Maya Amsellem

Maya Amsellem’s career path is sort of a whirlwind, honestly. She kicked things off at the Law University of Nice, snagged her degree in ’95, and didn’t waste any time—straight into the Israeli bar by ‘96. After that, she took a pretty classic route, working as a corporate lawyer for five years at one of those big, established firms in Israel. But Maya’s not exactly the “stick to the script” type. Next up, she packed her bags for London, where she didn’t just coast in—she landed right in the thick of the film industry. By 2000, Maya had joined Capitol Films as their head of Legal and Business Affairs. She was handling the legal side, yes, but also deep into the business end, wrangling the financing for some pretty heavyweight films. Think Robert Altman’s “The Company,” David Cronenberg’s “Spider,” and Robert Towne’s “Ask the Dust.” Not your average legal department gig. She ran that show until 2007. Then she decided to go all in and co-found her own company, WestEnd Films, with Sharon Harel and Eve Schoukroun. That was in 2008, and since then, she’s been a key player in the independent film scene, backing projects and taking risks most lawyers would probably run from. Basically, Maya’s the type who doesn’t just follow the rules—she kind of rewrites them as she goes.