LEGEND 44 was originally founded by Alina Szpak and Robert Fleet as THEATRE 44 LEGEND – an ensemble company with residences in Warsaw, Poland and New York City. The company centered around the training technique “Actor’s Analysis,” as taught by Alina from her studies at the Petersburg Institute of Music, Theatre & Cinematography. Those studies included work & notes from the original stagings of Stanislavski, Meyerhold and Vahktangov – in addition to work with contemporary masters of international theatre and film. The first two season’s work saw the development of original dramatic adaptations of Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim - renamed One of Us - and of Witkacy’s Gyubal Vahazar. Theatre 44 Legend evolved into LEGEND PRODUCTIONS for the development and production of the original video drama, Unveiling, translated by Alina, directed by Robert. This production was shot in New York with an American cast and an East European tech crew.

Legend Productions has produced three feature films: Brothers of the Wilderness, a family film produced independently; White Dragon, produced in co-production with CBS and Film Polski, based on Robert’s “magic realism” novel White Horse, Dark Dragon; and, independently again, Last Mountain, directed by Robert from his published novel of the same name. (Click here to see the Last Mountain trailer.) All three were written by Robert and produced by Alina. Alina Szpak also directed the Legend documentary She Who Saves Art, produced in cooperation with Moscow’s Totchka International, where it was shot.

For the 1993-94 theatre season in Los Angeles, Legend was joined by Stephan Szpak-Fleet as co-producer of LULU - A Play with Music, winner of 6 DramaLogue Awards (among them: “Best Production”). 1995-97, Legend joined the Korean-American Society of Heritage Performers to develop and direct a series of productions that culminated with an appearance as one of only three American companies invited to the Theatre of Nations/ International Theatre Institute Festival ’97. Other venues included the L.A, Theatre Center & John Anson Ford Amphitheater. Highlight: Behind The Walls, written by Robert and Stephan, directed by Alina (described in BackStage as “one of the most interesting theatre ventures currently running in L.A”) and an original version of Don Juan, written by Robert, directed by Alina & Robert (“Critic’s Pick”, L.A. Weekly).

For 1998, Legend produced Stephan Szpak-Fleet’s Pilate, inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov’s classic novel The Master & Margarita - directed by Stephan & Alina, via workshops at UCLA, presented at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. In 1999, Alina Szpak & Robert Fleet were guest artists of the graduate program of the California Institute of the Arts, remounting DON JUAN- a tragicomedy of errors in the Disney Modular Theater.

In 1999-2004, Legend Productions became LEGEND 44 and co-produced LAST MOUNTAIN (Click here to see the Last Mountain website). Shot on HD, it was the 1st independent feature to use hi-def, according to TV Technology and Film & Video magazines. After preview screenings at the Berlinale & Sundance 2000 festivals, it premiered in digital projection at Camerimage 2000 and, for the following years, played at festivals worldwide. Per Moscow Film Festival director Miron Chernyenko: “Last Mountain contains certain scenes that will surely become seminal classics, to be imitated by others.” In 2004, the Director’s Cut was created for theatrical distribution in 2005.

In 2003-4, Legend 44 co-produced two shorts: Red Boy, a crime mockumentary written & directed by Rebecca Smith and The First Person, a noir drama starring Ed Begley, Jr., from a script by Robert Fleet, produced by Alina Szpak, and directed by Stephan Szpak-Fleet. It is currently on the festival circuit and is being developed into a feature-length project. (The First Person trailer)

Recently: Legend 44 completed the short, Texas Waltz, a romantic look at a social disaster (TheTexas Waltz, complete), and began post-production on two new shorts: The Silent, a black comedy crime thriller – and Rebecca Smith’s Blue Boy, a sci-fi spoof (and sequel to the crime comedy, Red Boy.)  A new dramatic short, A Good War, wrapped shooting this spring. (A Good War, complete)

Legend 44 actively works with other production companies as well and is currently engaged in pre-production on a feature film shooting sequences in Santa Monica, California, in November; with a three-feature development package in co-production with European partners; and produces commercial, educational, PSA and industrial media in the U.S. and abroad.