Richard LaPorta: Writer/Director
Richard studied filmmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he created such 16mm cinematic classics as Urinating in Public (a process); The Jogger and the Vagrant; Kevin, Tim, George and Joe; Seminary; and Mostly Change.
In 1995 he co-formed Lost Glove Film Productions with his brother Robert and together they made the Documentary Four Days in Detroit. He then wrote and directed the 16mm B&W short film Man and Wife in Bed, which premiered at the 1997 Telluride Film Festival in the Filmmakers of Tomorrow program.
In 2001 he wrote, directed, co-produced and edited his first feature film, One Man’s Ceiling which participated in the 2001 IFP Market in New York and the 2002 European Film Market at the Berlin Film Festival. It then premiered at the inaugural Tribeca Film Festival and had a limited run at the Gene Siskel Film center in Chicago.
In 2009 Richard edited the Documentary The Providence Effect which won Best Documentary at the Omaha Film Festival.
He frequently collaborates with his father Bob and brother Robert. Together they have made hundreds of fundraising videos for non profit organizations under their company Row Four Productions.
Richard is a writer, director and editor. He is also a husband, father, son, uncle, cousin, brother, and godfather to an atheist. He was born in Pittsburgh, raised in San Diego, and has made Chicago his home since 1987.
Ericka Frederick: Producer
Ericka is an Academy Award nominated producer who started making films as a modern dance major at the University of Michigan to accompany her choreography and live performances. At age 20, she formed her first production company, Sluggo Films, where she produced music videos, commercials, and athletic training videos in her native Detroit.
A seasoned, Chicago-based film industry veteran, she had a long, successful tenure as a sales and marketing executive at the The Eastman Kodak Co. and has produced several independent features and short films, including By Courier, which was directed by actor Peter Riegert and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Film in 2001. Ericka received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts, where she created and taught an advanced production class for high-potential students.
Dynamic and hard-working, Ericka has moderated panels at Sundance, Toronto International Film Festival, and Telluride, and has had five films in Cannes’ short film corner. She continues to give back to her community by producing many PSAs, including Anyone Watching?, which was featured on the AICP 2016 Shortlist.
Bob Hercules: Producer
Bob is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker whose work has been seen widely on PBS, Discovery Channel, IFC, TLC and in film festivals around the world. Hercules’ most recent film, Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and went on to win 19 awards on three continents and a Peabody Award in 2018. The film was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and aired on PBS’ American Masters in February, 2017 and on the BBC’s Storyville series in March, 2017.
Hercules also made two films focusing on dance: Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance and Bill T. Jones: A Good Man. The Joffrey film, narrated by Mandy Patinkin, tells the full story of the groundbreaking ballet company and their many rises and falls. It premiered in January, 2012 at the Dance on Camera Film Festival at Lincoln Center and aired on PBS’ American Masters December, 2012. A Good Man aired on American Masters in 2011 and played at many film festivals including IDFA, Silverdocs, Full Frame, DOXA and the Southern Circuit.
His 2009 documentary, Radical Disciple: The Story of Father Pfleger, chronicles the radical priest whose controversial tactics to fight racism put him at odds with the Catholic hierarchy. The film was named Best Documentary at the 2009 Big Muddy Film Festival and was the opening night film at the 2009 Black Harvest Film Festival. It was broadcast on WTTW, Chicago in 2010.
In 2008 Hercules directed the Barack Obama and Michelle Obama biography videos for Obama’s Presidential campaign website . He also directed Obama’s 2007 Presidential announcement video in Springfield, Illinois. Hercules’ 2006 documentary, Senator Obama Goes to Africa, is a chronicle of Obama’s momentous 2006 trip to Africa, including an emotional visit to Kisumu, Kenya–homeland of his late father. It is currently in home video release from First Run Features.
Hercules’ acclaimed 2006 feature documentary, Forgiving Dr. Mengele, tells the remarkable story of Auschwitz survivor and former ‘Mengele twin’ Eva Mozes Kor, whose decision to forgive the perpetrators as an act of self-healing sparked a firestorm of criticism. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 2006 Slamdance Film Festival and the Crystal Heart Award at the 2006 Heartland Film Festival. It is currently in home video release from First Run Features.
Normann Pokorny : Producer
Normann has been a distinguished film professional based in Chicago for over thirty years.
A graduate of Southern Illinois University with a Masters of Science from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, Normann began his production career as a Writer/Producer for Balcor/American Express.
Within 18 months, he was off to the freelance world of Chicago film production. Between 1986 and 1988, he worked as a freelance production assistant and a commercial coordinator.
In 1989, Normann began working as a member of the Director’s Guild of America. Throughout the 90’s, he worked on numerous DGA commercials as well as larger Hollywood projects. This includes TV shows like Gabriel’s Fire, The Untouchables and feature films like Straight Talk and Stuart Smalley Saves the Family. His most notable credit during this period is his years of work with the Chicago units of the popular TV shows ER and Chicago Hope. Since 2009, the majority of Normann’s work has been as a 1st AD on shows such as The Beast (with Patrick Swayze), The Chicago Code, Underemployed (for MTV) Chicago Fire, ABC’s Betrayal,and the Fox TV series The Exorcist.
In addition, he’s also numerous coordinated second units on feature films. His largest came in 2010 when Normann coordinated rooftop and helicopter cameras, as base jumpers leapt off the Willis Tower for Transformers, Dark of the Moon.
Normann’s been married over 35 years to his wife Pauline and lives with their 150 lb. English Mastiff named Murphy. Both their sons, Benjamin and Bayley, now work as film industry professionals
Robert LaPorta: Creative Collaborator
Robert has a multidisciplinary background with work as an actor, producer, artist, animator and architect. In 1995 he co-formed Lost Glove Film Productions with his brother Richard. In 1997 he produced and starred in the short film Man and Wife in Bed, which premiered at the 1997 Telluride Film Festival.
In 2002 he co-produced and starred in the “absurdist curio” One Man’s Ceiling which premiered at the inaugural Tribeca Film Festival in New York and in the Berlin Film Market. His short animated piece, The Long Walk, an old school stop-motion graphic response to the 911 tragedy, also screened at Tribeca. He received his Masters in Architecture from SCIarc, The Southern California Institute of Architecture. He has built and designed furniture, children’s play structures, and shelter shacks.
He is married with two boys and lives exclusively by the simple motto: bcnaf.