ABOUT
YORK FILMS
York Films is a Los Angeles based film & television production and film finance company with offices and production studios in New York and Greece.
Our team’s combined business as well as film experience both behind and in front of the camera provide us with the unique ability to help serve the film community at various levels of production as we aim to help foster in the next generation of great filmmakers.
Our production campuses offer the creative industry with state-of-the-art NY qualified motion picture and television facilities, like a 40,000 square foot Maspeth Campus in Queens, NY or a 175,000 square foot Michaelangelo Campus in the Soundview section of the Bronx. At York we provide services and expertise that can accommodate productions of all sizes and complexities.
John Kalafatis | CEO
John Kalafatis is the CEO and founder of York Films. He has over 35 years of entrepreneurial and business experience in New York, during which he created, managed, and developed multiple successful companies in the city’s film and construction industries. As one of the founders and senior partners of York Films’ affiliate, York Studios, John Kalafatis has invested in the future of the film and TV industry in New York by building one of New York City’s largest film studios in the Bronx, in addition to York Studios’ original location in Queens. He has quickly managed to turn York Studios into one of the top choices for large-scale productions in New York City. Movies and TV shows filmed in the Studios’ Queens location include “John Wick”, “Godzilla”, “The Amazing Spider-man 2”, and CBS’ long-running series “Elementary”.
Joanna Kalafatis | President
Joanna Kalafatis is the President of York Films. She has 7 years of experience in the film and television industry in Los Angeles, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. She has helped develop and produce both narrative and documentary features for media outlets in the US and abroad. Joanna holds a B.A. in Economics from Barnard College; her education and experience in both LA and international media helps her organize, finance, and develop productions both domestically and across borders.
Daniel B. Cypress | COO
After spending a significant number of years cutting his teeth with the film community’s New York elite Daniel spent the bulk of his 15+ year career based in Los Angeles under the tutelage of his long time mentor Benny Medina all while brokering deals and collaborating across film, television, music and brand development with companies such as Sony, Universal, STX, Warner Bros, Tribeca Enterprises, Nuyorican, Endemol Shine and Netflix to name a few.
Daniel’s work has resulted in over 1.2 billion at the box office; 195.9 million music revenue and well over 2 billion of revenue across various brand platforms.
He now brings his expertise and skill sets to York Films and York Studios with the collective goal of bringing film back to New York State where it belongs, while continuing to grow York’s global arm.
John Battista | Manager of Studios
John Battista has been working with the entertainment industry for almost twenty years. As the Commanding Officer of the NYPD Movie TV Unit he was instrumental in coordinating all exterior location shooting and stunts performed within NYC. In 2002 he was appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of the Mayors Office of Film Theatre & Broadcasting under the Bloomberg Administration. John was responsible for facilitating all filming requests citywide and worked closely with all city agencies, guilds and unions. John has been the Executive Vice President of York Studios since 2013.
Andreas Ignatiou | Creative Executive
Andreas Ignatiou has been working in the film industry for eight years during which time he produced and developed narrative features and shorts. He began his journey at New Regency, where he gained knowledge of the ins and outs of the industry. Since, he has worked in varying capacities on several music videos, commercials, tv shows and films including the Oscar-nominated film, ‘La La Land’. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual and media Arts from Emerson College, where he was selected for a mentorship hosted by the Writers Guild of America. In 2018, he produced his first feature “This Is My Year”, which briefly cracked the top 50 independent film chart on iTunes.
He joined York films in the summer of 2018 and now works in the company’s Creative Development department.
John Kalafatis | CEO
John Kalafatis is the CEO and founder of York Films. He has over 35 years of entrepreneurial and business experience in New York, during which he created, managed, and developed multiple successful companies in the city’s film and construction industries.
As one of the founders and senior partners of York Films’ affiliate, York Studios, John Kalafatis has invested in the future of the film and TV industry in New York by building one of New York City’s largest film studios in the Bronx, in addition to York Studios’ original location in Queens. He has quickly managed to turn York Studios into one of the top choices for large-scale productions in New York City. Movies and TV shows filmed in the Studios’ Queens location include “John Wick”, “Godzilla”, “The Amazing Spider-man 2”, and CBS’ long-running series “Elementary”.
Joanna Kalafatis | President
Joanna Kalafatis is the President of York Films. She has 7 years of experience in the film and television industry in Los Angeles, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. She has helped develop and produce both narrative and documentary features for media outlets in the US and abroad.
Joanna holds a B.A. in Economics from Barnard College; her education and experience in both LA and international media helps her organize, finance, and develop productions both domestically and across borders.
Daniel B. Cypress | COO
After spending a significant number of years cutting his teeth with the film community’s New York elite Daniel spent the bulk of his 15+ year career based in Los Angeles under the tutelage of his long time mentor Benny Medina all while brokering deals and collaborating across film, television, music and brand development with companies such as Sony, Universal, STX, Warner Bros, Tribeca Enterprises, Nuyorican, Endemol Shine and Netflix to name a few.
Daniel’s work has resulted in over 1.2 billion at the box office; 195.9 million music revenue and well over 2 billion of revenue across various brand platforms.
He now brings his expertise and skill sets to York Films and York Studios with the collective goal of bringing film back to New York State where it belongs, while continuing to grow York’s global arm.
John Battista | Manager of Studios
John Battista has been working with the entertainment industry for almost twenty years. As the Commanding Officer of the NYPD Movie TV Unit he was instrumental in coordinating all exterior location shooting and stunts performed within NYC.
In 2002 he was appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of the Mayors Office of Film Theatre & Broadcasting under the Bloomberg Administration. John was responsible for facilitating all filming requests citywide and worked closely with all city agencies, guilds and unions.
John has been the Executive Vice President of York Studios since 2013.
Andreas Ignatiou | Creative Executive
Andreas Ignatiou has been working in the film industry for eight years during which time he produced and developed narrative features and shorts. He began his journey at New Regency, where he gained knowledge of the ins and outs of the industry. Since, he has worked in varying capacities on several music videos, commercials, tv shows and films including the Oscar-nominated film, ‘La La Land’. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual and media Arts from Emerson College, where he was selected for a mentorship hosted by the Writers Guild of America. In 2018, he produced his first feature ’This Is My Year’, which briefly cracked the top 50 independent film chart on iTunes. He joined York films in the summer of 2018 and now works in the company’s Creative Development department.