2017 Producers Immersive Mentors
Chevonne O’Shaugnessy
Chevonne O’Shaugnessy is the co-founder and president of American Cinema International. She began her career as the President of International sales for PM Entertainment. Her 10 years in the position resulted in the production and sales of over 176 feature films and two successful television series. PM produced and distributed original prime time product for numerous international TV clients and domestic cable networks, with the distinction of being one of the first suppliers of HBO World Premier Movies. PM remains one of few companies amid the competitive world of independent filmmaking that consistently generates high quality Action Adventure feature films. She has also served as the executive producer of numerous films and TV mini-series including the Jack Hunter trilogy, El Dorado, Born to Race, and many more.
In 2000, Chevonne founded American Cinema International, along with George Shamieh, with the goal of distributing and producing high quality commercial motion pictures throughout the world. In less than ten years, ACI produced 20 feature films with international sales and domestic prime time broadcasts on USA, SyFy, and HBO Premier.
Through her experience in international sales, Chevonne recognized a niche market for inspirational and family-oriented material. In 2008, she co-founded Mission Pictures International with the goal of creating a brand of quality content to best serve that unique market. Within their first year, Mission Pictures successfully acquired more than 12 titles for theatrical and TV release, and quickly achieved their mission to bring positive, inspirational messages back to the global marketplace.
Since its inception, MPI has acquired over a hundred films for theatrical, home video and TV release, and has become the international destination for films appealing to the family and faith market. Some of their major feature films include box office hit October Baby, 2012 Emmy nominee The Heart of Christmas, Letters to God, Mighty Macs and more. The company’s original production Love Finds You in Sugarcreek released in 2014 became the highest-rated broadcast ever for UP Channel and garnered Movieguide’s Epiphany Prize for the year’s Best TV Movie. A second film, Love Finds You in Charm, premiered on UP Channel in June 2015. The latest film, Love Finds You in Valentine, premiered Valentine’s Day 2016 with the best ratings in the series yet. To date the Love Finds You movies have reached more than nine million viewers.
With Chevonne’s departure from MPI, she has created ACI INSPIRES with George Shamieh, the newest brand of inspirational entertainment focusing on family films for everyone. She hopes to continue creating and acquiring strong inspirational stories, and plans to expand ACI INSPIRES to become the largest title holder for inspirational content. The company’s first television series, Fearless Hope, begins shooting for UP TV in 2016. ACI Inspires is also developing The Girl From Felony Bay with Walden Media, adapted from the best-selling book of the same name.
In addition to her corporate responsibilities, Chevonne currently sits on Board of Directors of the Bentonville Film Festival. She also serves on the Board of Directors of her family’s I. A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation which gives generously to the University of Notre Dame, St. Thomas University, and numerous other philanthropic causes each year. Chevonne was also a member of the Glendale Memorial Hospital board for five years, and served 15 years on the Board of Directors of the Women in Film Foundation. Additionally, she makes guest appearances at Chapman University each quarter teaching International Film Distribution.
David Hinojosa
David Hinojosa is Head of Production & Development at Killer Films in New York. While at Killer, he has developed Wash Westmoreland & Richard Glatzer’s Still Alice and Todd Haynes’ Carol which premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and received six Academy Award nominations. Most recently, Hinojosa produced Sebastian Silva’s Nasty Baby starring Kristen Wiig, Andrew Neel’s Goat and Todd Solondz’ newest feature Wiener Dog. This year, Hinojosa had 4 films premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. He is currently in post-production on Tali Shalom-Ezer’s new film Mercy starring Ellen Page and Kate Mara and in post-production on Miguel Arteta’s new film starring Salma Hayek, John Lithgow, and Chloe Sevigny. In television he is developing a series for Amazon Studios and FX. Hinojosa has upcoming work from Alex Ross Perry, Julie Taymor, Paul Schrader, Brady Corbet, Andrew Neel, Haynes, Solondz, and Silva. Prior to Killer, he worked at The Weinstein Company on films including Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech and Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine.
Joe Chianese
Joe Chianese is an Executive Vice President with Entertainment Partners. Entertainment Partners (EP) is the global leader in entertainment payroll, residuals, tax incentives, finance, and other integrated production management solutions, with 16 offices in the U.S., Canada, London, and Tokyo.
At EP, Joe oversees the EP Financial Solutions division which provides advisory, administrative, financial, tax and other consulting services for domestic and international film, television, and commercial productions. He has over 30 years of accounting, tax, and production experience, and has held senior tax and accounting positions at Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company, The American Broadcasting Company, Paramount Pictures, and Ernst & Young.
Throughout his career, Joe has been responsible for the tax, finance, and production structures for film and television productions in excess of $5 billion. He is regarded as one of the leading experts in worldwide production incentives and other government subsidies.
Joe is a CPA with a BBA in Accounting, a Masters in Tax, and an MBA from Fordham University.