Hollywood loves an underdog story. It just isn’t always interested in financing one. After speaking with Michigan entrepreneur and entertainment financier Doval Bacall, I found myself calling him “Robin Hood.”
Not because he’s taking from the rich, but because he’s trying to connect people with money to talented filmmakers who might never otherwise get their stories told. Like me, Bacall has roots in Michigan. He grew up in Detroit, where his family eventually built a successful real estate business.
“My dad was a mover and shaker and always had an entrepreneurial type of approach. He always helped everyone. His mentality was plant the seed and the harvest will grow.”
When Bacall’s father passed away in 2019, Bacall found himself more determined than ever to pursue his passion for filmmaking.
“Honestly, Amy, I accelerated a thousand percent because originally the whole idea of the competitions that I started is because of him. I said, you know what, Dad, I’m going too put my money where my mouth is. I’m going to launch a competition. I’ll guarantee the grand prize to get produced for a quarter of a million dollars. Not only am I producing a project, but I’m unlocking a person’s dreams,” he said.
That same year, he launched Your Script Produced!, an international screenplay competition designed to give overlooked writers something more meaningful than recognition: an opportunity to have their work produced. The idea was personal.
Bacall never attended college; instead, he educated himself by reading hundreds of books beginning in his early teens. His fascination with filmmaking led him to study screenwriting, producing, and international film sales, largely on his own.
“There are many people that don’t go after their dreams because it takes a lot out of them. And some people need support. For me, I am my own support. No one can kick your ass better than you can.”
Interestingly, he never believed he needed to relocate to Hollywood to make his ambitions a reality.
“I’ve always been fascinated about the film business. But I never been fascinated to move out of Michigan and be in L.A.”
Instead, he decided to use his entrepreneurial background to create opportunities for filmmakers who, like him, weren’t necessarily following the traditional Hollywood path. Among the first winners was Ted Campbell, whose action-heist thriller Blue Motel caught Bacall’s attention.
According to Bacall, Campbell subsequently secured representation with Zero Gravity Management and additional directing opportunities following his selection. Other early winners included Street Dreams: Miami, from Aaron Thompson and Jordan Cann, and The Rapper, a crime thriller by Canadian screenwriter Jack Hilkewich. Bacall says he continues working with the writers as the projects move through development.
What attracted him to these projects wasn’t necessarily perfection. Instead, Bacall looks for compelling stories, original perspectives and writers who have determination. He also believes Hollywood has become too dependent on established formulas.
“I don’t follow where the market is going. I tend to go actually the opposite way. I think the problem with the industry is it waits until the wave comes through, and they follow the wave instead of creating the path.”
That willingness to take a different approach has led Bacall to expand beyond the screenplay competition into something considerably more ambitious. Your Script Produced! 360 is a subscription-based entertainment platform designed to connect filmmakers with development, packaging, casting, production, financing and distribution resources. Bacall identifies three things aspiring filmmakers desperately need: guidance, access and capital.
“These are the three most important categories for anyone to succeed in this business, because it costs money, and it costs time,” he explained.
And that’s where his experience outside Hollywood becomes particularly relevant. Through his Entertainment Finance Summit, Bacall is bridging the gap between the entertainment industry and investors who might never have considered financing independent films.
Following an inaugural gathering at the Writers Guild of America in Beverly Hills in November 2025, the second annual Entertainment Finance Summit is scheduled for November 13–15, 2026, at the Fox Studio Lot in Los Angeles.
“Return on investment beats passion,” he said.
It’s a particularly interesting observation coming from someone whose entire entertainment career appears to be driven by passion. But Bacall understands that enthusiasm alone doesn’t finance a movie.
Living in Lake Forest, Illinois, I’ve often thought about the tremendous wealth that exists outside Hollywood, particularly throughout the Midwest. Bacall, too, sees that same untapped potential.His ambitions are also expanding internationally, with plans to develop entertainment investment and production relationships in Africa, Colombia and the United Arab Emirates, where he sees opportunities involving production incentives, currency advantages and emerging markets.
He is also launching the Your Script Produced! International Film Festival, scheduled for November 14–15, 2026, in Los Angeles, as another avenue for filmmakers to connect with distributors, financiers and industry decision-makers. Together, the competition, subscription platform, finance summit and festival are intended to form an interconnected entertainment marketplace, one that Bacall hopes will help promising projects move from screenplay to screen.
But behind all the financing structures and business ambitions is someone who genuinely loves movies. When I asked Bacall about his favorites, his choices were revealing. The first was Adam Sandler’s Click, a film he credits with changing how he views adversity.
“Click taught me the meaning of life,” he said. “Every problem has a reason for its presence.You’ve got to go through the problems in order to succeed. And people always try to avoid them. And I think that’s why some people fail because they don’t face them head-on.”
Next came Rocky.
“No one believed in him except himself,” Bacall said, a sentiment he relates to personally. Even his family occasionally questions his relentless pursuit of entertainment.
“They say, ‘Doval, what the hell are you doing?’”
His third favorite was The Godfather, particularly its themes of loyalty, integrity and family.
In many ways, those three films reflect Bacall’s philosophy: embrace adversity, believe in yourself and remain loyal to the people who helped you along the way.
And that brings us back to his father.
For all the financial success Bacall has experienced, the lesson that seems to have stayed with him isn’t about accumulating wealth. It’s about what you choose to do with it.
There are countless talented filmmakers whose stories may never reach an audience, not because they lack ability, but because they lack access. Bacall is attempting to change that equation.
Perhaps that’s what makes the Robin Hood comparison appropriate. He’s trying to use the resources and relationships he’s accumulated to give others a fighting chance. And for a man who grew up watching his father help people, it seems only natural that his own ambitions would eventually come full circle.
After all, sometimes the most important thing you can do for someone else’s dream is simply plant the seed.
For more information about Your Script Produced! and the Entertainment Finance Summit, visit yourscriptproduced.com and entertainmentfinancesummit.com
Amy Pais-Richer is a published author, screenwriter, and former advertising creative director.
