Original Stories. New Worlds. Unforgettable Characters.
Neighborhood Pictures is an independent studio dedicated to creating original intellectual property for a global audience. Led by producer, showrunner and director Eric Gardner and playwright, librettist, screenwriter, producer and director Maria Alexandria Beech, our team develops and produces premium nonfiction television, scripted series, feature films, documentaries and stage musicals.
We believe the best stories transport audiences to new worlds through unforgettable characters, fresh perspectives and emotionally authentic storytelling. From groundbreaking nonfiction formats to award-winning theatrical works and feature films in development, every Neighborhood Pictures project is driven by a passion for discovery, entertainment and cultural connection.
Collectively, the Neighborhood Pictures team has created, produced and developed projects for FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, WE tv, USA Network, HISTORY, Max, Discovery Channel, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, Bravo, E!, National Geographic, MTV, Univision, Televisa and Canal+, while collaborating with many of the entertainment industry's leading production companies.
Whether we're producing a groundbreaking documentary, an innovative television series, a romantic comedy set in Italy, or a new stage musical, our mission remains the same: to create original stories that entertain, inspire and introduce audiences to new worlds.
Innovation in Entertainment
We adopt new production and post-production technologies while adhering to traditional modes of filmmaking. We're at the forefront of blending unscripted filmmaking with scripted projects. We continuously study trends in funding and distribution channels. We maintain relationships in the United States and abroad.
CREWS
We work with an Emmy-winning crew of Producers, Directors, DP's, camera operators, sound engineers and editors who make some of the most popular shows in the world, including: Selling Sunset, Abbott Elementary, Survivor, The Bachelor and all flavors of the Housewives.
ERIC GARDNER
Eric Gardner is a producer, showrunner, director and writer whose work has helped shape nonfiction storytelling for more than three decades. Most recently, he co-created Legal Queens, the first vertical docusoap, for CheraTV. Previously, he served as Executive Producer and Showrunner of Bravo's Shahs of Sunset for eight seasons and was Executive Producer of Season 2 of Below Deck, Season 1 of Gallery Girls, Season 1 of WE tv's Waka & Tammy: What the Flocka, Stripped for Bravo, and the pilot for The Family Stallone. Earlier in his career, Gardner received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his editing on the CBS series Survivor and helped pioneer reality television as an editor on Season 2 of MTV's groundbreaking The Real World.
Throughout his career, Gardner has frequently been brought into nonfiction series during pivotal stages of development to refine their creative direction, storytelling and format. As Executive Producer and Showrunner, he led Shahs of Sunset from its first season through eight successful seasons, helping establish it as one of Bravo's signature franchises while bringing authentic Iranian-American culture to mainstream television. His work on Below Deck, Gallery Girls, Stripped, Waka & Tammy: What the Flocka, and The Family Stallone reflects a career built around helping networks and studios redefine nonfiction series at pivotal stages of development.
Gardner's work consistently explores communities, cultures and ideas that are rarely represented in mainstream entertainment. From the Iranian-American families of Shahs of Sunset and the Latino drag performers of Queenas to the young trial lawyers of Legal Queens and the educators featured in his literacy documentaries, his projects combine compelling characters with stories that broaden audiences' perspectives.
Beyond entertainment, Gardner is a nationally recognized literacy advocate and serves on the Board of Directors of the Hubble Difference Foundation. He wrote and produced the feature documentaries Disleksia: The Movie and Hopeville: How to Win the Reading Wars, which have become leading professional development resources within the science of reading community. The films are used by organizations and educational institutions, including Haskins Laboratories at Yale University, The Reading League and The International Dyslexia Association.
Gardner is currently co-writing and directing the romantic comedy Foodie Heaven with Maria Alexandria Beech. Set in Italy's Abruzzo region, the film has Enrique Arrizon and Gabriella Milla attached to star.
He grew up in Oregon City, Oregon, studied at Columbia University in New York City and the USC School of Cinema/Television in Los Angeles, and is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the Directors Guild of America.
ALEX BEECH
Maria Alexandria Beech is a Venezuelan American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, producer and director whose work explores culture, identity and the lives of people whose voices are rarely centered in mainstream entertainment. A partner at Neighborhood Pictures, she recently co-created Legal Queens, the first vertical docuseries, for CheraTV. Her screenplay Constance is in pre-production with director Mark Pellington and is slated to star Debra Winger. She is also co-writing and co-directing the romantic comedy Foodie Heaven, a Sundance Screenwriters Lab finalist and Final Draft Big Break Quarterfinalist, slated to star Enrique Arrizon and Gabriella Milla of Apple TV+'s Acapulco. Her feature screenplay Disappeared was also a Final Draft Big Break Quarterfinalist.
A graduate of Columbia University, Beech earned an MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University, where she studied under legendary playwright María Irene Fornés, and a second MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from New York University. Before turning her full attention to writing, she worked at Lehman Brothers, specializing in emerging markets, before building a career spanning journalism, television, theater and film. She served as Executive Producer and Host of Univision's Los Empresarios and Empresa 2000, was a producer and on-air reporter for Televisa's Expansión Financiera, produced and co-hosted The Summit with longtime Saturday Night Live cast member and current SNL announcer Darrell Hammond at the Hollywood Improv, hosted the Spanish-language radio program La Hora de la Guitarra Clásica, and later served as a producer on the documentary Confessions of a CEO.
As a partner at Neighborhood Pictures, Beech has co-created projects including Virtual Vice, LA Legal, Food for Love, Fire, Karaoke Kidnap, Plasticland, HIT, In God We Trust and The Big Cheese Challenge. Many of these projects continue to be actively developed for film, television and streaming platforms. Her comedy series The Take was a finalist in the Sundance Episodic Lab and is currently being developed with Curb Your Enthusiasm executive producer Tim Gibbons as they pitch the series to major studios, networks and streaming platforms. She also collaborated with television writer and producer Mando Alvarado on the development of the scripted series Revelation.
Equally at home in straight plays, musicals and screenwriting, Beech is among the few writers to have earned recognition across theater, musical theater, television and feature films. Her plays and musicals have been produced and developed throughout the United States, South Korea and Venezuela. Her acclaimed play Infinity Pond was commissioned by Theater Masters and inspired by ideas and conversations at the Aspen Ideas Festival. Her musical Class was a finalist for the National Music Theater Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. She is currently developing Blue Skies with 2022 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Christie Baugher and Bayouland with Brett Macias.
Her memoir essay Fidel and Me, based on her interview with Fidel Castro, appears in Audible's Talking While Female and Other Dangerous Acts, and her poem Ode to Picture Frames is featured in the film Ode to Possibilities. As a literary translator, she has translated numerous plays for American productions, helping introduce international voices to new audiences.
Beech is the recipient of the Aspen Theater Masters Visionary Award and was selected as an Aspen Ideas Scholar.
Across theater, television and film, her work is driven by a passion for building bridges between cultures and amplifying voices that are too often overlooked.