Founded in 2004, Big Beach is a Los Angeles-based company that produces, finances and distributes independent films, television and theater productions. With an eye toward intelligent, character-driven, humanistic material, the company’s overall mission is to showcase stories that inspire, engage and entertain.
Big Beach does not accept unsolicited submissions.
For internships at Big Beach, please email lainternship@bigbeach.com
Marc Turtletaub
Marc Turtletaub has been a producer for over twenty years with two production companies, including Big Beach which he co-founded in 2004. He is also a director, whose feature Puzzle was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. His most recent film, Jules premiered in 2023 and was distributed by Bleecker Street.
Tim Foley
Tim Foley is a Partner and owner at Big Beach and an Emmy award-winning TV and film producer. He has worked with some of the most important writers and directors of our time including Joan Didion and Jean-Marc Valleé, and is currently working to curate the next generation of exciting voices across TV and film. Big Beach has projects in the works with HBO, Amazon, Disney, and others. Tim loves music and books, and is passionate about telling stories that illuminate and uplift. He lives in Malibu and enjoys surfing.
Michael B. Clark
Michael has been at Big Beach since 2006, when he joined as an assistant in the New York office and got his start producing with “Safety Not Guaranteed” (2012). Soon after he co-founded and ran Beachside, a sister company to Big Beach, focused on financing films from emerging talent. Beachside was a pioneer in the early days of streaming, producing & financing a number of the first independent Netflix Originals, including “Tig” (Sundance, 2014), Adam Leon’s “Tramps” (TIFF, 2016), Jim Strouse’s “The Incredible Jessica James” (Sundance 2017), and Noel Wells’ “Mr. Roosevelt” (SXSW, 2017). Notable other moments at Beachside include an Emmy win for Davy Rothbart’s “Medora” (2014), Joachim Trier’s “Louder Than Bombs” (Cannes, 2016), Chad Hartigan’s “Morris from America” for A24, “Strangers,” the first scripted series to be launched by Facebook, in 2017, and Desiree Ahkavan’s “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2018.
In 2020 Michael moved into a partner role at Big Beach and has overseen the company’s film slate including the recent Ben Kingsley-starrer “Jules” and the upcoming “Out of My Mind,” (Sundance, 2024) based on the popular YA novel by Sharon Draper, set to air on Disney+ in 2024. He is a graduate of the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School, and an MBA candidate at Trium, a joint program of the London School of Economics, NYU Stern & HEC Paris.
Keetin Mayakara
Austin Cottle
Austin Cottle is a film & TV finance exec with a breadth of industry experience. Having started his career at 20th Century Fox Television, he went on to tackle production finance roles at various TV studios & SVOD streamers. He then went on to work as a freelance production accountant, having overseen shows such as “How to Become a Tyrant” for Netflix & “El Corazon de Sergio Ramos” for Amazon. When not vetting budgets, building financial forecasts or watching documentaries, you can find him either learning a new language, learning a new recipe, or watching Bloomberg.
Zoe Levine
As an LA native, film, TV, and pop culture have always been big parts of Zoe’s life, so it was only natural that these loves led her to a career in the entertainment industry. Honing her skills across many different types of fast-paced environments, Zoe began her career in the mailroom at WME before landing on desks in the TV Lit department and at Endeavor Content. She then went on to work at BRON Studios where she cut her teeth working across their film and TV development slate. As a Creative Executive, Zoe worked freelance before joining Big Beach in 2022.
Rebecca Leo
Rebecca Leo has worked in a variety of diverse fields from public health research to community organizing to education. However, she never got over her first love—storytelling. A recent screenwriting graduate of the AFI Conservatory, Rebecca is passionate about bringing culturally diverse stories with complicated female characters to mainstream film and television. When she’s not watching movies or reading scripts, you can find her playing board games or going down YouTube rabbit holes.
Ben Davis
Ben Davis is a Finance Associate with a background in risk compliance, internal audit, and process training who has worked in many different industries including anti-money laundering, health insurance administration, and most recently the entertainment industry. It was his master’s program at the University of Bordeaux in France, which had a strong focus on the economics of intellectual property that motivated him to pursue a career in film & television finance and accounting. Besides counting beans, Ben enjoys finding new restaurants to try, watching movies, and playing Mahjong.