LINDA PACE ALEXANDER Series Creator, Screenwriter, Playwright For over two decades, as VP of Special Projects for Universal Pictures, I steered the global events for Universal Pictures, including Schindler's List, A Beautiful Mind, Love Actually, Get Out, Les Miserables, Babe, Billy Elliot, and franchise films like Fast and Furious, The Bourne Identity, Despicable Me, American Pie, and Mamma Mia! When I pivoted from Universal, I flew to Italy to research a project that had called to me about my Italian family's fight against fascism. While writing on the balcony of our seaside apartment, conversations wafted up from the beach – "Look over there by the pier; that is where Hitchcock filmed scenes from his first film, "The Pleasure Garden." The answer was, "Right about the time fascism began to mangle Italian lives." My brain cracked open. I could hear the voices – past, present, and future. I dove into research, interviewed the villagers, and was inspired by the stories of artistic resistance. Fascism stops human evolution. I explore how a renaissance in art obliterates war. The Pleasure Garden was developed through Green- Light Women Connections and Monna Productions. The pilot script is recognized by numerous screenplay awards, including Austin Film Fest, Venice Under the Stars Intl. Film Fest, Screencraft, Palm Springs Intl., Milan FFI, Berlin Intl., Big Apple Intl., LA Intl., Toronto Intl. Women's Film Fest, Page Intl. Screenwriters Awards, and the Cinestory Foundation.
DONNA SMITH Executive Producer Donna Smith began her career as Production Coordinator on RAGING BULL and quickly rose through the ranks, serving as Production Manager, Line Producer and Producer on notable projects that included THE TERMINATOR. 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.During Smith’s seven-year tenure at Universal, more than 120 titles were released under her leadership including; Academy Award winner SCHINDLER’S LIST, JURASSIC PARK, BABE, SCENT OF A WOMAN, CASINO, BACKDRAFT, BACK TO THE FUTURE, APOLLO 13 and WATERWORLD.Following her executive role at Universal, Donna entered the world of completion bonds, having established a sterling reputation as a “highly bondable” producer. Donna served as CEO/President for the Entertainment Coalition, a management entity formed to coordinate full-service completion bond and insurance services for the entertainment industry worldwide. Under Donna’s leadership, the company handled such titles as CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON; STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE; THE NUTTY PROFESSOR; BATMAN & ROBIN; LA CONFIDENTIAL; ARMAGEDDON; LETHAL WEAPON and THE MATRIX TRILOGY.Donna Smith more recently served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Cinema Completions International. 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 the United States Film Ambassador to China and serves as a Women In Film trustee. https://dmisshollywood.com/
ALESSANDRA BERGERO Creative Producer Over the past thirty-five years, Alessandra Bergero’s company, Monna Productions, produced groundbreaking projects in the United States, Europe, and Asia. She started filmmaking in 1982 in New York City. Her interest in new trends and cultural art movements led her to document the early Graffiti Artists and the alternative downtown scene. From 1985 to 1990 she was selecting independent American films for the Florence Film Festival and producing special events for the Italian Cultural Institute of New York (Alberto Sordi for Italy on Stage, Italian New Films at MOMA, NYC). In 1992 she returned to Italy and settled in the Italian Riviera, where she promoted and organized three editions of ‘Natur Art’, a multimedia festival of culture, science and art, about new methods and solutions for a sustainable development. In 1997, she curated an exhibition about Andy Warhol's Factory. Art Critic Achille Bonito Oliva invited her as curator of the US section of ‘TRIBES OF ART ‘ in Rome, at the Museum of Contemporary Art. In 1998 Alessandra started the first film commission in Italy, the "Italian Riviera-Alpi del Mare Film Commission". For the last two decades, she managed all kinds of productions with her brother Raffaele. Their creative and professional advice, from script writing to top-notch on-site assistance, was instrumental in attracting majors, such as Universal Pictures, New Line Cinema and TV series, such as "Life after People",to this previously untapped area . Monna Productions is currently developing "GLOCAL" projects with a local-to-global perspective, in other words, sustainable productions with a universal impact on the audiovisual market. https://www.monnaproductions.com/
