Virtually meet with FilmNation COO Milan Popelka (ARRIVAL, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN) to get invaluable advice on how to get your movie made!
Milan Popelka is the Chief Operating Officer at leading independent entertainment company FilmNation Entertainment. Popelka’s responsibilities include overseeing all day-to-day operations, strategic planning/business development, and finance for the company. FilmNation is consistently ranked as one of the highest-grossing independent international distributors globally, and has garnered a total of 50 Academy Award nominations (including 9 wins) across their sales and production titles.
On the film production/finance slate, Popelka served as Executive Producer on Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction epic Arrival starring Amy Adams – the film has been uniformly praised by critics, was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and grossed over $170M in worldwide box office. He also served as Executive Producer on Emerald Fennell’s Oscar-winning Promising Young Woman (Focus Features), WWII epic Greyhound starring Tom Hanks (Apple+), Sundance-breakout comedy Late Night starring Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling (Amazon Studios), Dominic Cooke’s The Courier starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions), as well as on several high-profile productions the company has coming soon to theaters.
International sales credits include, among others: Academy Award Best Picture winner The King’s Speech; Academy Award Best Picture nominee The Imitation Game, Alexander Payne’s Academy Award favorite Nebraska, and Rian Johnson’s sci-fi hit Looper. Prior to joining FilmNation, Popelka oversaw creative/finance at production and financing outfit Samuels Media, which financed and produced Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton starring George Clooney. He also previously worked in the Independent Finance Group at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and served as a management consultant in the entertainment practice of McKinsey & Company.
Outside of his professional work, Popelka is a standing member of the Executive Committee of the Science & Entertainment Exchange, an organization within the National Academy of Sciences that brings together the world’s best storytellers with leading science professionals to catalyze the use of science across all entertainment fields. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and received a B.A in Economics with Honors from Harvard College.