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Paula Ely
Los Angeles
Producer
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Title/Occupation:  Producer 

Biography: 

Paula Ely has been involved in the entertainment industry since 1991, when she joined the television division of Carolco Pictures, then Hollywood’s largest independent production company. After Carolco’s closing, Paula joined Kazmark Entertainment Group, a firm which creates television advertising and programming trade opportunities in association with a major advertising agency. Paula oversaw the creation of Springbok Films in 2002, and has served in producing roles for several films under the Springbok banner. In 2005, Paula produced and directed the documentary “Vanishing Cultures: Bushmen of the Kalahari,” an official selection at nine national and international film festivals. The film was named “Best Documentary” at the Gulf Coast Film & Video Festival, and Paula received the “Best Producer” award at the La Femme Film Festival in Los Angeles. The documentary was also selected to partner with the human rights group WITNESS in a Movies That Matter project in association with jaman.com. In addition to her roles at Kazmark Entertainment, Paula recently served for a year with the startup media company, Agape Media International, a division of the Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles, and managed production administration for the PBS pledge drive special “The Answer is You,” featuring Michael Bernard Beckwith, airing in December 2009.

Paula has also long been involved in community service, and received the Volunteer of the Year award in 2004 from PAWS/LA, an organization working to keep people with debilitating illnesses together with their companion animals. Paula also produced and directed PAWS/LA’s showcase and fundraising videos in 2006 and 2009, as well as the organization’s public service announcement featuring Kathryn Joosten. She has also taught as a volunteer adult literacy tutor with the Los Angeles Public Library literacy program and has worked as a volunteer with service programs in Cartago, Costa Rica and Prampram, Ghana. Paula also served on the awards committees for the 2009 IDA Documentary Awards and for several years on the awards panel for the Roy W. Dean Los Angeles Film Grant.

Paula’s now at work producing a new documentary entitled “The Money Stone,” directed by Stuart Harmon, which explores the little-known world of illegal gold mining in Ghana. “The Money Stone” has received a New York State Council for the Arts grant and the Roy W. Dean Los Angeles Documentary Video Grant and will be completed in 2012.