The Team

  • RICCARDO BERDINI

    PRESIDENT

    Before moving to LA in 2016, Riccardo was a successful actor and singer in Italy and was awarded Best Musical Theatre Performer for his portrayal of Jean Valjean in Les Mis. After playing the villain in movies like “Body of Sin” by the Olsen brothers and “Acceleration” with Dolph Lungren and Danny Trejo, Riccardo founded Face Off Pictures. He produced and directed the short films “The Order”, “Tori - Symphony of Vengeance”,Awakening” and “Mortal Hearts”, winning multiple awards such as Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Score and Best Short in festivals all around the world, including the LA Independent Film Festival, The Chicago Film Festival and the Marateale in Italy.

    Riccardo is a visionary and passionate filmmaker who has dedicated his life to the art of storytelling and he’s currently building a team of extraordinary talented people who are excited to help him fulfilling his vision .

  • AHMED MUSIOL

    PRESIDENT OF PRODUCTION

    Ahmed Musiol Kolacek co-founded Wayfarer Entertainment in 2013, for which he served as president of the organization for nearly a decade. He has executive produced and directed award-winning documentary series such as "My Last Days,” (CW Network/Participant) which won an Emmy Honors. Under his leadership, the company launched two successful features, "Five Feet Apart" (CBS Films) and "Clouds" (Warner Bros./Disney), where he served as co-producer. In 2019, after selling Wayfarer Entertainment, Ahmed established Familiar Stranger, a production company dedicated to amplifying stories rooted in our shared universal values with a first-look deal at the newly formed Wayfarer Studios. He is in development on a number of features and series, and recently wrapped directing a new series for The CW Network.

    Ahmed has joined the rest of Face Off team to oversee the production on their slate of films.

  • NICK CARDIFF

    HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT

    NICK is a Screenwriter and Story Consultant originally from Chicago, where he started a company that was voted Chicago Readers' Best Off-Loop Theater Company. After his pilot, THE CHAPEL, was awarded by the Austin Television Festival, Nick moved to Los Angeles and began collaborating with production companies, as well as several writers, directors, actors, and producers, helping them shape and elevate their screenplays, pilots, stories, and ideas.

    Nick oversees the development of all the original slate of projects for Face Off Pictures.

  • ALEXANDER GUEZ

    HEAD OF STRATEGY AND ANALYTICS

    Alexander is currently an Executive Producer on a Terry Winter movie (“Boardwalk Empire”, “Wolf of Wall Street”, “Sopranos”), based on the 2018 memoir, “A Father’s Story,” by Stephen Flatow. Alex was also an Executive Producer of the film “Wakefield”, starring Academy Award nominee Bryan Cranston, written and directed by Academy Award nominee Robin Swicord.

    Alexander started his career studying directing and screenwriting at The Los Angeles Film School and later attending the UCLA Extension Program for screenwriting. At the beginning of his career he worked as a script reader and story analyst for Montage and Millennium Films, where he honed his eye for rising talent while assisting in major casting decisions.

    Alexander founded Face Off Pictures alongside Riccardo Berdini in 2020 and since then he has served as a producer in all the company projects.

  • ERICA SCHMUECK

    HEAD OF PHYSICAL PRODUCTION

    Erica's career has been a lovely mix of content, filling roles such as Head of Production, Producer, Line Producer, and Production Manager, (DGA). Her highlights include working as the Head of Production at 2nd Try Entertainment, a media company with an audience of over 8 million, Production Manager for the editorial & Publishing team at Netflix, and as a Supervising Producer at BuzzFeed. In addition to these roles Erica has worked in traditional television, independent films, travel shows, branded video, VR gaming, and documentaries. Since moving to Los Angeles from Chicago, Erica has worked all over the world including London, Athens, Edinburg, and across the US.

  • DAN GOLDBERG

    LEGAL COUNSEL

    Prior to working with Face Off Pictures, Dan was Senior Counsel in the Legal Affairs department at Paramount Television Studios, a division of Paramount Pictures. During his tenure at Paramount, Dan was the attorney for several shows, including Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (Amazon Prime Video), The Haunting of Bly Manor (Netflix), Shantaram (Apple TV+), Made for Love (HBO Max), Joe Pickett (Paramount+), The Spiderwick Chronicles (The Roku Channel), and Time Bandits (Apple TV+), to name a few.

    Dan obtained his J.D. from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and his LL.M. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. During his free time, Dan can often be found playing tennis, rock climbing, or enjoying some shows at the Magic Castle.

  • GIUSEPPE RUSSO

    VISUAL ARTIST

    Giuseppe is an Italian artist currently living in LA. He graduated from the art school “Scuola Romana di Fumetti” in Rome, Italy and currently works freelance worldwide for numerous productions illustrating storyboards for movies and commercials, including Disney and Marvel.

    His work has been featured in several prestigious publications like ‘La segretaria di Dostoevsky’ published by Lepre Editore and ‘La regia Teatrale’ published by Gremese.

    Giuseppe is the author of the storyboards and character’s costumes of the Face Off Pictures projects and is currently illustrating the comic book version of “Blood Chronicles”.

  • FABIO VALDEMARIN

    MUSIC SUPERVISOR

    Fabio Valdemarin is an Italian composer and multi-instrumentalist. He works with the main Italian pop and jazz artists such as Angelo Branduardi, Ornella Vanoni, Fiorella Mannoia, and many others. He composed the music for the european show of the magician Arturo Brachetti and scored the movie Body of Sin.

    Fabio’s talent and his extreme musical sensitivity are considered by the other members of the company a gift to the world.

    Fabio has composed with Face Off Pictures on projects such as Awakening, The Order, and Tori, and is excited to begin the next one.