Aleksandra Hodowany
Producer, Director, Writer, Actor.
Aleksandra Hodowany was born on January 24, 1976 in Poland, where she made her acting debut in a kindergarten production of The Three Little Pigs.
In 1986, The Hodowany family was forced to leave Poland and flee to the former West Germany, emigrating to the United States in 1989. Aleksandra attended high school at Foreman on Chicago's northwest side, where she graduated early by taking an accelerated program designed for high academic achievers.
Upon graduation, Aleksandra enrolled at Columbia College Chicago. After two years of intensive theater training, she transferred to the film and video department to study directing. During the course of her education she interned for various film production companies, where she received hands-on training from professionals in her field.
Her first film, Because God Is A Woman, won second place at the Film and Video Youth Festival. She then directed and acted in various short films, as well as in Columbia's soap opera, Lonely Hearts, a production of the college's television department. Her final student film was Killing the Cat, which won second place at the Canadian International Film and Video Festival.
After graduating from Columbia in 1999, she moved to Los Angeles where she worked for Richard Donner's production company at Warner Bros. Studios. Aleksandra also became involved with Film Artist's Network (FAN), an organization which focused on helping independent filmmakers distribute their films. As a FAN member, she traveled to all the major film markets, selling American independent films. While working at the Cannes Film Market, she and her co-writer Monika Szewerniak met a producer who showed a keen interest in buying the Runaway Divas screenplay. After extensive negotiations, Aleksandra and Monika decided to set up their own production company, MonOla Productions, and along with their third partner Chris Collins, produced Runaway Divas themselves.
Monika Szewerniak
Producer, Director, Writer, Actor.
Monika Szewerniak was born in Poland on October 18, 1976. At the age of five, she and her mother moved to Chicago. Monika attended high school at Foreman on Chicago’s northwest side, where she met Aleksandra Hodowany, her creative and business partner. Anxious to move on to college and begin her film career sonner, she graduated early by taking an accelerated program designed for high academic achievers.
At age sixteen, Monika moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California where she wrote and directed two full lengths plays, as well as four solo performance pieces, one of which she performed at NBC Studios. Before graduating, Monika was accepted to USC’s Cinema-TV Production Program, where she wrote, produced and directed five short films. Upon graduating with a bachelor of arts in theater and cinema, she produced and directed Christopher Durang’s Titanic and later went on to work for several film industry professionals, including Jason Alexander and John Amos.
Monika returned to Chicago to star in Hodowany's film, Killing the Cat. Soon after, she returned to Los Angeles, writing the script for Runaway Divas with Hodowany on the trip. Since that time Szewerniak, Hodowany and their third partner, cinematographer Christopher Collins have been busy establishing their careers, starting MonOla Productions and marketing their 35mm feature, Runaway Divas.
Christopher J. Collins
Producer, Cinematographer.
Chris Collins was raised in Greenfield, Ohio, where he attended McClain High School, where he was introduced to lighting design and theatrical arts. In 1991, Chris and his family moved to Wadsworth, Ohio, and he began applying his theatrical knowledge to motion pictures. Chris produced several rock music videos for a local band, which were aired on public access WCTV. In 1993, he left Wadsworth to attend Wright State University, where he began his academic studies in film making.
Chris got his first taste of success while working as a key grip and as an assistant gaffer on the 1995 production of Night Swimming, which won a Region 3 Award at the Student Academy Awards and a Bronze Award at the Houston World Festival. It was then that Chris knew that film would be his life’s work. He dedicated himself to receiving the best possible education, as well as enough exposure to turn his dream into reality.
Chris enrolled in the cinematography program at Columbia College in Chicago, where he became known for his artistic style and fierce professionalism. During the course of his studies, Chris was the poster child for multitasking, maintaining a full-time academic program while working up to four freelance jobs in film production in an effort to fast-track his career opportunities. In his last year at Columbia, Chris was hired by Aleksandra Hodowany to be the director of photography for her final student film, Killing the Cat, and their creative collaboration began.
After graduating from Columbia in 1999, Chris moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career. He now works at Fotokem and is a partner in MonOla Productions with Hodowany and Szewerniak.