Paula Mae & Steve Schwartz – Copyright 2008, Globe Newspaper Company, republished with permission.
Chockstones are typically round stones lodged between two opposing rock faces–a metaphor for the film company Chockstone Pictures, dedicated to developing and producing films in the space where art and commerce meet.
Chockstone Pictures, alongside Plan B, is producing the heist caper, COGAN’S TRADE, starring Brad Pitt, and directed by Andrew Dominik, set for release in 2012.
Chockstone Pictures and Nick Wechsler Productions are shooting THE HOST, directed by Andrew Niccol, based on the Stephenie Meyer novel, and starring Saoirse Ronan.
Ridley Scott is attached to direct THE COUNSELOR, from a script by Cormac McCarthy, to be produced by Chockstone Pictures, Nick Wechsler Productions and Scott Free Entertainment.
More than a dozen additional film projects are in development.
In 2009, Chockstone Pictures and Nick Wechsler Productions produced THE ROAD, starring Viggo Mortensen, based on the Cormac McCarthy Pulitzer Prize winning novel. THE ROAD was directed by John Hillcoat and was nominated for a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Chockstone Pictures provided seed capital for Terrence Malick’s celebrated movie, THE TREE OF LIFE, starring Brad Pitt, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. THE TREE OF LIFE was nominated for Best Picture, 2012 Academy Awards.
Chockstone Pictures was founded in 2004 by the husband-and-wife team of Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz, who are also the founders of a technology marketing agency, which made the Inc 500 List of the fastest-growing private companies three times, and was acquired by Publicis.