Alumni Newsmaker: Paul Hardart '93 and Tom Hardart '92

Picture perfect alums lead film production

By Aubrey Henretty

"I've tried to follow Tom wherever he goes," jokes Paul Hardart '93 when asked how he and his brother ended up graduating from Kellogg just one year apart. Though the Hardarts started their careers in different industries, they always talked about starting a business together. In 2004, the pair founded Adirondack Pictures, a New York-based film production and financing company.

"Each film is like a separate company," says Paul, who co-ran the specialty film division at Universal Pictures before going into business with his brother. "You're all thrown together in this thing ... it's a new group of people, new locations, new challenges."

Tom '92, a former vice president of America Online, adds that making a movie isn't so different from making the grade: "There was a lot of focus at Kellogg on study groups, which was really a bunch of people being thrown together to accomplish a goal."

Since its inception, Adirondack Pictures has produced or co-produced a variety of films including "Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens," a biography of the eponymous photographer, and "Before the Rains," the English-language debut of Indian director Santosh Sivan. The former, a co-production of Adirondack Pictures and PBS's "American Masters" series, aired in October 2006. The latter debuted at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

"The film played very well," says Paul. "We got a standing ovation."