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Ohio born businessman Rich Iott began working in the eighth grade at the small, local group of grocery stores which his father had started in 1946. By the time that Iott retired as President and CEO in 2000, the chain had grown to a regional powerhouse of 75 stores in two states with over 4,500 employees and doing nearly $750MM in annual sales.
Following "retirement", Iott partnered into several different businesses: real estate development, aircraft leasing, producing Mexican snack foods, and even a distillery. But his real passion was the motion picture industry. When in high school, Iott and his friends had made several short films, one of which was a 45-minute featurette set during the American Civil War which included real horses, wagons, home-made uniforms, pyrotechnics, and at least one original Civil War musket!
Through his daughter (a film student at USC), Iott began making connections in the independent film community. His first venture was the feature Deal (Seven Arts/MGM, 2008), starring Burt Reynolds, Shannon Elizabeth, Bret Harrison and Jennifer Tilly.
In 2006 Mr. Iott joined forces with Reel Entertainment of Montreal, producing several features for the SyFy Channel including: Hallowed Ground (Icon Film Distribution/The Scy-Fy Channel, 2006), starring Jaime Alexander; Never Cry Werewolf (Peace Arch Releasing/Scy-Fy 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.
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 in live action without special effects or animation. The film, directed by Richard Gabai and starring Christopher Lloyd, 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 Reel Entertainment to form Goldrush Entertainment, under which banner he produced two films: Beauty and the Beast (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. 2013-2014 included productions of The Wrong Woman, The Good Mother, and Expecting Amish, bringing the total to eight collaborations which were produced for the Lifetime Channel.
Goldrush release Lost After Dark, a 1980's homage slasher movie in April 2015 which stars Robert Patrick and David Lipper. 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 was released in 2014.
Through Braeburn, Iott also helps finance and support young and upcoming filmmakers. Braeburn partnered in 2008 - 2011 with local Midwestern 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 again teamed up with Glass City in 2014 to produce the post-apocalyptic thriller Chrysalis which hit theaters, television and DVD in February 2015.
Iott is a member of the Producers Guild of America. He and his wife of 30+ years, Chris, have two adult children and enjoy life in rural Ohio with their five cats. When he's not making movies, teaching gun safety, concealed carry or advanced defensive shooting classes, tinkering with vintage Corvettes, or flying airplanes and seaplanes, you'll find him motoring the back roads on his Harley.
