Braeburn Entertainment is the product of founder Rich Iott’s long standing passion for film.
Ohio born businessman Rich Iott began investing in and producing films soon after his retirement in 2000 as President and CEO of Seaway Food Town, Inc. which operated 50 supermarkets under the names “Food Town” and “Food Town Plus”, and 25 deep discount drugstores under the name “The Pharm.” Among Mr. Iott’s first productions are the short, Matters of Life and Death (2007), starring Joe Mazzello and David Strathairn and the feature Deal (Seven Arts/MGM, 2008), starring Burt Reynolds, Shannon Elizabeth, Bret Harrison and Jennifer Tilly.
In 2006 Mr. Iott joined forces with producer Eric Golzan, producing several thrillers including: Hallowed Ground (Icon Film Distribution/The Sci-Fi Channel, 2007), starring Jaime Alexander; Never Cry Werewolf (Peace Arch Releasing/Sci-Fi Channel/Phoenicia Pictures, 2007), featuring Nina Dobrev and Kevin Sorbo; and Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon (American World Pictures/Sci-Fi Channel, 2007) with Carly Pope and Peter DeLuise.
Mr. Iott formed Braeburn Entertainment, Ltd. in 2007 to produce Call of the Wild 3D, the first family-friendly 3D film in history to be shot entirely live action without special effects or animation. The film, directed by Richard Gabai and starring Christopher Lloyd, Ariel Gade, Wes Studi, Aimee Teegarden, and Timothy Bottoms, was released in 2009 by Vivendi Entertainment and Voltage Pictures.
In 2009, Mr. Iott’s Braeburn Entertainment, Ltd. partnered with Gozlan’s Montreal-based Reel Entertainment to form Goldrush Entertainment, under which banner he produced two films: Beauty and the Beast (SyFy US/SyFy Universal/American World Pictures, 2009), starring Estelle Warren and Rhett Giles, and the multiple award-winning feature, Beautiful Boy (Anchor Bay Films, Lightning Entertainment, 2010), starring Michael Sheen, Maria Bello and singer/songwriter Meatloaf.
Mr. Iott continues to produce films under both the Goldrush and Braeburn banners. Goldrush Entertainment Inc. produced Carjacked (Anchor Bay Films), a thriller starring Maria Bello and Stephen Dorff, in 2011.
Braeburn teamed again with Richard Gabai in 2011 to produce Insight, a psychological thriller starring Christopher Lloyd, Sean Patrick Flanery, and Natalie Zea; in 2012 to produce Imaginary Friend, another psychological thriller starring Lacey Chambert, Amanda Shull and Ethan Embry, and In the Dark, an homage film similar to the famous 1967 film “Wait Until Dark”, starring Elisabeth Röhm, Shannon Elizabeth, and Sam Page. These four collaborations were produced for the Lifetime Channel.
In 2013, the Braeburn/Gabai team produced The Good Mother, a thriller which deals with the condition of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, for Lifetime starring Helen Slater, Patrick Fabian, and Beverly D’Angelo as well as The Wrong Woman, also for Lifetime.
September 2013 saw the release of the Braeburn/Jeselu Films production of Alongside Night, J. Neil Schulman’s award-winning novel about the final economic collapse of the United States as seen through the eyes of the 16-year-old son of a Nobel Prize winning economist who is critical of the Administration’s policies and mysteriously disappears, starring Kevin Sorbo.
Through Braeburn, Iott also helps finance and support young and upcoming filmmakers. Braeburn partnered in 2008 – 2011 with local filmmakers John Klein and Cole Simon and their Glass City Films on three feature films, Glass City, Happily After, and Separation Anxiety which are presently being represented in Hollywood. Braeburn also partnered in 2011 with Matt Cooper and Lamplight Films on the mega-short Closing Broadcast.
When not producing films, Rich enjoys riding his Harley on the rural backroads of Ohio where he lives with his wife of 30+ years, Christine, and their five cats.