After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in Economics-Political Science, Heidi Jo Markel (HJM) moved to Los Angeles in the mid-90's to dive into the world of filmmaking.Intrigued by director Bernard Rose's idea of shooting a modern day adaptation of Lev Tolstoy's novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich, HJM acted in and co-produced Ivans xtc. (2000), which played globally at major film festivals and received four Independent Spirit Award nominations in 2001. Her next producing venture was Blind Horizon (2003) starring Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard, Faye Dunaway, and Amy Smart.After years of flying solo, in 2004, she launched Eclectic Pictures with the goal to attract exceptional collaborators in order to develop a diverse slate of scripts, raise funds, and produce A-level quality theatrical fare. Striking a multi-picture deal with Millennium Films, she first produced a film based on Pulitzer Prize winning author, Bernard Malamud's The Tenants (2005) starring Dylan McDermott, Snoop Dogg, and Rose Byrne; Followed by John Herzfeld's Bobby Z (2007) based on author Don Winslow's intriguing best seller starring Paul Walker and Laurence Fishburne, then George Gallo's My Mom's New Boyfriend (2008) starring Antonio Banderas and Meg Ryan.She then made a move forward into socially conscious filmmaking with David Schwimmer's Trust (2010), a controversial film about online predators starring Clive Owen, Catherine Keener and Liana Liberato (Best Actress, Chicago FF and 2010 TIFF-Toronto) received much acclaim and support by child advocacy groups.Heidi Jo's passion project exposes human trafficking: Lovelace (2013) tells the true story of Linda Boreman AKA Linda Lovelace, a woman forced into pornography at the behest of her abusive husband only to become the top feminist anti-porn crusader. Directed by Oscar-winning directing team Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman along with tour-de-force performances from Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, Sharon Stone, James Franco, Bobby Cannavale, Adam Brody, and Juno Temple. (2013 Berlinale and Sundance FF).Other notable feature film producing credits of hers include her first film to make just shy of $100 million at the box office: Antoine Fuqua's Olympus Has Fallen (2013) with all-star cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Melissa Leo, Dylan McDermott, and Angela Bassett. She also produced the sequel London Has Fallen (2016). Gabriele Muccino's Playing For Keeps (2012) starring Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Dennis Quaid; Levien and Koppelman's Solitary Man (2009) starring Michael Douglas, Jesse Eisenberg, Mary-Louise Parker, Susan Sarandon, and Imogen Poots (TIFF 2009); and James Franco's As I Lay Dying (2013) (Cannes FF 2013) based on the Nobel Prize winning author, William Faulkner's novel.In 2014, she produced Wayne Blair's Septembers of Shiraz (2015) based on the best-selling novel by Dalia Sofer, starring Adrien Brody, Salma Hayek, and Shohreh Aghdashloo about one family's intense struggle during the 1979 Revolution in Tehran... and next a modern-day retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (2015), which re-teams her with Bernard Rose and Danny Huston along with newcomer Xavier Samuel.She regularly sits on festival & industry panels to speak as a foremost authority on producing, finance and anti-piracy. In 2014 she was invited to judge both the Oxford FF and the Andrei Tarkovsky FF outside Moscow.Aside from her work in film, HJM endeavors to evolve as an environmentalist and a humanitarian. She actively supports dozens of organizations including WWF, Wild Aid, Environmental Defense Fund, Heal the Bay, Oceana and ASPCA. In addition, she's actively involved with The Aviva Center where she teaches filmmaking to trafficked teenage girls, inspiring their creative talents. In May 2014, the Aviva honored HJM with the Aviva Impact Award.In 2015, she achieved her long-time goal of spearheading her own charitable foundation Stop Poaching Now! with a mission to tap into the creative film community to utilize media platforms to educate and influence the global population to obliterate the demand for illegal animal products while safeguarding endangered animals and their habitats by supporting grass-roots organizations.You can see many socially conscience thematics in her filmmaking, for which she is most proud.
