Angelou's five-volume autobiography commenced with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1970. The memoirs chronicle different eras of her life and were met with critical acclaim. Later books include All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986) and My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me (1994). She has published several volumes of verse, including And Still I Rise (1987) and Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1995). Her volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die (1971), was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She also teaches at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, where she has a lifetime position as the Reynolds professor of American studies. 

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Executive Producer Michael Jacobs

Michael Jacobs is the youngest playwright to ever open on Broadway. At twenty-two years old, his play Cheaters ran at the Biltmore Theater and then internationally. His next play, Getting Along Famously opened Off-Broadway at the Hudson Guild Theater.

 

In television, Michael has enjoyed long runs with several half-hour comedies he has created, written and produced. Among these are, Boy Meets World, Dinosaurs and Lost at Home for ABC, My Two Dads and The Torkelsons for NBC, and Charles in Charge for CBS. My Two Dads was the winner of The People’s Choice Award for Best New Comedy. Dinosaurs was nominated for two Emmy Awards and won one, as well as being the recipient of the Environmental Media Award three years in a row.

 

Boy Meets World and Dinosaurs went on to be syndicated, and along with The Torkelsons, also run on The Disney Channel. Charles in Charge was a pioneer of first run syndication, and is seen all over the world. In motion pictures, Michael produced Quiz Show, which won the New York Drama Critics Award, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

 

Jerry Offsay (Executive Producer) left his position as President of Programming for Showtime Networks in 2003 to form his own production company, Parkchester Pictures. In the first year after his departure he executive produced six films, three of which were accepted at the Sundance Film Festival. He also was the creative consultant on Keeping Up With the Steins.

 

During his ten-year tenure at Showtime Networks, he was responsible for all programming functions of Showtime Networks Inc. and for more than tripling Showtime’s original programming slate of series and films. Many of these programs have appeared in the Venice, Toronto, Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals and have garnered Emmy®, Golden Globe™, and CableACE awards among others.

 

Jerry green-lit Soldier’s Girl and Tennessee Williams’ The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone which both won a total of 5 Golden Globe nominations. Critically acclaimed projects that have aired under Jerry’s management included: The Believer, Hiroshima, 12 Angry Men, Mandela and deKlerk, Inherit the Wind, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Bojangles, Laughter on the 23rd Floor and The Day Reagan Was Shot. Amongst the television series that Jerry was responsible for green-lighting are Queer as Folk, Soul Food and The L Word.

 

Prior to joining Showtime Networks, Jerry served as Executive Vice President, ABC Productions for Capital Cities/ABC Inc., where he was responsible for all production and distribution. Before assuming his position at ABC Productions, Jerry was President, RKO Pictures. He served as executive producer on films including Eight Men Out, Diabolique, and Hamburger Hill as well as co-producer on Narrow Margin.

Irv Weintraub (Executive Producer) moved to Los Angeles in 1975 at the age of twenty one upon graduation from Pace University, where he earned a B.A. in Public Accounting.

 

He joined Deloitte & Touche, becoming a partner in 1986, and served as Director of Retail Service for their Southern California office, specializing in providing accounting and consulting services to both publicly and privately held retailers.

 

Irv joined the William Morris Agency in 1990, where he held the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In 2004 he was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

 

Irv is involved with numerous charitable and civic affiliations which include: AIPAC, American Jewish University, Jerusalem Foundation and Venice Family Clinic. He is also a Member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Member, California Society of CPA’s.

Amy Janes (Producer) Upon graduating from the University of Colorado in Boulder with a BFA in Film Studies, Amy was invited to sit on the board of the non-profit, art based organization Project YES (Youth Envisioning Social change) which provides leadership opportunities for young people through the arts and service learning.

 

In pursuit of her master’s degree in film with an eye on teaching at the college level, Amy found herself in Los Angeles in the Producer’s Program at UCLA. While studying for a MFA she worked hand-in-hand with the ArtsBridge Foundation.

 

Amy put aside her desire to teach at the higher level to further her knowledge of the film industry. She is the Head of Film Production at Parkchester Pictures, working with Jerry Offsay, the former President of Programming for Showtime Networks. Together they are developing and producing a slate of feature films and documentaries.

 

She has recently directed her own documentary Kaziah the Goat Woman.

Michael Rosendale (Producer) began his career in TV news, shooting and editing for the ABC affiliate in Richmond, Virginia. He quickly moved into film working on Michael Mann’s Manhunter. He was Unit Manager on Oliver Stone’s Platoon, shot in the Philippines during the Marcos revolution.

 

Michael then set up his own production company, Task at Hand Productions, where he produced three major industrial programs including the 1993 Telly Award-winning, Caremark and A.I.S for the International Aids Conference in Amsterdam, and five one-hour episodes of Kilroy!, the top rated BBC talk show. For MTV, he produced Forget Your Name: a Documentary of the Rave Underground. Clips of it aired on 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Dateline. He also produced numerous music videos for Polygram, A & M, and Warner Brothers.

 

Warner Brothers also commissioned Michael and his Academy Award-

 

Spencer Proffer (Music Supervisor and Composer) 

 

Producer Jerry Offsay enlisted his longtime musical lieutenant, Spencer Proffer to produce and oversee all musical aspects of the film. Proffer co-wrote the music to the film’s opening as well as closing song, “The Art of the Soul,” with award-winning songwriting partner, David Pomeranz, a long time collaborator (they both wrote Bette Midler's Hit, "Daybreak"). Spencer then selected and produced platinum Columbia/Sony Records artiste Anna Nalick to perform the song.

 

As a music director and supervisor, he has handled all aspects of the music on over 100 motion picture and television projects for most of the key motion picture studios and major broadcast television networks. Over 35 of these were nominated or won major industry awards, and includes work with CBS, NBC, ABC, MTV, VH-1, Showtime Networks, TNT, USA Networks, Paramount, Touchstone, Lions Gate, 20th Century Fox and New Line Cinema.  Additionally, he oversaw Showtime’s music interests on all levels for seven years.

 

He served as a Producer of the 4 time Tony nominated Broadway hit, "It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues" and the 2 time Emmy nominated television special, "Robbie Robertson, Coming Home", the CBS mini-series “Shake Rattle and Roll” and HBO’s award-winning multi-cultural series “Happily Ever After”.

 

Spencer has produced over 200 albums, accumulating gold and platinum records for millions of units sold through his work with artists as diverse as Stevie Wonder, Heart, Cheap Trick, The Little River Band, Hootie & The Blowfish, B.B. King, Kenny Loggins, Graham Nash, Eddie Money and Gladys Knight.  In 1975 he produced the Tina Turner Acid Queen album while serving as worldwide chief of A&R at United Artists Records; in 1983 he produced Quiet Riot’s Metal Health, the first debut hard rock album to reach #1 on the Billboard charts.

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Larry Brown (Composer and Sound Design)

 

Larry Brown is an accomplished engineer, producer and music composer with an Emmy and multiple Emmy nominations to his credit. He has composed music for over two dozen films, over fifty television programs and multiple brand campaigns for major Fortune 100 companies. His depth of creative and technical skills on both the composing, sound design and engineering fronts has made him a renaissance multi position player on the media field.

 

Larry Brown and Spencer Proffer first collaborated over twenty years ago when Brown played drums and percussion on numerous Proffer produced albums. In addition, Larry engineered and Spencer produced artists such as Heart, Cheap Trick, The Little River Band, Quiet Riot, The Beach Boys and The Stayin' Alive soundtrack. Larry and Spencer teamed up on four Showtime Original movies, two feature films and the long-running award-winning HBO series "Happily Ever After."

 

 

Judith A. Proffer  (Lyrcist )

 

Judith Proffer penned the poignant lyrics to “The Art of the Soul” which became the movie’s opening as well as closing song sung by Anna Nalick.

 

Co-founder of the acclaimed Southern California Sun Community Newspapers, as Executive Editor Judith created three unique publications to serve the Valley communities: Studio City Sun, Sherman Oaks Sun and Encino Sun.

 

Judith has been honored by the Los Angeles Business Journal and the San Fernando Valley Business Journal as one of the leading “Women Who Make A Difference” in the Southern California Community.