future leaders producers
eitan mansuRi
Israel Spiro Films eitanmansuri@gmail.com
milos loChmann Czech Republic milos@molokofilm.com
Moloko Film
Past Projects The Way Out (dir. Petr Vaclav), which won four 2014 Czech Critics Awards including best film and best director. Up Next Ad Acta, based on the novel by the Parisbased Czech writer Patrik Ourednik, to be directed by the Rafani collective.
adam kassan US ak@sixth-and-idaho.com
6th & Idaho Productions
Past Projects Executive producer on David Ayer’s End Of Watch and co-executive producer on the upcoming Johnny Depp crime drama Black Mass (dir. Scott Cooper). Up Next Dan Futterman’s A Shot In The Eye and an untitled Matt Charman project, both at Fox Searchlight.
After excelling as a senior executive for some of the brightest producers and executives in the business, Los Angeles-born Kassan is about to try his hand as a producer with an exciting new partner: director Matt Reeves (Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Cloverfield) of 6th & Idaho Productions. Kassan’s first industry job was at Miramax in New York before he relocated to Los Angeles to work for Jeremy Kleiner at Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner’s Plan B Entertainment. He was John Lesher’s first assistant at Paramount Vantage and climbed to vice-president of production before joining Lesher at Le Grisbi Productions. “I was fortunate enough to have been mentored separately by two Academy Award-winning producers with unbelievable taste and relationships,” says Kassan. At the end of last year, he joined Reeves’ Fox-based 6th & Idaho as executive vice-president, saying: “It was always my goal to produce and work with a film-maker, ultimately.” Favouring “well-crafted, character-based, meaningful narratives”, Kassan knows only too well the pitfalls of production. “Anything worth doing is not easy. Matt is a creative powerhouse whose intellect and emotional compass make it all worthwhile.”
mike maCmillan
Canada Lithium Studios Productions hello@lithiumstudios.com Past projects Slamdance 2014 selection I Put A Hit On You (dirs. Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart) and Toronto 2014 favourite Guidance (dir. Pat Mills). Up Next Mills’ Guidance follow-up Don’t Talk To Irene and several films for director Bruce McDonald, including the sequel Pontypool Changes.
In 2007, Toronto-based MacMillan was running a web company and clients were starting to ask for video content. “I fell in love instantly with filming,” he recalls. “Within three years, my company completely shifted
54 Screen International Month 2015
its focus to film-making. Our concentration is on feature film projects that fit a genre-meets-arthouse criteria. “We like to develop material from early on and we champion directors with unique voices.” It has not been easy establishing
After graduating from Prague’s legendary FAMU film school, Lochmann worked as a commercials producer and a producer for hire to gain experience, before becoming a partner in Moloko Film in 2011. His aim is “to concentrate on artistically strong local stories with a global message”, but he points out how difficult it is to finance Czech films from domestic sources. “Czech producers are forced to search for co-production partners, particularly with our neighbours Poland and Slovenia,” he explains. “More and more of us are trying to develop and produce projects internationally, in order to reach a wider European and global audience.” One of his biggest challenges to date was casting The Way Out with Roma actors. “We travelled from town to town, visited dance parties and looked on Facebook. We organised improvised casting sessions across the country,” says Lochmann. “It took us six months and we ended up driving more than 20,000km to cast all the parts.”
the business but MacMillan and his Lithium team are getting there. “You think you’re capable and you work diligently for years to show that you’re ready. At some point, though, the industry needs to champion you and let you in,” he says. Working in Canada is a huge benefit. “We have some amazing resources at our disposal for both production and development, good tax credits, and a robust and talented industry willing to help bring projects to life,” says MacMillan, who has learned some “tough but important lessons” along the way. “The things you say no to are just as important as the things you say yes to.”
Past Projects The Wanderer (dir. Avishai Sivan) as associate producer; The Cutoff Man (dir. Idan Hubel); The Congress (dir. Ari Folman); Staircases (L’Esprit De L’Escalier, dir. Elad Keidan), which is screening out of competition in Official Selection. Up Next In production on Yoni Geva’s children’s fantasy film Aboulele and Hagar Ben-Asher’s The Burglar. In pre-production on Samuel Maoz’s Foxtrot. Developing new projects by Talia Lavie and Nir Bergman.
Mansuri attended the Sam Spiegel School in Jerusalem intending to become a photographer. He briefly considered directing but has finally became a producer. “Ari Folman is responsible, to a great extent, for my becoming an independent producer,” says Mansuri. “His invitation to join as a delegate producer on The Congress gave me the rare chance to sit in the cockpit not only with other international producers but also to work with first-rate actors from all over the world.” With that experience under his belt, Mansuri’s aim now is to get involved in original projects of every genre and kind “but focus mainly on local themes which, if treated in depth, have a better chance of attracting a worldwide audience”. Producing an Israeli feature can be a complex process, thanks to the dearth of private equity, lack of commitment from local broadcasters and an almost total reliance on state funds. “This is the reason we always need co-production partners,” notes Mansuri. “The only exception among the films I have produced is Staircases, which was half funded by private investment and Elie Meirovitz’s EZ Films.”
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