About The Speaker
Deborah Gilels
Deborah Gilels experience in the entertainment industry has run the gamut from film/television production and development, to mergers and acquisitions in the international film market and public relations for film companies, writers, actors, authors and directors. For the past 15 years, Gilels has run a successful media consulting PR company, assisting writers, filmmakers, and actors launch their careers in the entertainment industry, as well as promote independent feature films, anime film and TV, as well as documentaries, by way of public relations, marketing, distribution and project development. Among the films she has launched are: Keiko the Untold Story of the Star of Free Willy, Cevin Soling's award-winning documentary The War on Kids on Pivot, the Chazz Palminteri- Andie MacDowell family drama Mighty Fine for Lionsgate, the US premiere of the documentary Fallout and James Haven’s short film Court of Conscience starring his father Jon Voight and the late Anton Yelchin. She did publicity for anime series Lupin 3rd Part 4 on Adult Swim in May 2017, Lupin the 3rd Part 5, Megalobox on Crunchyroll. She also was the lead publicist on Fathom Events release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro, where she set up and produced the filmed interview with John Lasseter used to promote the film’s release. Gilels is currently launching the indie film The World Without You starring Radha Mitchell, PJ Byrne and James Tupper, Tanja Mairitsch’s acclaimed short Lacrimosa, and Hajji starring The Walking Dead’s Ross Marquand. She also completed 5 FYC campaigns in the 2018/2019 Oscar race, among the films: Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, Liz and the Blue Bird (Satellite Award nominee for Best Animated Feature), the short Lacrimosa, and the quirky documentary The Gilligan Manifesto. Recently, she was the lead publicist for the anime feature Penguin Highway. She has successfully promoted films in festivals such as Dances With Films, LA Femme International Film Festival, HollyShorts, Starz, Toronto International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, New Filmmakers (LA and NY), St. Louis, UN Film Festival, and has represented feature films and documentaries in markets such as AFM, Anime Expo, Berlin, Cannes, and MIP-TV. She executive produced the award-winning documentaries Bearing the Torch: Politics & the Games for ESPN/Hearst Entertainment and The Gilligan Manifesto soon to be released. Prior to that, as a development executive and producer Gilels collaborators included actors Robert Duvall, Jenna Malone, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Rachel Leigh Cook; writers and directors A. Scott Berg, Michael Hirst, and Paul Verhoeven. Companies and producers such as: Warp Films, Disney, ESPN, Wind Dancer Films, Lionsgate and New Line Cinema/TV. She has also held executive positions at Fox, Warner Brothers TV and PFG Entertainment. In that capacity, the films she has worked on as a development executive include: Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead starring Christina Applegate and David Duchovny, Crossing the Mob starring Jason Bateman, Showdown in Little Tokyo starring the late Brandon Lee and Cary- Hiroyuki Tagawa, Penthathlon starring Dolph Lundgren, Enemy of the State starring Will Smith, A Cooler Climate starring Sally Field and Judy Davis, and A Slight Case of Murder starring William H. Macy. Gilels is an active board member for LA Femme International Film Festival. Contact: ddgilels@prodigy.net or 818-758-6509