We are a close-knit collective of producers, directors, editors, writers, and cinematographers with vast combined experience in the nonprofit, promotional, and commercial arenas.
NICK BONAMY
Art Director
Nicholas Bonamy is a Los Angeles native, visual artist, and Art Director for Art At the Rendon. He graduated from Art Center College of Design and has many years of experience working in design and fabrication across the entertainment industry. Combining artistic sensibility and practical know-how, Nick specializes in making ideas into reality.
SIMONE NIAMANI
Photographer
Simone Niamani Thompson is an editorial and portrait photographer based in Los Angeles. She has had work featured in The Cut, Dazed Magazine, The Advocate, Pitchfork, Bandcamp, Refinery 29, W Magazine & Office Magazine, to name a few.
MAX ZIMAN
Director / Cinematographer / Drone Operator
Max Ziman jumped straight into the film world after leaving high school, believing in the mantra that the best way to learn is by doing. He has worked for a variety of companies ranging from previsualization and pre-production all the way through production and post-production. He has worked with many visionary creatives in the film industry including Jesse Dylan, Priscilla Cohen, Alex McDowell, John Favreau, and Sophie Muller. After working in the AD department, editorial, and sound, he found his passion in the camera department.
RALPH ZIMAN
Executive Producer / Director
Born in South Africa in 1963, interdisciplinary artist Ralph Ziman’s practice is motivated by a sense of social responsibility toward global politics. His work extends across a variety of media, including film, photography, public intervention, sculpture, and installation. His public intervention pieces have exhibited in Capetown, South Africa; Johannesburg, South Africa; London, England; and beyond.
He has directed over 400 videos for artists as diverse as Ozzy Osbourne, Toni Braxton, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson, Shania Twain and Rick James, winning numerous MTV awards.
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His work in film includes over 6 features as a writer/director/producer including Hearts and Minds (1995), which gained international attention as the first independent South African feature film to be completed after apartheid, premiering at the Berlin and Montreal International Film Festivals. His film Jerusalema reached critical acclaim as South Africa’s entry to the 2008 Academy Award Foreign Language section.
MARIA GREENSHIELDS-ZIMAN
Executive Producer
MICHELLE HOMAMI
Producer
Michelle Homami is a native Angeleno who has been immersed in the Los Angeles art scene from a very young age. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California, with a BA in Fine Arts, where she coupled her first-hand artistic experiences with a formal broad-based art education. After graduating USC, Michelle applied her penchant for the arts at various nonprofit organizations, where she was involved in creative direction, marketing, and sales.
Michelle is the Production Manager for Rendon Media and Director of Operations for Art At The Rendon.
PAUL DURAN-LEMOS
Director, Cinematographer, Editor
A sketch of three Native Americans playing Nintendo 64 hung right outside of his childhood bedroom. His mother drew it. His father was in a band in the 60’s described as the “Colombian Beatles”. Writer/Director Paul Duran-Lemos has always been fascinated with the surreal.
Influenced and inspired by the incomprehensible qualities of dreams and the reflective stillness of life, Paul unmasks the honesty beneath characters by blending a naturalistic visual style and sound design with waves of surrealism in the editing room. “There’s a gap between the sensory and abstract and that’s where you find truth.”
TENDEKA MATATU
Executive Producer
Tendeka Matatu is the founder and managing director of the award-winning film and TV company, Ten10 Films based in London. He is widely recognised as one of Africa’s most prolific film and TV producers. Tendeka began his producing career in the mid-90’s working on high-end commercials and music videos with renowned director, Tony Kaye. In 2001 Tendeka moved to South Africa to join Dv8 FILMS, where he oversaw the successful production and financing of a slate of local features and numerous co-productions, including Richard E Grant’s Wah Wah.
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In 2011 Tendeka moved back to London to set up his production company Ten10 Films. The company’s main focus is to collaborate with black filmmaking talent to create diversity driven film & TV content for a global market. The company’s current production slate includes new TV projects with Netflix, AMC Studios, SONY Pictures Television and Fremantle.
CINDY SCHWARZSTEIN
Head of Production
Cindy Schwarzstein is an art curator, event producer, and community leader based in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District. She has been creating and hosting cultural events and educational programming for more than twenty-five years and is deeply involved in the culture, commerce, and community of Los Angeles. In addition, Cindy is focussed on community integration. In 2012, Cindy founded Cartwheel Art, combining her two decades of experience in hospitality, event production, and publishing to launch her own full-service, cross-platform, art experience company.
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Cartwheel Art provides diverse, community-driven programming such as guided tours, art-activated events, and curated exhibitions. Cindy has held a board seat for over 8 years on the Los Angeles River Artists & Business Association (LARABA).
Cindy is the Executive Director of Programming, Projects and Community Partnerships for Art At The Rendon as well as the in-house curator for The Rendon LLC, and Head of Production for Rendon Media. In the last 3 years, the Rendon team transformed the Rendon Hotel to produce three successful events, Hidden Rooms – an immersive event featuring over 85 artist creating site-specific installations, Stories – an illuminating experience that combined live performances, by actors with film projection, and Rhythms of the City – featuring live performances from over 100 musicians. These events raised over seventy thousand dollars for local arts organizations.