“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
About US
Mark Gogolewski
CEO
In his previous life, Mark co-founded Denali Software and was the number two executive until the company sold in 2010. A serial entrepreneur and investor, Mark is an avid skier and skydiver, loves backpacking, meditation and his two sons. Mark brings his experience in intellectual property and contract flexibility to his passion for movies and for bridging talent to funding.
Jared Drake
PRESIDENT
After placing third in the PAC-10 for pole vault (UCLA), Jared spent the rest of his 20s in the film industry as a writer, director, and editor on a wide range of projects: narrative, branded, long form, short form, some funny, some sad. The Hollywood Reporter called his directorial debut film Visioneers (Zach Galifianakis) "an assured first feature." Jared parlayed his passion for helping writers tell their stories into Wildbound Literary PR, a boutique firm he started with his wife that promotes and helps publish reputable authors and screenwriters. Living full-time in Tahoe, he loves playing in the mountains with his wife and two sons, committed each day to ski, skin, climb, hike, pedal, or paddle.
Steven Siig
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Steven Siig is a self-taught filmmaker living in Lake Tahoe. He first picked up a camera at the age of 19 to document his friends skiing steep lines. That grew into an action sports documentary career that took Siig to Alaska and South America to film snow sports and adventure travel for numerous productions such as Warren Miller Entertainment, TGR, Standard, and Matchstick Productions. When his best friend was killed during the film production of a ski descent in the remote wilderness of Alaska, Siig decided to put the camera down. In 2014, Siig took his knowledge of film to a different side of the movie industry and opened the Tahoe Art Haus & Cinema, a cinema drafthouse that shows major motion pictures, independent and action sports films, and hosts speakers, filmmakers, live music, and dance performances.
ANDREW LADD
Writer/Producer
After a teenage stint on the US Development Ski Team, four years of D1 collegiate racing at UNH, and a year risking life and limb on the skier-cross circuit, Andrew retired from competitive skiing at the ripe old age of 23 and moved to Los Angeles. He spent his 20s working in both film production and development, and eventually transitioned to screenwriting and producing. His script Black & White landed on the 2016 Blacklist for TV pilots, and he has sold, optioned and garnered writing assignments from production companies such as Revelations, Bow Street Films, and Happy Girl Entertainment to name a few. After nearly two decades in Southern California, he now lives in Nashville with his wife, two children and their dog, and still enjoys an escape to the slopes every winter.
PROJECTS
BURIED: THE 1982 ALPINE MEADOWS AVALANCHE
Feature length documentary, Greenwich Entertainment acquired the project and released the film nationwide in theaters in September 2022. It was the #1 documentary on Netflix and #6 most popular film overall in the U.S. and Canada after its streaming release in November 2023.
Description: Based on the events and circumstances surrounding the 1982 avalanche in Alpine Meadows, CA.
Official Website: buriedfilm.com
WEAK LAYERS
Feature film, released theatrically in over 100 cities across North America in January 2024. VOD released on February 6, 2024 on Amazon and Apple TV.
Read the Deadline Announcement.
Director: Katie Burrell
Description: In 1984 a new film subgenre was born – the ski comedy. Birthed on the slopes of what was then called Squaw Valley, Hot Dog…The Movie quickly became a cult hit and spawned two decades worth of followers. From Ski Patrol to Aspen Extreme, Ski School to Better Off Dead, the list of classics goes on and on… until it doesn’t. In the ever-changing Hollywood shuffle the genre has been lost as of late, but certainly not been forgotten by legions of fans worldwide. Which is why WEAK LAYERS is here – it’s time for a resurrection. Get involved here: weaklayers.com
WALL OF WHITE
Screenwriter: Petter Skavlan
Director: Phillip Noyce
Description: A feature film based on the best-selling book A Wall of White by Jennifer Woodlief.
Logline: In 1982, an unprecedented avalanche devastates the small mountain community of Alpine Meadows, CA.
THE UNITED STATES OF INSANITY
Director: Tom Putnam & Brenna Sanchez
Description: The story of controversial rap duo Insane Clown Posse (ICP), their fans, and their ongoing struggle with the FBI in a landmark case that may be a bellwether of change for First Amendment rights in America.
Theatrical Release: October 26, 2021
DISRUPTED
Description: Feature film, currently in post-production. Won the audience award at Cinequest Film Festival 2020, currently available for streaming on all major platforms worldwide.
Logline: When a local killing stirs up haunting memories of his wife’s unsolved murder from decades earlier, an Oakland widower is drawn back into the hunt for justice with everything on the line to lose.
Official Website: disruptedmovie.com
ALMOST
Host: Dan Patrick
Filmmakers: Mike Mayer/Frank Mele
Description: TV series from Executive Producer Michael Sugar.
Logline: Under wraps.
Realization Films recognizes the unique challenge of bridging creative talent to financial execution. Our commitment is to finance and produce director driven films that reshape the way we interact with and see the world.