Howard Barish, President

Howard Barish is an Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning producer, director and distributor based in Los Angeles.

Originally from Toronto, Canada, Barish gained extensive production experience in the thriving Canadian film and television industry as a First Assistant Director on feature films, television mini-series, made-for-television movies, pilots, and nearly 100 episodes of various network television series. After relocating to Los Angeles in the early 90s, he launched Kandoo Films in 1992, a production company that specializes in creating independent feature films, documentaries, and promotional and digital content for television and film.

As founder and president of Kandoo Films, Barish produces thousands of hours of short-form content, network image and branding campaigns, promos, sizzle reels, and long-form programming for clients such as CBS, The CW, FOX, HGTV, Lifetime, E! Entertainment, and Warner Bros., to name a few.

Barish expanded his portfolio to feature films in 2010 when then publicist Ava DuVernay approached him with a low-budget feature film. This was the start of a successful partnership that resulted in several projects and multiple award wins over the past seven years. They began working on I WILL FOLLOW and MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, which went on to win Best Director at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, a Gotham Award, and the 2013 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award. Barish also served as a producer on the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary VENUS VS. that showcased tennis great Venus Williams, HELLO BEAUTIFUL: INTERLUDES WITH JOHN LEGEND, and FOX’s historic web series, 24Inside.

Barish and DuVernay collaborated on the critically acclaimed 2016 Netflix documentary 13TH that centered on race in the United States criminal justice system. Produced by Barish and DuVernay, 13TH was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2017. The film has garnered multiple awards including four Emmys, a Peabody Award, BAFTA Award, NAACP Image Award, African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Award, and multiple wins at the first annual Critics' Choice Documentary Awards.

With a focus on developing emerging filmmakers, in 2017, Barish announced his first slate of low-budget features for the Emerging Artist Program, which included BROKEN STAR (Analeigh Tipton, Tyler Labine), SKIN IN THE GAME (Erica Ash), HOSPITALITY (Emmanuelle Chriqui), and BLINDFIRE (Brian Gerahty, Sharon Leal, Bethany Joy Lenz). The following year he expanded Kandoo Films’ services by launching the company’s distribution arm - Kandoo Releasing. Kandoo Releasing ensures that Kandoo’s emerging artist slate, as well as other quality independent films helmed by rising filmmakers, will reach audiences worldwide.

Mike Nell, Creative Director

Born in Bloomington, Illinois, Mike Nell graduated from the Illinois Institute of Art in 2008 and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of filmmaking. Mike began his career in production on the sets of feature films and commercials until forming a small business of his own in 2010. The company gave Mike the experience of producing a variety of projects from visual effects to live action for indie films and commercial clients such as Portillo’s and Carolla Drinks.

In 2012, Mike began working at Kandoo Films. Hired as the Assistant to the Creative Director, Mike worked on many promo campaigns for the Power Rangers and CW Network and was the Assistant Editor on the ESPN Documentary Venus VS. In the continuing years Mike transitioned into a producing role at the company traveling the country for the Academy Award nominated documentary 13th as well as Co-Producing Kandoo Films’ three most recent pictures, Broken Star, Skin in the Game, and Hospitality.

In 2019 Mike wrote and directed his first feature film titled BLINDFIRE that will be premiered in 2020.

Al Smith, Senior Producer

Al Smith joined Kandoo Films in 2002 as a Senior Staff Producer. An industry veteran, Al brings to the team almost 40 years of experience in commercial television and on-air promo production. After starting his career as the Assistant General Manager of Studio Operations at Raleigh Studios, Al segued into a full-time career in live-action production. In addition to hundreds of network promos and commercials, Al has produced numerous music videos, corporate films, and feature films. Al is the consummate professional and he brings the Kandoo team in-depth production knowledge and boundless energy.