FREE Monthly Virtual Power Hours for Filmmakers

Finding the right representation can be one of the biggest challenges and biggest turning points in a filmmaker's career. If you've ever wondered when you're truly ready for a manager, what your portfolio should include, or what managers are actually looking for, this Power Hour is for you.

You'll gain invaluable insight into how managers evaluate talent, the current state of the marketplace, what it takes to build a successful manager-client relationship, how projects are getting sold today, and the common mistakes filmmakers make when seeking representation.

If you're serious about taking the next step in your career and landing representation, you won't want to miss this exclusive Power Hour.

Join us for an honest, insider conversation with an industry executive who has developed, produced, and sold projects to Showtime, AMC+, Audible/Amazon, BET Networks, and international buyers, and whose career includes working at Paradigm, ICM, Scott Rudin Productions, Nickelodeon, MTV, and more.

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Sean M. Butler is a Los Angeles–based manager and producer whose career spans premium film, television, audio, and sports-driven storytelling. As Senior Vice President/ Literary & Talent Manager-Producer at Citizen Skull, Sean represents a dynamic slate of showrunners, writers, directors, actors, musicians, and athletes—championing culturally rooted stories with global commercial reach.

Sean is widely recognized for his executive producing work across major franchises. He served as Executive Producer on Amazon/Audible & Macro’s acclaimed investigative series THE MOVE: The Untold Story of an American Tragedy; is co-creator and executive producer of the sports-culture series Game Changers with Shay Murphy; and was Co-Creator & Executive Producer of Showtime’s groundbreaking hit All The Smoke (Seasons 1–3), a franchise that helped redefine athlete-led media. His scripted and premium content credits include the AMC+ African supernatural thriller Dead Places, the dark comedy series SNAP, and BET Network Films titles such as The Available Wife, A Holiday Chance, and Wayward. Sean also executive produces the upcoming STARZ action series The Nowhere Man, premiering January 2026, while simultaneously developing The Hardaway Files with NBA Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway; A Giant Amongst Men (the Lawrence Taylor biopic/limited series); Killer Bee starring DeWanda Wise; and major IP holdings including Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer, Afrofuturism, Ruby McCollum, and the Kingwood Comics universe.

Before joining Citizen Skull, Sean founded Cultivate Entertainment Partners, where he produced, developed, and sold projects to Showtime, AMC+, Audible/Amazon, BET Networks, and international buyers. Earlier in his career, Sean trained inside several top-tier institutions: ICM, Paradigm, and Scott Rudin Productions, working across Rudin’s Paramount, Sony, and Disney deals. He also held roles at Nickelodeon and MTV, giving him a deep foundation in talent representation, development, and studio systems.

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Can't make it? Sign up for our member waitlist so you can become a member and get access to the replay and over 70+ past Power Hour archives.

Our Most Recent Power Hour Guest

René Besson: Independent Producer

What do greats like Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, Nicole Kidman, Nicholas Cage, Laura Dern, Daniel Radcliffe, and Octavia Spencer have in common? Independent producer René Besson has worked with them all!

René Besson is an independent producer with over 25 film credits. Spanning all genres, but with an emphasis on genre films, René shared more about his process of maintaining studio-quality within independent budgets using an empathetic, filmmaking-centric approach that supports creativity. We discussed attracting and attaching top talent to indie films, the art of keeping quality high but the budget low, and how René went from making his first film, Boxes, in 2000 at $285,000 to becoming an Executive Producer on hit indie films.

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Originally from Miami, René Besson was the producer on director Simon West’s The Mechanic, starring Jason Statham, as well as Stolen, starring Nicolas Cage. He also served as executive producer on The Iceman, starring Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, and James Franco; Stone, starring Robert De Niro and Edward Norton; Trespass, starring Nicole Kidman; Straight A’s, starring Luke Wilson and Anna Paquin; Drive Angry, starring Nicolas Cage and Amber Heard; Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D; Homefront, starring Jason Statham, Kate Bosworth, and James Franco; and Stonehearst Asylum, directed by Brad Anderson and starring Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley, and Michael Caine.

He also produced The Taking of Deborah Logan with Bryan Singer; The Free World, starring Elisabeth Moss and Octavia Spencer; The Tale, starring Laura Dern; Beast of Burden, starring Daniel Radcliffe; Speed Kills, starring John Travolta; Driven, starring Jason Sudeikis and Lee Pace; Ordinary Love, starring Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville; Military Wives, starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan; and The Estate, starring Anna Faris and Toni Collette.

Besson has overseen production on the box office hits The Expendables, starring and directed by Sylvester Stallone; Righteous Kill, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro; The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, starring Nicolas Cage; Trust, starring Clive Owen and Catherine Keener; Leaves of Grass, starring Edward Norton; and Solitary Man, starring Michael Douglas.

René Besson is a member of the Producer's Guild of America and the Director's Guild of America.