About

I have had the pleasure of pursuing a very interesting and diverse career that has straddled the Studio and Independent Film worlds, as well as Corporate Sponsorship and fundraising programs. Starting out as an executive at The Maltese Companies, I worked on television and feature film projects financed by Wall Street ad agencies. In that capacity I oversaw the production of “Pound Puppies: The Legend of Big Paw”, an animated feature produced with Kushner Locke, and was the Associate Producer on “Manhunt Live: The Search For The Green River Serial Murderer” a live television special with Patrick Duffy.

At The Guber-Peters Entertainment Co. I was involved in the development of feature films, with the company that produced “Rain Man”, “Batman,” “Tango and Cash” among others. I went on to be the Assoc. Producer on “Pizza Man,” written and directed by Jonathan Lawton of “Pretty Woman” fame, and procured the financing and associate-produced “The Webers’ Fifteen Minutes” with Jennifer Tilly and David Arquette.

A big shift in my career occurred with my partnership with Louis Venosta. Venosta wrote and co-produced the Mel Gibson romantic comedy, “Bird on a Wire”, as well as the Tri-Star release, “The Last Dragon”. We launched Venosta’s directing career, with the highly acclaimed feature short film “The Coriolis Effect” which won the 1994 Venice Film Festival in its category.

My next producing venture was “Nevada”, starring Amy Brenneman, Gabrielle Anwar, Kirstie Alley and Angus Macfadyen. This film began my relationship with Cineville films where I then became head of Production and was responsible for the development, packaging, and financing of several films and worked as the Executive Producer on “Façade”, starring Eric Roberts and Angus Macfadyen, and “The Velocity of Gary” with Vincent D’Onofrio, Salma Hayek, Thomas Jane, and Ethan Hawke. I was instrumental in launching Cineville International’s foreign sales division in Cannes of 1997, and handled foreign sales, acquisitions, and financing, in addition to packaging and production responsibilities for Cineville’s slate of pictures.

I went on to produce “Cowboys and Angels”, starring Adam Trese, Mia Kirshner and Radha Mitchell, which won the “Crystal Heart Award” at the 2000 Heartland Film Festival. The highlight of that year was writing and directing “Shining Stars: The Official Story of Earth, Wind & Fire”, a documentary film based on the electric and legendary band, released on DVD and Television Internationally in 2001.

As Head of Production at MonteCristo Entertainment I oversaw the packaging and development of both English language and foreign language films that the company produced, sold and distributed worldwide. MonteCristo has a library of over 55 films, both in-house productions as well as acquisitions. In addition I have worked work with several European and Austral-Asian based production/sales companies on packaging and film financing.

Interwoven throughout my film production career, I have been involved in corporate relations and licensing. I had the unique opportunity to work in the Corporate Relations Department with the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, and was part of the team responsible for the licensing and usage of the LAOOC logo on product, advertising and promotional materials. Our team worked with major sponsors such as Adidas, Coco Cola, and Southland Corporation among others overseeing image usage, product approval, product placement and promotional campaigns. Our department oversaw the licensing of over 300 products during my two year tenure.

Working with Internet Studios, an online film and television sales company, I raised close to $500,000 in sponsorship revenue during a 6 week period for the Sundance Online Film Festival. I produced infomercials, corporate videos and marketing events for National Corporations with Infinnity, Inc, where my responsibilities included writing promotional strategic plans, video scripts and on-air advertisements, casting, liaison with corporate executives and event planning. And woven in through that period, I produced and production managed commercials for well know brands such as Certs.

Taking these experiences into an ancillary arena, I serve as a consultant and expert witness on entertainment industry related cases involving plaintiffs and defendants such as actors, writers, directors, producers, production companies, production crew, and other entertainment related personnel. I have provided expert testimony, reporting, consultation, financial forecasting and referrals for clients that have economic damage and lost of wages claims.

Currently I sit on the Board of Advisers of a tech investment company that is democratizing the way films are financed and individual consumers can participate in both the monetization and social market of a project.

Arnold graduated from UCLA with a BA in Economics, is fluent in French, and has lived in France, Italy and Mexico.