Mike Clink

Mike Clink is an American record producer. Clink began his career as an engineer at Record Plant Studios, recording such bands as Whitesnake, Triumph, Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Megadeth, UFO (including "Strangers in the Night"), Jefferson Starship, The Babys, Heart, Eddie Money and many others.
Clink began producing in 1986. Steve Kurutz at AllMusic writes about one of Clink's earliest production experiences: "…after a series of failed attempts, a young band named Guns N' Roses asked Clink to produce their debut album, "Appetite for Destruction"…". Clink's collaboration with Guns N' Roses lasted for five albums which sold a combined total of around 90 million copies. In 1988 Clink began work on Metallica's album "...And Justice for All" but was replaced with Flemming Rasmussen who worked with Metallica on two previous albums.
In 1989, Clink produced the critically acclaimed self-titled debut album of the Sea Hags, recorded at Captain and Tennille's Rumbo studios. It would be the Sea Hags' only album. The following year, Clink co-produced the successful "Rust in Peace" by American thrash metal band Megadeth. Dave Mustaine writes in the remaster's notebook that Clink produced albums which influenced him as a guitar player.
In 1996 Clink moved away from the metal genre to produce an album for the pop punk band Size 14 which was released on Volcano Entertainment part of BMG.
Clink has been involved in a variety of projects. He recorded and mixed the live half-time show for Super Bowl XXXV that featured Aerosmith, 'N Sync, Nelly, and Britney Spears. He also recorded and mixed a live television special for Union Underground. In 2001, he produced the album "Glamorous Youth" for the Houston rock band Pure Rubbish, which is signed to Ozzy Osbourne's label Divine Recordings.


Michael Lynne

Michael Lynne (April 23, 1941 – March 24, 2019) was an American film executive.
Biography.
Michael Lynne graduated from Brooklyn College (1961) and held a Juris Doctor from Columbia University. After a chance encounter with law-school acquaintance Bob Shaye, Lynne joined New Line Cinema as outside legal counsel in the early 1980s. In 1990, he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of the studio. In 2001, he was named co-chairman and co-chief executive officer.
Lynne started to collect wine and bought two vineyards on Long Island in 1999 and 2000.
In June 2008, after New Line had been fully merged into Warner Bros. Shaye and Lynne departed New Line and formed an independent film company, Unique Features. He died of cancer on March 24, 2019, aged 77.


Howard Blumenthal

Howard Blumenthal is an American television and new media producer, author, educator, and executive. Born and raised in New York City and nearby suburbs, he is the son of author and "Concentration" producer Norm Blumenthal, and the grandson of radio and music retailer Harry Blumenthal. He is best known as the co-creator and producer of the Peabody Award winning PBS series, "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?"
Early years.
A college assignment resulted in an extensive, unpublished encyclopedia of rock music, which provided access to the record industry. He became a publicist at Warner Bros. Records' New York City office, and a music journalist for ROCK, Circus, Crawdaddy!. He worked on the production and research staff of ABC game shows, The Big Showdown and The Money Maze, writing questions for the later about popular music.
New media.
In 1976, Warner Communications initiated a new venture in cable television called QUBE. The venture focused on two key developmental areas: new cable television channels; and the development of interactive television. Although several new cable television channels were contemplated, three channels were developed: a music channel for teenagers that became MTV; a channel for children called Nickelodeon; and a movie channel to compete with Showtime and HBO called The Movie Channel. Blumenthal led the initial team responsible for the music channel, producing its first pilot program with director Glenn Gordon Caron. For the interactive television effort, Blumenthal developed and produced interactive games (based upon an interactive console developed by Warner's technology group and Pioneer Electronics); including the first interactive game show, How Do You Like Your Eggs? hosted by Bill Cullen, and a prototype for a 24-hour automated game channel whose contributors included Charles Csuri. Blumenthal also coordinated efforts between QUBE and new Warner acquisition Atari.
In the 1980s, many media companies were beginning to explore the potential of new technologies. The popularity of portable audio devices resulted in a new form of publishing: adaptations of books on audiotape. As head of marketing for Warner Audio Publishing, the company established learning products with Looney Tunes; penetration into the emerging young adults market with Sweet Valley High; and high-profile products suitable for mall store sale with celebrity biographies. For Wiley, he developed and produced a product line for sophisticated business customers; topics included personal finance, creativity and innovation, power and authority, and high-level corporate strategy. Some of these projects resulted in books series, notably The Portable MBA series. As additional storage capacity became available, book and software publishers developed more sophisticated educational games. For Parker Brothers, Blumenthal developed a computer game to demonstrate the cooperative thinking skills provided by various parts of the brain. For The Learning Company, he developed product and market strategies for adult education in foreign languages.
In the 1990s, technology and industry demand shifted to richer interactive works. He worked with HarperCollins to develop a rich interactive version of the popular illustrated children's book, Whatley's Quest, and with Merriam Webster in the reinvention of interaction between young students and dictionaries; the resulting work was Merriam-Webster's Dictionary for Kids, published by Mindscape. As Editor-in-Chief for a new CompuServe project, he developed the first on-line service for children, and a personal finance service for adults with Money magazine. With KidSoft (subsequently acquired by Hearst), children and parents were encouraged to explore new learning software and the emerging online environment through a magazine, a club membership, and samples of software that could be used on then-new personal computers.
By the late 1990s, new media investment had shifted from the CD-ROM and online service business to internet sites. Partly as a result of its acquisition of competitor Music Boulevard, CDNow had emerged as the leader in the music retailing vertical. Encouraged by an upcoming merger with Columbia House (a record club owned by Time Warner and SONY), CDNow developed plans to become "the MTV of the internet"—with an emphasis on music industry news, artist interviews, internet radio, and video documentaries about music and musicians. Blumenthal was hired as the executive in charge of the new effort, which eventually expanded to include advertising, business development, public relations, promotion, record company relationships, artist relations, and projects with Oldsmobile, Hard Rock Cafe, and other partners. Subsequently, CDNow was acquired by Bertelsmann.
Television.
Early work as a television producer resulted in various series for Warner and its QUBE network, including a popular movie game show, Screen Test. As Showtime attempted to compete with fast-growing competitor HBO, the U.S.’s second largest pay TV network invested in entertainment specials and the re-staging of Broadway shows. Completed works in this domain include The Me Nobody Knows, a musical whose lyrics were written by inner-city children, presented by James Earl Jones; The Passion of Dracula; Spectacular Scandinavia!, featuring ABBA and Victor Borge at Tivoli Gardens; and Richiardi's Chamber of Horror & Illusion, hosted by Vincent Price.
As the new home video business emerged, new production and distribution opportunities emerged. It was now possible to develop a program for a very specific special interest audience, with targeted sponsorship and targeted distribution. One early example was The World's Greatest Photography Course, sponsored by Minolta Camera Corp. with assistance from AgfaPhoto, distributed not through the new home video stores, but through established camera stores—a new idea in the 1980s. Another was the baseball documentary, "The Boys of Summer", based upon Roger Kahn's story of the Jackie Robinson-era Brooklyn Dodgers.
By the mid-1980s, new cable networks were sufficiently well-established to support original half-hour series. For Nickelodeon, this path began with Scholastic Productions and Blumenthal for a series called "Double Dare". For MTV, the 24/7 format was broken by Remote Control, its first half hour series, developed by Joe DaVola, Lauren Corrao, Michael Duggan and Blumenthal, who appears on the program's credits as "high-priced consultant." International game show formats were emerging as a more modern business, so Blumenthal formed Ashton-Mist Productions with former NBC international marketing executive Gary Wald, resulting in a British series on ITV based upon digital manipulation of images called "Perception".
From 1990 until 1994, Blumenthal served as project lead for "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?", produced for PBS by WGBH, Boston and WQED, Pittsburgh. Based upon the computer game published by Broderbund, the series presented three "gumshoe" contestants in a fantasy detective office, attempting to track down animated gang members who stole, for example, the Eiffel Tower. The cast included Greg Lee, Lynne Thigpen, and Rockapella. The series was developed and produced by Blumenthal, and co-developed with writer Dorothy Curley and director Dana Calderwood. He also supervised production, and served as story editor, for Cartoon Network's first original series, The Moxy Pirate Show, produced by using then-new motion capture technology, featuring the voices of Bobcat Goldthwait and Penn Jillette.
In 1997, Blumenthal and Calderwood established a new television production company in New York City called Glow in the Dark Productions. Partners included former Carmen Sandiego head writer Charles Nordlander and former Carmen producer Lynn Kestin, along with former Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? producer Shirley Abraham. The company produced seven specials for The History Channel under the umbrella title: The Great American History Quiz, featuring nearly 200 celebrities including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Hank Aaron, and B.B. King; two series for Food Network, Pressure Cooker and Taste Test; one series for HBO Family, 30x30 KidFlicks; several pilot programs including work for TV Land and Cinemax, and a syndicated series for Universal Television called Crossing Over with John Edward.
Since 2005, Blumenthal has served as CEO for Independence Media, a Philadelphia-based public television operation that is among the few unaffiliated with PBS. In 2008, Independence Media introduced a new service, MiND: Media Independence. The service is based upon 5-minute programs in rotation throughout the week, similar to the format originally developed for MTV. MiND programs emphasize learning about a wide range of topics, and also emphasize positive aspects of community building. Over 1,000 people have attended MiND's production Boot Camps; some of them have submitted MiND programs currently on the air. The service is also seen in the New York City market, and on the nonprofit organization's internet site.
Corporate strategy and innovation.
Within the public television industry, and the commercial media industries, Blumenthal's efforts have focused on reinvention and new opportunities based upon new technologies. As CEO of MiND, he demonstrated the viability of a low-cost, high-impact public media operation. As Executive Director of New Jersey Network, a New Jersey State Authority, and President of the NJN Foundation, which raised money for New Jersey Public Broadcasting, Blumenthal wrote and lectured about the need for new, more contemporary public television models. Previously, Blumenthal was a Senior Vice President at Bertelsmann (Direct Group), responsible for integration of CDNow, Napster, and record club operations; a Senior Vice President at CDNow, responsible for media, business development, marketing, and other customer-facing activities; Senior Vice President of KidSoft, Inc, which provided children and parents with a safe entry in the new personal computing space; and President of Glow in the Dark Productions, a television program supplier in New York City.
Publications.
Blumenthal was an active magazine writer, with work published in "TV Guide", "Stereophile", "American Film", "Video", "Video Review", "Crawdaddy!", and other publications. From 1983 until 1997, he wrote The Hi-Tech Home newspaper column, first for "The New York Times" syndicate and then for United Feature Syndicate. The column reported and commented on consumer electronics products, music, photography, digital literacy, and changes in the media landscape. The column appeared regularly in over 100 newspapers, including the "Chicago Sun-Times", "The Plain Dealer", "St. Louis Post-Dispatch", "The Cincinnati Enquirer", and many Gannett papers.
He is the author of more than twenty books about media and culture, including This Business of Television, with attorney and law professor Oliver Goodenough, published by Random House / Billboard Books. Branded for Life examines the role of marketing in daily life, and the sometimes detrimental combination of belief systems, government regulations, corporate activities and the power of brands. The Creative Professional is a business book for the 1 in 30 Americans who earn a living in a creative profession. Both were published by Emmis Books.
He is the co-author of several books, based upon the History Channel series, published by Warner Books under the Great American History Quiz title. Four genre-specific books, The CD Listener's Guides to World Music, Classical Music, Jazz, and Blues, were published by Billboard Books. The Complete Time Traveler: A Tourist's Guide to the Fourth Dimension, was written with Dorothy Curley and Brad Williams, and was among the first illustrated books to be produced with desktop publishing software (Aldus PageMaker, later reworked as Adobe InDesign).
Education.
Blumenthal has been affiliated with New School University, The Annenberg School for Communication at University of Pennsylvania, and lectured at MIT, Drexel University, Temple University, and other colleges and universities.


Charlie Black

Charles Frank Black (November 23, 1949 – April 23, 2021) was an American country music songwriter and record producer.
Biography.
Black graduated from University of Maryland in 1970 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee the same year. His first cut was "Girl, You Came and Eased My Mind" by Tommy Overstreet. Since then, he wrote singles for Anne Murray, Gary Morris, Earl Thomas Conley, Johnny Paycheck, and Phil Vassar. In 1991, the Nashville Songwriters Association International inducted Black into its hall of fame.
Black was also an occasional record producer. He produced early recordings by Cristy Lane, including her 1978 studio albums "Cristy Lane Is the Name" and "Love Lies".
Black was married to Dana Hunt, who is also a songwriter. She co-wrote George Strait's singles "Check Yes or No" and "Write This Down".
Black died on April 23, 2021.


The Buchanans

The Buchanans are an American production team, founded by Wiz Buchanan (aka Jesús Mi Amor) and Dre Vega. Along with later members Kyle "Keyz" Davidson, and Chris Paultre, the Buchanans are also rappers and songwriters.
Life and career.
Wiz and Dre are two childhood friends that grew up in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York. Throughout grade school the two completely immersed themselves in hip hop culture, participating in everything from breakdancing, graffiti, to rap. It was not until they duo reached their late teens that they decided to take their musical talents serious. As they explain, "some of our friends started recording songs and making tracks, and it took our interest in music to another level. We decided to pool our money together and purchase recording equipment so we could cut records to the raps we had in our heads. That led to making beats, which broadened our horizons even more." Finding inspiration in Dr. Dre's "The Chronic", the duo immediately began crafting their sound. One of their first creations was a track called "What More Can I Say", which found its way on Jay-Z's "The Black Album". From there, The Buchanans went on to produce for artists such as Beyoncé, Nas, Dr. Dre, T.I, Lupe Fiasco, Amerie and Fabolous. In 2012, The Buchanans released "God Is In The Machine", a mixtape project that features founding member Wiz Buchanan as Jesús Mi Amor.
Production style.
The Buchanans mainly produce songs in the hip hop and R&B genres. Their sound is heavily inspired by 1970s soul music and hip hop from the 1980s and 1990s.


Stephen Andrew Lynch

Stephen Andrew Lynch (September 3, 1882October 4, 1969), known more commonly as S.A. Lynch, was an early motion picture industry pioneer.
Personal life.
Lynch grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, the son of Stephen Scott Lynch, a Civil War veteran wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg, and Jane Susannah Butler Lynch. Lynch was raised in his family's Asheville grocery business. Lynch stood out in his youth as a football and baseball star (earning the nickname "Diamond Lynch"), and was coaching and managing professionally by his early 20s. Lynch served the head football and baseball coach at Maryville University in Maryville, Tennessee, from 1902 to 1903. Lynch was married twice, first to Flora Camilla Posey, who obtained a divorce from Lynch in 1924, and later to Julia Dodd Adair, an Atlanta socialite, whom he married in 1925.
Motion picture industry career.
Beginnings as a theater owner and Paramount distributor.
In 1909, Lynch, fresh off a successful baseball season with the local Asheville team, bought a stake in and began managing one of the first movie theaters in Asheville. From 1909 through the early nineteen teens, Lynch continued to acquire movie theaters at a prodigious rate. By the mid nineteen teens, Lynch had enough clout as a theater owner to obtain a 25-year exclusive right to distribute Paramount motion pictures in 11 southern states from W.W. Hodkinson, founder of the fledgling Paramount Pictures organization (which was initially a motion picture distribution rather than production company). Through the remainder of the nineteen teens, Lynch continued acquiring theaters and distributing Paramount product throughout the South.
Involvement with Triangle Distributing Company.
In 1917, Lynch, at the urging of his Paramount colleague Hodkinson, bought into the Triangle Distributing Company, the distribution arm of the Triangle Film Corporation organized by Harry and Roy Aitken. Triangle had, in a very short span of time, become arguably the preeminent movie studio. Triangle's strength lay with its three star directors, D. W. Griffith, Thomas Ince and Mack Sennett. Triangle films also featured the premier actors of the day, including Douglas Fairbanks, William S. Hart, and Norma Talmadge. The Aitkens spun off the distribution side of Triangle in an effort to raise additional capital. In the process, the Aitkens brought in Hodkinson, who brought in Lynch.
Lynch maintained a relatively low profile in his dealings with Paramount. However, with Triangle Distributing Company he branded certain Triangle output as "Distributed by S.A. Lynch Enterprises," perhaps the most notable example being "The Cold Deck," a 1917 Western starring William S. Hart the poster for which is still considered by some one of the all-time great movie posters.
Triangle Film Corporation began to fall apart in 1917 amidst financial scandals involving the Aitkins and lost its three 'star' directors and many of its star actors. Lynch, who by that time had had a falling out with Hodkinson and a third owner, Pawley, bought out both in order to obtain sole control of Triangle Distributing. Even after Triangle Film Company had effectively dissolved, Lynch was able to make a profit with Triangle Distributing Company by re-cutting and releasing previously created (and sometimes previously released) Triangle Film Corporation output as new features, well into 1919.
Paramount's battle for the theaters.
Almost from the beginning of the motion picture industry, W.W. Hodkinson and Paramount, in order to stabilize revenues and increase profits, implemented a subscription system for theaters known as "block booking" whereby a theater owner, if he wanted to show any Paramount pictures, would have to agree to take a block of Paramount product at a set price, sight unseen. Block booking was made possible for Paramount in part due to the exclusive contract between its principal supplier, the Famous Players Lasky Corporation and the first real motion picture star, the former "Biograph Girl," Mary Pickford. The public clamored for Mary Pickford's films, and theater owners felt compelled to obtain them.
Several major theater circuit owners, unhappy with Paramount's block booking arrangement, banded together in 1917 to form First National in order to create a competing stream of pictures for distribution to its members. First National quickly amassed a sufficient number of theaters under its umbrella to threaten the continued preeminence of Paramount. In order to prevent First National from pushing it out of the market, Paramount embarked upon a massive effort to obtain theaters to rival, if not crush, First National. The period of aggressive theater acquisition and competition between Paramount and First National has been dubbed by some as the "Battle for the Theaters."
Rather than starting from scratch to amass theaters, Paramount turned to, among others, Lynch. Lynch, who was already a heavy Paramount shareholder having obtained Hodkinson's stock following his ouster in 1916 following the merger of Paramount into Famous Players Lasky, convinced Paramount to form a new company with him, Southern Enterprises, Inc. The purpose of Southern Enterprises was to take over Lynch's exclusive distribution franchise and to acquire theaters in order to repel the First National challenge. Although Southern Enterprises was owned half by Lynch and half by Paramount, Paramount was cash strapped due to other acquisitions and did not have money available to fund the new company. Not to be deterred, Lynch advanced Paramount's share of the Southern Enterprises capital on the condition that he remain in control until the loan was repaid.
Southern Enterprises, seeking to break into markets controlled by First National, sent Lynch and his so-called "Wrecking Crew" or "Dynamite Gang" through the South to acquire theaters by whatever means necessary. Testimony at Federal Trade Commission hearings related stories of Lynch and his gang arriving in a town served by a First National affiliated theater owner and offering to buy out the theater owner. If the theater owner refused, Lynch and his associates threatened to build a bigger, better theater across the street from the existing theater in order to put the theater owner out of business. The tactic worked, and the Dynamite Gang added continually to the Southern Enterprises theater chain.
One principal target in the Battle for the Theaters was the Hulsey circuit in Texas and Oklahoma. Hulsey was one of the more prominent First National members, and Paramount felt obtaining the Hulsey circuit was one of the keys to breaking the threat First National posed. Lynch organized Southern Enterprises of Texas, Inc., capitalized by Paramount and its financial backers, and began buying up theaters throughout Texas and Oklahoma. Hulsey had been very successful with his theaters, but had reinvested his profits in theater expansion and leveraged his position with bank loans. As Lynch moved through Hulsey's territory purchasing theaters, a wire for $1 million arrived at Hulsey's bank for the credit of Southern Enterprises of Texas, Inc. Hulsey's banker called him in, and Hulsey promptly sold out to Paramount. With the fall of Hulsey, and Paramount's infiltration of the First National board of directors through various theater chain acquisitions delivered in part by Lynch, First National crumbled as an effective competitor leaving Paramount the preeminent motion picture production and distribution company.
Ultimately, Lynch's tactics gave rise to controversy and disputes with Paramount. By that time, Paramount's financial position had improved and at the end of 1922 it negotiated a $5.7 million deal to pay off its debt to Lynch and acquire the Southern Enterprises theater chain, which then numbered in excess of 200.
Federal Trade Commission antitrust charges.
Lynch's activities during the Battle of the Theaters became front-page news in 1921 with the Federal Trade Commission's filing of an anti-trust suit against Lynch, Southern Enterprises, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, Adolph Zukor, Jesse Lasky and several others. The Federal Trade Commission charged that Lynch and the others had violated antitrust law by using oppression and coercion in the acquisition of theaters, utilizing the block booking method of distribution, and by forcing Paramount customers to exclude other producer's product from their screens.
As the public outrage over Paramount's practices subsided after the fall of First National, so did the government attorneys' encouragement to continue. After several years of prosecution, the case ultimately went away with the admonition that Paramount cease and desist its block booking practices for coercive uses, and permit individual theater owners to opt out of individual features for racial or religious opposition (but only after arbitration).
Post-retirement involvement in the motion picture industry.
Following the fall of First National as a rival to Paramount, and Lynch's sale of his Southern Enterprises, Inc. theater chain, Lynch retired to Miami Beach Florida in the early 1920s and assumed a more anonymous role with Paramount as a member of the Paramount Special Board. Lynch was brought out of retirement during Paramount's 1933 bankruptcy to deal with its theater holdings. Lynch later assumed control of Paramount's South Florida theater operations, which he ran until 1945 when he retired for the second and final time from active involvement in the motion picture industry. One of Lynch's Southern Enterprises employees, Y. Frank Freeman took over Lynch's daily activities with Paramount following his second retirement, and ultimately took over as President of Paramount following Adolph Zukor's tenure.
Career as a real estate developer.
In the mid-1920s, flush from the Paramount buyout, Lynch turned his attention to real estate development. During the Florida land boom of the early 1920s, Lynch developed the Lynch Building, an office tower in Jacksonville, Florida which still bears his name, the Exchange Office Building in Miami, Florida, bought the Atlantan Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, purchased and completed the unfinished Columbus Hotel in downtown Miami, Florida, and purchased the Venetian and Towers Hotels, also in Miami.
Lindsey Hopkins Sr. also had an interest in the 17-story Columbus Hotel at Biscayne boulevard and N.E. First Street with S.A. Lynch.
Lynch also notably created the Sunset Islands, a series of four man made islands in Biscayne Bay just north of the Venetian Islands, Star Island, Palm Island and Hibiscus Island.
Columbus Hotel controversy.
Lynch's Columbus Hotel purchase proved controversial. Lynch purchased the partially finished hotel out of an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding commenced against the bond underwriter that had financed the hotel's construction. Following Lynch's purchase, the bondholder's committee, headed by George Emlen Roosevelt, a cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, brought suit against Lynch claiming they had been swindled. Lynch's actions were ultimately vindicated when he prevailed in the lawsuit. The presiding judge found that Lynch explicitly made no representations, and the bondholder's committee, which was represented by able and sophisticated businessmen, simply found that it had made a bad deal. The Columbus Hotel remained in the Lynch family until the 1960s managed Lynch's son and grandson, S.A. Lynch, Jr. and Stephen A. Lynch, III. The Columbus was demolished in the 1980s and 50 Biscayne was constructed on the site in 2005.
Sunset Islands.
The Sunset Islands were some of the last man-made islands created in Biscayne Bay. The Florida land boom of the 1920s ended in a catastrophic land bust just as Lynch finished filling the islands. Other developers were not able to withstand the bust; at least one partially completed man-made island project, Isola di Lolando was never completed. Lynch, however, had the resources to hold the Sunset Islands lots off the market and wait for conditions to improve. The islands remained landscaped but undeveloped until the 1930s, when the first lots went up for sale. Today the Sunset Islands remain one of the most exclusive and sought-after addresses in Miami Beach. Lynch himself built a residence on the southwest corner of Sunset II named "Sunshine Cottage," which was featured on tour-boat rides to see houses of the rich and famous.
Other business dealings.
While Lynch's principal business was the motion picture industry, he had dealings as a major financier in many other industries over the course of his life. While most of these activities do not merit special mention, one in particular stands out as an example of the tenacity and aggression Lynch displayed in his business dealings. For several years during the early 1950s, Lynch waged a furious court battle in an effort to take over control of the Florida East Coast Railway, which was then in receivership. Lynch ultimately lost out to Ed Ball representing the DuPont family interests.
Sports and recreation.
As a young man, Lynch was a star athlete, excelling at both baseball and football. Lynch had a brief stint at Davidson College in 1903 as a coach and player for its baseball team, and later, in 1922, Lynch bought the minor league professional baseball team the Atlanta Crackers.
Following his retirement from Paramount in the early 1920s, Lynch began his lifelong interest in yachting. In the mid-1920s, Lynch obtained "Rival", one of several Sound Schooner class of 30-foot waterline racing yachts that competed in the waters off Long Island. Lynch, on board "Rival", was a competitor of Rod Stephens, father of the famous yacht designer Olin Stephens. Lynch also turned his attention to the houseboats built by the Mathis Yacht Building Company. Over the course of his life, Lynch owned three of these yachts, the 85-foot "Jane", named for his daughter, the 105-foot "Sunset", sister-ship to the USS "Sequoia" (presidential yacht) (launched on July 4, 1926, as "Freedom", and renamed "Freedom" following a full restoration completed in 2008), and the 98-foot "North Star".


Mikaela Beardsley

Mikaela Beardsley (born January 22, 1970) is an American documentary film producer and entrepreneur. She is currently the Executive Director of the What Works Media Project. Most of her films are distributed by PBS or HBO Documentary Films.
Biography.
Beardsley was born in Boston, MA. In 1992, she graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, where she earned her BA in Comparative Literature. At Princeton, she was classmates with future screenwriter Craig Mazin and future U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, as well a roommate of film producer and later collaborator, Jamie Gordon. She has produced over a dozen nationally broadcast films, and has worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Alex Gibney, and Wim Wenders, among others.
Career.
In 1993, Beardsley began her career at WGBH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. She then moved to New York, where she acted as an associate producer on .
In 2003, PBS presented a seven-part documentary film series from Martin Scorsese called, "Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues", dedicated to exploring the history of the uniquely American musical genre. Beardsley served as a producer on episodes directed by Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Charles Burnett and Wim Wenders.
In 2009, Beardsley produced the documentary film "Reporter", about "New York Times" columnist Nicholas D. Kristof's work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The film was directed by Eric Daniel Metzgar, and executive produced by Ben Affleck. The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, before first airing on HBO on February 18, 2010. In 2011, Beardsley would receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Informational Programming - Longform for "Reporter".
Beardsley originated the Half the Sky movement, a multi-year global media project aimed at improving opportunity for women and girls in the developing world, based on the critically acclaimed , by Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. This included a four-hour documentary in 2012 that Beardsley executive produced, which PBS aired in two parts on consecutive nights. The documentary featured celebrity advocates America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde traveling to developing countries. In November of that year, Beardsley served as the keynote speaker at the first annual Global Solutions Forum at Vail Mountain School, discussing the project. For "Half the Sky", Beardlsey developed a partnership with USAID, that linked the Ford Foundation, IKEA Foundation, Intel and numerous other corporate partners, including Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Nike, and the Rockefeller Foundation, raising five million dollars for direct programs.
In 2015, Beardley received her second Emmy nomination, this time for Outstanding Historical Programming, for producing ".
In 2016, Mikaela initiated the What Works Media Project, joining with Results For America, Soledad O'Brien's Starfish Media Group, The Sorenson Impact Center, and Impact Partners. The project commissions award-winning documentary directors to produce character-driven shorts focusing on the advancement of social mobility, and the government officials leading the way. First announced at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, the films are scheduled to go into production in late 2017.
Personal life.
She is married to film producer Cary Woods.


Arthur L. Annecharico

Arthur L. Annecharico is a producer, director and writer, whose involvement in the entertainment industry has spanned more than 32 years. His own company The Arthur Company, had a multimillion-dollar partnership with MCA TV for development of new productions across the board in film and television, with more than $40,000,000 in on-the-air commitments in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Career.
The Arthur Company finished a £28,000,000 order for 271 half-hour sitcoms for Turner Broadcasting Systems, and also a $10,000,000 order for 24 episodes of the hour-long action adventure series, "Airwolf".
Annecharico's syndicated sitcom, "The Munsters Today" (aka "The New Munsters") after its initial pilot enjoyed three successful seasons from 1988 – 1991. The pilot episode bridged the gap between the original 1966 "The Munsters" series and the new "Today" show.
The show's second series was met with some criticism from Munster fans as Annecharico changed the format of the show's first season and the original series to bring the Munster family into the 1990s. While the show continued to base its original premise on the fact that the Munster family are unlike other people yet living a perfectly "normal" life, there were notable changes made.
Annecharico also produced 26 half-hour episodes of "Dragnet", and "Adam-12". He also produced the syndicated sitcom "What a Dummy", which he co-created for Fox Television.
Among Annecharico's other credits are the theatrical features, "Run For Blue", "The Eagle" and "Grains of Sand". In network television, he is credited with "The Deepest Dive", and "The Huddle" to name a few. His writing credits include the features "Camp Bow Wow", "Father Forgive Me" and the television special "Tanya".
Awards.
In addition to three Emmys, Annecharico was the recipient of the prestigious 1988 Salvation Army Evangeline Booth Award, Annecharico serves on the California Salvation Army Board of Directors. He also is the recipient of awards of recognition from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers for the donated production of 16 different public service announcements and has been recognized by both the City and County of Los Angeles for his contribution in the fight against drunk drivers.


Mercer Barrows

Mercer B. Barrows is an American television producer, art director, and writer. He is the father of the actress Samantha Barrows and the actor Mercer Barrows III, and the husband of Debbie Ware Barrows, a former producer of "Days of Our Lives".
Awards and nominations.
Daytime Emmy awards:


Roy Speer

Roy Merrill Speer Jr. (June 23, 1932 – August 21, 2012) was an American attorney, and entrepreneur. He was also the former CEO, co-founder and chairman of the Home Shopping Network.
Early life and education.
Speer was born in Key West, Florida and graduated from Stetson University in Deland, Florida and from Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida.
Career.
Speer left his job as an assistant state attorney two years after being hired in 1965.
Early in his legal career, Speer worked for the State of Florida in Tallahassee as a Special Assistant Attorney General. He also worked as Assistant Trial Staff Counsel for the U.S. Labor Relations Board. During this period, Speer developed a working relationship with A. Jay Cristol who is now Senior Federal Judge of the Southern Federal Bankruptcy Court. After leaving Tallahassee, he became a chief lobbyist for the City of St. Petersburg, specializing in water rights and laws. Later, Speer was appointed Assistant State Attorney for Pinellas County by Governor Haydon Burns. He then practiced law with John DeVito and Elizabeth A. Kovachevich, who is now a Senior Federal Judge. He dated Elizabeth A. Kovachevich in law school.
Speer established his first of many business partnerships with Estlon and JoAnn Pippin, experienced single-family homebuilders in Pasco County, Florida. They formed Tahitian Homes, Inc. and proceeded to build homes in western Pasco County. Later, Speer expanded his real estate development activities into a large multi-corporation company called Lanbanque, Inc. In order to supply utilities to his ever-expanding real estate projects, Speer and the Pippins established Aloha Utilities, Inc. which was the largest private water and sewer utility in Pasco County. During a slow-down in the real estate business, Speer spent three years in Europe, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait formulating TACET (Technology and Capital Exchange Trust).
Speer was also involved in growing vegetables in Puerto Rico; he owned a beautician school, restaurants, lounges, a marina, marine dredging, data processing services, multi-level marketing of vitamins and cosmetics, cement block manufacturing, country-western music publishing and recording studios, telecommunications companies, a high-end boutique shop, general insurance agency, internet connection and data center, a walk-in medical clinic, wholesale gasoline and diesel fuel distribution operation, a travel agency, home security monitoring, mail order medical and diabetic supply company, a Big & Tall men's clothing store, an AM radio station, a mobile medical screening company, a book publishing company, a warehouse fulfillment and distribution company, an advertising media consulting firm, television stations, mobile home parks, a 225 room hotel in Nassau, Bahamas, a 500,000 square foot commercial warehouse complex in Las Vegas, and a five-star 23 story resort hotel and residences on Ft. Lauderdale Beach.
In early 1980, Speer formed U.S. Hydrocarbons Drilling and Development, Inc., and oil and gas drilling exploration operation in southeastern Texas. Within a few years the world market price of oil decreased drastically causing the business to fail. There were numerous Texas banks supported by Speer's personal guarantee. The banks forced him into bankruptcy. Over the next four years Speer successfully emerged from bankruptcy with all unpaid claims fully satisfied.
Speer founded the Roy M. Speer Foundation in 1986. The foundation has donated to the Dr. Parker Mahan Facial Pain Center at the University of Florida College of Dentistry, Pasco County YMCA Family Center, The Florida Orchestra, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Presidential Prayer Team, Hurricane Relief Fund, New Port Richey's Super Playground, Billy Graham Crusade, and local Christian churches.
Home Shopping Network.
During this tumultuous and intense period of significant litigation when most other business men would have become extremely wary of risky speculations, Speer forged ahead. In 1982, he and Bud Paxson formed Home Shopping Network to sell merchandise on television using a local cable network. This developed as an offshoot of an AM radio program. This became an ideal platform for Speer to apply his years of legal and business expertise. The effort created a completely new industry - retail merchandising through television. When the local venture expanded dramatically, they acquired access on a satellite channel in 1985, enabling the company to sell merchandise throughout the United States from the Clearwater facility. On May 13, 1986, Home Shopping Network went public on the American Stock Exchange. Within five years, the company would achieve over one billion dollars in annual net sales, a testament to Speer's vision and leadership. The success of this venture was so impressive that the Harvard M.B.A. Program assigned its students to analyze and critique the company's success.
In 1993, Speer was charged in a class-action suit that alleged he improperly accepted compensation from vendors; that the Company paid Nando DiFilippo, former executive vice-president, general counsel and secretary of the Company, to prevent him from disclosing such vendor bribes; and that the Company had failed to properly disclose certain related party transactions in its filings with the SEC.
Also in 1993, another suit was brought against Speer alleging a breach of fiduciary duties owed to the Company and its stockholders by failure to exercise due care and diligence in the management and administration of the affairs of the Company. The suit challenged the validity of a license agreement with Richard Speer (Roy Speer's son) pursuant to which the Company was given the exclusive rights to certain software and alleges that the Company wrongfully made payments to Richard Speer pursuant to a computer services agreement which was allegedly terminated. The suit alleged that the Company wrongfully made payments to Richard Speer of $3,502,000, $3,286,000 and $3,084,000 during the Company's 1992, 1991 and 1990 fiscal years, respectively, pursuant to the agreement. Merchandise that is unsuitable for sale via the Company's programs or outlet stores was sold by Richard Speer, who received a commission of 15% on the amount realized upon disposition. Richard Speer received $1,469,000, $1,615,000 and $1,427,000 and through this arrangement during the Company's 1992, 1991 and 1990 fiscal years, respectively. The suit also alleged that this 15% commission was commercially unreasonable. The suit alleged that the above-described arrangements would not have been entered into by the Company with an unrelated third party and that Roy and Richard Speer owned undisclosed interests in unspecified firms which sell merchandise to the Company. Speer settled all claims with the Plaintiffs before they ever went to trial.
He resigned from the Home Shopping Network in 1993.
Personal life.
Speer married Lynnda Short on July 22, 1960 at Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Florida. They had two children, Richard Merrill Speer and Lisa Lynn Vickers. Roy also had a son, Robert R. Speer, from a previous marriage. He was Christian.
After his death in 2012, Lynnda, acting as Speer's personal representative, filed a lawsuit against Morgan Stanley for $400 million.


Boni Blackstone

Bonnie "Boni" Blackstone (born November 8, 1965) is a retired American professional wrestling announcer, commentator, model, television and radio producer. She was a popular on-air personality in regional territories of the Southern United States during the 1980s, as part of the announcing team in the Global Wrestling Federation and briefly the World Wrestling Federation, as well as the longtime co-host of "Superstars of Wrestling" with husband Joe Pedicino and Gordon Solie from 1986 to 1992. She was one of the earliest, if not the first, female announcers in professional wrestling and has been praised by fellow women in the industry, such as Missy Hyatt, for portraying a more serious and intelligent personality in contrast to the typical wrestling valet.
She retired from wrestling in 1995, and eventually followed her husband into the radio industry. They produced and co-hosted WTLK TV-14 infomercial "Shoppers' Showcase" and, in 2000, began hosting "Pro Wrestling this Week" on FOX Sports Radio. Blackstone and Pedicino are also the owners of a successful publishing company, Food Fax, which puts out six specialty advertising guides a year. The company originally sent out fax listings to office workers listing lunch menus and daily specials from over 1,000 local restaurants in Cobb County, Georgia. It was the first of its kind to offer such service.
Biography.
Early career and Superstars of Wrestling.
One of two daughters born to Buster and Annette Blackstone in 1965, Boni Blackstone grew up in Riverdale, Georgia and graduated from North Clayton High School in 1984. She entered modeling, becoming "Miss Motorcraft 500" at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and was working as professional photographer with a studio in Fayetteville when Joe Pedicino, host of "Superstars of Wrestling", began holding auditions to be his co-host. Out of 70 young women, Pedicino read 20-30 of the best letters on the show and selected Blackstone as the winner. As a lifelong wrestling fan, she impressed Pedicino with her knowledge of wrestling and natural camera presence. He later told "The Atlanta Journal Constitution" in a 1986 interview, "I feel like we saved ourselves six weeks in training by selecting her. Her professionalism and ease in front of the camera are outstanding. We're extremely happy with her".
Unlike most women in professional wrestling, Blackstone was portrayed as a serious, intelligent commentator who often displayed her wrestling knowledge both calling matches with Pedicino and in interviews during her own segments. She became an instant hit with fans and, in November 1986, a group of twenty people drove in a van from Snellville, Georgia to the locked studio in downtown Atlanta to see Blackstone and attend what they believed to be a live wrestling event. This became a common occurrence during the show's early years, as neither Pedicino or Blackstone disclosed whether the show was live or taped, and fans would often be turned away by security.
With the show's success, Pedicino and Blackstone became local celebrities although they often referred to themselves as "wrestling fans who got lucky". They often visited hospitals, were involved with charitable organizations The Atlanta Journal Constitution often ran stories featuring the private and professional lives of both.
Global Wrestling Federation.
In 1991, she joined Pedicino in Dallas, Texas where he and partner Max Andrews started the Global Wrestling Federation. Their new promotion was followed by much fanfare and, when Pedicino successfully negotiated with ESPN for a weekly television show later that year, Blackstone joined her husband as part of the announcing team with Scott Hudson, Steve Prazak and Craig Johnson. She remained the only female member, and primary interviewer, during her time with the promotion. On April 9, 1992, she and Pedicino were released from the promotion as a cost-cutting measure along with other core members of the GWF including booker Eddie Gilbert, head announcer Craig Johnson, and other key GWF members.
Retirement and recent years.
When Superstars of Wrestling finally ended in August 1992, she and her husband started their own business Food Fax. The business initially began by distributing a two-page fax listing of 24 restaurants and their daily specials to office workers. The first company of its kind, the listing was sent out five nights a week to over 1,000 businesses in the Cobb County area.
Earlier that year, she appeared as a celebrity guest on Bill Cosby's "You Bet Your Life". She was partnered with a parapsychologist to answer three questions about science and surprised the host and audience by correctly answering the first question, "What is sucrose?", and continued on to win $1,000 and a free trip to Philadelphia where the show was taped. Later that month, she appeared in the pages of National Enquirer as the winner of a Halloween costume contest held by the "National Enquirer". The contestants were required to create costumes using only thread, glue, paste and pages from the tabloid. Blackstone's costume, which she called the "Enquira", was parody of late night movie host Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
After taking a short break from wrestling, Blackstone sent an audition tape to World Championship Wrestling, and when nothing came of it, she tried her luck with the World Wrestling Federation. In March 1993, she was flown in for an audition and later met with Vince McMahon. Soon after, she was brought to the WWF as an interviewer and began appearing on "WWF Superstars", "WWF All-American Wrestling" and the "WWF Wrestling Challenge" for several months. Between July and August, she appeared as a regular on-camera personality on "WWF Mania" interviewing a number of wrestlers including Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & IRS), Adam Bomb and Johnny Polo, Bret "The Hitman" Hart and then WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna with Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji. She later joined Ladies Professional Wrestling Association where was part of the announcing team with Sgt. Slaughter, Jim Cornette and Ken Resnick.
In 1995, Blackstone retired from professional wrestling, after a brief return to Dallas for the National Wrestling Alliance as an interviewer. She reentered the television industry produced and hosted WTLK TV-14 infomercial "Shoppers' Showcase". Blackstone would serve as Executive Producer and host of three television shows airing in Atlanta- Shoppers Showcase, Your Place Showcase and The Automotive Showcase. In August 2000, they hosted "Pro Wrestling this Week" on FOX Sports Radio, which ran on Sunday nights from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am, and later appeared at the NWA 52nd Anniversary Show. In 2004 Blackstone opened her own advertising agency and landed the role as "in-house" agency for the largest GM dealer on the East coast. In addition to carrying Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Cadillac the dealership also carried Chrysler, Jeep and Hyundai. It was here that Blackstone developed a keen eye for media and public relations focusing on news paper, radio, direct mail, and promotions. She would later work for The Bill Heard organization as the Business Development Center Mgr and Internet Mgr. From there she would move her agency to assist her husband in running a radio station WEKS 92.5 The Bear. With Pedicino as acting GM, Blackstone would handle marketing the station as a community and brand ambassador and manage the sales team at the station. Blackstone has produced award winning campaigns for some of the stations marquee accounts. In 2009 Blackstone joined The Fayette County Chamber on behalf of the station. There she would co-chair the business expo, chamber golf tournament, chamber non-profit collaborative, serve on the board of directors and as an ambassador. Blackstone was awarded Volunteer of the Year in 2014 and her station Small Business of the Year for 2018. In 2017 she formed her 4th LLC company Marketing Behind The Mic. A company specializing in corporate and commercial video production ]].


Luther Dixon

Luther Dixon (August 7, 1931 – October 22, 2009) was an American songwriter, record producer, and singer. Dixon's songs achieved their greatest success in the 1950s and 1960s, and were recorded by Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Jackson 5, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dusty Springfield, Jimmy Reed and others. As a producer, Dixon helped create the signature sound of the girl group the Shirelles.
Early life.
Dixon was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but his family moved to Brooklyn, New York, when he was young. He learned to sing in church.
Career.
Dixon began his professional career in 1954 with the Four Buddies, a doo-wop group led by Larry Harrison, in which Dixon sang baritone and occasionally played guitar. The Four Buddies recorded for Savoy Records, but also as the Barons for Decca Records and as The Buddies for Glory Records. The group disbanded in 1955, but Dixon and Harrison continued writing songs together. Their biggest hit was "Why Baby Why", recorded by Pat Boone, which peaked at #5 in 1957.
Dixon and Billy Dawn Smith wrote the 1957 Perry Como song "Just Born (To Be Your Baby)", which reached #12. In 1958, Bobby Darin recorded "All the Way Home", written by Dixon and Otis Blackwell, which was released on Darin's 1960 album "For Teenagers Only". Dixon and Clyde Otis wrote the song "Doncha' Think It's Time", recorded by Elvis Presley in 1958 and included on his famous 1959 album, "50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong". Also in 1958, Dixon and Allyson Khent wrote "16 Candles", which was recorded by the Crests and reached #2.
In 1960, after being approached by Florence Greenberg of Scepter Records, Dixon began working with the Shirelles. The first song Dixon produced with the Shirelles was "Tonight's the Night", co-written by the group's lead singer Shirley Owens. The song reached #39 in 1960, and another recording of the song by the Chiffons reached #76. The Shirelles then reached #1 with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin). Dixon wrote the B-side to that single, "Boys". The Shirelles' 1961 song "Baby It's You", co-written by Dixon under the pseudonym "Barney Williams", Burt Bacharach, and Mack David, reached #8. Both "Boys" and "Baby It's You" were later recorded by the Beatles on their debut LP, "Please Please Me". The Shirelles' 1962 song "Soldier Boy", written by Dixon and Florence Greenberg, was their final song to reach #1.
Greenberg started a second record company, Wand Records, in 1961. Dixon wrote and produced many songs for the Wand and Scepter labels, including the 1961 Chuck Jackson single "I Don't Want to Cry", co-written by Jackson himself, which reached #36. Jimmy Reed's 1961 hit "Big Boss Man" was written by Dixon and Al Smith. This song was listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 "Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".
With these successes, Dixon was approached by Capitol Records to set up his own record label, Ludix Records, but Ludix was unsuccessful. In 1966, Dixon was producing the Platters for Musicor Records. Their songs "I Love You 1000 Times" (#31, 1966) and "With This Ring" (#14, 1967)—their biggest hits since leaving Mercury Records—were both produced and co-written by Dixon.
By the late 1960s, Dixon's style of music had greatly faded from popular music charts. He received a surge of popularity after "16 Candles" was used in the 1973 George Lucas film "American Graffiti", and again when the 1984 John Hughes film "Sixteen Candles" included a performance of the song by the Stray Cats. "Boys" was included in the 2009 video game "". Dixon's song "Never Let Me Go" was performed by Jane Monheit in the film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel with same title. Dixon was nominated for the Songwriters Hall of Fame one week before he died.
Personal life.
Dixon was married to soul singer Inez Foxx, with whom he co-wrote "I Love You 1000 Times". They later divorced. Dixon died in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida.
He was also married to Sonia Dixon (Nee Francis) which also ended in divorce.


Scott Beck

Scott Beck (born October 22, 1984) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter born in Denver, Colorado and raised in Bettendorf, Iowa. He co-writes and co-directs with filmmaking partner Bryan Woods. Together they co-wrote and executive produced "A Quiet Place" for Paramount Pictures, in addition to writing and directing "Haunt" for producer Eli Roth, and "Nightlight", a supernatural thriller for Lionsgate and Herrick Entertainment.
In 2016, Beck and Woods sold their original screenplay for "A Quiet Place" to Paramount Pictures. The film, executive produced by Beck, Woods, Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes, stars Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, the latter of who also directed and co-wrote the script. Paramount subsequently signed Beck and Woods to a blind script deal for a second project they will write and direct. "A Quiet Place" was released in April 2018 to critical acclaim with an approval rating of 95% and became a major box office hit, grossing over $330 million worldwide.
The duo also wrote and directed the thriller "Haunt", produced by Eli Roth and Sierra/Affinity. In June 2018, Beck and Woods signed on to adapt and executive produce Stephen King's short story "The Boogeyman" for 20th Century Fox and 21 Laps Entertainment. In the television world, Beck & Woods developed the series "Zeroes" for Sony Pictures Television and Davis Entertainment, based on the novel by New York Times best-selling author Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti.
In May 2020, it was announced Beck & Woods would be writing, directing, and producing "65" for Sony Pictures and producer Sam Raimi. The film will star Adam Driver.


Stephanie Austin

Stephanie Austin is an American film producer.
Filmography.
She was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.


Cindy Baer

Cindy Baer is an American actress, director, producer, and entrepreneur. She helms the production company Free Dream Pictures, located in Burbank, California.
She directed and produced the critically acclaimed feature films "Purgatory House" and "Odd Brodsky". She attends filmmaking panels across the country, speaking as an expert on low budget filmmaking. Baer resides in Los Angeles, California with her cinematographer husband Matthew Irving.
Cindy Baer.
Career.
Cindy Baer is an award-winning film and stage actress, director, and producer who resides in Los Angeles, California. She specializes in independent and often female-centric films. (Film Radar)
Baer made her feature debut as both a director and producer with the ground-breaking, micro-budget, independent film, "Purgatory House" which was written by 14-year-old Celeste Davis. Baer had been mentoring in the Big Sisters of Los Angeles program for several years prior.
A postmodernist, art film revealed in four timelines, Purgatory House explores the themes of teen spirituality, addiction and suicide, as if chronicles the afterlife journey of Silver Strand, a troubled teen who abandoned her life of turmoil in search of unconditional love. Ground-breaking in 2001, the movie was shot in the mini-DV format, created with digital cameras and home-based computers, and incorporated extensive blue and green screen compositing and visual effects. Purgatory House marked the beginning of the Democratization of Film. Resonating with audiences and critics alike, the movie went on to win a dozen awards, two Prism Award nominations, critical acclaim and was distributed by Image Entertainment, one of the largest distributors in North America, in 2007.
Baer's second feature Odd Brodsky had similar success, screening in 29 film festivals and winning 20 festival awards. A quirky, offbeat, comedy, the story line follows 30-something Audrey Brodsky aka "Odd Brodsky" (played by Tegan Ashton Cohan) who quits her dreary desk job to pursue her childhood dream of becoming an actress. A departure in genre from her debut Purgatory House, many of the same themes prevail, such as isolation, media/TV influence, and the longing for a deeper connection. It also dabbles in postmodernism, and has elements of magical realism. Odd Brodsky premiered on iTunes in November 2016, and then expanded to a wider VOD release roll-out in 2017 including Amazon, Hulu, Google Play and others.
In addition to her stage and film work, Baer is a self-made entrepreneur who has founded four companies, including the two non-profit organizations The Mosaic Theatre company in 2000 and Patron of the Arts in 2009. She founded the production company Free Dream Pictures in 2001, and the successful children's entertainment company Daizy the Clown & Company at the young age of 22, which she later sold.
Baer started her career as an actress at the age of 14 at the "Boston Children's Theatre" and went on to perform in over two dozen plays. She starred in and produced the 30th Anniversary production of the stage play Butterflies Are Free, which was written by Leonard Gershe, at the Matrix Theatre in Hollywood, California (PRLOG). She often appears on filmmaking panels at filmmaker organizations and film festivals all over North American speaking about low budget filmmaking.


Ed Chalpin

Ed Chalpin was a record executive and producer. He is probably remembered for his association with Curtis Knight and the Squires which caused problems for Jimi Hendrix throughout his career. Chalpin is responsible for the recordings from that period, some of which appear on "".
Background.
Chalpin was pusher of cover-versions, mainly covers of Top-40 hits, released under the "Twin Hits" label. Today these would be regarded as Exploito releases.
During the 1960s and leading up to 1966, a good deal of the records that his PPX Enterprises produced were cover versions. Around 25% of his cover recordings were overseas hits. "Memphis" by Bernd Spier was released on CBS and made it to no.1 in Germany.
As of 1980, Chalpin was the owner of Dimensional Sound and Echo Studios, a 24 track facility in New York.
Career.
1960s.
Chalpin formed PPX Enterprises in 1961. In 1962, he had signed contracts with RCA Mexicana and Gamma Records to promote his pre-recorded tapes catalogue.
In 1964, "Summer In Sweden (Sabeline)" bw "Endless Sleep" by The Spotnicks. Chalpin was the producer for both tracks. In 1965, he was the producer on "She Can Make Me Cry" bw "I'll Be There" by Mark Richards. The PPX Studio single was released on ABC-Paramount 45-10654.
In October 1965, Jimi Hendrix was introduced to Ed Chalpin by Curtis Knight. They recorded for Chalpin and 9 days later. Despite Hendrix already signing a two-year deal with Sue Records in July 1965, Chalpin signed Hendrix to a 3-year recording contract and was given one dollar to make the contract legal. During the 1960s and leading up to 1966, a good amount of material was recorded and gave Hendrix his first credit on a recorded release. The act of signing the contract with Chalpin would be a cause of concern for Hendrix when he found fame as he was still actually contracted to Chalpin. In 1966, "Billboard" announced that Chalpin in partnership with Douglas "Jocko" Henderson from Philly radio station WHAT, was launching a new label called Chalco Records. The first release was to be "Suey" which featured Jayne Mansfield. The recording was made at Studio 76 aka Dimensional Sound, and it featured Jimi Hendrix on the instrumental backing.
1970s.
Chalpin produced the Curtis Knight solo album "Down in the Village" which was released in 1971 on Paramount Records PAS 5023. Some 47 years later Dave Segal of the "Portland Mercury" said that the album deserved "its own damn reissue".
In 1971, Chalpin worked with Chubby Checker who recorded a psychedelic styled album for his production company PPX. The album was released under a variety of titles including "Slow Twistin' ". In addition to the budget labels it was released on, the 10 track LP also was released on London Records in 1971. In 2007 a CD of the album was released on the Underground Masters label. It was given the title, "Chubby Checker Goes Psychedelic!!". In addition to crediting Chalpin as the producer, it included an extra track called "The Ballad of Jimi". "The Ballad of Jimi" was also a track on an earlier Chalpin production, the Jimi Hendrix & Curtis Knight album, "Get That Feeling".
It was announced in the May 12, 1973 edition of "Billboard" that Chalpin was now the manager of singer Jimmy Cliff and had signed deals with Warner Brothers, and EMI.
Ed Chalpin passed away in 2019.


John H. Auer

John H. Auer (August 3, 1906 in Budapest, Hungary – March 15, 1975 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles) was a Hungarian-born child actor who, on coming to the Americas in 1928, became a movie director and producer, initially in Mexico but, from the early 1930s, in Hollywood.
Career.
With the crash of the most powerful family in Europe, the Habsburgs, the Hungarian-born, Vienna-educated, child artiste, Auer, tried his hand at business in Europe.
Auer, however, soon returned to movies. He first tried to work as a director in Hollywood but luck did not seem to favour him. Next, he tried his hand at directing some Mexican films, which did quite well as they not only brought him critical acclaim but the films also fared well in box office receipts, some even brought him awards from the Mexican government.
His success in Mexico helped Auer to make a re-entry into Hollywood and direct films. Although he worked mostly for the Republic Pictures who specialized in Westerns and B films, he stuck to crime thrillers and musicals. Besides directing, he also produced most of his directed films.
The year 1934 saw Auer's Hollywood directorial venture, Frankie and Johnny, filmed at the Mascot Studios. His later years were spent mostly with the Republic Pictures. It was in the late 1940s and early 1950s when some of his B-rated movies such as "Angel on the Amazon", "Thunderbirds", and "Hell's Half Acre" were well accepted by the film lovers. He also did a film with RKO Pictures's "Gangway for Tomorrow" and Universal Studios's "Johnny Doughboy".


Elliot Roberts

Elliot Roberts (born Elliot Rabinowitz, February 25, 1943 – June 21, 2019) was an American music manager and record executive who co-founded Asylum Records, best known for helping to start and develop the careers of singer-songwriters from the late 1960s and 1970s, including those of Neil Young – whom he managed for over 50 years – and Joni Mitchell.
Biography.
He was born and grew up in The Bronx, New York City, to a Jewish family who fled Nazi persecution. After graduating from high school and dropping out of two colleges, Roberts attempted a career in acting before going to work for the William Morris Agency where he met David Geffen, an agent at the firm. He became the manager of Joni Mitchell after hearing a tape provided by Buffy Sainte-Marie, and seeing Mitchell perform in New York. They both soon moved to Laurel Canyon in California. After the band Buffalo Springfield split up in 1968, Mitchell persuaded him to manage the career of fellow Canadian Neil Young. He later also managed Crosby, Stills and Nash, America, and others. Roberts formed the Geffen-Roberts Company with Geffen, and helped Geffen to create Asylum Records in 1970, which merged with Elektra Records in 1972 to form Elektra/Asylum Records. After splitting with Geffen, Roberts set up Lookout Management.
Roberts was Joni Mitchell's manager until 1985, and remained Neil Young's manager until his death. Young called him "the greatest manager of all time", and in his autobiography wrote of him: "Because I tend to avoid the confrontations and delivering bad news, I am not good at doing any of that... Elliot is. He knows how to communicate where I don’t … Just as I wake up every day with a new idea, he wakes up every day with a new approach to solving the problems that arise with the projects I am already immersed in. There are a lot of them. This is our pattern.” Roberts himself said: “I think I’m tough... Have you ever met a guy in my position who thought he was a pussy? I’m tough, but I’m fair… No, I think I’m way tough, and I don’t think I’m fair at all. Fairness comes into the equation sometimes, but when I deal with Neil for Neil, I don’t care what’s fair — I only care what Neil wants. Not what’s fair.” Roberts also supported Young's philanthropic and political work, and collaborated with Young creatively on film and video projects, often under his birth name of Elliot Rabinowitz. He launched Vapor Records with Young in 1995.
Roberts also managed Tom Petty, Tracy Chapman, Bob Dylan and The Cars. He was also associated with Jackson Browne, the Eagles, Talking Heads, Devo, Spiritualized, Mazzy Star, Devendra Banhart, The Alarm, and others.
He died in 2019, aged 76; details were not reported.


J. R. Rotem

Jonathan Reuven Rotem is a South African-born American record producer, songwriter and music publisher.
Biography.
Early life.
Rotem was born in South Africa to Jewish Israeli immigrant parents. He moved to Canada at the age of two and to Moraga, California at the age of twelve.
Rotem's entry point into music was in receiving classical piano instruction at a young age. When he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston it was initially with the intention of studying film scoring, but he ended up majoring in jazz composition.
Career.
As his first major label placement, the Destiny's Child song "Fancy", from their 2001 album "Survivor", is cited by Rotem as being his first 'big break', and the song that convinced the young producer that it was worth pursuing this career path. Nevertheless, further success was not forthcoming and for years Rotem struggled to make further headway in the industry.
A significant breakthrough came when, through mutual friend Evan Bogart, he attracted the attention of former manager Zach Katz, a former music attorney who had recently represented rapper Rakim as well as muslc producers and songwriters in the Aftermath/Shady/G-Unit camp. Rotem says, "One of my biggest goals for years was meeting a manager with a good reputation and with connections to get my music to people." When asked in an interview with HitQuarters what made Katz decide to take the producer on, he explained,
This was a time where most of the people were beat makers, they didn't really play instruments. J.R. on the other hand, had a vast musical background ... So musically there were no limitations as far as what he could bring. Number two J.R. he was very, very focused. He really wanted to win. And number three he was humble. If I gave him any suggestions about his tracks he would literally sit there and take notes. Then he would come back the next day with the changes I had suggested.
Rotem's next major cut was 50 Cent's "Position of Power" in 2005. In 2006, together with Katz and his brother Tommy, Rotem started his own record label, Beluga Heights, inking a joint venture partnership with Epic. Sean Kingston, a young Miami-based artist, was the labels first signing. Kingston's self-titled debut album went on to sell over 2 million albums and 10 million singles worldwide. Rotem also started a publishing company under the Beluga Heights banner, signing songwriter Evan "Kidd" Bogart. Under a newly formed joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, the label signed R&B sensation Jason Derulo, whose debut album went on to sell 14 million singles and over 1 million albums worldwide.
In 2009, Rotem was honored as BMI Producer of the Year. In 2011, he was return to honored by BMI as Songwriter of the Year alongside Lady Gaga and Jason Derulo. His trademark is a horn that goes after with a stylized "J-J-J-J-J-R" and/or "Beluga Heights" at the start or end of records with which he has been associated.
In 2015, Rotem worked alongside Ne-Yo and Timbaland on the music for Season 2 of Fox's Empire. On October 17, 2015, Gwen Stefani premiered "Used to Love You", co-written and produced by Rotem at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City which was Stefani's first single. Rotem has ten songs on Stefani's album, "This Is What the Truth Feels Like" which was released on March 18, 2016.


Ron Merk

Ron Merk is an American independent filmmaker based in San Francisco, CA. He is a producer and director best known for producing "".


Stanley Beck

Stanley Beck (June 5, 1936, New York City) is an American film producer and actor of the stage, television, and film. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayal of Stanly in the 1969 film "John and Mary" and Artie Silver in the 1974 film "Lenny". He has produced three films during his career, "Straight Time" (1978), "Death Valley" (1982), and "Man, Woman and Child" (1983).
A life member of The Actors Studio, three of Beck's notable stage appearances occurred, in rapid succession, in two Arthur Miller premieres, "Incident at Vichy" (1964) and "After The Fall" (1964), as well as the original production of Eugene O'Neill's "Marco Millions" (1964). Another notable portrayal was that of Ed Busby in the premiere of William Snyder's "The Days and Nights of BeeBee Fenstermaker" (1962).


Juli Ashton

Juli Ashton (born October 5, 1969) is an American former pornographic actress.
Adult film career.
In 1994, she moved to Florida and began appearing in adult films, starting with "New Wave Hookers 4". From 1996 to 2006 she was co-host of the Playboy Channel's live phone-in program "Night Calls." In addition to her film and television work, she has lobbied on behalf of the adult industry at the California State Legislature.
Ashton is the owner and operator of the adult website Juliland.com, a website that features the erotic imagery of photographer/director Richard Avery.


Miriam Bienstock

Miriam Bienstock ("née" Kahan, later Abramson, January 4, 1923 – March 21, 2015) was an American record company executive who was influential in the early days of Atlantic Records, becoming the company's vice president in 1958. She later became a theatrical producer.
Life and career.
Miriam Kahan was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants Sylvia and Abraham Kahan. She studied at Erasmus Hall High School and Brooklyn College. After taking piano lessons she developed an interest in jazz, and in 1945 married record producer Herb Abramson. In 1947, Abramson joined with Ahmet Ertegun to form Atlantic Records, and Miriam took charge of the fledgling company's finances and production, handling payments to musicians and negotiating distribution deals. She also claimed to have acted as Ruth Brown's manager for a while. As the company flourished with such artists as Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, the Coasters, and the Drifters, she expanded her role as the company's business manager, and negotiated a distribution deal with Decca Records in London in 1955.
She and Herb Abramson divorced in the mid-1950s, after he returned from a spell in the military, and in 1957 she married music publisher Freddy Bienstock. In 1958, Miriam Bienstock was named vice president of Atlantic, in charge of publishing. A profile of her in "Billboard" that year, headed “Atlantic's 'Money Man' Is a Woman,” described her as "one of the few women executives in the record industry, a business heretofore noted for its lack of fem talent.” She ran the company office and developed a reputation for toughness, later stating: "If the distributors didn't pay their bills, I was very nasty." Ahmet Ertegun said of her: "Miriam was an important person in keeping discipline at Atlantic Records, and keeping everything on the up-and-up... She is unheralded, unrecognized, but if we hadn't had her in those developing years, the company would have folded. She also had very good taste in music.” Although some musicians were critical of the level of royalties they received through her, she said: "We didn't try to cheat anybody, and what we did was normal practice at the time. We paid the royalties, and if they had problems, we'd give them money."
She left Atlantic in the early 1960s, selling her stake in the company to Ertegun and others. She then started theatre work, producing the musical "Elvis" in London in 1977, using music mostly controlled by her husband Freddy Bienstock's publishing company. She also produced a play, "Strider", that ran on Broadway in 1979-1980, and invested in the 2014 musical "", based on the work of Carole King.
Death.
She died at her home in Manhattan in 2015, at the age of 92. Both of her husbands predeceased her; she left a son, Robert Bienstock, and a daughter, Caroline Bienstock.


Ibrahim AlHusseini

Ibrahim AlHusseini is a venture capitalist, entrepreneur, and environmentalist. He is the founder and CEO of FullCycle, an investment company accelerating the deployment of climate-restoring technologies. AlHusseini is also the founder and managing partner of the Husseini Group.
He served as the co-executive producer of the 2013 Academy Award-nominated documentary, "The Square". In 2015, AlHusseini won a Global Green Millennium Award for his efforts in combating global climate change.
Early life and education.
AlHusseini was born in Jordan and was raised in Saudi Arabia by parents who are Palestinian refugees. He immigrated to the United States in the 1990s to attend college at the University of Washington, and currently resides in Los Angeles.
Career.
AlHusseini has started and sold numerous companies throughout his entrepreneurial career. These include MECA Communications, which introduced the world's first interoperable instant messaging application Natural Solutions, and PakIT, the last of which is a packaging company that developed food-grade packaging material from biodegradable cellulose.
He was also an early investor in companies like Tesla Motors, Bloom Energy, Aspiration, CleanChoice Energy and numerous other companies with an environmentally-friendly focus.
In 2013, AlHusseini founded the FullCycle Energy Fund with the goal of investing in companies that seek new technologies for turning solid waste into clean energy and fuel. The company made its first investment in engineering and technology firm, Synova, which has pioneered an efficient gasification technology to turn waste into usable electricity.
AlHusseini has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration's immigration policies.
Recognition and awards.
In 2013, AlHusseini co-executive produced the documentary, "The Square", about the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 that began at Tahrir Square. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th Academy Awards. The film was also nominated for 4 Emmy Awards and won 3 at the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. In 2015, AlHusseini was honored with a Millennium Award from the Global Green organization.


James Lindenberg

James Lindenberg (December 20, 1921 – April 28, 2009) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He moved to the Philippines in the 1940s. He is credited for his founding of Bolinao Electronics Corporation (BEC), the precursor of ABS-CBN Corporation, and dubbed as the Father of Philippine Television.


Statik Selektah

Patrick Baril (born January 23, 1982), professionally known as Statik Selektah, is an American record producer, disc jockey (DJ) and radio personality originally from the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is also the founder of Showoff Records. In 2010, he formed the hip hop group 1982, alongside American rapper Termanology. He has resided in New York City since 2004.
Life and career.
Statik Selektah was born on January 23, 1982, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was introduced to music at a young age, experimenting with his parents' eight-track machine, cassette recorders, and turntable. By middle school, he was already DJing school functions, but he was inspired to be a professional DJ after hearing DJ Premier and Funkmaster Flex scratch and mix records on Hot 97 in New York City. Statik began doing radio at Phillips Exeter Academy’s WPEA, where he also occasionally DJ'd some of the Afro-Latino Society Parties. Naming himself DJ Statik, (the "Selektah" came later after hearing a local reggae artist say it unconsciously) he began to start to DJ at clubs and private parties up and down the New England Coast. In 2000, Selektah moved back to Massachusetts from New Hampshire to pursue an audio production degree at Boston's New England Institute of Art. Around this time, Statik started to put out his own mixtape series titled "Spell My Name Right." In 2003, Statik created ShowOff Marketing, which has had clients such as Reebok, G-Unit Records, Virgin Records, Capital, Universal Records, Puff Daddy’s Vote or Die campaign and many others. In 2006, Statik Selektah made Showoff into a record label and put out Termanology's Out the Gate as the labels first release. In 2007, Statik released his first LP, titled "Spell My Name Right", and came out with a second "Stick 2 the Script" in 2009. In 2010, Statik Selektah dropped another album "" which reached 37 on Billboard's Heatseeker Albums Chart. Besides dropping his own albums, he also has produced on many other artist's projects. Statik currently has a show on Thursday nights on Eminem's Shade 45 XM/Sirus Radio Station.
In 2009, Statik Selektah appeared on "", featured as a DJ on the hip hop radio station The Beat 102.7.
While recording with rapper Freeway on Ustream, he announced a song off his next album, "Population Control", called "Groupie Love" which features Mac Miller. This track was included on the final release of the album in 2011.
Since 2015, the publishing interest of Statik Selektah's catalog has been represented by Reservoir Media Management.
In May 2017, Statik announced with "Billboard" that he signed a management deal with Roc Nation plus announcing his eighth studio album titled "8". It was later released on December 8, 2017.


Alan Ladd Jr.

Alan Gavin Ladd Jr. (born October 22, 1937) is an American film industry executive and producer. He is the son of actor Alan Ladd and Ladd's first wife Marjorie Jane (née Harrold), whom Ladd had met in high school.
He started in films as an agent in 1963. In 1969, Ladd moved to London to produce, making nine films, including "The Walking Stick", "A Severed Head", "Villain", "The Nightcomers", and "Zee and Co.". He returned to the States in 1973 to become Head of Creative Affairs at 20th Century Fox. In August 1976, he was promoted from worldwide production head to president of Fox's film division.
He came to Fox President Gordon Stulberg to request consideration for making George Lucas' "Star Wars". Stulberg approved the production and they remained as Lucas' support at times when the board of directors of 20th Century Fox wished to shut down production. The production was plagued by location difficulties, story problems and budgetary disagreements for a project that was mainly considered a risk to the studio. However, when Ladd saw the audience's rapturous appreciation of the film at its first public screening at the Northpoint Theatre in San Francisco in early May 1977, he was moved to joyful tears at seeing the unlikely production he and Stulberg had supported against all odds. "Star Wars" was a massive and critically hailed hit upon release, becoming, up to that point, the highest-grossing film of all time, and spawned an extensive media franchise that includes multiple other films.
"Star Wars" and "Alien" were a few of the films produced during his tenure. But in 1979 Ladd left his position to found his own production company, The Ladd Company. He enjoyed successes with films such as "Outland" (1981), "Night Shift" (1982) and "Police Academy" (1984), Oscar-winners "Chariots of Fire" (1981), "The Right Stuff" (1983) and "Gone Baby Gone" (2007). The company also produced "Blade Runner" (1982).
In 1985, Ladd joined MGM/UA, eventually becoming Chairman and CEO of MGM-Pathé Communications. During his tenure MGM/UA produced "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988), "Moonstruck" (1987) and "Thelma & Louise" (1991). Ladd reformed the Ladd Company with Paramount Pictures in 1993 where he produced "The Brady Bunch Movie" and "Braveheart".
Ladd received the 2,348th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, September 28, 2007.
Filmography.
He was a producer of all films unless otherwise noted.


Daniel Battsek

Daniel Battsek (born in 1958) is an English film producer and executive, and current director of Film4. Previously, he was president of Cohen Media Group, Miramax Films and National Geographic Films.
Life and career.
Battsek is a graduate of Oxford Brookes University where he majored in social and political studies.
Battsek began his industry career at "The Hoyts Film Corporation" in Sydney where he quickly rose through the ranks to general manager in Victoria State overseeing distribution. Between 1985 and 1991, Battsek was managing director of "Palace Pictures" where he was responsible for the acquisition and distribution of quality independent titles from around the world for release in the UK.
In 1991, Battsek went to work for Disney where he was asked to start up a UK Company as part of the worldwide distribution network for Buena Vista International. As EVP and Managing Director, he oversaw all aspects of UK distribution for 18–25 releases per annum from Walt Disney Studios and their partners including Pixar and Miramax Films. His responsibilities also included involvement in the acquisition of distribution rights across numerous territories for such films as Muriel's Wedding, Shine, Central Station, Kolya, and Ice Storm.
In 1998, Battsek was promoted to senior vice president, BVI (UK) Limited where he oversaw approximately 35 films per year from the Disney, Touchstone and Miramax labels. With his expanding role, Battsek began acquiring and developing British film projects for worldwide distribution. He created the BVI UK Comedy Label in 2001 which produced four films, High Heels and Low Lifes, Hope Springs, Calendar Girls, and Kinky Boots.
In 2005, Battsek was named President of Miramax Films, after Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein left the company. Projects that Battsek greenlit and / or acquired whilst at Miramax included Oscar winners The Queen, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, along with Oscar nominees The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Happy-Go-Lucky.
In 2010, Battsek was announced as President of National Geographic Films, replacing Adam Leizpig. During Battsek's time at National Geographic Films, he acquired projects for development and production, operated a boutique theatrical distribution arm for art-house titles and documentaries, including the Oscar-nominated Restrepo, and oversaw National Geographic large-screen and IMAX projects.
Battsek joined Cohen Media Group in 2012 as President. working alongside CMG Chairman and CEO Charles S. Cohen in acquiring, producing and distributing top-tier films in a wide range of genres. Battsek helped make the company North America’s premiere independent theatrical and digital distributor of contemporary art-house and foreign films. He also helped oversee CMG’s Cohen Film Collection, a library of some 700 cinema classics being restored for theatrical and Blu-ray release. Releases included festival-winning favorites Mustang and Rams along with the Kent Jones documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut, 2015 Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film nominee, Timbuktu by Abderrahmane Sissako and My Old Lady, with Maggie Smith and Kevin Kline.
Battsek joined Film4 as Director in 2016.
Since joining Film4, Battsek has greenlit films including Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Favourite", "Fighting with My Family" from writer / director Stephen Merchant, Bart Layton's "American Animals", "The Festival" from the makers of "The Inbetweeners", Lenny Abrahamson's "The Little Stranger", and Rungano Nyoni's BAFTA-winning "I Am Not a Witch", as well as acquiring the rights to Booker Prize winning author Graham Swift's novel "Mothering Sunday" for development with Number 9 Films. Battsek also brought to Film4 John Williams' novel "Stoner", a co-production development he initiated in his previous post at Cohen Media Group. Earlier this year, Battsek enjoyed a successful awards season as Executive Producer on Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Oscar-winning "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri", a film written and directed by Martin McDonagh, starring Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, and Woody Harrelson.


Paul Brill

Paul Brill is an American composer, songwriter, and producer based in Brooklyn, New York.
Brill is a three-time Emmy Award nominee who has scored feature films, television series and NPR Radio Themes, most notably: ', "The Devil Came on Horseback", "The Trials of Darryl Hunt", "Freakonomics", "Full Battle Rattle", ', "Better This World", and "No Woman, No Cry", among others. Brill recently scored the HBO film, "Burma Soldier," on which he collaborated with Rock legends U2 - composing a new string arrangement for an acoustic version of their classic song, "Walk On." He won the first-ever Best Music Award at the International Documentary Awards (IDA) for his score to "Better This World" and was nominated for a Golden Reel Award for his work on the hit Netflix docu-series, Bobby Kennedy for President.
He recently made his Off-Broadway debut, composing the score for Gabriel Jason Dean's Terminus, which featured stage legend Deirdre O’Connell and premiered to great acclaim at The New York Theatre Workshop, and his music was performed and featured by Phoenix Chamber Music Society in the Spring of 2018.
His additional notable work includes the Sundance Festival-winning films, Gideon's Army, Trapped, and Love Free or Die, and the Emmy, DuPont and Peabody Award-winning, 6-hour PBS documentary, , with noted historian Henry Louis Gates and additional musical contributions from Wynton Marsalis. He scored Abigail Disney's directorial debut, the Emmy Award-winning, The Armor of Light, Liz Garbus’ Peabody Award-winning HBO documentary, A Dangerous Son, and wrote the Theme and incidental music for the much-celebrated, Peabody Award-winning NPR Podcast, Believed.
His recordings of original songwriting have been hailed as "stunning," by "Paste" magazine and "A testament to the enduring potency of classical pop songwriting," by Pitchfork Media. In addition to composing films and television specials for HBO, Showtime, History, A&E, National Geographic, SundanceTV and MTV, Brill is the ongoing composer for the popular A&E series The First 48, now in its 17th season. In 2001, he founded Scarlet Shame Records, a small record label that has released recordings by The Wingdale Community Singers, The Flying Change, Amber Rubarth and his own records.
Brill also owns and operates a recording and production studio - Sterling Society Social Club in Brooklyn, New York.


Joyce Linehan

Joyce Linehan works as Chief of Policy for the Mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh. She previously managed rock bands and a record label. She was born and lives in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
Education.
Joyce Linehan is the daughter of John J. Linehan and Yvonne Linehan. As a Dorchester native, Linehan graduated from the Notre Dame Academy and the University of Massachusetts Boston where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Media and American Popular Culture and a Masters in American Studies. She received the Dr. Robert W. Spayne Research Grant for study at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Her master's thesis — The Day My Mama Socked it to the Harper Valley PTA: Country Music Womanhood in the Second Wave of Feminism — received the American Studies Book Award from UMass Boston.
Career.
Band manager.
Linehan first worked in Boston's underground rock scene, booking bands into small local clubs. Eventually this led her to becoming a manager. She managed the Smithereens, Six Finger Satellite and the Lemonheads.
Record labels.
In the 1990s, Linehan took a job as promotions director and talent scout at Sub Pop, a Seattle label that was later acquired by Warner Brothers and launched the grunge band Nirvana into mainstream stardom. Linehan’s Dorchester home served as the East Coast offices of Sub Pop.
When Linehan left Sub Pop, she became the manager of the Pernice Brothers. Linehan and Joe Pernice later decided to create their own label, called Ashmont Records. Their label released numerous records including "Yours, Mine and Ours", by the Pernice Brothers, released in 2003. The two also co-wrote the book "Pernice to Me": a chronicle of disagreements between Linehan and Pernice, most of which has appeared on Twitter.
She owned a house on Burt Street in Dorchester, Massachusetts, which the Phoenix once called the "most famous and best-loved rock-and-roll crash pad in Boston history." Bikini Kill, Smashing Pumpkins, Elliott Smith, the Jesus Lizard, and Stereolab all stayed there over the years.
Public relations and arts.
Linehan was the President of Ashmont Media, a public relations company that specializes in the development of media campaigns for arts and culture groups in the Boston area. Some of her clients include ArtsEmerson, Fruitlands Museum, Handel & Haydn Society and Institute of Contemporary Art. She is also the founder of the Dorchester Arts Collaborative.
Political campaigns.
In 2000 Linehan began to engage in politics in addition to the arts. She helped out in many campaigns including John Kerry's 2004 Presidential Election and Elizabeth Warren's run for U.S Senate in 2012. Linehan took part in all campaigns as a volunteer until she took the job as Chief of Policy in 2014 for Mayor Walsh. She volunteered with Marty Walsh's mayoral campaign before being appointed as his Chief of Policy.
Other.
Linehan is an animal advocate and leader in the fight to end breed-specific legislation; and serves on the board of Interim House, a residential substance abuse treatment center.
Awards.
In 2012, she received an Unsung Heroine of Massachusetts award from the Massachusetts Commission of the Status of Women. She has also been honored by The Irish Echo for her commitment to working people, and by Company One for her commitment to theater. She is a lifelong resident of Dorchester.


Fred J. Lincoln

Fred J. Lincoln (January 19, 1936 – January 17, 2013) was an American director, producer, screenwriter, actor, editor, and cinematographer of pornographic films.
Biography.
Born Fred Piantadosi, Lincoln grew up in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. His career in adult film and video was prolific; his filmography at the Internet Movie Database credits him as the director of 310 films, the producer of 42, and as an actor in 64 films. In 1984, Lincoln won the Critics' Adult Film Award as Best Director for his film "Go for It".
His credits in mainstream cinema are limited, although he did play the role of Weasel Podowski in Wes Craven's 1972 horror film "The Last House on the Left". He starred alongside David Hess, Sandra Peabody, Jeramie Rain, Marc Sheffler and Lucy Grantham He contributed to its DVD commentary track with costars Hess and Sheffler. In 1973, he starred in Sean S. Cunningham's horror film "Case of the Full Moon Murders" with his "Last House" costar Sandra Peabody.
Lincoln was a member of the AVN Hall of Fame, and the XRCO Hall of Fame.
Lincoln succeeded Larry Levinson as the owner of the 1970s and 1980s New York City sex club Plato's Retreat.
Lincoln was married several times, most notably to pornographic director Patti Rhodes-Lincoln and former pornographic actress Tiffany Clark.
At one point, Lincoln lived in Ventura, California in an apartment adjacent to pornographic actress Erica Boyer.
Death.
Lincoln died on January 17, 2013 at his home in Los Angeles from complications of emphysema and heart disease at age 76. He is survived by his daughter Angelica and his son, Charles.


Ronald A. Wilford

Ronald A. Wilford (November 4, 1927 Salt Lake City - June 13, 2015 New York City) was an American music manager who has been described as “classical music's biggest power broker”. He spent 50 years at Columbia Artists Management, Inc. (CAMI), his clients included conductors James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Mstislav Rostropovich, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Kurt Masur, Sir Colin Davis, Riccardo Muti, pianists Maurizio Pollini and Vladimir Horowitz as well as vocalists Kathleen Battle and Marilyn Horne, among many others.
Biography.
Wilford described his childhood in Salt Lake City as miserable where he lived with his Greek Orthodox father and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mother. At the time of his death, he was married to Sara Wilford. Wilford is a graduate of the University of Utah.
Career.
Credited with bringing Marcel Marceau to the United States when Wilford was starting his career, he was hired by Columbia Artists to begin a theatrical division. He became President in 1970 and stepped down in 2000, taking on the titles of chairman and CEO until his death.