Elliot V. Kotek is an Australian producer, filmmaker, photographer and the co-founder and former content chief of Not Impossible Now, and former executive director of the Not Impossible Foundation. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Beyond Cinema magazine.
Career
A former mergers and acquisitions/biotech lawyer in Australia and New York, Kotek has a law degree and a BS in pharmacology and toxicology, both from Monash University. After moving to the U.S. in 2000, he studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York and completed UCLA's Professional Program in Screenwriting. Kotek is the founder and editor-in-chief of Beyond Cinema magazine, the former editor-in-chief of both Moving Pictures and Celebs.com.
Film and documentary
Kotek produced Black Boys by Sonia Lowman, starring Malcolm Jenkins, Carmelo Anthony, Dr Harry Edwards and other luminaries - the film dealing with the lack of systematic investment in educational and emotional support for young Black males. He also produced Danica: Driven, a feature-length documentary about race-car driver Danica Patrick, and for which he received multiple best producer awards. Kotek executive produced Matt Kay's Little Miss Sumo, a film about Hiyori Kon, the first woman sumo wrestler to pursue a professional career in Japan's national sport - and which resulted in Hiyori Kon being named to the BBC's List of 100 Most Influential Women for 2019. And Kotek also executive produced Colin Keith Gray's 90291: Venice Unzipped, about the housing affordability and homelessness crisis in the city of Venice, California. Kotek co-produced the feature documentary 140, the first ever user-generated film made utilizing social-media. And, in 2015, Kotek produced the documentary Queen Mimi, about an 89-year-old homeless woman, her 20+ years of living in a laundromat and her unlikely friendship with The Hangover Zach Galifianakis. Outside of documentaries, Kotek wrote and directed short film Little Larry, which was a 2011 Directors Guild of Canada nominee for Best Short Film.
In 2019, Kotek collaborated with creative agency Sid Lee on the branding for the 2019 Sundance Film Festival with Kotek writing that year's "Risk Independence" tag line for the festival. He has served on the juries of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Middle East International Film Festival, Bahamas International Film Festival, Sonoma International Film Festival, HATCHfest, BendFilm, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival as well as the Cinequest Screenwriting Competition and Newport Beach Film Festival's Volcom Award, and was on the U.S. Board of the Bahamas International Film Festival.
Black Boys
Kotek produced 2020's Black Boys (an NBC Peacock Original), a documentary that exposes the dehumanization of Black males in America at the intersection of sports, education and criminal justice in a nation still struggling to rectify its past. The story is anchored by Greg Scruggs, a two-time Super Bowl champion and young father who recently returned to his hometown of Cincinnati to impress upon young Black athletes the importance of education first. Supporting storylines follow Sharif El Mekki, a principal at a nearly all Black charter school in West Philadelphia, and young poet activists fighting for criminal justice reform in Chicago. Notable voices in the film include executive producer Malcolm Jenkins, NBA All-Star and three-time Olympic gold-medalist Carmelo Anthony, Jemele Hill, Dr. Harry Edwards, former Secretary of Education John King, NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter, Arne Duncan, Howard Bryant, Chris Broussard, Alan Page and more. Ultimately, the film serves as a rare glimpse into the emotional landscape of Black males, illuminating their full humanity, vulnerability and resilience. The film features an original track by Ben Harper.