Ron Merk

Ron Merk's film career began over 40 years ago, making documentaries for ABC TV in Miami, Florida. Since then, Ron has been an independent producer, director, writer and distributor; often simultaneously. His most recent project, MARCO POLO - RETURN TO XANADU, now in worldwide release by Lionsgate Films, has won many festival awards; qualifying for a Best Animated Feature Academy Award nomination.

Ron has imported classic & foreign films, including LA NOTTE by Antonioni; created merchandising under license from Warner Bros., Speed Racer Enterprises, MGM, and King Features; and multimedia for the Broadway show OH! CALCUTTA!, among others. He has coproduced, with the Czech Film Studio, Barrandov, for the films LOOKING FOR LENNON and LEBENSBORN; and has spearheaded film restoration projects, including HERCULES IN NEW YORK, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and has major collections at UCLAFilm Archives, the Museum of Modern Art, The A.M.P.A.S., and The Library of Congress.

Ron's work has been published in Animation Magazine, Animation World Network, Film Festival Today & Release Print. Ron has also been a panelist and/or juror at numerous U.S. and international film festivals. He is cofounder of the Filmmaker Resource Sharing Group, now called IndiePlex, which connects filmmakers to peers, resources, and distribution options.

Ron returned to his documentary roots in 2001 when he wrote the Emmy Award-winning film, "The Power of Good," which screened on HBO/Cinemax. He's worked on foreign language films on three continents, and is founder and Executive Director of the San Francisco-based Metro Theatre Center Foundation; working endlessly to support filmmakers and film-related nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He is presently developing a one-hour drama for television, entitled "Cocktails," which he created and wrote. In addition, in co-operation with Lionsgate Films, Ron is writing the book and lyrics for a Broadway stage musical adaptation of Arnold Schwarzenegger's first movie, "Hercules in New York."