Meet the Team
Frank Ciota Co-founder, Creative
Frank Ciota made his first film, Texas Tom, at the age of ten, starring his brother Joe and sister Toni. As a student at Harvard, he received his true education watching countless films at the Harvard Square Theater. After earning his BA, Frank attended NYU's film school and later trained under Martin Scorsese on Casino. Soon after, he launched Mavexfilms with his brother Joe and has been writing and directing films ever since. Frank has also taught film production at Boston University.
Joe Ciota Co-founder, Development
Joe Ciota brings over forty years of experience as both a screenwriter and independent journalist. As co-founder of Mavexfilms, he has written and helped produce all four of the company’s critically acclaimed screenplays. His work often draws upon his unique perspective as a dual American and Italian citizen. In fact, his script for Ciao America was inspired directly by his time as one of the first Americans to coach a team of Italians playing American-style football. Joe is a graduate of Colby College, where he earned his BA.
Toni Ciota Chandler Production & Operations
Toni Ciota Chandler has more than 20 years experience scaling businesses, building teams, and managing multimillion-dollar brands. In addition to her past work as a development executive for Mavexfilms, Toni has decades of experience managing P&L for small businesses as well as national consumer brands at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Campbell Soup Company. Toni holds a BA from Colby College and an MBA from Northeastern University.
George Wilcox Law & Finance
George Wilcox is a reformed lawyer and former investment company executive. A lifelong friend of Frank Ciota, he began his career practicing corporate law at Jones Day, one of the largest law firms in the world, before joining Bessemer Trust, a $260 billion investment firm where he served as President for the last thirteen of his twenty-six years at the firm. He has served as a Director of the Old Westbury Mutual Funds complex and Chairman of Bessemer Investor Services, Inc. George has a BA from Boston University, where he was a four-year starting fullback on the football team. He also earned an MBA from Duke University and a JD from New England Law.