Ellen Goldsmith-Vein is the Founder and CEO of The Gotham Group, the only major management/production company in Hollywood owned solely by a woman. Based in Los Angeles, Goldsmith-Vein and The Gotham Group represent some of the most creative minds in the entertainment industry including top directors, writers, producers, authors, illustrators, and publishers.
She produced the films Stargirl and the sequel Hollywood Stargirl for Disney+, based on the best-selling work of author Jerry Spinelli, with AGT champ Grace VanderWaal making her film debut as the eponymous lead, Stargirl Caraway. . She is producing the animated feature film Wendell & Wild at Netflix in collaboration with Jordan Peele and acclaimed director Henry Selick and starring the voice talent of Key & Peele and Lyric Ross. Goldsmith-Vein/The Gotham Group are also producing My Best Friend’s Exorcism, based on the Grady Hendrix novel of the same name, directed by Damon Thomas, and starring Elsie Fisher, Amiah Miller, Cathy Ang, and Rachel Ogechi Kanu for Amazon.
In television, Goldsmith-Vein and Gotham have a first-look deal at Disney Television Studios. The Gotham Group is currently in production on the animated series WondLa for Apple, based on Tony DiTerlizzi’s bestselling book trilogy, and is in pre-production on Percy Jackson for Disney+, the best-selling, blockbuster series by Rick Riordan. Gotham is in pre-production on Washington Black for Hulu, based on Esi Edugyan’s critically acclaimed novel, alongside Selwyn Hinds, Anthony Hemingway and Sterling K. Brown.
Goldsmith-Vein and The Gotham Group produced the billion-dollar The Maze Runner franchise as well as the Netflix 2018 film Kodachrome with Jason Sudeikis, Elisabeth Olsen and Ed Harris. Goldsmith-Vein was nominated for a Primetime Emmy and won an Annie Award for Creature Comforts, the US version of the acclaimed UK series from Aardman Animations, and was chosen by VARIETY as a “Producer to Watch” in 2014.
Gotham has numerous publishing relationships with stalwarts such as Little, Brown and Company and Simon & Schuster. These close ties with publishers are designed to help “reverse engineer” projects from leading creatives as the basis for film and television projects. Many publishers and high-powered New York literary agents look to The Gotham Group to help find homes for their material, earning the firm the reputation as the “go to” firm for the best material in Hollywood.
Goldsmith-Vein started her professional life in banking at Merrill Lynch. She then joined the venerable William Morris Agency in the television packaging department and segued to Nelvana Entertainment, where she worked developing animated film and television projects including Family Dog with Brad Bird and Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, among others.
She is a prolific political fundraiser and champion of many charities. Goldsmith-Vein serves on the Board of NAB/NFC for the Democratic National Committee, is a member of the National Finance Committee for Cory Booker, and served on the National Finance Committees for Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton. She is a founding member of Barbara Boxer’s PAC for Change (March On) and sits on the Advisory Board of Common Sense Media. She is a member of the Blue Ribbon of the Los Angeles Music Center along with serving on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She is a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Science, serves as a mentor for the Junior Hollywood Radio & Television Society, and is a member of the advisory board for 826LA and the Young Storytellers Foundation. She also serves on the Board of Directors of P.S. Arts. She is a past Board member of Girls, Inc. – a highly regarded national non-profit youth organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold – and was honored by the organization for her work and contributions to the arts, girls and women. She is also a member of Women in Animation and ASIFA-Hollywood.
In April 2020, Goldsmith-Vein created Gotham Reads, the YouTube channel which features bestselling children’s authors, celebrities and political figures reading beloved books for kids hard hit by the pandemic. Each unique video is an opportunity to educate, inspire, and entertain young readers while bringing families together wherever they are. Gotham Reads is partnered with a broad network of affiliated organizations including 826LA, Common Sense Media, Girls Inc., Imagine LA, P.S. Arts, Save the Children, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and Young Storytellers. Gotham Reads is now included in the PBS curriculum offered to LAUSD and on Common Sense Media’s free streaming service Sensical.
Goldsmith-Vein is married to entrepreneur Jon Vein, who has built several companies, including most recently Marketshare, an analytical software company which sold to Neustar in 2015. They have two children and live in Los Angeles. A graduate of UCLA, Goldsmith-Vein also attended Hollins College, where she received an honorary doctorate degree.