‘PORTRAIT OF LOVE’

PRODUCTION BIOS

LARRY LEVINSON (Executive Producer) – Larry Levinson has served as executive producer on a wide range of movies, from miniseries to feature films. He has overseen numerous Original Movies in every genre, from adventure to drama to romance.

Levinson also executive produced the popular Hallmark Channel Mystery Movie franchises “,” “McBride,” “” and “.”

His film credits include “Larry McMurtry’s Streets of Laredo” and “Larry McMurtry’s Dead Man’s Walk.” He executive produced Burt Reynolds’ “Hard Times” telefilms featuring detective Logan McQueen. He also executive produced, with actor Dennis Quaid, “Everything that Rises” and “Mark Twain’s Roughing It.” With actor Tom Berenger, Levinson executive produced “Rough Riders.”

For the Hallmark Channel, Levinson’s substantial work as executive producer on original films includes “The Last Cowboy,” ”Straight From the Heart,” “Love Comes Softly,” “Audrey’s Rain,” "The King and Queen of Moonlight Bay,” “Hard Ground,” “A Time to Remember,” “Just Desserts,” “A Place Called Home,” “The Long Shot (Believe in Courage),” “Life on Liberty Street,” “King Solomon’s Mines,” “La Femme Musketeer,” “The Trail to Hope Rose,” “The Reading Room,” “Our House,” “Where There’s A Will,” “Love’s Enduring Promise,” “Out of the Woods,” “Thicker Than Water,” “Always and Forever,” “The Three Gifts,” “Love Begins” and “A Lesson In Romance.”

Levinson also served as executive producer on “The Christmas Card” in 2007. The film stands as one Hallmark Channel’s highest-rated Original Movies.

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K.T. DONALDSON (Director) – As a director, K.T. Donaldson has won an Emmy® and has been nominated for a Directors Guild Award. He is the recipient of The Theatre World Award, The LA Drama Critics Circle Award, the LA Weekly Award and ten Drama-logue Awards. In 2012, Donaldson directed three films: “Tom, Dick, and Harriet” for Hallmark Channel, which has garnered nominations for best film and best director at both the 2013 Monte Carlo International Television Festival and Canada’s 2013 Leo Awards, “The Carpenter’s Miracle,” which is the highest rated film to appear on GMC TV and “Guess Who’s Coming For Christmas,” also on the GMC network.

Donaldson is the son of film and theatre actress Viveca Lindfors and director Don Siegel and stepson of playwright George Tabori. By the age of 15, he had appeared in seven leading roles, including starring in his Broadway debut, The Penny Wars, for which he was nominated by the New York Drama Critics as one of the most promising new actors on Broadway. That same year he won a Theatre World Award for his performance off-Broadway in How Much, How Much and was signed by 20th Century Fox for a three picture deal. After playing a critically (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL / ‘PORTRAIT OF LOVE’ – Production Bios – Page 2 acclaimed Romeo, the young actor committed himself to a study of Shakespeare, both as actor and director. His Hamlet at the Arena Stage in Washington D.C. was a tour de force, garnering praise from Richard Coe of the Washington Post, who wrote, "Donaldson’s Hamlet is one of the finest I’ve seen and I’ve seen scores of them."

Running parallel to his acting career – Donaldson starred in the NBC series “Chicago Story” and had recurring roles on “Murder, She Wrote” and “Matlock” – his directing career took shape. His first major stage production, Romeo and Juliet for the Grove Shakespeare Festival, won him a Drama-logue award and he also won a Drama-logue for his direction of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. He then directed Julie Harris in William Luce’s Currer Bell, Esq at the Matrix Theater in Hollywood and Inadmissible Evidence, starring Ian McShane, for which Donaldson won both a L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award and a Drama-logue award.

Donaldson returned to acting, playing the lead in Simon Gray’s The Common Pursuit, in its New York run. In the United Kingdom, he accepted the leading role in the popular Thames TV series “London Embassy,” which was adapted by Paul Theroux from his book.

Upon his return to the U.S., Donaldson was offered the opportunity to direct the TV film “The Perfect Date,” an ABC After School Special. Once again he garnered rave reviews and Donaldson won an Emmy® for his direction. He immersed himself in television and in the past fifteen years has helmed over 50 episodes, including “Providence,” “That’s Life,” “Judging Amy,” “Chicago Hope,” “Picket Fences” and “Law and Order.” He was also a producer/director on the series “Push” and was nominated for a Directors Guild Award for direction of “Educating Mom” for ABC. He made his film directing debut with the vampire thriller “Dead Of Night” in 1996. He went on to direct Christian Slater in the film “Pursued.” Recently, he directed multiple episodes of the series “Falcon Beach” and “The Guard.” He has directed the films “Accidental Witness” and “Anna’s Storm” (aka “Hell’s Rain”) for Lifetime, “Fireball” and “High Plains Invaders” for Syfy and “Goodnight For Justice: The Making Of A Man” and “A Ring By Spring” for Hallmark Channel.

Donaldson is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Directors Guild of Canada.

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JENNIFER NOTAS (Writer) - Jennifer Notas channeled her love of writing and passion for pop culture during her time as a Television/Radio major at Ithaca College in upstate New York, completing a concentration in Screenwriting, a minor in Writing and four semesters as a tutor in the school’s Writing Center. After graduation, Notas moved to Los Angeles with the plan to become a sitcom writer. While working in television as an executive assistant, writer’s assistant and assistant story editor, Notas managed to find time to write spec scripts and a few screenplays.

After freelancing as a script reader for Larry Levinson Productions and generally struggling to make it in the entertainment business, Notas called it quits and enrolled in a Masters program (more)

HALLMARK CHANNEL / ‘PORTRAIT OF LOVE’ – Production Bios – Page 3 at Pepperdine University. With two months to go before graduation, Notas’ life came full circle when the Hallmark Channel and producing partner Larry Levinson Productions hired her to write the Hallmark Channel Original Movie, “Elevator Girl.”

Notas also has worked on several Hallmark Channel Original Movies including “Looking For Mr. Righ,” “Perfect On Paper” and “Christmas Under Wraps.”

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MICHAEL VOTEL (Writer) – Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Michael Votel Jr. received a BA in Film and Media Arts with a focus in screenwriting at Temple University. He got his start in the film industry with Temple’s internship program, which brought him all the way to Los Angeles. After interning at Larry Levinson Productions (LLP), he moved back to Philadelphia. He did various odd jobs and worked as an assistant manager at a local playhouse, but eventually returned to L.A. to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He landed a job as a post production assistant at LLP, moved into development from there and is now a post production coordinator.

After working at LLP for two years, he was given the great news that they wanted him to write a TV movie. Ever since his junior year at Father Judge High School, it’s been his dream to have one of his scripts turned into a film. If it wasn’t for his parents, Karen and Mike, encouraging him to follow his dream, he would never be where he is today.

“Portrait of Love” is Votel’s first official credit and plans on working with LLP on future projects.

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MATT MARX (Writer) – A native of Rochester, New York, Matt Marx discovered a love of writing while studying Media Arts at the University of Arizona. After graduation, he worked in production on numerous feature films and commercials around Tucson before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a writing career. He has several scripts in development and “Portrait of Love,” is his first film.

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