Team

Maya Amsellem
Founder
 
Maya Amsellem graduated from the Law University of Nice in 1995 and was called to the Israeli bar in 1996, later qualifying as a solicitor in England. Maya practiced five years as a corporate lawyer in a well-established law firm in Israel. In 2000 Maya moved to London, joining Capitol Films as a head of Legal and Business affairs working on the financing of such films as Robert Altman’s The Company, David Cronenberg’s Spider, Robert Town’s Ask the Dust. She left Capitol in 2007 to start WestEnd Films with partners Sharon Harel and Eve Schoukroun in 2008.
Sharon Harel-Cohen
Founder
 
Sharon Harel has been involved in producing and financing more than 50 films, personally and through Capitol Films, the company she co-founded in 1989 and sold in 2006. She is executive producer of many films including; Robert Altman’s Gosford Park and The Company, David Cronenberg’s Spider, Roman Polanski’s Death & The Maiden, Sylvia starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Dancing at Lughnasa, starring Meryl Streep, Lucky Number Slevin, starring Bruce Willis and Josh Hartnett, Bruce Beresford's A Good Man in Africa, Merchant Ivory’s A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries, Stephen Frears’ Tamara Drewe, Oscar-Nominated Albert Nobbs, Ralph Fiennes' The Invisible Woman and Neil Jordan's Byzantium. In 2008, Sharon launched WestEnd Films in partnership with Eve Schoukroun and Maya Amsellem. Sharon started her career as a producer with the award-winning Israeli classic Halahaka, which she co-wrote. After producing other Israeli feature films, including Dizengoff 99, she produced two films for Tri- Star pictures: Every Time You Say Good Bye starring Tom Hanks, and Iron Eagle II, starring Louis Gossett Jr. Sharon was awarded the Olswang Business Award by the Carlton Women in Film & Television in 2002. She is a graduate in Chinese Studies and Western Philosophy from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is married to Sir Ronald Cohen and they have a daughter and a son.
Sofia Neves
Head of Sales
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Born in Lisbon, Sofia graduated in 2001 from Universidade Nova de Lisboa with a major in Film. She did a Masters in European Audiovisual Management at the Media Business School (2004) and was a full participant in the Inside Pictures programme (2012). After a couple of years working in Portugal in production and distribution, Sofia moved to London in 2005 to work for Capitol Films where she became Sales Director and worked on Nick Cassavette’s Alpha Dog, Paul McGuigan’s Lucky Number Slevin, Robert Altman’s Prairie Home Companion and Sidney Lumet’s Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, to name a few. In 2008 she went to work at Hanway Films as Director of Sales and Distribution working on David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, Sam Taylor-Wood’s Nowhere Boy, Nigel Cole’s Made in Dagenham, Lone Scherfig’s An Education,Steve McQueen’s Shame, among many others. Sofia then moved into film financing in 2011 where she worked for the Portuguese Film Fund FICA as Business Development Director and then for the BFI’s Film Fund in Production Finance. In 2016, she joined WestEnd Films as Head of Sales.
Daisy Allsop
Head of Acquisitions & Development
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Daisy began her career in development and acquisitions for sales agent Capitol Films and then as head of development for Feel Films she developed a slate of book adaptations with slate funding from the UK Film council and was Associate Producer on ’Skellig’ and ‘Five Children & It'. More recently she has been an independent producer. She is in post on My Happy Ending (Andie Macdowell, Miriam Margolyes, Sally Phillips, Tamsin Greig), a UK-Israel co-production supported by the UK Global Screen Fund. And currently in post on “Otto Baxter: Not a F***ing Horror Story” a feature documentary for Sky, and on ‘The Puppet Asylum’ (starring Paul Kaye, Adeel Akhtar, Dexter Fletcher and Myanna Buring) the first film written and directed by a person with Down Syndrome to be commissioned by a major broadcaster. Daisy produced BFI-funded Tell It To The Bees, (Anna Paquin, Holliday Grainger) which premiered in Special Presentation at TIFF, released theatrically in 2019. Also Screen Star of Tomorrow David Leon’s Orthodox (Stephen Graham, Michael Smiley), longlisted for Best Debut Director BIFA and theatrically released in 2016. As a writer she is represented at Casarotto.
Noémie BÉCACHE
Sales and Acquisitions Executive
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Noemie began her career as an assistant in the International Distribution Strategy department at StudioCanal and worked as a Content Development Manager at The Content House. She also owns her production company in Paris, Salted Honey. After a couple of years managing the European Acquisitions for Trinity Media Financing, a film financing company, Noémie joined WestEnd Films in 2022.
Luca Miano
Legal, Marketing & Festivals Executive
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As the Legal, Marketing & Festivals Executive at Westend Films, Luca manages the legal and marketing aspects of the company's slate of films, including contracts, deliverables, festivals, and promotions. He works closely with sales agents, distributors, and producers to ensure the smooth and successful delivery and launch of WestEnd's films in the global market. Luca earned a Law Degree from the University of Bologna, and a Master of Fine Arts in Producing from the American Film Institute Conservatory, where he honed his skills in developing and producing original and compelling stories for the screen. Luca produced several award-winning short and feature films, such as The Motions, which won the Grand Prize for Best Short Film at the Rhode Island International Film Festival and other accolades. He also gained valuable experience in the international sales and distribution sector, working as an assistant for various leading film companies, such as Bankside Films, Embankment Films, and Pathé. Luca is passionate about finding and sharing stories that inspire, entertain, and challenge audiences. He possesses a unique blend of international acumen, entrepreneurial drive, and global perspective, which he applies to his work and learning. Luca enjoys building relationships with intellectually stimulating people and learning from great leaders who have built successful companies at scale. He is a lover of Italian opera and espresso.