Rosser Goodman

Rosser Goodman is a film and television director, writer, producer, and Founder and CEO of Tano Rising Film. Known as an actor's director, she brings a deep command of character, performance, and audience connection to work in features, television, pilots, commercials, and scripted narrative film. Goodman began her career in episodic television with Steven Spielberg's company, gaining early experience on large-scale productions before building a career in directing, producing, writing, and production leadership. She later founded Circle Content while holding offices on the Paramount Studios lot. The company became a base for film, television, and commercial work. Goodman's feature films include Holding Trevor and Love or Whatever. Both were acquired for domestic and international distribution. Variety praised Holding Trevor as "a polished production," while the Los Angeles Times highlighted its "combination of suspense, humor, and pathos." Love or Whatever also received festival recognition. Her credits, productions, and client work include Netflix, Hulu, Apple, Amazon, Disney, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, MTV, HBO Max, Peacock, Samsung, Toyota, Chevron, and other major entertainment companies and brands. Her feature films have played festivals worldwide. That experience gives her fluency across the full life of a movie, from screenplay, packaging, casting, budgeting, and production through post-production, festivals, sales, distribution, and release. Her professional recognition includes the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Best Filmmaker Award for InVisible, the HBO Comedy Challenge for Pea Pod, the Disney Entertainment Television Directing Program, Sundance Labs, Take The Lead's 50 Women Can Change the World in Media & Entertainment, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Millennia Scope Entertainment Foundation. For more than 20 years in entertainment, Goodman has built a career around films and creative work rooted in representation, access, and character-driven cinema. She mentors emerging and mid-career creatives and advises organizations dedicated to expanding opportunity and representation in media, with particular attention to historically marginalized artists and communities. That career experience led her to create Tano Rising Film and Philanthropic Film Finance, a cause-first model that gives philanthropists a new way to advance their cause through cinema. Tano begins with the benefactor's cause, then curates and vets production-ready screenplays. One benefactor selects and fully finances one scripted feature film centered on their cause. Goodman is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Television Academy, serves on the Greenlight Women Board, and previously served on the NAMIC Advisory Board.