‘THE MEMORY BOOK’
PRODUCTION BIOS
IRA PINCUS (Executive Producer) - Ira Pincus is an Executive Producer and head of the television movie department for Entertainment One Television, based in Los Angeles. Since joining the company in 2005 (then known as Blueprint Entertainment), Pincus has produced almost 30 films for the company.
Films of note include: “When Love is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story,” starring Winona Ryder and Barry Pepper, for Hallmark Hall of Fame and CBS, “Window Wonderland,” starring Chyler Leigh and Naomi Judd, for Hallmark Channel, the series “Til Death Do Us Part,” starring John Waters, for Court TV, “Absolution,” starring Samantha Mathis, for Lifetime, “The Road To Christmas,” starring Jennifer Grey, the western-themed movie franchise “Goodnight For Justice,” starring Luke Perry, “Mom’s Day Off,” for Hallmark Channel and “Reel Love,” starring LeAnne Rhimes and Burt Reynolds, for CMT.
Before joining Entertainment One/Blueprint, Pincus Films was housed at Von Zerneck- Sertner Films, where Pincus produced “Vinegar Hill,” an Oprah Book Club Selection, starring Mary-Louise Parker, Tom Skerritt and Betty Buckley, for CBS, “I Do (But I Don’t),” starring Denise Richards and Dean Cain, for Lifetime; “Three Days,” starring Kristin Davis, for ABC Family, “Defending Our Kids,” starring Annie Potts and Michael O’Keefe and “Killer Instinct: From the Files of Candace DeLong,” starring Jean Smart and A. Martinez.
Prior to becoming a producer, Pincus worked as a telefilm packaging agent at Creative Artists Agency, from 1996-1999, representing the agency’s top directors, actors and production companies. From 1990-1996, he was an executive at HBO’s Citadel Entertainment, where he was involved with the sales, development and production of approximately 12 films a year.
Pincus majored in Radio, Television & Film at the University of Maryland and California State University at Northridge.
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JOEY PLAGER (Executive Producer) - Joey Plager, a twenty-five year industry veteran, is the Executive Producer of Hallmark Channel’s “The Memory Book.” He is also known for executive producing the Hallmark Hall of Fame 2013 movie “Remember Sunday,” starring Alexis Bledel and Zachary Levi. Also in 2013, Plager partnered with “America’s Most Wanted” executive producer Greg Klein and created Shalom Amigo Productions to produce “Se Busca” for the U.S. Hispanic audience. “Se Busca” is a weekly, one-hour reality series focusing on capturing fugitives, finding missing children and giving victims a voice. Currently, Plager is turning the “Lately Lily” apparel line into a kids animated series, as well as developing one-hour (more) HALLMARK MOVIE CHANNEL/’THE MEMORY BOOK’ – Production Bios – Page 2 dramatic series for multiple studios, multiple television movies and minis for broadcast and basic cable networks, packaging feature films, consulting for Canadian production companies and brokering distribution deals with North American producers and international sales companies.
Prior to Shalom Amigo, Plager was Senior Vice President of Co-Productions for Entertainment One, a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, with interests in film, television, music, and distribution. He was responsible for maximizing revenue by identifying co-production opportunities in the U.S, Canada, U.K. and other territories, as well as bringing in third party producers looking for a studio/distributor, pre-licensing a one-hour drama series for their various territories and making any equity investment against a back-end profit position. He also brought in a New Zealand series format that was set up at Syfy and helped to create a new television movie model for GMC.
Before joining eOne, Plager was a principal in MediaJoe.tv where he served as Executive Producer of the Imagen Award-winning “Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story” for Lifetime. He also executive produced two independent features “Trust” and “Next Stop Murder,” which were both licensed to Lifetime. Plager also served as a consultant to Canadian networks sourcing U.S. product for acquisition and to U.S. producers seeking international distribution partners.
Prior to MediaJoe, Plager was Vice President of Original Movies at Lifetime and was primarily responsible for overseeing the low-budget, “pre-buy” slate of films, which numbered approximately 150 during his two-and-a-half year tenure. Before Lifetime, in a joint-venture with Blueprint Entertainment, Plager served as Executive Producer of the Lifetime pre-buys “Crazy for Christmas” and “Gospel of Deciet,” as well as VH1’s “Man In The Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story.” Previously, he was Senior Vice President of Co- Productions for Hearst Entertainment Productions. In this capacity, he identified international co-production opportunities, financial mechanisms and specific projects for event movies and miniseries. He also developed new business models and found properties and Canadian production partners for Heart’s HEAT franchise of low-budget thrillers.
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PAUL A. KAUFMAN (Executive Producer/Director) – Paul Kaufman hails from London, England and is an accomplished Emmy Award-winning director and producer.
Kaufman made his directorial debut on his long cherished project, "Run the Wild Fields" for Showtime, which earned numerous critical honors, including an Emmy Award for Best Director. The dramatic story follows a North Carolina woman and her daughter who take in a mysterious drifter to work their farm while her husband is missing in action
(more) HALLMARK MOVIE CHANNEL/’THE MEMORY BOOK’ – Production Bios – Page 3 during WWII. “Run the Wild Fields” stars Joanne Whalley ("The Borgias"), Sean Patrick Flanery ("Dexter") and Alexa Vega ("Spy Kids").
Kaufman is currently directing the top-rated CBS television series, "NCIS: Los Angeles" and has just completed the new TNT series "King & Maxwell," based on the novels by David Baldacci. "King & Maxwell" stars Jon Tenney ("The Closer") and Rebecca Romijn ("X Men"). Later this year, he is slated to direct "Rogue," starring Thandie Newton ("Crash"), for Direct TV. He kicked off 2014 directing "Grimm" for NBC.
Kaufman has produced and directed over 40 hours of prime-time television and has had overall producing deals at Warner Brothers, HBO, Artisan, Alliance Atlantis and Fox Television Studios.
In 2012, Kaufman was honored with a Directors Guild of Canada nomination for Best Director for his television movie, "Magic Beyond Words: The JK Rowling Story," starring Poppy Montgomery ("Without a Trace") in the title role and based on the bestselling author of “Harry Potter.” The TV movie, which Kaufman also produced, won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Television Movie or Miniseries.
Kaufman recently completed principal photography on the film, "Twist of Faith," the dramatic story of a gospel singer in Alabama who falls in love with a damaged drifter - a Cantor from New York, who tragically lost his family. “Twist of Faith” stars Grammy Award-winning singer Toni Braxton, David Julian Hirsh ("Weeds") and Mykelti Williamson ("Forest Gump"). Kaufman directed the critically acclaimed movie "Sins of the Mother," starring Jill Scott ("No. 1 Female Detectives Agency"), which, in 2011, won Kaufman a NAACP award for Best Television Movie or Mini-series.
Kaufman directed the Imagen Award-winning movie "Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story," starring Judy Reyes ("Scrubs") and Ana Ortiz ("Ugly Betty"), for Lifetime. Kaufman also directed the courtroom drama, "One Angry Juror," which stars Jessica Capshaw ("Grey's Anatomy”), "Honeymoon with Mom," starring Shelley Long ("Cheers"), and "My Name is Sarah," starring Jennifer Beals ("L Word").
Kaufman also co-wrote several made-for-television movies including "Thirst," starring Adam Arkin, Joely Fisher and Giancarlo Esposito, for NBC and "Emma's Wish," starring Joanna Kerns and Della Reese, for CBS. Also for CBS, Kaufman produced the highly acclaimed movie "Jewel," which starred Farrah Fawcett and Patrick Bergen and was based on the novel by Brett Lott. “Jewel” was picked by Oprah Winfrey for her book club and was nominated for the Humanitas Award.
Kaufman served two terms on the Board of Governors at The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. For four consecutive years, he was the Chairman of The Primetime Emmy Awards, where he supervised and oversaw the awards show and telecast. He
(more) HALLMARK MOVIE CHANNEL/’THE MEMORY BOOK’ – Production Bios – Page 4 also served on the Television Committee at BAFTA and has been a guest speaker at AFI, UCLA, USC and other colleges.
Kaufman is a member of The Directors Guild of America, BAFTA, The Writers Guild of America, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, The Directors Guild of Canada and The Producers Guild of America. He is a citizen of The United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.
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DUANE POOLE (Writer) – Having begun his career as a writer and producer of TV series such as “Hart to Hart” and “Hotel” for the legendary Aaron Spelling, Duane Poole has more than fifty television movies, series and features to his credit. He has created projects for talents as varied as Johnny Depp, Glenn Close, Jack Lemmon, George Clooney and Katharine Hepburn.
Poole’s feature credits include the thriller “Shattered Image,” an official selection at the Venice, Montreal and Toronto Film Festivals.
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