ABOUT US

Although Filbert Steps Productions has always been, and always will be, a New York company, our name comes from San Francisco’s famous pedestrian staircase located on Telegraph Hill.  Long the home to writers, artists and other creative people, the Filbert Steps embody the iconoclastic spirit of our company.

Filbert Steps Productions was founded by Alan Klingenstein and Jim Kohlberg, who lived across the Steps from each other in the early 1980s and spent many evenings discussing films and fantasizing about starting their own production company.  After finding success in the investment banking and money management arenas, Jim and Alan finally launched Filbert Steps in 1998. 

Filbert Steps Productions made its first foray into filmmaking with the short documentary: THE CHURCH OF SAINT COLTRANE.  Directed by Jeff Swimmer, this film tells the story of a real church in San Francisco that worships John Coltrane as their God.  The film was a festival success, winning several awards, and was bought by Bravo TV to air on their network. 

In 1999, Filbert Steps began what has turned out to be a fruitful partnership with Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raymond De Felitta.  Filbert Steps produced his second feature film, TWO FAMILY HOUSE, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000.  It was released theatrically in the fall of 2000 by Lions Gate Films, garnered two Independent Spirit Award nominations, and was cited on a number of year-end best film lists for 2000 (National Board of Review, Premiere Magazine, etc.).  After its theatrical run, TWO FAMILY HOUSE played on HBO and other premiere cable outlets, and is now available on DVD.  We are happy to be in development on our next collaboration with Raymond, which is an UNTITLED JAZZ PIECE. 

In 2001, Filbert Steps went on to make FOREVER FABULOUS, launching the career of first-time filmmaker Werner Molinsky.  The film, starring two-time Emmy winner Jean Smart (DESIGNING WOMEN, SWEET HOME ALABAMA) and longtime favorite Robert Wagner (all three AUSTIN POWERS films), and was picked up by Lifetime Movie Network where it played through early 2004.  We are currently in negotiations with ThinkFilm to release the DVD of the film.

RUNAWAY, our third feature, premiered to universal accolades at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival.  Following that it had its international premiere at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, it went on to win the “Best Narrative Feature” award at the 2005 Austin Film Festival.  The film stars Aaron Stanford (X-MEN II & III, THE HILLS HAVE EYES, TADPOLE) and Robin Tunney (PRISON BREAK, THE CRAFT), and is directed by acclaimed indie film director Tim McCann (DESOLATION ANGELS, REVOLUTION #9).  We are pleased to say that we are currently finalizing foreign and domestic distribution deals. 

We are currently in production on TRUMBO, and we have a full set of projects that we’re actively developing. There is a lot going on at Filbert Steps these days, so keep checking back for updates!