OUR TEAM
David Waknine’s achievements and contributions to the industry know no limits. His acting has been described by critics as “brilliant,” with “infectious passion.” His short film The Sit Down, which he wrote, directed, and starred in, was featured at Cannes International Film Festival and is now in pre-production as a feature.
David’s many hats include a career as a Golden Gloves Boxer, who was invited to fight with the US National Team, and an entrepreneur who successfully ran many bars and restaurants. It was in that role that he met the filmmakers who encouraged his acting career. Roles came quickly, including Days of Our Lives, Providence (NBC), and Manswers (Spike TV). On New York stages, he has played leading roles in many of the American classics.
David’s entrepreneurial spirit led to the founding of Hollywood Fight Club Theater, which played to packed houses for over ten years. Overall, he has produced and directed over 285 plays worldwide. In July, 2011, David began transforming the company into HFC Pictures, for which he has already written, directed and produced 8 commercials and 6 short films. His passion and highest goal in life is to keep making honest work with an impact that audiences can feel long after the final bell.
If David is the face of HFC Pictures, Ashley Pontius is the voice. Well-established as that rare breed—an organized artist— Ashley has built a career guiding companies and artists towards becoming more powerful and successful both personally and professionally. She is the author of Successful Actors and is a Certified Executive Coach specializing in entertainment at Actor’s Life Coaching. Ashley is a proud board member of the International Coaching Federation for Los Angeles.
Beyond that, she is an award-winning actress and was one of two young American women chosen to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she received her BA degree in Acting Performance. She played Juliet in the UK National Tour of Romeo & Juliet and received the MacBrydon Prize for Best Actress for her portrayal of French outcast, Lucie Cabrol.
Ashley heads the Casting, Marketing & Executive Coaching for HFC Pictures.
David Elder – Executive Producer
David Elder brings decades of business success as he returns to his cinematic roots. The son of Lonne Elder III, the first African-American Screenwriter to be nominated for an Academy Award, David was part owner and General Manager of the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, and has experience working at GAO, a congressional agency.
David holds a BA in Political Science from Cal State Northridge and an MBA from the University of Texas, Austin. David is our UPM and handles contracts for the company.
Charismatic, ambitious and smart, Brett Davis graduated with a BA degree in Human Resources and Marketing from Goldey-Beacom College before pursuing a path in Entertainment. He is an experienced actor and model, whose past projects include All My Children, Hollywood Heights, and national commercials such as Buick and Scope to name a few. His most recent feature film is Mansion of Blood, directed by Mike Donahue, starring Gary Busey and Robert Picardo.
Brett commands the Interns who help our company function, and when he’s not scaring us with his talent, he does it by heading HFC’s horror franchise on his 800 acres in Maryland. Enter if you dare.
Patrice Lucien Cochet – Director of Photography
Patrice Lucien Cochet hardly needs an introduction. A regular fixture at Sundance, he was Cinematographer on The Good Life (featuring Zooey Deschanel, Bill Paxton, and Chris Klein), Better Luck Tomorrow, & The End of Love (featuring Amanda Seyfried, and Michael Cera) all were selected in the official dramatic competition & received theatrical releases.
He won two awards at the SXSW Film Festival, including the Special Jury Award for Cinematography for his work on Explicit Ills, directed by Mark Webber and starring Rosario Dawson and Paul Dano. Currently embarking on his second collaboration with directors Cartney Wearn and John Simon on the feature drama Nothing More than Murder, Patrice’s full credits are too numerous to list. Patrice was invited to join the Sundance Director’s Lab to mentor young directors. Patrice is represented by The Gersh Agency and a proud graduate of The American Film Institute.
Christopher Ivins – Steadicam & Visual Effects
You’ve been enjoying Christopher Ivins’ work for years without realizing it. As a member of the Visual Effects Society, his work appeared in James Cameron’s Titanic and Avatar, and more recently Life of Pi, to name just a few. Ivins knows cameras inside and out. Literally. He has served on the Board of Governors and the Society of Camera Operators, worked as cinematographer on over twenty productions, and operated Steadicam with actors ranging from James Cromwell and Karen Black to Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton on productions such as the Academy Award-winning West Bank Story. He is also a recurring judge at the annual Xanadu Film Festival.
Visual effects knowledge and camera operating technique give Christopher a unique set of skills for visual effects cinematography. As if that weren’t enough, he has also been performing since the age of nine, and has done everything from signing the Declaration of Independence to leading the Lewis and Clark expedition in the IMAX film The Great American West. A former Captain himself, Ivins also entertained troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina during a deployment with Nato Peace Implementation Forces.
Max Montel – Associate Producer
Max has been working in theater and film since he was seven and thought a playdate meant putting on shows. His first professional gig was at age eleven when his father—director Michael Montel—sent him out to help the prop master buy furniture for an opera. He was smitten, and the rest is history.
As a theater director, his work has been seen in New York, Boston (where he also managed to earn a BA from Harvard), Miami, and most recently Santa Monica, where he directed the world premiere production of Linthead, written by his fellow Carnegie Mellon MFA, Brian Forrester.
He has been honored to work with film producers Michael Brandman, Michael Tollin, and Lisa Albright, before beginning his association with HFC Pictures on JoJo. Most recently, he co-produced the short film Natural Insemination.
She brings with her over 20 years of production experience as both a Telly and WAVE Award-winning video journalist and producer with Adelphia, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable. In that time, she has worn many hats, seen many places, and worked with many many fascinating people, including an assortment of businesses, corporations, schools, governments, kids and animals. You get ten points for guessing which one was the biggest challenge. Diane graduated from California State University Fullerton with a BA degree in Communications – TV/Film, and joined HFC Pictures as an Associate Producer on the pilot JoJo. Never one to take it easy, Diane is currently working on an independent documentary in addition to DETKA and ONE MORE ROUND.
Across Southern California, jazz aficionados know the earthy and soulful saxophone of Walter Davis. Both live and in the studio, Walter has performed with such legends as Talib Kweli, Chuck Berry, Miki Howard, Craig Robinson, Ray Charles, Guns N’ Roses, Ike Turner, and many more.
The son of a career Senior Master Sergeant, Walter spent much of his childhood traveling, with music his only constant, and his saxophone and flute his best friends. In his early career, Walter opened for acts such as Lee Ritenour, The Family Laws, and the Sounds of Blackness, before landing TV and film projects ranging from BYRD and WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?, to THE GONG SHOW hosted by Tom Arnold.
Walter never stops performing, both with his own group and as a featured guest of “The Toledo Show.” He is also developing a new solo project.
“The saxophone is the closest instrument to the human voice,” Walter tells us, “and I try to make the horn talk.” We’re just lucky he’s making it speak for us.