Pitching Your Project​, Funding Your Work with Nina Yang Bongiovi (FRUITVALE STATION). Jim Cummings (THUNDER ROAD), & more

Producing partners, Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker have gained a stellar reputation for having in-depth knowledge of film financing, creative and physical producing, and a knack for discovering talent, like that of Ryan Coogler (Marvel’s Black Panther), whose first film, Fruitvale Station (2013) was produced by Forest and Nina.

Together under their banner, Significant Productions, Nina and Forest have produced a number of critically-acclaimed films by auteur filmmakers, including Dope (2015) by Rick Famuyiwa, Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015) by Chloe Zhao, Roxanne Roxanne (2018) by Michael Larnell, and Sorry To Bother You (2018) by Boots Riley. More recently, Forest and Nina produced Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut, Passing, based on Nella Larsen’s renowned Harlem Renaissance novel. The producing duo is currently executive producing the premium tv series, Godfather of Harlem, which is in production on Season 2 at EPIX. Nina and Forest are consistently in active development on a slate of multi-cultural feature films and television projects that they love.

Significant Productions’ mission is to create opportunities and push inclusivity for underrepresented narratives and storytellers by championing culturally-significant films and television shows starring BIPOC talent, alongside diversified representation behind the camera.

Forest is a member of The Academy of the Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS), and the Television Academy. He notably received the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in The Last King of Scotland. Forest actively serves as a Special Envoy in Conflict Resolution for the United Nations, through his foundation, The Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative.

Nina is a board member of Film Independent, The Oscar Grant Foundation, Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), and The Producers Guild of America. She is also a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences’ (AMPAS) Producers Branch and the Television Academy. She is fluent in Mandarin, Chinese, and received her graduate degree in Entertainment Management from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California.

Jim Cummings is a writer/director/producer/actor whose work is funny and heart-breaking. He made Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2012. His feature film Thunder Road won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW in 2018. The short film Thunder Road won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016. Jim has also written and directed the Original Topic series Still Life (episodes of which have been Vimeo Staff-Picks) and the Fullscreen Original series The Minutes Collection (episodes of which have screened at Sundance and SXSW). He lives in Los Angeles.

Julie Goldman founded Motto Pictures in 2009. She is an Oscar nominated and Emmy Award-winning producer and executive producer of documentary feature films and series. She produced Steve James’ Abacus: Small Enough To Jail, which was nominated for the 2018 Best Documentary Feature Academy Award, and The Final Year, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, was released by Magnolia Pictures and broadcast on HBO.

Julie is producer of Life, Animated and executive producer of Weiner, both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Life, Animated won the US Documentary Directing Award and went on to be nominated for the 2017 Best Documentary Feature Academy Award. Weiner won the US Documentary Grand Jury Prize and was shortlisted for an Academy Award.

Julie executive produced the acclaimed Facebook series Humans of New York, Emmy Award-winning, Oscar-shortlisted Best of Enemies, and several Emmy-nominated films: 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets, The Kill Team, Art and Craft, and 1971. Julie also produced and executive produced The Music of Strangers, Solitary, Enlighten Us, Southwest of Salem, Gideon’s Army, Manhunt, God Loves Uganda, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, and Buck. 

Julie has received the Amazon Studios Sundance Institute Producer's Award and the Cinereach Producer’s Award. 

Jordana Mollick is a Los Angeles-based producer. She has been a partner at Haven Entertainment since 2013, but has most recently joined forces with Michael Showalter to form Semi-Formal Productions.

At Haven Entertainment, Jordana produced Hello My Name is Doris starring Sally Field and directed by Michael Showalter. She Executive Produced Night Owls starring Adam Pally and Rosa Salazar. Jordana also produced Life Partners, directed by Susanna Fogel and starring Leighton Meester & Gillian Jacobs.

In addition to films, Jordana has produced several shows in the digital space, including Play by Play, Embeds, and In the Vault for Verizon’s streaming platform (Go90) and I Love Bekka & Lucy for Warner Brother’s streaming platform (Stage 13). Jordana has also produced for the stage. She created the Unscreened play series, an annual development and presentation of four world-premiere short plays by some of Hollywood’s fastest rising screenwriters and television writers. 

Jordana was a 2012 Creative Producing fellow with the Sundance Institute and a 2013 Women at Sundance Fellow. Jordana was also the recipient of the Piaget Producer’s Award at the 2017 Independent Spirit Awards. 

Up next, she is producing Courtney Hoffman’s The Good Time Girls feature based on the short film, which she also produced, and Will Graham’s The Off Season.

Dawn Porter is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared on HBO, PBS, Discovery, and Netflix among others. She is currently directing and executive producing an Apple TV multi-part documentary series with Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry, which focuses on both mental illness and mental well-being.

Other current projects include the documentary "Vernon Jordan: Make It Plain" which explores Vernon Jordan’s rise from the segregated South to become one of the most influential African American thought leaders in America; "John Lewis: Good Trouble" for CNN Films, which explores late Congressman John Lewis’ pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement and decades of political and social activism on important issues including voting rights, immigration laws, and much more; and an untitled documentary project about Photojournalist Pete Souza, who served as Chief Official White House photographer for President Barack Obama and previously as an Official White House photographer for President Ronald Reagan.

Dawn also directed and produced the acclaimed four-hour Netflix original series "Bobby Kennedy for President", which was released in 2018 and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

A two-time Sundance festival Director, her film "Trapped" which explored laws regulating abortion clinics in the South won the special jury social-impact prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, in addition to a Peabody and numerous other awards.

Her 2013 documentary "Gideon's Army" premiered on HBO and won best editing at Sundance. Gideon’s Army was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and an Emmy, and is part of the U.S. Department of State’s American Film Showcase.

Dawn also directed and produced "Spies of Mississippi", a critically-acclaimed historical documentary that was part of the Independent Lens series on PBS. In 2015 Dawn directed and produced "Rise: The Promise of My Brother’s Keeper", a film for The Discovery Channel chronicling President Obama’s program to help young men of color succeed.

Dawn has been commissioned to create films for the Center for Investigative Reporting, Time and Essence Magazines, The New York Times Op Docs, and Amazon. Her work has received generous support from the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, Tribeca Film Institute, Sundance Film Institute, Chicken & Egg Pictures and other esteemed organizations. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Directors Guild of America.