The Team
PJ Letofsky is a Director, Producer specializing in Art and Culture documentaries with an International reach. His latest film, “Neutra – Survival Through Design” on the Austrian American Architect Richard Neutra, debuted in Berlin, and Palm Springs Modernism Week in 2019, and on to Toronto, Rotterdam, Sao Paulo, Milan, and Istanbul (to name a few). He directed Tarkovsky: Time Within Time, based on the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky’s diary. His first film, Polly’s GlobalWalk, on his sisters’ 5 year walk around the world for Breast Cancer, premiered for the Mayo Clinic, and was broadcast on PBS in 2010. PJ was born and raised in Minneapolis and studied piano and photography from age 6. He started his career with his Minneapolis cable show TV Party (43 episodes) covering the local arts scene. A seasoned pianist singer songwriter, PJ had his rock bands on the road for 12 years before moving into film. He studied at UCLA and has been Directing, Producing, and editing for over 20 years.
Roberto Fabbri is an architect, researcher, and interiors professor. He teaches different workshops on design, as well as museology.
As a designer, he has worked in Europe and the Middle East, mostly on rehabilitation projects. In 2006, he participated in the Venice Biennale. From 2010 to 2016, he was selected by the United Nations Development Program for a series of rehabilitations in Kuwait. In 2012, one of those rehabilitations, Amricani Cultural Centre, was nominated for the Aga Kahn award in Architecture. He developed more than fifteen different exhibitions, displaying both ancient and modern pieces.
His experience in teaching includes leading design workshops at the University of Bologna and the American University of Kuwait. In 2014 he was a visiting researcher at the Center for Gulf Studies in Kuwait. His line of research focuses on modern heritage and its rehabilitation, the culture and architecture of the Middle East, exhibition design and methodology, as well as composition. For his work on these topics, he has been the beneficiary of scholarships and support from the University of Bologna and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS).
He has participated in various international conferences in Milan, Ferrara, Paris, Beirut, and Kuwait. He has published in international journals and magazines such as Domus, Faces-Journal d’Architecture, and ANATKE. He has published two books on the architectural work of Max Bill (Mondadori 2011; inFolio 2017). He was the co-author or the double volume “Modern Architecture Kuwait 1949-89” (Niggli 2015 and 2017).
Clifford Lo, Esq., brings an Ivy League pedigree and in-house experience at Disney to his work as a transactional attorney for individuals and small companies in all facets of the entertainment business. Mr. Lo represents and advises producers, production companies, screenwriters, directors, actors, composers, recording artists, and others for transactional matters related to music, film, television, new media, and other types of entertainment. These matters include: copyright; producer agreements; screenwriter & creator agreements; artist (actor / singer / musician) agreements; option-purchase agreements for film & TV rights to books, life stories, scripts, etc.; shopping / producer attachment agreements; recording label, publishing, composer & licensing agreements; establishing corporations and LLC’s; ‘private placement’ equity financing packages (PPMs) & investor / operating agreements; international co-productions; ‘production legal’ agreements with talent, crew, vendors & locations, and clearances; and distribution legal, starting with agreements with producers reps & sales agents.
Nuno Abreu has more than 20 years of experience creating and managing brands.
In 2012, he established Slash in the UAE, and later in the U.S., shaping a
network of companies and professionals passionate about brands, design
thinking and architecture known as The Ripple Collective. Today he leads
Slash globally, always looking to fulfill the company’s core purpose,
which is to impact the lives of those who are touched by these brands.
Jeanine is an independent producer involved with films and television for over 20 years. Her beginnings involved projects such as Academy Award winning Boys Don’t Cry, Sundance premiere Rhythm of the Saints and the highly regarded and award-winning That Evening Sun starring Oscar nominees Hal Holbrook and Mia Wasikowska. In 2004, she was nominated for Film INDependent’s Spirit Awards for producing the feature film Anne B Real. Jeanine served as the Director of Production on The Experiment starring Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker. She recently produced Sacrifice for JuntoBox Films, Mr. Whitaker’s social media based independent film initiative and Rafi Pitts’ Soy Nero in competition at Berlinale 2016.
Jeanine’s credits include over forty feature films throughout the U.S., Mexico and overseas. Her television credits include Denis Leary’s comedy series Sirens (Fox Television), the Sarah Silverman Program pilot for Comedy Central (Viacom), and Robot Chicken and Morel Orel for Cartoon Network (Turner Broadcasting). Her documentary work includes the
award-winning PBS/BBC series Travels, Hands Across the World (Sony Music Initiative), and several pilots for the Documentary Channel. Jeanine has served on the review committee for the International Documentary Association’s IDA Awards, has been a guest speaker at UCLA’s Graduate Director’s class, the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College Chicago. She is adjunct faculty for graduate creative producing at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. She is a member of the Director’s Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, the International Documentary Association, Film INDependent and Women in Film.
Donna Smith was tapped by Universal Pictures to serve as President of Physical Production and Post Production, becoming the first woman to serve in that role for a major Hollywood studio. Donna began her career as Production Coordinator on RAGING BULL and quickly rose through the ranks, serving as Production Manager, Line Producer and Producer. During her seven-year tenure at Universal, more than 120 titles were released under her leadership including Academy Award Winner, SCHINDLER’S LIST, JURASSIC PARK,THE TERMINATOR, BACK TO THE FUTURE, BABE, CASINO, WATERWORLD, etc.
Cinema Completions International – CEO/President
Having earned a reputation as a highly bondable producer, Donna served as CEO and President of Cinema Completions International, a motion picture completion bond company. Under her leadership CCI guaranteed Academy Award nominated films such as THE HOURS, CROUCHING TIGER/HIDDEN DRAGON, TRAFFIC, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, MATRIX, etc.
Based in Los Angeles with offices in London and Sydney, CCI underwrote completion bonds for movies. Smith green-lit new business and spearheaded strategic planning, managerial insight; guided by an extensive network of relationships with Hollywood studio executives, producers, filmmakers and creative talent. Donna has the honor of being appointed a United States Film Ambassador to China and serves as a Women In Film trustee.
Anke, based in Zurich, is an international broadcast, media and entertainment executive and producer with an over 25 years track record of launching businesses, developing and expanding digital media platforms, TV channels and on-demand services across German-speaking Europe. She has a comprehensive international knowledge of all aspects of the media business including production, sales and acquisitions, distribution and marketing. She has coproduced over 60 feature films, documentaries and TV series (e.g. Heidi, Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes, The Divine Order, #Female Pleasure, Quartier des banques).
Anke is the manager of Swiss production company UTOFILM, which she founded in 2016. From 2011 to 2015 Anke was a Board member, COO and managing director of Switzerland’s leading media company ‘Teleclub’ (now ‘Blue’) and responsible for its Pay TV channels and On-Demand- Services as well as productions. Previously, for 10 years, she was a member of the leadership team and Head of Legal, Business Affairs and Affiliate Sales of The Walt Disney Company in Munich.
Anke is a strategic and analytical thinker, with hands-on management skills, experienced in negotiating and executing complex projects, with negotiating competence in English, German, French and Italian. She has an extensive professional network and strong relationships within the media industry, finance world and creative community.
She is a member of the expert commission for feature films of the Swiss Federal Office of Culture (OFC), a board member of FOCAL, the foundation for professional training in cinema and audiovisual media and part of the advisory
