AT THE INTERSECTION OF FILM AND SOCIAL IMPACT

Kate Cohen is an award-winning producer and entrepreneur with two decades of experience leading high-profile projects from inception to completion. She is a creative producer with a long track record of business development, raising financing, and developing and packaging projects with A-list talent. As Partner and Co-CEO/Founder of STRAIGHT UP FILMS, she has produced films with Hollywood’s elite players, including Natalie Portman, Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor and Spike Lee, among many others. Cohen is also a lifelong advocate for youth mental health and has mentored countless young girls, inspiring resilience and success. Cohen recently Co-Founded STRAIGHT UP IMPACT, a social enterprise on a mission to create commercial films that move audiences to enact social change.

Her current slate includes Joseph Merrick, based on the life of “the Elephant Man” to be directed by Rupert Sanders; and Man’s Search for Meaning, a film adaptation of Viktor Frankl’s best-selling memoir; along with Meaning in Madness, the compelling docu-series addressing systemic causes of the youth mental health crisis. Kate has also recently established herself as an award-winning director for the film LUNA, which will be released in 2023.

With a career spanning over three decades, Marisa Polvino is a prolific producer and entrepreneur with a skill for identifying, packaging, and producing quality, star-driven entertainment across all genres and budget levels. Presently, Marisa is Partner and Co-CEO/Founder of STRAIGHT UP FILMS a fully integrated multi-media production company. Polvino identifies and shapes projects that align with the company’s ethos. She oversees a top flight feature slate which include How to Set a Fire and Why, directed by award winning director/actress Lisa Edelstein, Dissonance, a YA love story set in the multiverse directed by Catherine Hardwicke, Joseph Merrick – The Elephant Man to be directed by Rupert Sanders and a film adaptation of Viktor Frankl’s iconic memoir Man’s Search for Meaning. Recognizing the profound effect cinema can have on culture Polvino co-founded Straight Up Impact.

The companies mission is to create, produce and finance thought provoking content that appeals to human emotions, shifts perspectives and inspires positive social change. Polvino is currently producing the “Meaning in Madness” film series which centers around the systemic issues contributing to the mental health crisis facing young adults and teens today and the importance of meaning and purpose in their lives.

In addition, Pam is an Executive Producer of the Friendship Bench documentary with Sealion Films based on Dr. Dixon Chibanda’s TED talk about training grandmothers to treat depression. She is on the Board of Authentic Connections Groups, a nonprofit supporting resilience in moms and children and co-owns Vaca Restaurant in Costa Mesa, CA with Chef Amar Santana and Ahmed Labbate.