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 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 twelve 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
Mitchell Kaplan, a native of Miami Beach, opened the first Books & Books in 1982 in Coral Gables, Florida. Now with five South Florida locations, Books & Books hosts over 400 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 take place in Creole, Spanish and English, reflecting the diversity of Miami.
Mitchell also hosts the podcast The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan, broadcast from Miami, where he lives with his wife, Rachelle. They have three children , Anya, Daniel and Jonah.
Kimesia Hartz
Kimesia Hartz is Mazur Kaplan’s Creative Executive. She is responsible for tracking the latest literary titles and overseeing Mazur Kaplan’s Film & TV slate through all stages of development and production. An Australian native, Kimesia has a bachelor's degree from the University of Western Australia and a Master of Fine Arts from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Prior to Mazur Kaplan she worked as a production coordinator for Mad Kids Productions Australia and at Transfilm in Montreal where she worked as executive assistant to the producers on such films as Erased, Upside Down and Foreverland.
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.