Executive producers Carl Swan and Lizzie Schwartz have teamed to launch Community Films. The new venture opens with a directorial roster consisting of Seth Gordon, Jared Hess, Michael Patrick Jann, Matt Smukler and Pam Thomas.
Swan and Schwartz previously served as exec producers at Hello! and Moxie Pictures, respectively. Community’s lineup includes directors who were formerly with those two houses as Smukler and Jann were with Hello, and Gordon, Hess and Thomas had been repped by Moxie.
Smukler is a prolific spot helmer. Commercial and TV director Pam Thomas has credits that include Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives. Jared Hess directed such features as Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. Gordon’s endeavors include the documentary King of Kong and the comedy feature Horrible Bosses. And Jann has Reno 911 and Drop Dead Gorgeous among his credits. Hess, Gordon and Jann additionally have considerable spotmaking experience.
Together, Swan and Schwartz have more than 30 years experience producing commercials, web films, shorts, music videos, and features. Swan served as executive producer at Hello! and predecessor house HKM for 10 years. Earlier he served as head of production at Harmony Pictures.
Schwartz worked with producer Cary Woods at Miramax on features like Scream and Citizen Ruth, before going on to executive produce at Moxie Pictures for 15 years.
Community has already turned out several spots, including Smukler-directed fare for Robitusson via Grey and McDonald’s out of Moroch; a Pam Thomas-helmed job for Amica from agency Cronin & Company; and a Hess-directed assignment for Direct Auto and agency Cramer-Krasselt.
The production company’s sales team consists of Reprizent (Michael Arkin, Anna Triggs, Taina Torres-Wirth) on the East Coast, MJ Companies (Marguerite Juliusson) in the Midwest, and Amy Jones on the West Coast. Community is repped in the U.K. via London production house Independent.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More