ABOUT US
Major Chord is a Los Angeles-based production and talent management company that develops, produces, and finances creative intellectual property for scripted and non-scripted film and television. We pride ourselves on identifying unique talent and nurturing ideas in order to bring the most compelling visions to life. We tell stories that ignite the imagination, spark conversation and leave an imprint on a broad audience.
Co-Founder
Max Botkin
He began his career in public relations in 2001 at Carl Byoir & Associates, representing consulting firm McKinsey & Company. In 2003 he was recruited by Bragman Nyman Caffarelli (now part of PMK*BNC) as a publicist on their PlayStation and UFC accounts, helping them grow into market leaders.
In 2006 Max worked for Avi Arad, the Marvel blockbusters producer, identifying and shaping creative IP. Max then transitioned into screenwriting and was hired by and sold original scripts to Sony, Marvel, Lionsgate, Open Road, Fox, Universal and more. Max had two family films- Opposite Day and Cody the Robosapien- produced and released by Anchor Bay and Netflix.
Max’s original sci-fi script What Happened to Monday landed him on the 2010 Blacklist for best unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. He co-produced the film, which became a foreign theatrical B.O. hit and one of Netflix’s top 3 original films. Max Executive Produced another of his original scripts, Show Dogs, which was released in theaters internationally by Global Road.
Max continues to write and produce a diverse array of film and TV projects- packaged with top tier production companies, financing, A-list talent or some combination thereof- all of which are folded into Major Chord’s slate. (see Major Chord Slate for more specifics)
Max graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from University of Southern California with BA’s in Economics and Communications.
Full BioCo-Founder
David Joshua Levy
He composed, arranged, and produced orchestral music for film and network TV from 2003-2008 with Oscar and Emmy award-winning composer Patrick Williams. Together they co-founded Threshold Music, managing and collaborating with composers to create music for brands such as Porsche, JP Morgan Chase, and Toyota.
From 2008-2010, while earning his MBA at Vanderbilt University, David trained as an associate in Goldman Sach’s investment advisory division where he developed a nuanced understanding of capital markets and asset management. From 2010–2012, David worked as VP of Strategy and Development at PAX Scientific and co-founded the water distillation subsidiary PAX Pure. He then joined Further by Design, bringing capital and strategic partnerships to clients such as NASA, USAID, IDEO, Microsoft, NIKE, The Kellog Foundation, and The Walmart Foundation.
From 2014–2016 David served as Managing Director at Benedict Canyon Equities, Inc. where he raised the $65 million BCE Fund III which was deployed by the firm to acquire $1.5 billion in real estate assets.
In 2019 David became a founding partner in Conservation International’s Surf Conservation Partnership, whose mission is to nurture the planet by focusing on the well being of a crucial network of pristine ecosystems and the communities that inhabit them.
David holds a BA in History and a BA in Music from Northwestern University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University.
Full BioMAJOR CHORD SLATE
Magic Realism Dramedy
PONCE
A psychiatrist with a terminally ill child forms an unusual relationship with a patient who insists that he is famed Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon, claiming that he lived off the Fountain of Youth for the past 500 years.
Producers
Major Chord
Director
Esteban Arango (Blast Beat, Ponyboi)
Writer
Max Botkin (What Happened to Monday, Show Dogs)
Psychological Thriller
The Little Utopia
1985. The Mediterranean. On the run from the Turkish police, young British newlyweds take refuge on an idyllic sailboat- The Little Utopia- helmed by an eccentric and beguiling, bohemian older couple. They thought they’d been saved. They were wrong.
Producers
Major Chord, Wild One, Rachel Winter (Dallas Buyers Club)
Director
Kim Farrant (Strangerland, Angel of Mine)
Writer
Clara Salaman (Too Close, Deja Vu)
Documentary Series
THE SHAPE OF MOVEMENT
Documentary Series telling the first ever definitive history of surfing and its culture.
Producers
Major Chord, Cinetic Media, Conservation International, Motto Pictures
Executive Producer
Paul Marchand (Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, Good Hair)
Strategic Partners
Conservation International, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, UCSD, Surf Rider Foundation, Inertia
Adult Animated Political Comedy
POLITICAL ANIMALS
The President’s pet dog struggles to lead a shadowy cabal of global leaders’ pets that secretly runs the world.
Currently out to showrunners
Producers
Major Chord
Voice Talent
John Oliver, H. Jon Benjamin
Created By
Rob Kutner (The Daily Show, The Tonight Show, Conan)
Jonathan Marx (It’s a Christmas F’ing Miracle)
PAST PROJECTS
Show Dogs (2018)
Family-Comedy
Max, a macho, solitary Rottweiler police dog is ordered to go undercover as a primped show dog in a prestigious Dog Show, along with his human partner, to avert a disaster from happening.
Studio – Global Road
Director – Raja Gosnell (Smurfs, Scooby Doo)
Writers – Max Botkin, Marc Hyman
Producers – Deepak Nayar, Philip von Alvensleben
Executive Producer – Max Botkin
Stars – Will Arnett, Ludacris, Natasha Lyonne, Stanley Tucci, Alan Cumming, RuPaul
See on IMDB
What Happened to Monday (2017)
Sci-Fi-Thriller
In a world where families are limited to one child due to overpopulation, a set of identical septuplets must avoid government persecution and dangerous infighting while investigating the disappearance of one of their own.
Studio – Netflix, SND
Director – Tommy Wirkola
Writers – Max Botkin, Kerry Williamson
Producers – Raffaella DeLaurentiis, Philippe Rousselet
Co-producer – Max Botkin
Stars – Willem Dafoe, Glenn Close, Noomi Rapace, Marwan Kenzari
See on IMDB
Cody the Robosapien (2013)
Family-Adventure
A robot boy and a human boy team up to save their respective parents, who are being held captive by the organization that funded the robot’s creator.
Studio – Anchor Bay
Director – Sean McNamara
Writers – Max Botkin, Avi Arad
Producers – Avi Arad, Jamee Natella, Steven Paul
Stars – Penelope Ann Miller, Kim Coates, David Eigenberg, Joaquim de Almeida
See on IMDB
Opposite Day (2009)
Family-Comedy
When the world goes backwards on Opposite Day, the kids become adults, and the adults become kids.
Studio – Anchor Bay
Director – R. Michael Givens
Writer – Max Botkin
Producers – Jamee Natella, Steven Paul
Stars – Ariel Winter, Rico Rodriguez, Pauly Shore, Dick Van Patten, Renee Taylor
See on IMDB
Wolverine and the X-Men: Hunting Grounds (2009)
Action-Animation
After an explosion at the school, the X-Men went their separate ways. But they must unite once again under the leadership of Wolverine to prevent an inevitable war while also dealing with present problems.
Studio – Marvel, Nicktoons
Director – Nicholas Filippi
Writer – Max Botkin
Producer – Jason Netter
See on IMDB
Arvind Palep graduated from the Maryland College of Arts and worked at Amoeba Proteus (Darren Aronofsky) and Blue Sky Studios before becoming a commercials director and cofounding 1stavemachine. 1stavemachine is an industry leading, award-winning commercial production and content company, garnering numerous Gold, Silver, and Bronze Cannes Lions, AICP awards, One Show awards, Andy awards, and many others, with strong capabilities in live-action and 3D animation integration. The new company services dozens of Fortune 500 clients in the broadcast, music video, feature film, and advertising arenas. Creativity Magazine declared 1stavemachine one of the top production companies of the year in 2015.
Arvind has spent 15 years in Commercial production and featured in Saatchi & Saatchi's new director's showcase. He set up a Sci-fi feature project at Universal, and he is actively developing feature projects in 1stave's new Content division in Los Angeles.
Jon Lehman is an Adjunct Professor of Management at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management where he currently serves as Faculty Director, Executive Education.
In this role he has worked with a broad range of clients including Nissan, Regions Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, Eli Lilly & Co, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Hewlett Packard, Community Health Systems, and Cisco Systems.
Jon is also a serial entrepreneur who also serves as a mentor, consultant and board advisor to early stage companies.
Prior to joining Owen, Mr. Lehman served as the CEO of health care IT company that he lead to a merger with a Canadian public company. He was an early stage investor and served as Executive Vice President and Director of an international computer training company that was later acquired by a leading educational software company. He also founded and served as Principal of a venture development firm. He holds a Bachelors in Economics from Colgate University and an MBA from Harvard Business School..
Michael Spector is CEO and co-founder of Vista Wealth Management which he founded in 1999 and has built into a firm with over $2 billion in assets under management
Michael is a CPA and holds the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation.
Michael has been helping clients with their investment portfolios, and financial planning needs since the mid 90’s. He has written and taught programs on the tax treatment of stock options to the employees of both private and public companies throughout Silicon Valley.
Michael is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and is licensed to provide investment advisory services in the State of California
Dani Socher graduated from California State University Northridge with honors in 2018, majoring in philosophy and minoring in creative writing. During his time at CSUN he interned for Underground Films, AwesomenessTV, Crystal Skies, 1stAveMachine, and provided script coverage and creative support to numerous writers and producers.
Prior to joining Major Chord, Dani worked as an executive assistant and development coordinator at Eric Feig Entertainment & Media Law. Dani currently has a television pilot in development with Ananey Communications, an Israeli film company.
Prior to joining Major Chord, Doni worked as a media and communications strategy consultant. Working primarily with tech companies, she used political-style research to build messaging strategies for her clients. In addition to crafting proactive campaigns, Doni advised clients during crucial inflection points -- in the midst of policy crises, preparing for IPOs, designing and rolling out new products.
Doni graduated with honors from Harvard College, with a concentration in Economics, a secondary in Ethnicity, Migration, Rights, and a citation in Mandarin Chinese. In her studies, Doni focused primarily on behavioral economics, studying how human psychology, behavior, and belief intersect with basic economic and sociological principles.
Doni graduated with honors from Harvard College, with a concentration in Economics, a secondary in Ethnicity, Migration, Rights, and a citation in Mandarin Chinese. In her studies, Doni focused primarily on behavioral economics, studying how human psychology, behavior, and belief intersect with basic economic and sociological principles.