Betsy Pollock | Associate Dean, Production and Director, First Year Production Services

Pollock has worked as a producer, associate producer and first AD on feature films, commercials, PSAs and MOWs. She was the co-producer of a short film, TWO SOLDIERS, which won the 2004 Academy Award^® for Best Live Action short. She was involved in the production of such films as WIND, STEALING HOME and LADY IN WHITE, and was the head of production of FILMLINK INTERNATIONAL. Pollock has a longtime involvement with Women in Film, currently serving on the Foundation Board as co-chair of the Film Finishing Fund. For three years she was head of the producing discipline at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Richard Arlook | Senior Lecturer

Arlook is a prominent American talent manager, film and television producer, and the president of The Arlook Group, a talent and literary management, production and consulting company, which specializes in both feature film and TV production. Prior to founding the company in 2008, Arlook was a senior partner and Head of Motion Picture Literature at The Gersh Agency for nearly two decades.

As a feature film producer, Arlook’s recent slate includes Sundance premiere I SMILE BACK, with Sarah Silverman; and IT HAD TO BE YOU, written and directed by Sasha Gordon and starring Cristin Milioti. His prior credits include the 2012 film GOATS, which premiered at Sundance and starred David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga and Ty Burrell, as well as WAITING FOR FOREVER which starred Richard Jenkins, Blythe Danner and Rachel Bilson. He has also produced two documentaries, LUCKY DUCKS and TURN IT UP, hosted by Kevin Bacon.

Arlook is working with Disney and Morgan Spurlock on the upcoming PRINCESS OF NORTH SUDAN, along with the top-ranking Black List Script “Rodham” at Lionsgate. He is currently in the process of developing series with a number of premiere networks, including HBO, AMC, Nat Geo, Warner Brothers TV and E! Network. Arlook once worked as an assistant to Scott Rudin, who was then Head of Production at Twentieth Century Fox, and his early work includes the feature film AFTER MIDNGHT for MGM, which he produced when he was 26 years old.

Stan Brooks | Senior Lecturer

A graduate of Brandeis University and the AFI Conservatory, Brooks is an award-winning producer of film and television with more than 30 years of industry experience. He has produced more than 70 works of film and television since 1989, which was the year he founded his first independent production company, Once Upon a Time Film. His producing credits include: the Academy Award^®-winning feature RAIN MAN, the miniseries THE CAPTURE OF THE GREEN RIVER KILLER; the Emmy^® and Golden Globe Award-nominated telefilm PRAYERS FOR BOBBY; and Walter Hill’s Emmy^® Award-winning miniseries BROKEN TRAIL, which was also nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, won a Directors Guild of America Award and received four SAG Award nominations and 16 Emmy nominations.

In 2012, under his new production company, Stan & Deliver Films, Brooks produced and directed his first feature film, PERFECT SISTERS, and later produced the docu-reality series, HOLLYWOOD SCANDALS, and the feature THE GRIM SLEEPER.

Caldecot Chubb | Lecturer

After successfully building a small business in New York publishing fine art photography, Chubb has worked in Los Angeles as a producer and senior production executive since 1983: at Pressman Film Corp. from 1988 to 1992, from 1994 to 2003 at Alphaville, and at Groundswell Productions in 2006-2007. Collectively in those 16 years as an executive, he supervised the development and production of several dozen films besides his own, working in a variety of financing and distribution environments.

Mr. Chubb has produced 10 movies, most recently THE DINNER, based on the worldwide best-selling Dutch novel by Herman Koch, written and directed by Oren Moverman, starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan and Rebecca Hall. Earlier produced pictures include UNTHINKABLE (Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Sheen; Sony, 2010); DARK BLUE (Kurt Russell, directed by Ron Shelton; UA, 2003); Louis CK’s POOTIE TANG (Chris Rock; Paramount, 2001); EVE’S BAYOU, Kasi Lemmons’ debut picture, with Samuel L. Jackson; HOFFA (Jack Nicholson, directed by Danny DeVito; Fox, 1992); Charles Burnett’s much acclaimed TO SLEEP WITH ANGER (Goldwyn, 1990); and CHERRY 2000 (Orion, 1988).

Chubb has been executive producer of six films: among them, I NOSTRI RAGAZZI, an Italian adaptation of the Koch novel; HET DINER, a Dutch adaptation of the Koch novel by Menno Meyjes (2012; Ed Harris’s APPALOOSA (New Line/WB, 2007); THE CROW (Miramax, 1994); as well as six films for television.

In 2011 he partnered on a tech startup to create Aerbook, an innovative environment to make, publish and share media-rich eBooks. The company pivoted to enabling digital commerce in social streams and was sold to Ingram Content Group in 2015.

In addition, from 1999 to 2010 Chubb was Executive Director of the Eggleston Artistic Trust, managing the career and business of the distinguished American artist and photographer, William Eggleston, and in 2008 produced WILLIAM EGGLESTON’S STRANDED IN CANTON, a documentary created from videotapes originally shot in 1973.

Chubb is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in the producing branch. He is married with two daughters in college.

Dana Lustig | Lecturer

Dana Lustig has directed five feature films and produced over 20 independent features. She produced the true survival story JUNGLE, starring Daniel Radcliffe. The movie was shot in Colombia and Australia’s Gold Coast and was released earlier in the year. Lustig also produced the feature film LOOK AWAY, directed by Assaf Bernstein. Starring Jason Isaacs, Mira Sorvino and India Eisley, the film will be released later this year. Currently Lustig is executive-producing SPIDER IN THE WEB, with Ben Kingsley and Monica Bellucci, and she just wrapped filming the second season of the Israeli hit series VERY IMPORTANT MAN.

Lustig directed the dark love story A THOUSAND KISSES DEEP, nominated for a British Independent Film Award. Other directing credits include the comedy WILD CHERRY with Rob Schneider, KILL ME LATER starring Selma Blair, CONFESSIONS OF A SOCIOPATHIC SOCIAL CLIMBER starring Jennifer Love Hewitt (the highest rated telecast for Oxygen’s original programming) and WEDDING BELL BLUES, with John Corbett.

For 10 years, Lustig was a partner at Bergman Lustig Productions (BLP) along with Ram Bergman. Among the films BLP produced are BRICK, nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award, and DANCING AT THE BLUE IGUANA, directed by Oscar^® nominee Michael Radford.

Next, scheduled for this fall, Lustig will direct the remake of the Israeli film THE MAN IN THE WALL.

Dana Lustig was born in Israel, and after her army service she moved to LA to graduate from the AFI Conservatory, where she lectures today. Lustig is a member of the DGC, PGA and SAG, and holds Canadian and EU passports.

Kevin Garrett Monroe | Lecturer

Kevin Garrett Monroe is a strategic, action-oriented business and legal affairs executive with over 15 years of experience creating and acquiring content, advancing businesses, protecting brands, and leading teams in both emerging technology and traditional entertainment landscapes.

Mr. Monroe is currently Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Dreamworks Animation, where he negotiates above-the-line talent agreements for animated and hybrid feature films, and television projects.  At Dreamworks, Monroe also provides business affairs support to both the Themed-Entertainment Group and the Advanced Creative Technology Team in connection with more complex transactions involving location-based experiences, digital media platforms, and high technology (including virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, artificial intelligence, and other next-gen technology partnerships). Prior to Dreamworks, Mr. Monroe served as legal counsel to start-up entities whose business focus was to create and publish interactive entertainment software application products that involved next-gen technology.  Most recently, Mr. Monroe served as General Counsel for VR/AR startup company WITHIN (funded by Andreesson Horowitz [a16z] and Laurene Powell Job’s Emerson Collective) and VP of Business Affairs at FoxNext (a next-gen entity funded by a16z and Twentieth Century Fox).

Prior to his work with tech start-ups, Mr. Monroe served as a senior business affairs and legal executive for several media companies, including Walt Disney Motion Pictures, Focus Features (a film division of NBCUniversal), Oddlot Entertainment (a standalone production entity owned by billionaire Gigi Pritzker), FilmDistrict (an independent mini-major studio previously financed by billionaire Tim Headington and producer Graham King) and Overture Films (an independent motion picture studio previously owned by John Malone’s Liberty Media and Starz Media).  During his career, Monroe has worked on major tentpole and franchise projects such as: the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN series; KING ARTHUR; and the NATIONAL TREASURE films. He has also worked on smaller independently financed productions such as: OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, LAW ABIDING CITIZEN, THE VISITOR, THE RAVEN and HELL OR HIGH WATER. Over the years, he has negotiated talent deals on behalf of media companies for the services of Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks, Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, Nicolas Cage, Chow Yun Fat, Antoine Fuqua, Idris Elba, Keith Richards, Helen Mirren and Orlando Bloom.

Monroe received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Howard University. He obtained his Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law, where he graduated with honors.

Louie Provost | Lecturer
After studying History and Philosophy at Northwestern University, Louie Provost moved to Los Angeles to attend the American Film Institute’s producing program. He started his career at Paramount Vantage and Scott Rudin Productions before joining Walt Disney Studios in 2007. As a production and development executive at Disney, some of the films he’s worked on include THE MUPPETS, SAVING MR. BANKS, MALEFICENT, QUEEN OF KATWE, MCFARLAND, USA, PETE’S DRAGON and the live action remake of ALADDIN.

Russell Schwartz | Lecturer

Russell Schwartz is currently Associate Professor at the Dodge College of Film and Media in Chapman University, where he is the lead marketing professor for the creative producing program and teaches a variety of courses on domestic and international marketing. He is also a Co-Partner of Pandemic Marketing Corp which provides strategic marketing, theatrical distribution, ancillary placement solutions and digital execution for the motion picture industry. Among its current clients are Miramax, Roadside Attractions, BroadGreen, and Lionsgate and Entertainment Studios with whom he currently overseeing the release of CHAPPAQUIDDICK in the Spring of 2018.

From 2001-2008, Russell was President of Theatrical Marketing at New Line. Among the films he managed and created the marketing campaigns for were The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Hairspray, Wedding Crashers, Elf, Rush Hour 2 and 3, The Notebook, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Snakes on a Plane, About Schmidt and Little Children. During his tenure, New Line garnered over forty four Academy Award nominations.

He was twice awarded the Ad Age Marketeer of the Year Award for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Wedding Crashers and the Yahoo Award for Integrated Marketing.

In 1999, he joined USA Films as President and released such films as Traffic, Nurse Betty, Topsy Turvey, Being John Malkovich and Pitch Black.

From 1992-1999, Russell became President of Gramercy Pictures and oversaw the marketing of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Fargo, The Usual Suspects, Elizabeth, The Big Lebowski, Dazed and Confused, Dead Man Walking, When We Were Kings, and many others. Prior to that Russell held executive positions at Miramax Films and Island Pictures.

Sandy Stern | Lecturer

Sandy Stern’s first feature was the critically acclaimed teen anthem PUMP UP THE VOLUME starring Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis. Stern’s additional credits include Paul Haggis’ RED HOT, Lynn Littman’s FREAK CITY, Spike Jonze’s BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, Todd Haynes’ VELVET GOLDMINE, Jill Sprecher’s THIRTEEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING and Brian Dannelly’s SAVED! He also produced the musical version of SAVED!, which premiered at Playwrights Horizons in New York City.

For the past decade, he has partnered with REM frontman Michael Stipe, and their films have drawn such talent as Cameron Diaz, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener, Peter Sarsgaard, Mary-Louise Parker, John Cusack, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale and Macaulay Culkin. Prior to Stipe, Stern was partnered with Sean Penn.

He has won an Independent Spirit Award, a Producers Guild Visionary Award and a Satellite Award. He has been nominated for a Golden Globe and a Lucille Lortel, and his films have garnered three Academy Awards^® nominations.

Stern graduated cum laude from Vassar College and summa cum laude from New York University. He is also a published author.