Meet The Team

Erin Brown Thomas is a writer, director, and producer known for her genre-blending “traumadies” that mix comedy and drama to explore authenticity and performance. Her latest project, CHASERS—a 31-minute single-continuous-shot pilot—world-premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and made its LA premiere at Slamdance, the first narrative project accepted into both festivals.

With over a decade of directing experience, Erin is a Nicholl Fellowship Semifinalist whose work critiques ambition, social imbalance, and industrialized Christianity. Her feature,THE BODY OF CHRIS ranked 17th out of 22K comedies on Coverfly in 2022 .

Erin has collaborated with BAFTA, DGA, and Emmy-winning talent, including Lena Dunham and Elisabeth Moss. Her editorial background sharpens her storytelling, and her scripts have advanced with Sundance and Imagine Impact. As a director, her films have been recognized at Cannes AMPAV, Palm Springs ShortFest, SeriesFest, and Austin Film Festival, and wins at HollyShorts and Cinequest.

Anna Baumgarten is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and producer known for bold, socially engaged storytelling. Her debut feature, Disfluency, won the Jury Award at the Austin Film Festival, was developed through Jim Cummings’ Short to Feature Lab, received the Duplass Brothers’ “Oh Shit!” Grant, and was selected for US in Progress Wroclaw. As a producer, Anna shepherds projects from development to release, leveraging her strengths in story craft and festival strategy.

She’s developed unscripted series for MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon at Pietown, Monami, and Superjacket Productions, giving her a unique edge in both indie and commercial spaces. She also serves as media partner for SafeBAE, producing PSA campaigns featured in Teen Vogue.

Anna’s work fuses creative ambition with purpose, and her deep industry experience positions her as a dynamic, values-driven producer—one equally committed to audience impact and long-term project success.

Elle Shaw is an award-winning producer whose passion for storytelling began in Topeka, Kansas and evolved through a career that spans acting, theater, podcasting, and film. She made the leap into producing in 2016, drawn to the power of visual storytelling to explore the human condition.

Elle’s work has premiered at top festivals and platforms including Sundance, Slamdance, the American Pavilion at Cannes, and Austin Film Festival. In addition to producing narrative and documentary films, she serves as Executive Director of the Salute Your Shorts Film Festival in Los Angeles, where she champions bold new voices and cultivates a thriving creative community.

With a sharp instinct for character-driven stories and a deep commitment to artistic collaboration, Elle brings both vision and heart to every project she touches.

Kristoffer Polaha is an accomplished actor and emerging producer whose work spans television, film, and independent features. He is best known for leading roles in Life Unexpected (The CW), Get Shorty (Epix), Condor (MGM), and Backstrom (FOX), as well as recurring roles on Mad Men (AMC) and Landman (Paramount+). Polaha is a familiar face on Hallmark, starring in the Mystery 101 franchise and A Biltmore Christmas, the highest-rated movie in the network’s history. 

As a producer, Kristoffer made his debut with the independent feature Mimics, which he also directed. With a deep understanding of story from both sides of the camera, Polaha brings a strong creative voice and market insight to each project. He has worked alongside talent like Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman 1984), Reese Witherspoon, and Colin Firth, and is passionate about supporting character-driven, values-rich narratives with emotional resonance and broad audience appeal.

Tara Hotchkis is a Sundance alum and Executive Producer known for backing bold, emotionally resonant films with strong artistic vision. In 2025 alone, three of Tara’s projects were featured at Slamdance—MUTED (writer/producer), CHASERS (executive producer), and TACOCUNR (development producer)—with CHASERS also world-premiering at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. MUTED went on to win Best Sci-Fi Short at the Milan Indie Film Fest.

Tara began her career under Emmy-winning director Walter C. Miller on high-profile productions like the GRAMMYs and People’s Choice Awards before joining Sony Pictures Entertainment, where she worked on marketing campaigns for major films including Spider-Man and Men in Black.

With a background that spans studio systems and the independent film world, Tara brings both business strategy and creative insight to the projects she champions. She holds an MBA from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, a BA from UC Irvine, and completed UCLA’s Professional Screenwriting Program.

Beth Napoli is a Los Angeles-based cinematographer whose emotionally rich and visually striking work has been showcased at top festivals such as Camerimage and Cannes’ Emerging Filmmakers Showcase. A graduate of Florida State University’s MFA cinematography program, Beth’s career spans narrative films, commercials, music videos, documentaries, and immersive projects. Recent credits include RALLY CAPS, starring Judd Hirsch and Amy Smart, and the Sundance-bound CHASERS, a single-shot pilot she shot and produced. She has collaborated with major brands like Apple, Zeiss, Red, Sharp, Nestlé, and Hyundai, and has built a strong creative partnership with director Erin Brown Thomas on numerous projects. Beth’s distinctive visual style, rooted in intimacy and realism, aims to serve story and character while pushing the boundaries of indie cinematography.

Jake Thomas is a writer whose talents have been recognized at film festivals worldwide. He served as an Executive Producer of the pilot CHASERS, presented at the Sundance Film Festival. His pilot, AMERICAN WAY, received attention as a Cinequest winner and a SeriesFest finalist, demonstrating his impeccable skill with biographical stories. Additionally, his feature film, SHEDDING, was nominated for the Independent Visions Award for Best Film at the 2020 Sarasota Film Festival and was distributed by Freestyle Digital Media. Apart from his projects, Jake is a script analyst for The Black List, helping new and experienced writers hone their original screenplays. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Erin, where they crafted the story for THE BODY OF CHRIS.

Dan Rufolo (L.A.) and Adam Kromelow (NYC) are a bi-costal composer duo whose work has been seen and heard by millions of people all over the world. Together they have scored dozens of films including the NAACP Image Award-nominated “Bridges”, “F Plus” starring Randy Couture, Tommy Davidson and Jennifer Esposito, which will show in theaters this June, and “Chasers” which was recently featured at the Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals. They have also scored ads, documentaries and video games, and their music has been used in TV shows such as NBC’s The Voice, Amazon’s The Expanse, and many more.

Dan and Adam are both critically-acclaimed pianists with degrees from the Manhattan School of Music who met on the New York City music scene. They immediately bonded and became natural collaborators, with Dan bringing expertise in recording and producing orchestral music, and Adam bringing his skills in modern pop production. Dan has performed with jazz luminaries including Billy Drummond and Rich Perry, and Adam with pop stars such as Lil Nas X and Tove Lo. Recently Dan worked as composer’s assistant on the Amazon Prime series Expats, starring Nicole Kidman. In the meantime, Adam partnered with actor Hank Azaria to create the EZ Street Band, a Bruce Springsteen tribute band that was recently featured in Rolling Stone Magazine and performed on NBC's Today Show. Currently Dan and Adan are working on The Spirit Of Japan, a documentary that will air on PBS later this year and the sci-fi thriller Serena, starring Steven Strait and Andi Matichak, a directorial debut by Rob Alicea.