About Our Team Members
Members of our Production staff have prior experience as line producers and appreciate the demands of physical production. Members of our Business Affairs staff have tackled even the most involved production financing arrangements, including multi-party, international co-productions.
Steve Mangel
President
Steve Mangel is President of UniFi Completion Guarantors (UniFi). Together with Steven Leib and Michael Levine. Steve formed UniFi to “provide unrivaled and personalized service offering our customers a new favorable choice to the larger traditional bond companies.” Before launching UniFi Steve served as President and CEO of International Film Guarantors (IFG) for 15 years where he was responsible for managing all company operations. Steve has supervised the bonding of more than 400 films and television productions with aggregate production budgets exceeding $10 Billion. Before IFG he served 12 years as a senior executive at LIVE Entertainment (LIVE) in charge of business and legal affairs where he also founded and headed its international sales division. As LIVE’s chief dealmaker Steve structured the financing and production of many high-profile independent films. Before joining LIVE he was a partner in an entertainment law firm specializing in the music recording and publishing industries. Steve received his Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University - Northridge and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California Law Center.
Steven Leib
President – Business Affairs
Steven Leib is President of Business Affairs at UniFi Completion Guarantors (UniFi). His responsibilities include verifying the legal rights and obligations of our customers and overseeing the preparation and negotiation of our Completion Guaranty, Completion Agreement, and other documents. Steven has built strong relationships with and is well-respected by banks, financiers, studios, producers, production service companies, distributors, brokers, insurers, law firms, accounting firms, talent agencies, laboratories, suppliers, and more. He is well versed in a variety of production financing structures including those involving domestic and international presales; senior, mezzanine, gap, and equity financing; international co-productions; escrow arrangements; letters of credit; production tax credits; governmental subsidies, rebates, and other incentives. Steven was previously Head of Business Affairs for International Film Guarantors (IFG) for fifteen years during which time he negotiated completion bonds for over 300 movies and directed all business affairs activities. Before joining IFG, Steven worked in business affairs at Artisan Entertainment and Savoy Pictures.
Michael Levine
President – Production
Michael Levine is President of Production at UniFi Completion Guarantors (UniFi). He oversees the evaluation of production elements (script, budget, schedule, key personnel) for every project submission and the monitoring of all bonded productions. From the start of principal photography through post-production and delivery, Michael works closely together with filmmakers to help ensure their projects are completed and delivered on schedule and budget. If a production struggles Michael and his staff will help find practical collaborative solutions. Michael was previously Senior Vice President of Production at International Film Guarantors (IFG) for nine years during which time he participated in evaluating and monitoring more than 200 movies. Before joining IFG, Michael served as a Production Executive at Twentieth Century Fox where he worked on such films as True Lies, Home Alone 2, Prelude to a Kiss, and Rookie of the Year. Michael also worked as a Production Supervisor on Titanic, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers – The Movie, and Monkey Bone. He has also consulted or supervised units for major studios on projects such as Office Space, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Entrapment, The Black Knight, Fantastic Four, Behind Enemy Lines, Phone Booth, and Wedding Crashers. Michael graduated from New York University with a major in Film and Television Studies.
Beth DePatie
Vice President – Production
Beth DePatie is Vice President of Production at UniFi Completion Guarantors (UniFi). Beth previously served as Vice President – Production Finance at International Film Guarantors (IFG). Before joining IFG, Beth served as the Line Producer or Unit Production Manager on several productions including Fame, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Henry Poole is Here, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Frailty, The Deep End, Dark Blue, Dead Man, Very Bad Things and Mallrats. Beth has worked on productions filming throughout the United States and internationally and has assisted such notable directors as Andrew Adamson, Peter Berg, James Cameron, Jim Jarmusch, Mark Pellington, and Kevin Smith, just to name a few. Beth is a member of the Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Max Mangel
Business Affairs and Production Director
Max Mangel is Business Affairs and Production Director at UniFi Completion Guarantors (UniFi), responsible for coordinating the responsibilities of UniFi’s Business Affairs and Production departments, including coordinating all legal documentation and tracking film, television, and new media productions from pre-production through post-production and delivery. Previously, Max worked on several video games as a writer and systems designer. Having grown up in the completion guaranty industry, Max always wanted to learn more about motion picture production. Max received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of California – Santa Cruz.