A film crew hauling a large frame across a desert lot through blowing dust

Rough Cut EntertainmentIndependent film & television

Character-driven stories that do more than entertain

Est. 2025Dallas — Los Angeles

Company

Rough Cut is an independent studio making character-driven American films and series, built to entertain first.

We believe storytelling does more than entertain. The films that last shape how people see themselves: their agency, their responsibility, and their part in what comes next.

Founded in 2025 with offices in Dallas and Los Angeles, Rough Cut develops and produces feature films and series alongside filmmakers who share that conviction.

12 Camera, stand
12A Big Bend, Chisos road
13 Rotor, smoke
13A Riders, haze

Principles

How we make films

Two figures walking away up a dusty street toward a low sun

Two crew members crouched at a camera rig, silhouetted against a bright haze

A crew setting up a camera dolly on a Western street set beside a feed and grain store

The peaks of the Chisos Mountains rising above a green basin in Big Bend

01 / 04
Character First

Every story follows people facing hard choices, and what those choices reveal about what they’re capable of.
Two figures, low sun, dust
02 / 04
Entertain, Always

Nobody buys a ticket for a lecture. The best films thrill first, and what they have to say lands anyway.
Crew at the camera, backlit
03 / 04
Tell It Straight

Authentic worlds, earned emotion and no shortcuts, on screen or off.
Western street set, setting up
04 / 04
Built for the Long Run

An independent, founder-led studio with the discipline of a company built to last.
Chisos Mountains, Big Bend

The ideas that have held audiences for generations, and the ones we keep returning to.

Courage
Sacrifice
Perseverance
Responsibility
Redemption
Hope

Slate

In Development

First titles to be announced

Rough Cut is developing its first feature films and series with writers, producers and filmmakers. Titles will be announced here.

Two vehicles crossing a desert flat in a dust storm beneath dark rock formations — In developmentTitle to be announced

Leadership

Ryan Podolsky

Founder & CEO

Ryan founded Rough Cut in 2025. Previously, he was CEO of Theorem Technologies, growing the company to roughly $2 billion in assets under management before its acquisition in 2024.

An early employee at Palantir, he helped build the company’s government and private-sector businesses. Before that, he served three tours as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps.

Full bio

Press