ENTERTAINMENT THAT
MAKES A DIFFERENCE
EXECUTIVE TEAM
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 40 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 $4 billion at the box office.
Michael's current projects include the feature films Delfino's Journey, Only Apparently Real, Ferocious Drummers, Major, Because of Us, Mattress, Out of the Woods, Meet Me in the Kitchen at Midnight, 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 2026.
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.​​​
AFFILIATED PARTNERS
