FOUNDERS
MIKE CALLAGHAN is a founding partner and Head of Development of Ranger 7 Films.
Before making a career transition to entertainment, Mike spent six years working for global advertising agency Arnold Worldwide in Washington, D.C., where he oversaw such clients as McDonald’s and Ruth’s Chris Steak House. The skills he developed in marketing – everything from orchestrating new product launches, handling PR crises, and creating live customer experience events – underlie his strategic approach to film development and production.
Following a brief stint working for a documentary producer at the Discovery Channel, Mike landed at MPCA, an independent production company most well known for the blockbuster comedy classic Dumb and Dumber, hit sequel Dumb and Dumber To, and the Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning HBO film Taking Chance. Straddling both the studio and independent worlds, Mike quickly rose to Vice President of Development and Production, producing over a dozen independent features while also developing and producing larger studio films at Disney, Universal, and DreamWorks.
Over the years, Mike has built an extensive network of both seasoned and up-and-coming writers and directors, and aside from original ideas, has developed film projects based on novels, true stories, magazine articles, comic books, foreign language films, documentaries, and even a country-western song.
The son of a commercial and documentary filmmaker, Mike grew up in Annapolis, MD and holds a B.A. in Politics from Washington & Lee University. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA).
Full filmography available at: http://pro.imdb.com/name/nm2223240/.
JUSTIN BURSCH is a founding partner and Head of Production at Ranger 7 Films.
Having produced more than 20 movies in his career as a creative and physical producer, Justin brings a wealth of hands-on experience and knowledge of development into pre-production, continuing through production, post-production, and delivery. Trusted by market-leading completion guarantor Film Finances, Justin is known for his ability to devise achievable production plans, including budgeting, production timelines and cashflow schedules, tax credit analyses, overall financial structures, cost reporting, and overseeing union matters and state and local government relations. His demonstrated expertise makes him a first call for studios, independent production companies, and sales companies who rely on his authority and steady hand to deliver a top-level product on time and on budget while still protecting filmmakers’ creative intent and relationships with on-screen and behind-the-camera talent.
Prior to launching Ranger 7 Films, Justin served as Vice President of Production at MPCA (the production company behind blockbuster comedy Dumb and Dumber, the recent hit sequel Dumb and Dumber To, and the award-winning Taking Chance). Most recently, Justin has shepherded films for Voltage Pictures (the production and sales company behind The Hurt Locker and Dallas Buyer’s Club), Depth of Field (writers, producers, and directors of American Pie, About A Boy, and Twilight: A New Moon), Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, NBC Universal Television, A&E Television Networks, and Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit.
Before starting his career in entertainment, Justin ran a successful real estate holding company based in Washington State. He grew up in Spokane, WA and holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing from Central Washington University, where he was also a four-year letterman on the men’s basketball team and played in the NCAA Division 2 National Basketball Tournament all four years, serving as team captain his junior and senior years.
Justin is a member of the Director’s Guild of America (DGA) as a Unit Production Manager.
Full filmography available at: http://pro.imdb.com/name/nm1706441/.
REUBEN LIBER is a founding partner and Head of Operations of Ranger 7 Films.
Reuben began his career with Twentieth Century Fox International Television in 1998 before moving into independent production and distribution at MPCA. Subsequent to joining MPCA, Reuben quickly rose to the position of Senior Vice President, Production & Development Operations, serving as a broad-based production and business affairs executive whose responsibilities encompassed the entire span of the company’s activities, ranging from negotiating co-production financing to concluding the sale of MPCA’s 250-title motion picture library.
His areas of expertise include development, talent packaging, production, sales, financing, and distribution, including the arrangement of co-production and distribution strategies with studio and international financiers and distributors, and sales and distribution, having negotiated rights for films from such diverse creators as Tim Allen, Stephen King, and the Broken Lizard comedy troupe. Reuben also provides broad-ranging consulting services to third party independent producers, sales companies, and intellectual property owners on motion picture and television production, financing, distribution, and licensing matters.
With his wide array of experience, Reuben enjoys the myriad challenges of micro-budget productions through budgets in the tens of millions of dollars, traditional media to new media, conventional investment structures to crowdfunding, and feature films to television series and longform programming.
Reuben grew up in San Diego, CA and holds a B.A. summa cum laude from Brandeis University. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA).
Full filmography available at: http://pro.imdb.com/name/nm1310547/.
