Karaganda

A graduate of the American Film Institute’s directing program, Max Weissberg co-produced and appeared in the feature documentary film, HOTEL GRAMERCY PARK (2008), which included cameos by Ben Stiller, Jared Leto, Mischa Barton, Winona Ryder, and Kanye West. The film earned a jury citation at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and screened on the Sundance Channel for several years. Max’s feature film, SUMMERTIME IN NEW YORK (2011), screened at festivals including SXSW (as ROOM 4 RENT), and won best screenplay at First Time Fest. The film is available on a dozen VOD outlets. For the last 2 years he worked as a full-time Social Producer/Editor for TV Land & Paramount Network (Viacom), a global entertainment company. His main task was creating videos for Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the television show Younger. He currently works full-time as a producer and editor for Viacom Velocity at Comedy Central, Paramount Network, and TV Land. He has been with Karaganda, LLC part-time working approximately 10 hours per week since its inception in April 2017. Website: www.luftmenschfilms.com.

During his six years in the finance industry at Lehman Brothers, Smith Barney, and Fidelity Investments, Edwin managed approximately $4 billion of commercial real estate holdings and a portfolio of over 700 private and institutional accounts. Over the past eight years, Edwin has been a fulltime partner and lead producer at the Vladar Company, a fitness and entertainment company, responsible for developing the production slate and managing sales. Credits include the award-winning hit film, GENERATION IRON, (2013) narrated by Academy Award Nominee, Mickey Rourke. This film was one of the top highest grossing documentaries in 2013, and Edwin handled all the domestic and foreign distribution sales. Most recently, he produced the fashion film biopic, JEREMY SCOTT THE PEOPLE’S DESIGNER (2015) (featuring Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, A$AP Rocky, and Rita Ora), and the MMA documentary, THE HURT BUSINESS, narrated by Kevin Costner. Both are available on Netflix. He has been with Karaganda, LLC part-time working approximately 5 hours per week since it's inception in April 2017. His primary role is as a full-time producer at the Vladar Company.

Houston has distributed, sold and/or produced all of director Andrew Bujalski's features, as well as produced the films THE BEAUTIFUL GAME, GODSPEED, BEESWAX, COMPUTER CHESS, and THE TRIP. In addition, he has licensed and/or managed the theatrical distribution of approximately 60 other films as well as managed the outreach campaign for the documentary BULLY. Recent credits include RESULTS (as producer) starring Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders and Kevin Corrigan which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Magnolia Pictures; ANESTHESIA (as executive producer) starring Sam Waterson, Glenn Close and Kristen Stewart, which premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival and was released by IFC Films; THE HERO (as producer) released by The Orchard; LEMON (as producer) released by Magnolia; HEARTS BEAT LOUD (as producer) starring Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons; and SUPPORT THE GIRLS (as producer) starring Regina Hall, which received Gotham Award nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Actress and a Spirit Nomination for Best Actress. Before entering the movie business, Houston worked in international corporate finance for Lehman Brothers and ING Barings. He graduated from Boston University.

A graduate of the University of Southern California with a B.S in Business and Southwestern Law School for her Juris Doctorate, Nina’s eclectic background includes nearly a decade of advertising and marketing experience and business development/partnerships experience. Since early 2014, Nina has had her own law firm, the law offices of Nina Gortinski, which has focused on transactions for entertainment and technology firms. She now practices law full-time and this is her primary job. From 2016 to 2018, she was the Director of Partnerships and Program Success for Santa Monica based start-up Tuition.io. Prior to that, she was involved with Global Partnerships at Yahoo and at a Silicon Valley gamification start-up. Her first love was naturally film, and alongside her corporate and legal work she has produced several films in Europe and the U.S. Her producing credits include: the award-winning feature BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE (2008), BURY THE DOG (2012), TAROT (2013), LOVE OR LAUGHS (2018), THINGS THAT NOBODY TOLD HIM (2016) and ROUGH CUT (2019). She has been with Karaganda, LLC part-time working approximately 5 hours per week since its inception in April 2017.