Worldwide Entertainment Studios
Our Founders
Marshall Silverman
Marshall Silverman grew up dividing his time between New York City, where he attended film school and then law school, and Goshen, NY, where his family owned a 164 acre dairy farm with 90 head of cattle. As a youngster he contributed to the family business by milking the Holsteins and Guernseys, herding the chickens, ducks and geese and collecting their eggs. Marshall enjoyed hunting and fishing with his grandfather, and helping move the herds around the graze lines.
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After graduating from law school, Marshall began practicing entertainment law in New York City, with clients in theater, music, and film production. Eventually, Twentieth Century Fox moved Marshall, with his wife and small boys to Los Angeles to work as a production attorney at their Studio in Century City. Thus began several decades of working as a production executive, production attorney, and business affairs executive at movie studios in Los Angeles, New York and London. Marshall engaged in the development and production of over 40 feature films, including 23 years while at Warner Bros. where he served as Vice President and Senior Motion Picture Production Counsel.
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Marshall was instrumental in initiating many hit movie franchises such as BATMAN, HARRY POTTER, WONDER WOMAN, LETHAL WEAPON and OCEANS ELEVEN.
Marshall & Kay Silverman
In addition to the franchise movies, some of the individual productions on which Marshall worked were CONTACT, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, THE PERFECT STORM, KRAMER VS KRAMER, DISCLOSURE, A PERFECT MURDER, GRUMPY OLD MEN, THE PELICAN BRIEF, FAME, and RAGING BULL. Knowing the world of movie studios as well as he does, Marshall is working with Jeff Karinja to design, build, and operate a modern, state-of-the-art, major Hollywood-size movie and television production facility in Montana that will create thousands of good paying jobs for Montanans and bring hundreds of millions of dollars of investment capital into the State.
Jeffrey Karinja
Jeffrey Karinja is a fellow Marine of the United States Marine Corp. He married his beautiful wife, Linda (the balance in his life) 23 years ago and together they have two children, son Nikolas, 18, and daughter Galatea, 16.
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After serving in the Marine Corps, Jeff ventured on to Wall Street working for EF Hutton, Shearson, Shearson American Express and Dean Witter. After 15 years he packed his two Great Danes in the back of his car and headed out to California seeking a different life. There Linda introduced him to a person in the film industry and because of his background, he was asked to reorganize a branding firm in the film industry. In eight months he grew the firm by four-fold. He then decided to open his own branding firm (CEO) and over the last 23 years he has worked on over 100 films on the branding/marketing side of the industry from a small independent film called “CRASH” which won an Oscar, to working on the two hundred million plus budget Marvel franchise of films.
Jeffrey & Linda Karinja
Jeff and his son are continually putting the finishing touches on a home they built on 40 acres just outside of Red Lodge along the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River. Jeff believes in God, a strong family, the 2nd Amendment, the good old USA, and in working hard for his family and his fellow countrymen and women. He believes in and loves Montana and is convinced that Montanans deserve a strong economic climate for their families.
Advisory Board Member
Chris McGurk
To help create products that compete effectively in the global marketplace, we are pleased to have, as a trusted advisor, one of the most experienced in the business.
Chris McGurk & wife, Jamie
Born January 16, 1957, Chris McGurk received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Syracuse University School of Management and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Walt Disney Studios from 1990 to 1994, and as president from 1994 to 1996.
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In 1996, McGurk joined Universal Pictures, where he served in various executive capacities, including president and chief operating officer. From 1999 to 2005, McGurk was vice chairman of the board and chief operating officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (“MGM”), acting as the company’s lead operating executive until MGM was sold.
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In 2003, Premiere Magazine’s annual Power 100 List Ranked McGurk #24 with MGM Chairman Alex Yemenidjian. McGurk played the leading role in MGM's reinvigoration, spearheading efforts that resulted in MGM's industry leadership in Home Entertainment library sales, marketing and distribution. McGurk maximized the asset value of Hollywood's largest modern film library, transformed Hollywood's largest modern film library's United Artists label into a specialty film unit, and negotiated strategic alliances with Twentieth Century Fox and NBC.
Chris served as senior advisor of new ventures of Starz Media LLC (also called IDT Entertainment, Inc.) from April 5, 2006, to November 2006. He founded and served as the chief executive officer of Overture Films, LLC, wholly owned subsidiary of Starz, LLC, from November 13, 2006, to July 2010. He was also CEO of Anchor Bay Entertainment, which distributed Overture Films’ products to the home entertainment industry.
In 2011, Christopher became the chairman and chief executive officer of Cinedigm Digital Cinema. Cinedigm is a North American entertainment company, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Cinedigm is engaged in digital cinema, software, and content marketing and distribution. Cinedigm is an independent content distributor in the United States, with a library of 50,000 films and TV episodes, and direct relationships with over 60,000 physical stores and digital retailers, including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon, as well as the national Video On Demand platform on cable television. In addition, the company offers content marketing and distribution services in theatrical and ancillary home entertainment markets to alternative and independent movie content owners, as well as to theatrical exhibitors.