Board Of Directors
SHIRLEY M. CURTIS
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Served since 2000
Ms. Curtis has been employed in the commercial real estate industry for more than 25 years. She currently serves as Senior Real Estate Manager for Pacific Coast Commercial Real Estate in Orange, California, overseeing a wide variety of multi-level office facilities and residential properties owned by Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Ms. Curtis began her real estate career in 1985 serving with JMB Properties, and then worked for Birtcher Property Services and Sares?Regis Group®, one of the nation’s largest commercial real estate companies, before joining Pacific Coast Commercial. Ms. Curtis holds various certifications and licensure including California Real Estate and is an active member of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), where she has earned both the Real Property Administrator (RPA) and Facilities Management Administrator (FMA) designations from BOMI International. She is an active member of several professional organizations including the California Federation of Women’s Clubs (CFWC) and a charter member of Ebell Club of Canyon Hills, a philanthropic organization serving women and youth of the community.
PAUL D. HANCOCK
President and Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Director
Served since 1977
Mr. Hancock is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation. He is the founder and developer of its film production and marketing concepts and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since its inception. He has been a production packaging, business affairs and distribution advisor to management to various independent and major film financing and production companies including Lorimar Telepictures, TriStar Columbia, Web Films International and Castle Rock Entertainment. He has supervised the development/packaging, production, and distribution of various moderate budget/cost controlled feature film and television productions over a 42-year Industry career. He has also been responsible for the U.S. theatrical release of a wide variety of feature films from around the world including Academy Award and Golden Globe submissions from Denmark, China, and Kazakhstan. Mr. Hancock was responsible for leading one of the first exploratory film finance teams to the Wall Street capital markets in the late 1970’s in order to develop and encourage motion picture financing by the investment banking community. He was instrumental in the formulation of entertainment industry relationships specifically in moderate budget feature film production financing with companies such as E.F. Hutton & Co., Kidder, Peabody and Prudential-Bache Securities. Mr. Hancock has also been a lecturer and/or keynote speaker on various aspects of the entertainment industry, entrepreneurship and finance at the university level and graduate schools of business, seminars, and conferences, and has been a radio talk show and podcast guest discussing independent film financing, production and marketing for the domestic and international markets. He has been published and/or quoted in Industry and Finance daily’s/periodicals including The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, World Film & Video, The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. Mr. Hancock attended the Cranbrook Academies, and Eastern Michigan University. He belongs to several professional organizations including the Motion Picture Council and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
DARREL WHITEHEAD, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Elected 2023
Mr. Whitehead has been a financial and accountancy professional for more than 40 years, specializing in the areas of auditing, business management, computer accounting conversions, and was a Senior auditor with the Big 6 accounting firm Arthur Andersen and Company. He is currently the founder and president of an Accountancy Corporation in Southern California and directly responsible for over 400 clients representing a wide variety of industries, primarily in the non-profit, import/export, foreign ownership (Form 1042), real estate, and service organizations. In addition to his basic corporate responsibilities, he also assists clients with Opportunity Zone planning. Prior to his founding of the Accountancy Corporation, he acted in the capacity of Senior Manager in the Business Management Division of Singer, Lewak, Greenbaum & Goldstein (now SingerLewak LLP) where he supervised investments, cash flow strategies, and business and tax planning for high profile individuals in the entertainment industry. He also had extensive experience in litigation, business valuations, and general business. Before his tenure at SingerLewak LLP, he managed various long-term projects including computer accounting conversions which encompassed the multi-tiered complex AMFAR conversion, New York, New York for major client transitions, including such public figures as singer Rod Stewart to mid-sized CPA firms. He attended Rutgers University Camden where he was a member of the Dean’s List, receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and has throughout his career also been a member of several professional organizations including The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, The International Federation of Accountants, The Institute of Management Accountants, The National Society of Accountants, and The Institute of Internal Auditors.
LARRY EPSTEIN, ESQ.
Secretary and Corporate Director
Served since 1985
Mr. Epstein is presently a practicing attorney in Southern California. He has been a sole practitioner since 1987 specializing in business, family and entertainment law. He was previously involved for three years as Executive Vice President and in-house legal counsel to Cherrystone Pictures, Inc., an independent feature film production company based in Los Angeles, and in that capacity oversaw all corporate and administrative fiduciary responsibilities of the company and orchestrated all documentation for domestic and international co-ventures and related agreements. Prior to his production company involvement, Mr. Epstein was a Senior Partner in the Los Angeles-based law firm of Abouaf, Epstein, Meyers & Gronemeier, specializing in business, tax and entertainment law. He is a member of the State Bar of California, San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Los Angeles County Bar Association and the American Bar Association. Mr. Epstein has sat for nine years as a special referee and judge for the State Bar of California and is also currently Judge Pro Tem for the Superior Court, State of California, County of Los Angeles.
JOHN R. WOODWARD
Vice President for Film Production and Corporate Director
Served since 1981
Mr. Woodward is responsible for all technical and physical production procedures of the film and television projects the corporation produces or co-produces. His career has spanned more than 30 years of both independent and studio film and television production for companies such as Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Paramount Pictures, and Castle Rock Entertainment. Including his studio involvement, he was executive in charge of production for independent feature production company, Melco General in Los Angeles. He has been a senior member of the production team for a wide variety of film and television projects, including “Sweet Dreams”, “Flashdance”, “Tales from the Crypt”, “Young Guns II”, “Universal Soldier”, “Liar, Liar”, “Gattaca”, “I, Robot” the Academy Award nominated “The Shawshank Redemption,” among many others. Mr. Woodward has additionally been associated with and instrumental in productions at other major studios such as Warner Brothers, Columbia, Disney, the C.B.S. Studio Center, Samuel Goldwyn, and Bavaria-Atelier Studio in Germany. His television commercial background is varied having worked on commercials for the Sony Corporation, Lincoln-Mercury, and Pepsi. He has specialized training and expertise in pre-production through post-production coordination and requirements, and film production budget control. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Arts, a Masters degree in Cinema Production, and is a member of several professional organizations including the Directors Guild of America.
CHARLES NEWIRTH
Corporate Director
Served since 1992
Mr. Newirth is an award-winning producer of both independent and studio films in the motion picture industry and has been responsible for the production of such major motion pictures as Academy Award-winning “Forrest Gump,” “The American President,” and “City of Angels.” His career in feature film production has also included production manager duties for such films as “Pretty in Pink,” “Robocop,” and “The Abyss.” More recently, he has served as executive producer for 2001’s “America’s Sweethearts,” 2002’s “Maid in Manhattan,” 2007’s “Across the Universe,” and 2011’s “Hugo.” He also served in the capacity as President of Production for Revolution Studios overseeing such productions as “Click” and “Rocky Balboa.” In addition, he has worked in other senior production positions such as production supervisor, production coordinator, and location manager on a variety of film and television projects.
JOHN WYNN
Corporate Director
Elected 2023
Mr. Wynn is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of The Wynn Network and Wynn Film Productions located in Houston, Texas. He has nearly 30 years of experience working in film & television production, church & pastoral administration, and education. In 2009, he became President & Presiding Bishop of International Church Fellowship, Inc., an international non-profit organization, and received his Honorary Doctorate in Divinity. He has dedicated his career pastoral to helping develop the lives of teenagers and young adults, empowering inner-city communities, and expanding health services for those in need. He, along with his wife of 31 years, their 8 children, and 10 grandchildren, have been committed to delivering high-quality content through their streaming services, The Wynn Network. TWN is available on all major platforms, reaching 380 million homes worldwide. TWN provides inspirational entertainment comprised of original feature films, reality shows, documentaries, broadcast TV shows, and much more but is not exclusive to that genre. Mr. Wynn has also acted in the capacity of Director and Producer on a variety of different feature films. He is the recipient of various film festival awards and is also the recipient of the Reno/Sparks NAACP’s Black History Month Tribute Award for leadership, Author & Filmmaker. Consumers of faith-based film and television entertainment have commented that his films have impacted audiences with its comedic edge, spiritual influence, and transparency in theaters & churches throughout the United States, and homes around the world. Currently, TWN has licenses for over 1,000 films in their specialty catalog. Recent films of Mr. Wynn have featured such notable talent as Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down), Vincent Ward (The Walking Dead Series), and Noel G. (The Fast and the Furious). Over the past two decades, he has made appearances as a special guest on international television and radio Broadcasts.
ELIZABETH SHELDON
Corporate Director
Served since 2018
Elizabeth Sheldon is the founding partner and Chief Executive Officer of Juno Films. The company’s critically-acclaimed documentary God Knows Where I Am will have a national PBS premier in October of 2018 followed by Netflix. Prior to launching Juno Films, Ms. Sheldon was Chief Operating Officer of BOND/360 where she oversaw the acquisition and release of such films as The Settlers, Strike a Pose, Karl Marx City and The War Show. Previously to Bond, she was the Senior Vice President at Kino Lorber, a leading North American independent distributor of critically acclaimed films such as A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Jafar Panahi’s Taxi, 5 Broken Cameras and A Touch of Sin. She was also previously Vice President at Lorber HT Digital where she launched the Alive Mind Cinema label for the education market. The early stage of her career was built in the educational market, where she oversaw acquisitions and business development for two of the leading North America educational distributors. She has been recognized as one of the ’50 Most influential People’ in the documentary world by POV Magazine. As a frequent industry panelist and guest speaker, she has conducted many industry lectures discussing such topics as Indie distribution, Digital strategy and Ancillary sales and is a jurist at various film festivals. She earned her MA from Princeton University in German Studies and a BA from Mills College in Philosophy.
JOHN D. FOLEY
Corporate Director
Served since 1989
Mr. Foley was formerly President of Worldwide Distribution for Focus Features and formerly held a similar position with USA Films. Prior to USA Films, he was the Executive Vice President of City Cinemas (one of the largest theatrical exhibition companies on the eastern seaboard) and Executive Vice President of Miramax Films overseeing all theatrical acquisitions and distribution. Prior to Miramax, he was President of MGM/UA; he was recruited in 1987 as Vice President of Sales where he managed domestic sales in the Southern and Western divisions of the United States. In 1989 he was named President, managing all North American activities for the company. He was instrumental in the marketing and distribution successes of numerous projects, including “Trumbo,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Lost in Translation,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Benny and Joon”. Other past productions he has been instrumental in include “Rainman,” “A Fish Called Wanda,” and “Moonstruck.” Mr. Foley began his film career in 1975 on the east coast with Columbia Pictures and held various management positions with Columbia during his tenure with the company, encompassing regional sales throughout the Midwest and Southern United States. In 1986, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group recruited him as Vice President of Distribution to establish the worldwide distribution operations for the company’s opening in 1986.
LINDA FAUSEY, ESQ.
Corporate Director
Served since 1999
Ms. Fausey has been a practicing attorney for the past 20 years, specializing in regulatory law, health care, and insurance. She is also a registered lobbyist. Formerly, Ms. Fausey worked with various legislative committees and the Speaker of the House Research Staff. Ms. Fausey was also a quality assurance audit supervisor and a consultant and designer of systems and established protocols for Medicaid Quality Assurance in Washington, DC. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Michigan State University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
KELLY KOSKELLA
Corporate Director
Elected 2023
Mr. Koskella was most recently the President of Hollywood Rentals in Los Angeles, the largest privately owned grip and lighting house in the world, since 2004. During his time at Hollywood Rentals, he consulted with a wide variety of financial partners from around the world for the development and construction of stages, running grip and lighting enterprises, and developing advanced camera departments. He has extensive experience in stage operations, grip and lighting rentals, and related transportation requirements for feature film productions produced on three different continents. Hollywood Rentals worked closely with its sister company Raleigh Studios, where Kelly is an active member of the Board of Directors – an independently owned studio in Los Angeles, serving major and independent productions for the past 70 years. As President of Hollywood Rentals, he managed numerous locations for the facility in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Atlanta, Detroit, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Orlando, Charlotte, and Budapest with over 150 employees and helped to facilitate films such as Titanic, Pearl Harbor, Master and Commander, and Thor. He’s also been consulting in a personal capacity to a wide variety of groups such as; the Budapest Film Studios, the Culver Studios, Baja Studios, Michigan Motion Pictures Studios, and Celtic Media Center Studios. In 1987 he began working for ACYE – DEC, a small lighting and grip company and after a short period of time was promoted to head of the rental department and within one year he became Director of Operations. He managed the day-to-day operations in both North Hollywood, CA, and Honolulu, HI. His involvement in marketing and on the business side of the company resulted in the facilitation of many large contracts and the highest rate of growth for the company since its inception, with more than 100 television shows and feature films produced.
FRED BARON
Corporate Director
Served since 1992
Mr. Baron is currently a Senior Production Executive for Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. where he is responsible for all phases of production oversight for feature films at the studio. His studio production oversight has included the Academy Award-winning “Moulin Rouge,” and “Titanic.” He has acted as a production executive on many major feature films including “The Day After Tomorrow,” “I, Robot,” “Borat,” “Idiocracy,” “Live Free or Die Hard,” and most recently “Eragon.” Prior to his studio involvement, he was a production representative at HBO, overseeing a wide range of features and M-O-Ws. Mr. Baron has also acted as co-producer on television productions, such as “Tales from the Crypt,” as well as production coordinator and production supervisor on a wide variety of independent films and television productions.
RICHARD D. McLELLAN, ESQ.
Corporate Director
Served since 1980
Mr. McLellan has practiced law for more than 40 years, most recently as a lawyer with the internationally renowned law firm of Dykema Gossett PLLC where he served as a Member-In-Charge at the firm and as the leader of the firm’s Government Policy Department. By appointment of the Supreme Court, Mr. McLellan served two terms as a Member of the Board of Commissioners of the State Bar of the State of Michigan. He is a member of the Board of Directors of ITC Holdings (NYSE ITC), the largest independent electric transmission company in the U.S. He also serves as an Independent Trustee of the JNL Series Trust, a 25+ billion dollar variable annuity fund managed by Jackson National Life Insurance Company. Mr. McLellan has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Mercantile & General Life Reassurance Company of America. During the administration of President Gerald Ford, he served as legal advisor to the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and was a member of the National Advisory Food and Drug Committee of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. In 1990, Mr. McLellan was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as a Presidential Observer to the elections in the People’s Republic of Bulgaria. The elections were the first free elections in the country following 45 years of Communist rule. In 1996, he again acted as an observer for the Bulgarian national elections. Mr. McLellan presently serves as Chairman of Africa International Holdings, L.L.C. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Michigan State University – Detroit College of Law and a member of the Advisory Board for MSU’s James H. and Mary B. Quello Center for Telecommunication Management and Law. He also serves as an adjunct professor in MSU’s College of Communications Arts and International Studies.
In Memoriam
LEW O’NEIL
Corporate Director
Served 1992 – 2024
Mr. O’Neil was most recently Executive Vice President of Deluxe Laboratories, a world leader in entertainment industry services and technologies. Prior to Deluxe, he was the Executive Vice President of Domestic Distribution for Polygram Filmed Entertainment, overseeing the company’s domestic theatrical exhibition of films. Prior to Polygram, he was the Senior Vice President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution for Twentieth Century Fox, overseeing all theatrical exhibition of their films throughout the western United States. Prior to his tenure with Fox, Mr. O’Neil was the Executive Vice President of Metropolitan Theaters, a regional exhibition chain in the southwest. Mr. ONeil has been instrumental in the distribution of many feature films, including “Rocky,” “Ghostbusters,” “Dances with Wolves,” the “Star Wars Trilogy,” and “Independence Day.” He has also been a consultant in the area of theatrical exhibition and distribution to various independent producers, production companies, and industry professionals including Michael Ovitz, the entertainment website iAM.com, and the recent advance in theatrical film projection known as Maxivision.
BENJAMIN WHITFIELD, JR., ESQ.
Corporate Director
Served 1980 – 2022
Mr. Whitfield is presently a practicing civil attorney with an emphasis in the field of entertainment law as well as extensive experience in labor and employment law. After graduating from law school in 1972, Mr. Whitfield joined the Michigan State Attorney General’s office where he served from 1973 to 1979 as an Assistant Attorney-General. He has also served as an Assistant United States Attorney assigned to the Civil Litigation Section. He has additionally served as Special Counsel on multi-million dollar Wall Street financings interfacing with the investment banking community. Mr. Whitfield began private practice in 1980 and is currently a principle of the internationally respected entertainment law firm of Benjamin Whitfield, Jr. and Associates, P.C. His entertainment clients include a wide variety of prominent artists and organizations including Motown Records and Crystal Rose Records.
A. ROBERT SOBOLIK
Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and Corporate Director
Served 1983 – 2021
Mr. Sobolik is the Executive Vice President and Treasurer of WWMPC. He has previously held senior corporate positions including Vice President of Operations for StrataVision Inc. in Southern California, specializing in computer software development. Mr. Sobolik has been a financial consultant and advisor to various international and U.S. Fortune 500 corporations including HRT Industries, Senior Consultant/Financial services, Saudi Airlines in Saudi Arabia, and Senior Project Manager for Sierra Power Co. and the Texas Legislative Council. Prior to his consulting services, he was Project Manager and Director for computer systems in corporate development with the U.S. Borax Chemical Corporation and before that supervised computer operations, computer systems, and corporate data processing. He has also been a manager and controller of computer operations for a major Los Angeles-based public services corporation. Mr. Sobolik has served in corporate management of business, finance, and industry for more than 35 years throughout the western U.S. and abroad.
ALEX TREBEK
Corporate Director
Served 1988 – 2020
Mr. Trebek has been involved in the television industry for over 35 years as a producer, host, and innovator of a wide variety of entertainment shows. He is a producer and host of the internationally successful game show “Jeopardy” which has been the second highest rated television show in syndication. Mr. Trebek was also the host of the successful television game show “Classic Concentration.” As a television media executive, he is currently developing new projects for television and film. Mr. Trebek, originally from Sudbury in Ontario, Canada, worked for the Canadian Broadcasting company (CBC) throughout the 1960’s and early 70’s before relocating to the United States in 1973. Mr. Trebek’s success in the game show world has earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well as one on Canada’s Walk of Fame. He hosts the National Geographic Bee in the U.S. and The Great Canadian Geography Challenge in Canada. Mr. Trebek is also very involved in the World Vision charitable organization, traveling to many third world countries and taping reports about the group’s efforts in order to benefit children around the world.
CHARLES C. BAILY
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Served 1989 – 2019
Mr. Bailey has most recently been the producer of a variety of Broadway stage productions including the award winning musical “My One and Only” with Twiggy and Tommy Tune, “Stardust” with Sean Young, “Lucky Guy” with Faith Prince, and “Dream” with Lesley Ann Warren and Margaret Whiting. In addition, he is the President of King Street Productions, a theatrical production company in New York City, which develops and produces Broadway and regional stage productions. Prior to his professional Broadway activities, Mr. Bailey was Senior Vice President of Thomson McKinnon Securities Inc. and previously Vice President of Prudential-Bache Securities (now Prudential Securities), both in New York and two of Wall Street’s leading investment banking firms. As a fully licensed investment banker with Prudential-Bache and Thomson McKinnon, Mr. Bailey prepared a wide variety of multi-million dollar national municipal bond issues for the capital markets and was responsible for the underwriting of those and other issues. In conjunction with Mr. Bailey’s investment banking responsibilities, he was the principal of O.B. Bailey Associates, a financial advisory service. He has been involved in international business and finance for more than 40 years, encompassing organizations and enterprises throughout Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East. He is a graduate of Hamilton College in New York and a member of several professional organizations including past National Director of the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce and Commission Chairman of the Junior Chamber International.
GEORGE T. LINDSEY
Vice President for Creative Development and Corporate Director
Served 1981 – 2018
Mr. Lindsey is responsible, in conjunction with the production committee, for the selection and development of Feature film and television projects for WWMPC. His film and television career spans over 35 years of literary and production film work. He has most recently completed writing feature film projects for New West Films Corporation. He has been associated in the past with film production houses and television stations, including serving as an executive producer and director on the staff of NBC and its affiliate W.R.C.-TV and W.I.T.F. Formerly. He was the President of a motion picture production company and an award-winning documentarian, producing a wide variety of documentaries and docudramas throughout Europe, Africa, and South America. He has worked with such talent as Eli Wallach, Henry Fonda, Raymond Massey, Leonard Nimoy, Brock Peters and Lorne Green. Mr. Lindsey has conducted in-depth work in the field of pre-production of motion picture projects and has earned over 18 national film awards for film and television productions, including regional Emmy awards, local Emmy awards, the N.E.T. award for excellence in film production, and gold, silver and bronze medals in film production from the New York International Film Festival. He is a member of several professional organizations including the Writers Guild of America, West, Inc., and the Directors Guild of America.