Michael Heimler

Michael Heimler’s basically the engine running Black Bear Pictures—he’s been there since 2013, so he’s seen it all and then some. As Partner and Head of Production & Operations, he’s got his hands in everything: managing logistics, crunching numbers, keeping an eye on creative pitches, and even sitting on the board for Elevation Pictures, which is kind of a big deal up in Canada. The guy’s resume reads like a “who’s who” of recent cinema. He produced Dave Franco’s Somebody I Used to Know with Alison Brie for Amazon Studios, Martin Campbell’s Memory starring Liam Neeson (yeah, that Liam Neeson), and J Blakeson’s I Care a Lot, which had Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage tearing up the screen. He’s also been behind the scenes as executive producer on Neil Burger’s The Marsh King’s Daughter (Daisy Ridley, Ben Mendelsohn), Heidi Ewing’s Sundance darling I Carry You With Me, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Our Friend with an all-star trio (Jason Segel, Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck), plus Little Fish and The Rental. You get the sense this guy likes to keep busy. Oh, and there’s more—he executive produced Ben is Back with Julia Roberts, Light Of My Life (Casey Affleck triple-threat: wrote, directed, starred), and co-produced Gold starring Matthew McConaughey. Before all this, he cut his teeth at United Talent Agency in New York and picked up a BA in Film and TV from University of Wisconsin – Madison. The dude’s been hustling in the industry for years.