J.D. Flom, CEO/Executive Director
J.D. spent many years in college with hands on experience in digital film, attempting to produce various short films with a micro budget. His self taught experience includes Producing, Writing, Directing, Casting, Scheduling and Editing. In the summer of 2008, J.D. co-produced, co-wrote, co-directed, end edited a short film, “Shatter,” on a micro budget of $1000, which was submitted to several film festivals. He graduated from California State University in December 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in English. He later teamed up with local filmmaker Ryan Arriaga and the two of them produced several local commercials, music videos and short films, including “All Lined Up,” which was an Official Selection at the Sacramento Film Festival in 2010. Recently, J.D. teamed up with comedian Mike Betancourt as a writing and business partner to form Don’t Smile Productions.
Mike Betancourt, COO/Executive Producer
After serving five years in the Navy, Mike found his love for stand-up comedy, bravely got on stage and started performing. Mike has opened and featured for many famous comedians throughout the west coast including Jim Breuer (Saturday Night Live), Michael Winslow (Police Academy), Ralphie May (Last Comic Standing) and Jill Michelle Melan (Reno 911!). Although he loves stand-up and has excelled in it, he realized he wanted to bring comedy and other creative ideas to life through film. Mike recently starred in several local commercials and has been studying the technical aspects of filmmaking. He teamed up with J.D. officially in November as writing and business partner, and then the two of them went on to develop their first co-written script, Redfoot Trail.
