FINDING THE MONEY
PRODUCTION TEAM BIOS
FILMMAKER: Maren Poitras
Maren Poitras’s feature documentary debut FINDING THE MONEY received the Audience Award at DocLands film festival DocPitch 2021, and was selected for Big Sky Pitch, Hot Docs Deal Maker, and DOC NYC Roundtables in 2022. She is Associate Producer with Codebreaker Films, on Enemies of the State (TIFF 2020) and Reality Winner (2023). Originally from the California Bay Area, Poitras has a background in environmental science and agriculture from UC Berkeley.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Marc Smolowitz
Marc Smolowitz is a multi-award winning independent filmmaker based in San Francisco. With three decades of experience in the film and media business, Smolowitz is a director, producer, and executive producer who has been significantly involved in 50+ successful independent films wearing many hats across the entertainment industry. The combined footprint of his works has touched 200+ film festivals and markets on 5 continents, yielding substantial worldwide sales to theatrical, television, and VOD outlets, notable box office receipts, and numerous awards and nominations. His long list of credits includes films that have screened at top-tier festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Venice, Chicago, Palm Springs, AFI Docs, IDFA, DOC NYC, CPH: DOX, Tokyo, Melbourne, Viennale, Krakow, Jerusalem, among others. His film company — 13th Gen — works with a dynamic range of independent film partners globally to oversee the financing, production, post-production, marketing, sales, and distribution efforts of a vibrant portfolio of films and filmmakers. Founded in 2009, the company is known widely for being active on some 10-15 concurrent projects, both independent and inside Hollywood, and it has successfully advanced Smolowitz’s career-long focus on powerful social issue films and filmmaking across all genres. In 2016, he received one of the prestigious IFP Fellowships to attend the Cannes Film Festival’s Producers Network and Marche du Film marking him as one of USA’s most influential independent film producers.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Doug Blush
Doug Blush is an award-winning director, producer, editor, writer and cinematographer whose work includes over 130 feature and television projects. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as well as the American Cinema Editors (ACE). Credits include as Executive Producer the 2020 Critics’ Choice Award and 2022 Peabody Award-winning MR SOUL! , the 2019 Academy Award-winning PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE , the 2018 Academy Award-winning ICARUS , and, as supervising editor, the 2013 Oscar winner 20 FEET FROM STARDOM . Recent projects include JUSTICE which premiered at Sundance this year and THE ELEPHANT WHISPERERS , which was awarded the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film at the 95th annual Academy Awards. He is also a longtime film educator with classes and seminars at USC, UCLA, Syracuse University and the YoungArts Foundation in Miami, as well as exchanges and panels in Indonesia, Brazil, New Zealand, Armenia, Malaysia, Nigeria, China, Latvia, The Netherlands and more. Doug co-owns MadPix Films, a Los Angeles-based production and post production company.
ORIGINAL MUSIC: Konsonant Music
Konsonant Music has scored hundreds of award winning narrative and documentary films, series and advertising. They have a deep passion for socially conscious projects and helping filmmakers bring their stories to life. Founded by composers Andrew Gross and Gil Talmi in 2008, Konsonant Music has grown to become a highly regarded and sought after music company that also provides music supervision, music clearance, music catalog, music editing, sound design and sound mixing services. Recent projects include: Harry & Meghan (Netflix), The Vow Part II (HBO), I Think You Should Leave (Netflix), Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine (Netflix), Silent Beauty (ITVS), Mija (Disney+), Ascension (Paramount+), The Great Hack (Netflix), The Edge Of Democracy (Netflix) and more.