New Distribution Patterns Shaping Release Trends

Speakers

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  Jeremy Kay Americas Editor, Screendaily
  

  Jeremy Kay

  Americas Editor, Screendaily

  Jeremy Kay is Americas editor of the international trade publication Screendaily. From his Los Angeles hub he regularly travels to the major markets and festivals on the calendar to report on market news and interview talent and executives.

  Besides focusing on the independent business, festivals and markets, Kay reports on production and financing, streamer and studio activity, the Canadian and Latin American film industries, and awards season.

  He has moderated panels at TIFF, Cannes, AFM, Ventana Sur and other top tier events on the circuit.

  As a freelancer Kay has written on film for The Guardian and The Telegraph, and has written more broadly on news and sport for Time Out, The Independent On Sunday, The Express, and The Sunday Irish Tribune.

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  Kent Sanderson President, Acquisitions and Ancillary Distribution, Bleecker Street | Co-President, DECAL (owned by Bleecker Street and NEON)
  

  Kent Sanderson

  President, Acquisitions and Ancillary Distribution, Bleecker Street | Co-President, DECAL (owned by Bleecker Street and NEON)

  Kent Sanderson serves as President, Acquisitions and Ancillary Distribution at Bleecker Street, an independently financed studio based in New York City that was founded in August 2014. The company has released more than 50 films and established itself as a trusted label and champion of original cinema, cumulating an impressive and lauded slate. He is also co-President at home entertainment label DECAL, which Bleecker owns with NEON, which Sanderson championed as a way of creating versatility in an age of constant change. In his two-part role, Sanderson oversees both the creative and deal making process of building Bleecker Street’s slate of films – including investments at script stage projects and finished films alike – while also managing their life cycles after their theatrical releases across various platforms including digital distribution, physical home video, subscription video on demand, airlines, and television.

  Over the past few months, Bleecker Street has been active on the acquisitions front, recently acquiring the U.S. rights to James Hawes’ acclaimed film One Life starring Academy Award®-winner Anthony Hopkins, which premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival; Waitress: The Musical, starring Sara Bareilles, featuring footage from the acclaimed Broadway reprise run in 2021; and Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s I.S.S, starring Ariana DeBose, which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Bleecker’s wedding comedy The Fabulous Four, starring Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Megan Mullally is currently in production under a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement.

  Recent and upcoming titles for Bleecker Street also include: Meg Ryan’s What Happens Later, starring Ryan alongside David Duchovny; Marc Turtletaub’s Jules with Academy Award®-winner Sir Ben Kingsley; Golda from Academy Award®-winning director Guy Nattiv, starring Helen Mirren; Frances O’Connor’s Emily starring Emma Mackey; Alice Troughton’s The Tutor starring Richard E. Grant and Julie Delpy; and Catherine Hardwicke’s Mafia Mamma with Toni Collette.

  Through the pandemic and beyond, Sanderson has enabled Bleecker to craft individualized windowing strategies for each of the company’s titles, with strategies ranging from nationwide releases leading into PVOD several weeks later, to more traditional theatrical rollouts, with each windowing strategy crafted to match every title. Sanderson also negotiated an exclusive multi-year output deal with Paramount+ with Showtime, which began with 2022’s Infinite Storm starring Naomi Watts.

  Prior to Bleecker Street, Sanderson served as Executive Vice President, Distribution & Merchandising at GoDigital / Amplify Releasing. He also spent six years at Focus Features, where he guided their digital distribution strategy and ran the emerging Focus World alternative releasing label, which were the early adopters in playing with VOD strategies more aggressively. He started his career in the mailroom of WMA.

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  Scott Shooman Head of Film, AMC Networks
  

  Scott Shooman

  Head of Film, AMC Networks

  More speaker details coming soon…

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  Jere R. Hausfater, Esq Attorney/Executive Producer
  

  Jere R. Hausfater, Esq

  Attorney/Executive Producer

  Hausfater is currently a practicing entertainment attorney, executive producer, expert witness, and COO consultant in the entertainment space focusing on film, television, and music.

  Hausfater’s expertise is in development, finance, production, packaging, and worldwide distribution. Hausfater has provided legal and business affairs services for Cassian Elwes’ Elevated Films, Marvel Films, Netflix, Film Finances, MGM International Television, Vine Alternative Investments, Wood Cliff Capital, Marvel Films, The Orchard, Shamrock Investments, Cinetic Media, Foresight Films, Tom Ortenberg, Roadside Attractions Television, Arclight Films, Maloof LLC, and Sentient Entertainment, among others. Currently, Hausfater is finance counsel on three financed independent feature films that have been granted SAG waivers. He also serves as an expert witness in litigation cases.

  Hausfater spent a majority of his career as Executive Vice President of Acquisition and Business Affairs for Buena Vista International, Buena Vista Film Sales, Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Buena Vista Pictures Distribution reporting to Jeffrey Katzenberg, Bill Mechanic, Dick Cook, Joe Roth and David Hoberman. He built and ran his own acquisition division within Walt Disney Studios acquiring pictures and children’s programming for Disney to distribute and created Buena Vista Film Sales, an internal sales company at Disney selling feature films, library product, and acting as a sales agent for third party product licensing to distributors throughout the world. Hausfater’s first acquisition for Buena Vista to theatrically distribute was Dances With Wolves for Latin America which won the Oscar for best picture.

  Hausfater was responsible for all third- party film and non-theatrical acquisitions for Disney. His division of 25 employees generated in excess of $300M in operating income for the studio which included selling the Merchant Ivory, ABC and Cinergi libraries through Buena Vista Film Sales. Hausfater acquired for Disney to distribute or sold distribution rights to studio and third party product throughout the world for over 500 films, including: Il Postino, Life is Beautiful, Runaway Bride, Face Off, The Piano, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Face Off, La Femme Nikita, The Professional, Die Hard With a Vengeance, Central Station, Dances With Wolves, 3 Ninjas, The Crow, The Straight Story, Snake Eyes, Shine (Geoffrey Rush winning an Oscar for best actor), Kolya(which won the best foreign language Oscar), and Air Force One. Hausfater also acquired home entertainment properties such as The Chipmunks library, DIC library, (such as Inspector Gadget and Madeline,) Felix the Cat, The Brave Little Toaster 2, Spot the Dog, The Jim Henson and the Rocky and Bullwinkle library.

  Hausfater was the international and acquisition liaison at Walt Disney Studios for Miramax/Dimension Films distributed internationally by Buena Vista International acquiring Pulp Fiction for Buena Vista UK and Latin America which was the beginning of Buena Vista International distributing Miramax/Dimension films in the UK, Latin America, France, Spain, Italy and Australia/New Zealand. He also created and ran the UK Comedy Label which acquired, developed and green lite the feature films, Calendar Girls , High Heels and Low Lives, and Kinky Boots. Buena Vista Film Sales also green lite for production, the feature films , Duets starring Gwyneth Paltrow and directed by her father, Bruce Paltrow, and Gun Shy starring Sandra Bullock and Liam Neesom. Hausfater was also the studio liaison for Elton John and David Furnish’s feature film company and Scott Free Pictures.

  Following his 13 year tenure at Walt Disney Studios, Hausfater became Executive Vice President at Miramax/Dimension overseeing international distribution, marketing, sales, home entertainment and international business and legal affairs as well as a member of the Miramax Acquisition Group and Senior Executive in charge of the Los Angeles office. During his tenure, Miramax theatrically released over 30 films annually including Cold Mountain, Starsky and Hutch, Spy Kids 3, Scary Movie 3, Il Postino, Kill Bill 1 and 2, Shall We Dance, Aviator, Finding Neverland, Sin City, Amityville Horror, Garden State, and The Brothers Grimm, among others.

  Prior to Miramax, Hausfater joined Intermedia Films as President of The Motion Picture Group, responsible for worldwide sales, marketing, and distribution overseeing a staff of 50 employees in London and Los Angeles. He achieved worldwide sales in excess of $300M with such films as K-19, The Widow Maker, Resident Evil, Adaption, The Life and Death of David Gale, K-Pax, The Wedding Planner, Iris, The Quiet American, Dark Blue, Basic Instinct 2, the first Terminator reboot, Wise Girls, Basic, Minehunters, Enigma, and Suspect Zero.

  Hausfater also founded Essential Entertainment as CEO, a development, finance, sale and distribution company handling such films as Defiance, The Informers, Fireflies In the Garden, Book of Blood, Solomon King, a rebooted Point Break, My One and Only, The Other Woman, Stan Helsing, and An American Carol. Thereafter, Hausfater was COO of Aldamisa Entertainment, a production, finance and worldwide sales company handling such films as Chef, Sin City, A Dame to Kill For, Machete Kills, Jayne Mansfield’s Car, Shanghai Calling and the animated feature, Jock, the Hero Dog.

  Hausfater has extensive and long -standing relations with agents, managers, attorneys, producers, entertainment banks, studios, and worldwide distributors. Hausfater began his career in the music business having worked as an attorney and executive at United Artist Records/Blue Note Records, ABC Records/ABC Music, MCA Records and K-Tel Entertainment.

  He graduated from Boston University School of Business with a law degree from Southwestern University in Los Angeles. He is a voting member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science and former board member of IFTA. He was a professor for Boston University in Los Angeles teaching Entertainment Finance to undergraduate business students for over 10 years. He earned an executive producer credit on 15 feature films.