Salomon Brothers, and Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb. Over the past thirty-four years, he has focused on motion picture, television, and media financing worldwide. He has been instrumental in producing and financing successful films for decades. Those films include "La La Land," "12 Years a Slave," "Brokeback Mountain," "Sicario," "Point Break," "Begin Again," and "The Blindside."
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Cohen's career in the motion picture industry began in the UK in the early 1980s, where he pioneered tax-based lease financing for feature films, financing over GBP 400 million of UK-qualified production. He later served as President and COO of Largo Entertainment, where he oversaw the production of several major box office hits and critically acclaimed films, including "Malcolm X." Cohen also founded Canadian Entertainment Investors and played a key role in the creation of Alcon Entertainment, advising on finance, distribution, and strategic planning for numerous successful films.
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As the head of American Entertainment Investors (AEI), Cohen has advised various production and distribution companies, including River Road Entertainment and Black Label Media. His work with River Road led to the production of the Academy Award-winning "12 Years a Slave" and other acclaimed films. He has also been involved in high-profile financial and strategic advisory roles, such as advising Goldman Sachs and Assured Guaranty on the restructuring of the Weinstein Company and managing EF Solutions LLC. Cohen's expertise and innovative financial strategies have made him a recognized authority in entertainment and media financing.
In May, 2017 Cohen published Investing in Movies: Strategies for Investors and Producers, which was designed to provide an analytical framework to assess the opportunities and pitfalls of investing in the film industry.
JOE DI SALVO
Chief Strategy Officer
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For more than two decades, Joe Di Salvo has been an advisor, counselor, and trusted partner to many iconic brands that have transformed key segments of the retail marketplace. He is the founder and managing partner of Di Salvo Howard PLLC, a boutique law practice that primarily works with private equity backed small- and middle-market branded consumer products in a variety of categories, including food, beverage, supplements, and personal care. As managing partner of the firm, Joe works closely with investors, founders, management teams, and boards to accelerate growth and maximize enterprise value. Joe provides strategic, insightful, practical advice and guidance concerning the critical functions of his clients’ businesses, including corporate governance, finance, operations, marketing, sales, intellectual property, human resources, and dispute resolution. Current and former clients include KIND® Snacks, Drunk Elephant®, Sun Bum®, Perfect Snacks®, Pirate’s Booty®, Pretzel Crisps®, Bare Foods®, Spindrift®, Vega®, Lily’s®, Ancient Nutrition®, Daily Harvest®, Justin’s®, The Honey Pot Company®, Briogeo®, and babyganics®, among others. Joe also serves on the advisory boards for Red Pine Capital Partners, LLC and MedPower, LLC.
Prior to forming Di Salvo Howard, Joe was vice president and general counsel for Glaceau, Inc., maker of vitaminwater® and smartwater®, where he played an integral role in the development and execution of the company’s growth and exit strategy to the Coca-Cola Company in 2007 for $4.1b. Joe began his career as a trial attorney with the law firm of McCarter & English, LLP, where he was a founding member of the firm's New York Office.
For the past six years, Joe has served as an adjunct professor at the NYU Stern School of Business, where he teaches Professional Responsibility & Leadership. Joe is also the director and producer of the documentary film Bronx Socrates, which is presently in post production, and slated for worldwide distribution in 2025.
DAVID SMITH
Legal Counsel
David has broad experience in transactional matters in the entertainment industry. He has represented a wide array of U.S. and foreign clients, including production companies, distributors, studios, banks, financiers, advertising agencies and individual producers, directors, writers and actors. He has deep experience in financial transactions, distribution and licensing deals, production matters, celebrity endorsement deals, rights deals, talent contracts, copyright and chain-of-title issues, as well as music, publishing and fine arts matters.
David has served as an adjunct professor at the American Film Institute and, for a number of years, was on the USC Entertainment Law Institute Planning Committee. He has also been a member of the Los Angeles Copyright Society.
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Prior to joining Glaser Weil, David served as the principal of his own firm. He has also held associate and partner positions at several prominent LA-based firms and was previously President of an independent U.S. film distribution company.
ERIC HATZIMEMOS
Special Advisor to the Chairman ​​
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Mr. Hatzimemos has been a trusted advisor to major companies for over 20 years. He works with CEOs and leadership teams to provide strategic counsel and support on business matters, key objectives, and growth.
He co-founded H/L Ventures in 2009 with a focus on accelerating high-growth companies. Mr. Hatzimemos was previously a Senior Director at the global law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, where he advised the firm’s leadership with respect to firm development. He previously served as Managing Director at Giuliani Partners, a management consulting firm. Prior to his private sector tenure, Mr. Hatzimemos served as Assistant Counsel to former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and served on several New York City Pension Funds, including Fire and Police. Prior to that, he served as Assistant Criminal Justice Coordinator of the City of New York and also served as an Assistant District Attorney in the borough of Brooklyn.
Mr. Hatzimemos sits on the Advisory Board of New York Law School’s Center for New York City Law, the Advisory Board of Protect Our Power (focused on strengthening the nation’s electrical power grid), and the Board of Directors of The Resolution Project, Inc. He holds a law degree from New York Law School and has completed executive-level coursework in private equity, pension management, and investment management at the Wharton School of Business and Harvard Business School.
JOSE RASCO
Special Advisor
​José A. Rasco has served the financial community for Over 35 years. He is a voting member of the Global Investment Committee, the GIC Fx and Currency subcommittee, and the Investment Strategy Committee.
He has held the position of Chief Investment Strategist for HSBC, and he was a Senior Investment Strategist at Merrill Lynch, working directly with the Chief Investment Strategist, and the global economic and strategy teams, to create global investment and asset allocation strategies. In addition to conducting extensive research on global thematic investing and socially-responsible products, and portfolio strategies, Mr. Rasco has advised on the investment of billions of dollars in funds and structured products across the entertainment, media, technology, healthcare, commodities, manufacturing, and defense sectors.
Mr. Rasco’s commentary has appeared in a variety of leading financial publications and media, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, Fortune magazine, the International Herald Tribune, CNBC, BB Radio, BBTV, BB Spanish TV, and CNN en Español.​​​
OPERATIONS & FINANCE
NICK RATHOD
Chief of Staff | Special Advisor
Over the span of his career Nick has built a reputation for producing impactful work across politics, business, and entertainment—building successful campaigns, institutions, businesses, and creative projects, while serving as a trusted advisor to some of the nation’s most influential leaders.
In Government, Nick served as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director for Intergovernmental Affairs in the White House and was the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama-Biden Transition Team. In these roles, Nick served as a senior member of the White House staff and specifically was President Obama’s liaison to states and U.S. territories, handling political and policy engagement across the states, territories and tribal governments. Nick was especially critical in helping shape and get signed into law health care legislation, Wall Street reform and equal pay legislation.
Nick was also a critical member of the team that set up and built a government agency, called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to help protect Consumers from being taken advantage of by financial institutions like payday lenders and others. He served as the Assistant Director of the Bureau and in this role was the United States Representative globally for consumer finance issues working with US counterparts in foreign governments as well as central banks to address domestic aligned consumer finance issues across the world.
In campaigns, Nick has served on several different Presidential and other campaigns, including most recently as a senior advisor on the Harris/Walz Campaign. Nick also served as the campaign manager for Beto O’Rourke’s race for Governor of Texas. The campaign was the largest gubernatorial campaign in American history. The campaign was additionally historic as Nick was the first person of Indian descent to run a statewide campaign in America.
Nick has also built several non-profit organizations. Notably, Nick was the founder and first Executive Director of the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), which was created and designed to support state lawmakers with developing and getting passed into law state legislation. During his time there, Nick merged several similar organizations together, grew SiX from an idea to a multimillion-dollar organization with more than 30 staff that continues to impact state policy making in states across the country.
In business, Nick has built a successful boutique consulting business, which is focused on advising businesses, foundations, non-profits and candidates for elected office. He was also the founding partner in a venture capital fund called the United Dream Fund, which helps support and capitalize immigrant entrepreneurs at the pre-seed stage of their growth. Nick is also currently a founding partner in the building of the first ever sneaker and streetwear museum in Houston, TX.
Finally, in Hollywood and creative production, Nick has brought the same vision and execution he applied in politics and business to storytelling and film. He was the Executive Producer of the multi-award-winning short film Now & Never. He advised Sunset Pictures and People of Culture Studios specifically focused on strategic growth and development of the studios—including team building, fundraising, marketing, and production. He also consulted for MonkeyPaw Studios on the newly released film Monkey Man, Dev Patel’s directorial debut. Nick is currently the Executive Producer for two documentaries in development, including The History of Chai and an untitled film on South Asian Americans in Politics.
HENRY WALKER
Assistant Chief of Staff
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Henry Walker is an actor, photographer, and development manager. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in drama, during which time he worked on different sets such as Orange is the New Black and Billions.
Henry, now bicoastal, currently lives in Los Angeles where he recently worked as an Assistant Photo Editor for Industry Art Works and continues his work as a Development Manager for Gallico Media Consulting and Gallico Productions.
CHLOÉ CAVELIER
Director of Brand Development
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Chloé Cavelier (she/her/hers) is a creative executive based in Los Angeles. With extensive experience in brand development and strategy, visual storytelling, marketing, and innovative management across several sectors, Cavelier is thrilled to bring her creative vision to the Pollack Films team. Cavelier's background also includes impact-driven program management in the nonprofit and public sectors, with an emphasis in community-driven change. Her community-focused approach, her strength in visioning, and her diverse professional experiences, all amplified by her academic background in psychology and communications, make her a powerful force for change and impact in the film industry and with audiences that Pollack Films stirs through innovative storytelling.
JOHN RIVOIR
Financing Executive | Producer
John Rivoir has more than 30 years of experience recruiting senior executives for technology companies. This includes CEO’s, board members and VPs of all disciplines for clients in the software, semiconductor, telecom, new media and other sectors. John has worked for both large global and smaller boutique firms, including A.T. Kearney Executive Search in their Global Technology Practice, as a Partner in Spence Associates International and Major Executive Search, as well as Managing Partner of his own firm.
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Before beginning his executive search career, John spent six years studying and working in Japan. He has experience in the non-profit sector, working with the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program for several years in Southeast Asia, and later serving as Director of the program in Japan. He has lived and worked in Japan, Latin America and Southeast Asia, and is conversational in Japanese and Spanish. He earned his M.Sc. degree from the London School of Economics, and his B.A. magna cum laude from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan.
John first met Michael Pollack in 2003 and the two began collaborating on both Real Estate and Entertainment financing through a joint venture RP Capital. In 2006 they worked together to bring the Australian hit Freak Winds to New York’s Arclight Theatre. John’s passion for the arts has been unwavering as a producer of film projects for Pollack Films.
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John and his wife reside on Long Island, NY and have two grown children.
LAUREN McGILL
Development Executive | Producer | Special Advisor
Lauren’s background in Research & Development and corporate finance in the private sector has brought great success to the firms that she has managed. For over twenty-five years, with a keen eye on the expense side of business, her skillset has guided every business in which she has been involved to grow exponentially while simultaneously controlling costs at every level. Lauren’s small-town Midwest roots provide a grounded and “salt of the earth” perspective for Pollack Films, which is her first venture into the world of entertainment. She has nonetheless taken a headfirst approach to reading each and every screenplay, book, and treatment under consideration by Pollack Films and she does not hesitate to share both her insights and opinions.
PRODUCTION TEAM
ARTHUR ALLAN SEIDELMAN
Director | Producer
Arthur has directed over 50 films and 20 television series. Arthur’s most recent film SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS, stars Gena Rowlands, Cheyenne Jackson, Rita Moreno, and Jacki Weaver. Other feature films include THE SISTERS with Maria Bello, Elizabeth Banks, and Tony Goldwyn (which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and was the recipient of numerous festival awards including the Milagro Award for best American Independent Film), WALKING ACROSS EGYPT with Ellen Burstyn, CHILDREN OF RAGE, ECHOES, and PUERTO VALLARTA SQUEEZE, starring Scott Glenn and Harvey Keitel. Arthur’s first feature, the iconic comedy, HERCULES IN NEW YORK, introduced Arnold Schwartzenegger to films. Regarded as one of the premier actor’s directors, Arthur has been responsible for providing career-shaping and initial roles to a long list of stars including Jennifer Garner, Emmy Rossum, Rob Lowe, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ryan Phillippe, Helen Hunt, Alfrie Woodard, Dermott Mulroney, and Viola Davis, as well as directing major names including Elizabeth Taylor, Cicely Tyson, Angela Lansbury, Mary Tyler Moore, Burt Lancaster, Ellen Burstyn, Sammy Davis Jr., Gena Rowlands, and many others.
As one of a short-list of prestigious directors of films for television, Arthur’s award-winning productions include the Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens film musical A CHRISTMAS CAROL starring Kelsey Grammer and Jane Krakowski, GRACE AND GLORIE starring Gena Rowlands and Diane Lane, THE SUMMER OF BEN TYLER starring James Woods and Elizabeth McGovern, HARVEST OF FIRE with Patty Duke, THE RUNAWAY with Dean Cain and Maya Angelou, LIKE MOTHER, LIKE SON starring Mary Tyler Moore, BY DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT with Richard Crenna, A FRIENDSHIP IN VIENNA with Jane Alexander and Ed Asner, THE KID WHO LOVED CHRISTMAS starring Cicely Tyson and Sammy Davis Jr., and POKER ALICE with Elizabeth Taylor.
Arthur directed many series for television including hits like MURDER SHE WROTE, L.A. LAW, HILL STREET BLUES, FAME, and MAGNUM P.I. Arthur’s Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include: Richard Alfieri’s SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS on Broadway, in Los Angeles, and on London’s West End, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA for the New York City Opera, Jerry Herman’s MACK & MABEL at Lincoln Center, BILLY, HAMP, THE CEREMONY OF INNOCENCE, AWAKE AND SING, and Tennessee Williams’s Broadway production of VIEUX CARRÉ. Arthur’s other theater credits include CAROUSEL at the Hollywood Bowl, and OF THEE I SING, THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, FOLLIES, HAIR, KISMET, and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG among many others. He has also directed THE GYPSY PRINCESS for Opera Pacific, MACK AND MABEL for the Goodspeed Opera, and MADAMA BUTTERFLY for the Santa Barbara Opera.
Honors include two Emmys, five Emmy nominations, the Grand Prize from the New York Film and Television Festival, prizes from the Chicago, San Francisco, Palm Springs, and Heartland Film Festivals, the Humanitas Award, Peabody Award, Western Heritage Award, and three Christopher Awards.
JEAN-FRANÇOIS CAVELIER
Development Executive | Producer
Jean-François Cavelier, originally from Paris, France, has over 33 years of experience in the combination of international Film and TV Sales/Distribution and Production. He was the Domestic and International Distribution Consultant for Comerica Bank (Los Angeles), Liberty International (Los Angeles), Pueblo (Geneva, Switzerland), and Syrena (Warsaw, Poland) on the financing side and held various Executive positions for worldwide film and television distribution companies in Hollywood before consulting with several clients both in the US, Latin America, France, and China. Cavelier has handled world sales of countless titles, active in the acquisition and distribution of media content in Mainland China and Latin America as well as in the distribution of Hollywood content to the global markets.
Cavelier turned his full attention to production in 2017, co-producing Jean-Michel Cousteau's "Wonders of the Sea", a feature documentary narrated by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also acted as a Producer for "Air Strike," the biggest budget feature film ever produced in China, negotiating the hiring of Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson. In 2020, Cavelier co-founded a production outfit in Los Angeles with his producing partner Ghizlane S. Morlot called Countess Films, which focuses primarily on feature film projects that allow for women’s voices to be heard while creating opportunities to tell more inclusive stories. Shortly thereafter, Countess Films entered into a producing agreement with production and distribution company Pollack Films, under which Cavelier is attached to produce the feature “Meet Me in The Kitchen at Midnight” followed by the heart-warming holiday feature “The Angel of Harlem” with principal photography for both scheduled for 2023.
Cavelier still owns and operates his own consulting boutique, Gallico Media, educating filmmakers, screenwriters, and others about the "secrets" of the field of film and TV distribution and sales.
PAUL BAKER
Director | Producer
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Paul is a filmmaker with 30 years of multifaceted experience including development, prep, production, and post-production.
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Crewing on dozens of film sets for Directors including Sam Raimi, Zack Snyder, Antoine Fuqua, Jon Favreau, Damien Chazelle, Kenneth Branagh, and Oliver Stone, just to name a few, and working on the sets of television shows like The West Wing, House, CSI, Community, Desperate Housewives, SWAT, Rizzoli & Isles, and Monk, the depth of Paul's experience is broad.
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Originally from Rhode Island, Paul first moved to Miami in the '90s before settling in Los Angeles to further refine his creative and technical skills. Paul's true calling is directing; he is known for directing award-winning short films The Boxer, Chance, and Bedtime Story, as well as numerous commercials, music videos, and industrials.
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Paul opened his boutique, Golden Horseshoe Entertainment, to produce and also to provide production services, including video editing, music scoring, and voice over recording. He is slated to work on five films with Pollack Films in 2025, wearing a variety of hats including Director, Producer, and Post-Production Supervisor.
RON HANKS
Director | Producer
Ron is an international producer, director, and showrunner whose career has spanned the last 30 years from commercials to film and television. He is currently nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his PBS travel show Joseph Rosendo's Steppin' Out, producing two seasons in locations such as Malaysia, Taiwan, Bolivia, Tanzania, Cuba, the Galápagos Islands, and more. His show Chef Swap at the Beachwhich he showruns & directs has just aired its third season on the Cooking Channel and will be releasing a one-hour Holiday special in December. Recently, he produced the series Guy’s Chance of a Lifetime with Guy Fieri for the Food Network.
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Ron has produced seven feature-length movies, including two Lifetime Originals and two for Tubi Originals, and his feature-directorial debut After the End is available on Amazon Prime and Tubi. He has produced six short films, and three short-form television series, with his 2018 series Broken being nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards. Ron’s other work includes producing the live broadcast of Billboard’s Women in Music 2022 featuring Olivia Rodrigo, along with Billboard News for the Billboard Music Awards and the Latin Music Awards. He produced the interstitials for Amazon Prime’s live broadcast of Pharrell’s Something in the Water festival in Washington D.C. in 2022. And lastly, with Ron’s work in commercials, he has directed and produced spots for companies such as Budget Blinds, Dos Hombres (with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul), and produced the high-end perfume company Amaffi's long-form commercial in Saudi Arabia in 2023.
Originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, Ron received his B.A. in English and Theatre from Lyon College along with an M.F.A. in Acting from The Theatre School at Depaul University in Chicago, IL. He began his career as an actor in the Walt Disney movie The Ernest Green Story and has over 40 on-screen credits with ten national commercials. He can currently be seen in the recently-released feature Peak Season.
PETER WALDMAN
Development Executive | Producer
As founder of WaldmanMusic & Entertainment, est. 2001, Peter has successfully employed his classical music education in teaching, performing, and composing. He has scored the music for 12+ films (including films starring Mark Ruffalo, Ed Asner, John Savage, and Robert Carradine). As a former concert violinist, he studied under Michael Davis, Raphael Druin, Dorothy Delay, and Yo-Yo Ma.
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Peter has performed with world-renown musical artists Seal, Jackson Brown, Steven Stills, and John Waite. His current projects include the feature films The Black Cyclone, A Six Gun for the Devil, Bad Rock, 9 to Over, and The Devil Takes Tomorrow.
GEORGE VERAS
Producer
George is a producer and ten-time Emmy Award winner. George brings a wide range of sporting event, feature film and documentary film production experience to the Pollack Films team. He has produced over 100 documentaries for many organizations and networks including ESPN, NFL Films, History Channel, CBS and NBC. Titles that George has produced include ESPN's 30 for 30, The Legend of Jimmy the Greek, NFL Film's Tight on the Spiral, Sportscasters Behind the Mike, The Hall of Fame Knocks as well as many Olympic Games and The 1993 MLB World Series. George also has extensive marketing experience in film including My Big Fat Greek Wedding and American Underdog (The Kurt Warner story).
George is a NATAS Judge for national sports and news awards. He spent 13 years at CBS Sports, produced seven Olympics for CBS and NBC, served 13 years at the Pro Football Hall of Fame as Executive Producer, and he founded Veras Communications in 1994 serving as the company's President and Chief Executive.
GHIZLANE MORLOT
Director | Producer
Ghizlane S. Morlot's first step as a director was shooting a feature documentary about renowned artist Trimpin. Since then, she has gone on to write and direct several narrative shorts, all featuring troubled women on the verge of a nervous breakdown. A native from Morocco and France, Morlot finds inspiration in Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's masterpieces about psychotic women and transgenders. Morlot received an M.F.A. in Television and Screenwriting from Stephens College, Columbia MO. She was granted a fellowship by the Alliance of Women Directors in Los Angeles and participated in a six-month directing workshop with USC School of Cinematics Arts Associate Professor Jennifer Warren, as part of a diversity initiative supporting women in film.
In the fall 2019, Morlot shadowed producer/director Randy Zisk (pre-production and production) on the set of “Almost Family” (Fox Television). During the 2021 pandemic, Morlot directed “Snow on The Farm”, a comedy web-series featuring women, chicken (mostly female) and goats (YouTube/IGTV).
In 2020, Morlot co-founded a production outfit in Los Angeles called Countess Films with her producing partner Jean-François Cavelier. Countess Films is set to focus primarily on feature films projects that shall allow for women’s voices to be heard while opening-up opportunities to tell more inclusive stories. Shortly thereafter, Countess Films entered into a producing agreement with production and distribution company Pollack Films. Under that agreement, Morlot is attached to direct her debut feature-length film “Meet Me in The Kitchen at Midnight”, a dramedy about yet another woman on the edge; followed by the heart-warming holiday feature “The Angel of Harlem” with principal photography scheduled for 2023.
GLEN ALLEN
Visual Effect Supervisor | Writer
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Since 1990, Glenn Allen has worked on some of the most successful movie and television projects in entertainment history. Glenn is credited as Producer, Director, Editor, or Visual Effects Producer on over 130 feature films and television shows spanning 35 years, and earning two Emmy Awards as VFX Producer on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. He is the co-owner of the New York-based, award-winning visual effects studio, Brainstorm Digital.
In 1994, Glenn was hired by Ron Howard as an assistant editor on The Paper. This 25-year collaboration on Ron Howard's team saw Glenn's skills mature alongside some of the greatest talent in Hollywood. During his tenure with Howard, Glenn worked on the Academy Award-winning features, Apollo 13 and The Grinch. Aside from Howard's films, Glenn's talents were utilized on notable movies such as Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow and Martin Scorsese’s Casino. Developing a more hands-on approach in the cutting room, Glenn provided Ron Howard with conceptual ideas for visual effects on A Beautiful Mind (Academy Award - Best Picture) and The Missing. Concurrently, other accomplished directors such as Woody Allen, Aaron Sorkin, Brian DePalma, Jonathan Demme, Tim Burton, Jim Jarmusch, Terence Winter, Joe Wright, and Frank Oz also recognized Glenn's talent and enlisted his services on their films.
Glenn has served as Visual Effects Producer for Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Safdie Bros Uncut Gems, and VFX Supervisor on History Channel’s Sons of Liberty. Glenn also produced the acclaimed History Channel series, The Men Who Built America and served as its VFX Supervisor. Glenn was the Producer and Editor of Neil Young’s last two concert films, both directed by Jonathan Demme. In 2012, Glenn was the Co-Producer of the award-winning History Channel series, The Men Who Built America.
RICHARD ALFIERI
Screenwriter | Author
A graduate of Yale University, Alfieri began his professional career in New York City, where he studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. His awards include two Writers Guild Awards and an Emmy nomination. His play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks opened on Broadway at the Belasco Theater. The play premiered in Los Angeles and has since been translated into 12 languages and opened in over 20 countries with productions in cities including Berlin, Sydney, Melbourne, Vienna, Madrid, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Amsterdam, Budapest, Helsinki, Prague, Istanbul, Hamburg, Munich, Athens, Seoul, and London.
Alfieri has adapted Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks for feature film production later this year.
His play, suggested by Chekhov's Three Sisters (play), premiered in Los Los Angeles Alfieri adapted the play for feature film production, and it premiered as an Official Selection at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival and the Hollywood Film Festival.
Alfieri is currently writing a screenplay based on Tom Alibrandi’s novel, Killshot. He also received both a Writers Guild Award and an Emmy nomination for his work on Norman Lear’s American Broadcasting Company special I Love Liberty. He wrote the feature film Echoes and the novel Ricardo - Diary of a Matinee Idol, which he adapted into the screenplay Moonlight Blonde. He produced the feature film Rescue Maine and executive-produced the National Broadcasting Company film False Witness. He also wrote the film adaptation of Robert James Waller"s novel Puerto Vallarta Squeeze. As an actor, he starred on Broadway in Tennessee Williams" Vieux Carre, and off-Broadway in Awake and Sing, and The Justice Box. His film credits include Children of Rage as well as episodes of Magnum Principal Investigator, Trapper John Doctor of Medicine and Stories from the Bible.
SIMON MILLER
Screenwriter | Producer | Actor
Simon holds a degree in philosophy and aesthetics from the University of Chicago, and was an art director and fashion photographer at the New York fashion advertising agency that he co-owned for 8 years. Simon was co-producer on the recent film SIX DANCE LESSONS IN SIX WEEKS. Simon is also an actor who has appeared in such shows as GOSSIP GIRL, VAMPIRE DIARIES, and CSI: MIAMI.
PR & MARKETING
HILARY PHELPS
Director of Public Relations & Marketing
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Hilary was an overachiever from the beginning. She was a straight “A” student and the fastest swimmer in the country for her age group, until the age of 14, when she took her first sip of alcohol. From that moment, she was hooked and spent the next 15-years drinking, and feeling empty, lost, and hopeless.
At 29, Hilary checked herself into rehab for substance use disorder. It wasn’t just about putting down the drink, but about changing people, places and things in her life that ultimately caused her to use in the first place. Hilary kept her recovery and sobriety quiet until recently when she celebrated 15-years of continuous sobriety in June 2022. It was then she realized “we’re only as sick as our secrets” and to decrease the stigma around substance use disorder, shared her story on “The Payoff with Pete,” a podcast at the intersection of sports and addiction. One podcast turned into a dozen and Hilary’s story of recovery was highlighted in a 2-part series on addiction recovery on WBAL. It was then she realized her mission and purpose wasn’t to stay quiet, but to help those healing in private keep going, by sharing her recovery and healing journey out loud.
Hilary is a speaker, an addiction recovery advocate, writer, and holistic wellness coach. Her mission and purpose is to help other women find their voice and heal from anything that is holding them back from finding their purpose. Hilary lives in Arlington, Virginia with her son, Alexander.
ELLIE BATCHIYSKA
EVP Communications & Marketing
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Ellie is a writer and graphic designer based in Los Angeles, CA. With an extensive background in journalism, her works have been featured in The Chicago Tribune, Ventura Blvd Magazine, Tiny Buddha, and countless other reputable publications.
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As a PR Coordinator and Account Manager for a national marketing agency, she specializes in enhancing client publicity and visibility. She uses her expertise in journalism and content creation to develop pitch decks and portfolios for various Pollack Films projects.
JOHN WHITE
Graphic Arts | Development
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John Adams White is a pre-pro., production, & design/marketing specialist. Absorbing the –
Uncanny styles of the comic book and graphic novels at an early age he left the page –
Seeking out the screen. Movies, television, commercials, and music videos –
Teleported him to the places that everyone longed to go. Real world experience and –
Classroom training brought him into his early 20s eager to take the –
Risks of the ever evolving film industry as he would rise through the ranks of production –
Eventually joining elite professionals on major Chicago shows –
As well as internationally recognized feature films. Learning from the best and –
Training on his own, John Adam White has become a warrior of strategy, AND –
Execution; honing edge of the knife techniques, industry secure knowledge, and mastering this craft.
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Don't wait to be great. Just Create.
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In the battlefield of the creator's age, he's a filmmaking and storytelling ninja. In the crowded sea of development, he's here to land your project on the shores of the next level with any investor, distributor, or studio.
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AFFILIATED PARTNERS
