Michael Messina,
formerly Sr. Vice President of New Amsterdam
Entertainment, maintains his relationship with
the company on a project-by-project basis and
can be reached through the New Amsterdam
offices.
He first
broke into the entertainment industry as a PA
on several low budget features and music
videos before coming to work for
producer Richard P. Rubinstein as a
Development Associate in the spring of 1998.
Over the course of the next nine years, he
rose through the ranks and eventually came
to manage all content development, production,
distribution, marketing and business affairs for
the company until his departure in June
2007.
Messina was
Co-Producer of the Official Cannes Film
Festival selection “Dawn of the Dead” (2004,
Universal), which opened #1 at the US box
office and grossed north of $110M
worldwide. His credits for television
include the two Emmy-winning miniseries
“Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune” (6-hrs., Sci Fi, 2003) and “Frank Herbert's Dune”
(6-hrs., Sci Fi, 2000). He was
Producer of the groundbreaking
"behind-the-scenes" book and DVD combination
"The Secrets of Frank Herbert's Dune"
(85-mins., ibooks/Simon&Schuster, 2000). Currently, he is a
Co-Producer on "Give It Up!" (in
production), an independent documentary
directed by Frank Ruy that focuses on an LA
based celebrity photo agency and the ex-LA
gang members that run the company.
Messina is a
member of the IFP where he regularly
participates in the IFP Market as an
industry representative and was a
judge/panelist at the 2005 Austin Film
Festival and Screenplay Competition. He is
a graduate of Dartmouth College.
