Masaki Noguchi Vice President, Investments

I’m a big film nerd—so I sometimes liken what we do here at Turn/River to making a movie. T/R is the producer, the founders and management teams we partner with are the directors, and the employees are the cast and crew. 

Each one of our portfolio companies is its own, standalone film working under a unique set of challenges. Maybe it’s a sequel to an already successful blockbuster franchise or maybe it’s a low budget horror flick trying to make it to Sundance. Very different beasts, but what they have in common is the need for an efficient production process and the best distribution strategy to reach its target audience. That’s where T/R comes in.

Our job is to find films that are already underway—films where, from a production standpoint, there’s something constraining the artists from doing their best work. Maybe the lighting department doesn’t have the proper equipment to film in low-light, or maybe instead of trying to get a theatrical release they’d be better off distributing via Netflix.

At T/R, I’m responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities. I love collaborating with founders and management teams to figure out where to focus our energy and determine how best to realize the maximum potential of our team.