In bringing books to the screen, Mazur and Kaplan have grown the company into a leading producer of high quality, commercial film and television.
Paula Mazur
Producer of Academy, Emmy and Ace award-winning projects, Paula Kaplan has worked extensively from literary source material, taking plays and books from stage and page to screen. Working across all genres, the unifying theme of her stories is an exploration of the human condition. Her films are characterized by a commitment to elevated, yet commercial material that attracts top talent both in front of and behind the camera.
Paula has been partnered with bookseller Mitchell Kaplan in The Mazur Kaplan Company for the last fifteen years.
Paula’s previous credits include Nim’s Island starring Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler and Abigail Breslin, which she produced and co-wrote, Corrina, Corrina starring Whoopi Goldberg, and the Academy Award winning The Appointments Of Dennis Jennings. Her plays to screen include The Vagina Monologues, The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life In The Universe, and Laurie Anderson’s concert film The Home Of The Brave.
Mitchell Kaplan
A native of Miami Beach, Mitchell Kaplan opened the first Books & Books in 1982 in Coral Gables, Florida. Now with three South Florida locations, Books & Books hosts over 500 events per year. In addition, two of the stores are home to well-established cafes, and there are Books & Books-affiliated stores at the Miami International Airport and in Key West, where he collaborates with the noted author Judy Blume and her husband, George. Among his honors, Mitchell served as president of the American Booksellers Association and he received the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation. Books & Books was also Publishers Weekly’s bookstore of the year.
As co-founder of the Miami Book Fair in 1985, Mitchell has served as the chairperson of its Board of Directors and continues to guide the programming team at the Fair, which takes place on the campus of Miami Dade College in the heart of downtown Miami. Each year, the Fair presents close to 500 authors over one week in November, along with a street festival, where bookstalls line the streets adjacent to the campus. Programs are offered in Creole, Spanish, and English, reflecting Miami's diversity.
Mitchell lives in Miami with his wife, Rachelle. They have three children: Anya, Daniel, and Jonah.
Steve Bornstein
Steve Bornstein has been an executive coach and strategic planning and organizational development consultant operating as Steve Bornstein Consulting for 20 years. His entertainment and media clients include Sony Pictures Entertainment, Porter Novelli, GEMSTAR TV Guide, Six Degrees Games, Higher Octave Music, and and Corbis. He has coached executives at Electronic Arts, Warner Music Group, Intel, Yahoo!, Denou Group, and Sony Digital Entertainment. He helps clients achieve powerful results by supporting them to optimize decisions and strategy choices, overcome obstacles, and develop clear action plans. Prior to consulting Steve served as CEO of Sunrise Films, Sr. VP Programming and Feature Acquisitions for Lorimar Home Video and Chief Operating Officer for Lion’s Gate Films. He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and an MA in Psychology from University of Santa Monica.