IndiePay is the premier payroll service and software designed specifically for film productions, by film production accountants.
In 1996, Celeste began her career working in the production trenches in New York on numerous independent and studio films including the Warner Bros. feature U.S. Marshalls, Restaurant which starred Adrien Brody, Jennifer Anniston’s Object of My Affection, award-winning video director Hype Williams' feature debut Belly, and Above Freezing, directed by acclaimed commercial director Frank Todaro and produced by Dolly Hall.
In 1998, Celeste joined Dolly Hall's independent production company, dollface, inc., where she served as the Creative Executive. In 1999, Celeste accompanied Dolly in establishing the Digital Film Division for GreeneStreet Films, where she was made the Head of Creative Affairs. At GreeneStreet, Peterka was responsible for overseeing the creative elements, as well as the business and legal concerns of every digital project, in addition to the on-going development of future projects. In their tenure at GreeneStreet, Hall’s team was responsible for the production of four feature films (famous, Le Château, Just a Kiss and Piñero), all of which have found theatrical distribution, and the completion of an extensive technical test, which analyzed the various digital formats. At the same time she worked as the Associate Producer of the Hall-produced feature The Girl, directed by Sande Zeig and shot entirely in Paris. She was also the Co-Producer on the Digital Film Division's first feature Lisa Picard is famous, directed by Griffin Dunne and produced by Dolly Hall and Mira Sorvino, which premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.
In July 2000, Celeste resumed responsibilities with Hall’s production company as the Vice President. She Line Produced the digital feature Tadpole directed by Gary Winick and starring Sigourney Weaver, John Ritter and Bebe Neuwirth and the feature Pizza directed by Mark Christopher and starring Ethan Embry. In 2004, she started her own company, LuJack Enterprises, an independent production consulting firm which analyzes scripts, prepares budgets and schedules for clients, and is in development on several independent feature projects.
Celeste holds an MBA from the University of Michigan, with an emphasis in International Business and Finance. Prior to her involvement in the film industry, Celeste worked in commercial real estate acquisition and underwriting, where she analyzed multi-million dollar transactions throughout the Midwest, worked on the lead underwriting team for the IPO of a NYSE-traded industrial REIT, managed a portfolio of commercial properties, and even served time as an investment broker.
Since October 2005, she has been working with IndiePay to build a unique payroll company which can serve as a cost-saving alternative to independent and studio producers alike. Through IndiePay, she has been able to combine her production and film industry experience with her business expertise to assist in the creation of an innovative and progressive option to the payroll process.
In addition to IndiePay, she continues to be intimately involved with her two favorite productions – Lucas and Ysabel, who will some day take over the world!