Public Interest Pictures produces award-winning documentary films that inform the public and foster social change. Using true stories to start discussions and open minds, our modest films have won festival honors and an Emmy nod. Our documentaries have aired on HBO, Sundance Channel, and other networks both domestic and international. PIP has partnered in production and outreach with organizations such as NAACP, ACLU, and People For the American Way, and our films are widely used in classrooms. Public Interest Pictures is not just a documentary company — documentaries are an extension of our activism. READ MORE
Laurie Kaufman
We are proud to welcome Laurie Kaufman as our brand new Executive Director!
Earl Katz
Earl Katz, President of Public Interest Pictures and President of Creative Philanthropy, is an activist/documentary producer. He is currently Executive Producing two films, the documentary Heist and the studio film Legacy of Secrecy, slated to be released by Warner Brothers in 2013 starring Leonardo DiCaprio. His award-winning documentaries have been an adjunct to his career as a political, social justice, and environmental activist since 1970. Katz is Executive Producer of Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election with Danny Glover (Sundance Channel), Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties (Sundance Channel), Broadcast Blues, One Nation Under God, and Hacking Democracy(HBO), for which he received an Emmy® nomination.. He has been Executive Producer of numerous other documentaries including: El Barco de la Paz – The Peace Ship to Nicaragua, The CIA & World Peace, Lanzo Del Vasto: The Warrior For Peace and Only One Earth. He was the fundraiser for Winter Soldier, a documentary film for Vietnam Veterans Against the War (Cannes Film Festival Award). In 1982, Katz initiated the video production of Night of at Least a Dozen Stars – I Love Liberals, the first non-profit benefit aired on HBO. He has led several national and international peace and environmental initiatives, many under the aegis of Fellowship of Reconciliation. In 1984, his proposal won a $20 million grant from the National Park Service for the museums built at Liberty and Ellis Islands. Earl serves on the boards of: Earth Communication Office, Independent World Television and Free Speech TV.
Margery Tabankin
Margery Tabankin is the Executive Director of both Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation and The Streisand Foundation (since 1986). Established in 1994, the Righteous Persons Foundation has made over $67 million in grants to projects that strengthen and reinvigorate Jewish life in the United States, and the Streisand Foundation has allocated over $14 million to organizations concerned with the environment, women, children, civil rights and civil liberties. From 1988 to 1994, Tabankin served as the Executive Director of the Hollywood Women’s Political Committee (HWPC). During this time, she helped establish an extremely effective and powerful women’s political organization, raising millions of dollars for progressive candidates. She also organized the entertainment industry on issues of women’s reproductive health, support for the arts and human rights around the world. From 1981 to 1988, she also was the Executive Director of the Arca Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting issues of equity, civil rights, the environment and human rights. Previously, she served as Director of Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) under President Carter from 1977-1981. Currently, Tabankin sits on the boards of several philanthropic organizations including People for the American Way, Defenders of Wildlife and the Institute for America’s Future. In addition, Tabankin produced the documentary film, Heartstrings: Peter Paul & Mary in Central America.
Marcos Barron
As a political fundraiser, Marcos Barron helped elect Al Gore, Barbara Boxer, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Hillary Clinton, all while building budgets of non-profits, ranging from Handgun Control and the National Breast Cancer Coalition to Rock the Vote and Free the Slaves. He later ran People For the American Way’s California Office where he helped defeat Ward Connerly’s divisive initiative that would have had disastrous medical and civil rights impacts throughout the state. His work in the political arena lead him to a stronger interest in the entertainment industry, beginning with grassroots marketing of documentaries to the distribution of a socially powerful full length feature, Innocent Voices.
Terri New
Terri New, Founder and President of Capital Strategies, a fundraising consulting firm based in Los Angeles, is a seasoned fundraiser. She has worked for over 18 years with elected officials, philanthropists, corporations, business executives and grassroots activists around the country and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for various causes and candidates. Her recent projects include: CALEAP, a California ballot initiative focusing on alternative and renewable energy; Senator Hillary Clinton’s (NY) re-election bid; Congressman Harold Ford, Jr’s (TN) Senate campaign; and American Family Voices. Previously, she headed up fundraising efforts in Southern California for two major national Democratic operations: the Democratic National Committee and America Coming Together (ACT)/The Media. In 2002, she served as Finance Director for Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor’s successful campaign for U.S. Senate. Among her other clients have been Al Gore, the Democratic National Committee, Congresswoman Jane Harman, Tom Daschle, Ann Richards, Lawton Childs, Antonio Villaraigosa and The Jackie Robinson Foundation.
Rufus Gifford
After graduating from Brown University in 1996, Rufus began his career at Davis Entertainment as a Creative Executive and had a hand in the development and production of such feature films as Heartbreakers, Dr. Doolittle 2, Life or Something Like It, Daddy Day Care, Garfield and First Daughter. After 6 years in the trenches at Davis Entertainment and Twentieth Century Fox, and close to the Kerry family, he decided to work to support the Democrats during the 2004 Presidential election. He became Deputy Finance Director, Western States for the Democratic National Committee and raised in excess of $30 million in the eight Western states he oversaw. After the election, Gifford realized that political fundraising was his true path rather than entertainment. 2006 clients included the successful Senatorial bids of Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Jim Webb in Virginia as well as John Garamendi for Lt. Governor of California. Rufus has recently partnered with Jeremy Bernard to form B & G Associates whose primary client is Senator Barack Obama. Gifford and Bernard oversee fundraising for the state of California for the campaign. In addition to the Presidential race, they are also overseeing the California fundraising for the Senate campaigns of Jeff Merkley in Oregon and Mark Warner in Virginia.
Holly Mosher
Holly Mosher is an award-winning filmmaker who brings socially-conscious films to the public. After graduating with honors from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Holly produced a number of commercials and feature films. In 2004 she made her directorial debut with the documentary, Hummingbird. Afterwards, she produced the critically acclaimed films Side Effects, starring Katherine Heigl, and the follow-up documentary Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety. She has served as a producer and executive producer on several films including: Maybe Baby, Vanishing of the Bees and FREE FOR ALL! Currently, Holly is in production on her second directorial project, Bonsai, where she is following the work of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. Her films have received international press attention, and The Hollywood Reporter named her one of the top up-and-coming independent film producers.
John Wellington Ennis
John Wellington Ennis is an award-winning filmmaker. His feature films are the documentary FREE FOR ALL! and the Upright Citizens Brigade‘s political satire Wild Girls Gone, starring Amy Poehler. Ennis directed and edited the award-winning documentary on pharmaceutical negligence Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety. His current project, PAY 2 PLAY, explores the need for campaign finance reform. Ennis is a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post and co-founder of Video the Vote, the national poll monitoring organization. His production company Shoot First Inc. in Beverly Hills shoots and edits documentaries, Reality TV, and comedy. Ennis attended the NYU & USC film schools, and has taught documentary filmmaking at UCLA Extension.
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