Lester Koenig

Lester Koenig was an American screenwriter, film producer and founder of the jazz record label Contemporary Records. Although never a card-carrying communist himself, Koenig was blacklisted because he refused to name names. He began producing jazz records on Commodore Records with some of the best West Coast musicians of that time, including Art Pepper and Ornette Coleman. Koenig also served in the film unit of the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, where he wrote the war documentary films, "Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress" (1944) and "Thunderbolt" (1947), directed by William Wyler.