Dana Belcastro Joins Solstice Studios As Head of Physical Production

EXCLUSIVE: Solstice Studios has hired former 20th Century Fox, Alcon Entertainment and New Line Cinema executive Dana Belcastro as Head of Physical Production. She will report to President & CEO Mark Gill. Belcastro is the latest move by Solstice to build its infrastructure in anticipation of becoming a major generator of film content.

Belcastro, whose production experience and relationships include working with Denis Villeneuve, James Cameron, Terrence Malick, and Alexander Payne among others, was most recently Executive Vice President, Feature Production at 20th Century Fox. She worked on Avatar 2 & 3, The Post, Call of the Wild, Fruit Loops and The True Maze.

Her previous experience includes serving as Executive Vice President, Feature Film Production at Alcon Entertainment and Evergreen Studios, as well as Co-Producer on the Villenueve-directed Blade Runner 2049, and the Laurence Sher-directed Father Figures.

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At New Line Cinema, Belcastro supervised physical production on over thirty films including: the Final Destination franchise, Hairspray, the Malick-directed The New World and The Golden Compass.

Belcastro’s first feature film at the company will be Unhinged, a road rage thriller which stars Oscar and recent Golden Globe winner Russell Crowe winner. Solstice will also start production in April on the Robert Rodriguez-directed mind-bending action thriller, Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck.

Solstice launched in fall, 2018 with the intention of developing, fully financing, producing, selling international and distribution in the U.S. wide release feature films at a clip of 3-5 movies per year. These will be made for a global audience, generally carrying budgets in the $20M-80M range. It also plans to co-finance or acquire another 1-2 films per year for wide US distribution. The company has a partnership with Ingenious Media.

The Solstice team has a $5 billion production track record and is expected to grow to 65 people. The senior team includes President/CEO Gill, Head of Production Lisa Ellzey, Co-Production Head Guy Botham, Marketing/Strategy Head Vincent Bruzzese, Acquisitions & International Head Crystal Bourbeau, Business & Legal Affairs Head Karen Barna, Chief Financial Officer Shaun Williams and Head of US Distribution Shari Hardison.