|
Donna Smith
|
|
|
Donna Smith, Producer .
Former CEO Cinema Completion International. Former CEO/ President of Entertainment Coalition for film insurance and completion bonds for motion pictures. Her company insured such companies as Universal Pictures, Disney, Warner Brothers and others. Former Senior VP Universal Pictures. She produced such films as: She has Insured, bonded, supervised such films as: DONNA SMITH President/CEO, Cinema Completions International. A respected film producer, former Universal Pictures senior vice president and, completion bond veteran, Donna Smith is president and chief executive officer of Cinema Completions International. Based in Los Angeles with offices in London, CCI underwrites completion bonds for films budgeted up to $75 million. Smith, who green lights new business and spearheads strategic planning, lends managerial insight to the company, guided by an extensive network of relationships with studio executives, producers, filmmakers and creative talent. Smith taps a deep understanding of the entertainment industry, overseeing a company, that has guaranteed such Academy Award-winning films as The English Patient, The Thin Red Line and The Ghost and the Darkness as well as A Simple Plan, Selena, Flirting With Disaster, John Grisham's The Rainmaker, John Carpenter's Vampires, Very Bad Things, Slums of Beverly Hills and Chill Factor. Forthcoming films include Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden House 1, Rules of Engagement and Bless the Child. Previously, Smith served in the same capacity for CCI parent company Entertainment Coalition, a management entity formed by insurer CNA to coordinate full-service completion bond and insurance services for the entertainment industry worldwide. Under Smith's leadership the company insured such titles as Star Wars - Episode One: The Phantom Menace, The Lost World, Space Jam, The Nutty Professor, Batman & Robin, George of the Jungle, L. A. Confidential, Armageddon, Lethal Weapon 4, Babe: Pig in the City and Mighty Joe Young. Previously, Smith served as senior vice president, production and post-production for Universal Pictures. The first woman ever to serve as head of physical production at a major movie studio, Smith supervised every picture made at Universal from 1989-96. More than 150 titles were released during her tenure, including Schindler's List (Academy Award winner for Best Picture), Jurassic Park, Babe, Casino' 12 .Monkeys, Fried Green Tomatoes, Scent of a Woman, Beethoven, Backdraft, Back to the Future, Born on the Fourth of July, Do the Right Thing, Casper, Apollo 13 and Waterworld. Smith was offered the Universal Pictures post following her work as executive producer of the Universal film K-9, starring Jim Belushi. Her work on the comedy represented her first project with Universal, yet immediately caught the attention of studio brass, who recognized her potential as a Senior executive. Prior to her association with Universal, Smith served as chief operating officer and vice president of Entertainment Completions international, a motion picture completion bond company. Eager to explore an area of entertainment not familiar to her, she learned the world of international banking and completion bonds, traveling between Los Angeles and London, and overseeing the bonding of more 40 films. Smith entered the world of completion bonds after having established a sterling reputation as a "highly bondable" producer. From 1979-86 she worked in a variety of producer roles on more then a dozen feature films including Raging Bull, True Confessions, Disorderlies, Soul Man, Reckless and Terminator and many more. She is also the current president of the highly prestigious Crystal Awards, an award for women in films Donna is retiring her company, Cinema Completion International and is now considering some of her own interest in films and related projects.
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
