Company Directors

Patricia Payne, principal and founder

Australian-born Patricia Payne began her career packaging live extravaganzas with major international talent for Celebrity Circuit Pty Ltd in Australia and New Zealand before moving to the UK as an agent for Burnet Silk Talent Agency. In Toronto, Canada she was President of Trainco Talent Agency before setting up Patti Payne Casting where she worked with an array of American, Canadian and British actors, including Michael Douglas, John Houseman, Blythe Danner, John Candy, Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Stephanie Powers, Leslie Neilson, Martin Sheen, Lesley Ann Warren, Christopher Plummer, William Shatner, Lainie Kazan, Timothy Bottoms, Jack Albertson, John Hurt, Karen Black, Blair Brown and Peter Graves.  Her entrepreneurial background includes founding a multi-site acting school in Canada. More recently, she has focused on writing and producing as President of Dorian Films, Inc., a company which created, wrote and produced hundreds of hours of television series and features.  It is the parent company of NoHoPC. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America west, Australian Writers Guild and Screen Producers Association of Australia.  For the Term of His Natural Life, a six-and-a-half hour miniseries written and produced by Payne, was shot in Australia, and starred Anthony Perkins, Colin Friels, Samantha Eggar and Patrick Macnee.  The production broke all ratings records in Australia, rated in the top ten programs in the U.K. when it aired on BBC-1, and continues in distribution worldwide, with recent sales to Village Roadshow for home video, DVD, and Pay TV.  Patricia recently produced the comedy feature film California Dreaming starring Dave Foley, Lea Thompson and Patricia Richardson, now in worldwide distribution with Fox International. 

 
Wilton Schiller, company director

Wilton Schiller is a writer and producer with 45 years experience in network television, studio feature films and independent film production. He began his career in radio in Chicago, came to Hollywood as a literary agent with MCA, then moved into writing and producing primetime US network television programs for ABC, NBC, CBS, Paramount and Universal. He wrote television drama for the BBC and the British independent networks, taught screenwriting at UCLA and pioneered international co-productions. He has served on various WGAw committees and specializes in international treaties and entertainment opportunities. 

Affiliates

Dorian Swerdlow, business consultant

Dorian Swerdlow is currently with Ernst & Young in their Transaction Advisory Services Group, a division which advises companies in Mergers and Acquisitions. He was a principal with global management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton for the past 10 years. He has advised many of the world's largest corporations on a variety of operations strategy issues. His experience includes a stint as COO of ShareMax, where he led a successful restructuring of the company from an unprofitable software developer to a profitable provider of analytical services to large companies. His earlier career as an electrical engineer included designing components for NASA's Space Shuttle and Space Station programs. He has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School and Management and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. Dorian has a long relationship with NoHo's principals and consults independently throughout the United States.

Lew Hunter, Chairman Emeritus and Professor of Screenwriting, UCLA Department of Film and Television

Lew Hunter presents workshops nationally and internationally in screenwriting and story development. He was a network executive for NBC and ABC, Story Executive for Walt Disney Productions, and a writer/producer for companies such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Canadian Broadcasting Company, Columbia TV, Paramount and Warner Bros. His book, Lew Hunter's Screenwriting 434, is an essential text in universities around the world. He conducts an ongoing writing colony in Nebraska.  www.lewhunter.com