Tag: Top Indie Power Players

Welcome to Media Play News’ fourth annual Top Indie Power Players list, our annual salute to the top distributors of independent films — specifically, those distributors who are focused on making sure audiences can watch new as well as classic independent films, on demand, in the home.

The importance of independent film cannot be stated enough, but while the filmmakers are generally in the spotlight, the distributors are the unsung heroes of the business. They, after all, are the ones who bring these films to the public, generally for home viewing through various channels that include streaming, niche FAST channels, digital rental and sale, and DVD, Blu-ray Disc and 4K Ultra HD.

We launched this project in 2022 and it’s been growing ever since. We once again are profiling what our judges consider the top 30 power players in independent film distribution. We solicited nominations through our website, and then had a panel of distribution executives, creatives and entertainment journalists narrow down the nominees to 30. The finalists are drawn from, but not limited to, the list of nominees; the criteria include how many films they bring to market, the quality of these films, and their reputation in the business.

They are presented in no particular order.

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Andrew Brown is President of Digital Distribution at Neon, a leading independent film company that in just six years has garnered 32 Academy Award nominations and 11 wins, including two for Best Picture. Most recently, Neon’s Anora was the big winner at the 97th Academy Awards with five Oscars, including for Best Picture. Since its inception, Neon has grossed more than $200 million at the box office while pushing boundaries and taking creative risks on bold cinema. In February, Neon’s The Monkey posted a $14.2 million opening, the second best for Neon since Longlegs ($22.4 million) in July 2024. During his more than 20 years in the film and TV industry, Brown has been at the forefront of the digital video business, starting with Rainbow Media (now Altice) and INDEMAND. Starting in 2006, he took over the expansion and development of Time Warner Cable’s VOD service, making it into one of the nation’s largest streaming video platforms. After Time Warner Cable’s acquisition by Charter in 2016, Brown joined Neon as SVP of Digital Distribution and Strategy. In 2021, alongside his role at Neon, he became co-President of Decal, a new film label and full-service home entertainment distributor for various studios, including Neon, Bleecker Street and XYZ.

Kent Sanderson is President of Bleecker Street, an independent film company he joined upon its inception in 2014. Sanderson, alongside CEO and founder Andrew Karpen, oversees all aspects of Bleecker Street’s film slate, which includes such recent hits as One Life, Waitress: The Musical and the Academy Award-nominated Golda. Upcoming releases include Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet, a romantic comedy that stars Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone; Relay, in which Riz Ahmed portrays a “fixer” who brokers lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals who threaten to ruin them; Fackham Hall, a British period comedy film that stars Damian Lewis and Thomasin McKenzie; and the horror film The Third Parent, with Rob Lowe and Crispin Glover, which is based on the viral short story series. Sanderson also directly oversees Bleecker Street’s production and acquisition curation and dealmaking efforts, as well as the various revenue streams outside of the theatrical window, including streaming, physical media, non-theatrical, and Decal, a home entertainment-centered joint venture with Neon he co-founded in 2021. Sanderson previously served as Bleecker’s Head of Acquisitions and Ancillary Distribution. Prior to joining the company, he held positions at GoDigital, Focus Features and the William Morris Agency.

Garson Foos is CEO and co-founder of Shout! Studios, which over the past 20 years has expanded its activities through various media platforms, multiple streaming channels, and extensive content libraries — including cult classics (movies and TV), new films, family friendly content, animation, and anime. A key area of focus is major content acquisitions, licensing and worldwide distribution, particularly in the realm of digital media, streaming and FAST. Shout! manages and distributes a large portfolio of libraries with partners and properties, including Monty
Python, Aardman Animations, Laika, the Golden Princess movie library, and various Jet Li film classics. Shout! Is also a leading distributor of anime and animation content. Through its partnership with GKIDS, Shout! distributes 22 Studio Ghibli classics. In addition, Shout! has ventured into original feature film development and production, including remakes of select Roger Corman films from the New Horizons Pictures library and the original movie Old Henry. Shout! boasts a solid slate of feature films that include Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt, Shekhar Kapur’s What’s Love Got to Do With It?, the family comedy A Sudden Case of Christmas, starring Danny DeVito and Andie MacDowell, and the upcoming Western thriller Killing Faith, starring Guy Pearce, DeWanda Wise and Bill Pullman.

Melissa Boag is EVP at Shout! Studios, where she leads the company’s entertainment and business strategy. She heads the Kids and Family Entertainment division, creating marketing and distribution strategies for a wide range of new releases and catalog titles. Boag oversees distribution, marketing and publicity for key anime and animation lines, including partnerships with GKIDS on films from GKIDS and Studio Ghibli, such as the latest Academy Award-winning film from Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron. She also works with Laika Studios, Aardman Animation, Toei Animation, Anime Limited, The Jim Henson Co. and numerous award-winning independent animated features. Additionally, Boag supervises Shout’s live-action kids and family properties. She collaborates on the acquisition and production of animated and live-action movies, developing marketing and sales strategies for Shout! Studios and Shout! Kids live-action movie releases, including the family comedy A Sudden Case of Christmas, starring Danny DeVito and Andie MacDowell, and the upcoming animated feature Into the Wonderwoods, from filmmakers Vincent Paronnaud and Alexis Ducord, as well as Plaion Pictures’ family adventure Pet Investigators. Boag joined Shout! in 2003 after stints at Artisan Home Entertainment (now Lionsgate) and 5.1 Entertainment, and was promoted into her present position in 2022.

Jeff Hayne is SVP of Acquisitions and Productions at Mill Creek Entertainment, a division of Alliance Entertainment. Mill Creek has direct sales pipelines to all primary retail and online partners. The company licenses, produces, markets and distributes film and television content to more than 100 digital platforms, 30,000 retail stores and hundreds of online retailers. Since taking over licensing and production activities at Mill Creek in 2007, Hayne has driven the company’s evolution from a boutique indie label into one of the biggest full-service licensing companies in North America. Mill Creek’s library includes Oscar-winning theatrical features, Emmy-winning classic and contemporary TV series, original documentaries, and pop-culture favorites. Recent releases include the faith-based drama Between Borders, from Pinnacle Peak; a complete-series set of “Documentary Now,” the IFC original mockumentary series; and Icons Unearthed: Marvel, about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Mill Creek works with all the major studios and TV networks, as well as hundreds of independent filmmakers and library owners. Hayne has successfully licensed and released more than 5,000 DVD and Blu-ray Disc products and is nearing that same number on digital platforms. Hayne and Mill Creek have also produced and released more than 85 new productions, mostly documentaries.

Ilia Beizerman is SVP of Operations and Strategic Partnerships at Distribution Solutions, a division of Alliance Entertainment. Distribution Solutions brings independent as well as major studio films to consumers on DVD, Blu-ray Disc and 4K Ultra HD, targeting collectors with its elegant 4K and Steelbook releases. Beizerman joined Distribution Solutions in 2018 and has significantly expanded the company’s portfolio of independent and major studio films available on physical formats. He has been instrumental in securing distribution deals with more than 60 studios, including A24 and Paramount Pictures. Beizerman focuses on the independent marketplace, serving key partners such as Criterion, Cineverse and AMC Networks. His notable achievements include successful home entertainment releases of films such as the horror box office hit Terrifier 3, Vertical Entertainment’s action thriller The Order, and season one of the Apple TV+ psychological thriller series “Severance.” Distribution Solutions is also bringing triple Oscar winner The Brutalist to disc on March 25. Before joining Distribution Solutions, Beizerman spent more than 12 years at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, ultimately serving as Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships and helping to launch the Blu-ray Disc format. Earlier in his career, Beizerman held manager positions at Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment.

Chris McGurk is Chairman and CEO of Cineiverse, a global technology and entertainment company that distributes content across all windows and platforms, from theatrical to digital to physical. Cineverse recently released the breakout box office success Terrifier 3, which opened at No. 1 and ranks as the highest-grossing non-rated film in U.S. history. With Terrifier 3, “we’ve established a new blueprint” for independent films with big viral fan bases, McGurk said last year during AFM. Stressing the synergy between streaming and theatrical, he noted that the “Terrifier” franchise was brought to Cineverse through its horror fan brand Bloody Disgusting, whose executives told him they thought the villainous Art the Clown could be the next Jason Vorhees or Freddy Krueger. McGurk has enjoyed a long and transformative executive career in the film, TV and streaming content industries. Before joining Cineverse in 2011, McGurk was the founder and CEO of Overture Films and CEO of Anchor Bay Entertainment. McGurk also served as Vice Chairman of the Board and COO of MGM Studios. Earlier in his career McGurk served in various executive capacities at Universal Pictures and several senior executive roles at The Walt Disney Studios, including Studios CFO and President of The Walt Disney Motion Picture Group.

Yolanda Macias is Chief Content Officer of Cineverse, which distributes more than 70,000 films, series and podcasts to more than 82 million unique viewers monthly through a variety of platforms, including digital outlets such as Amazon, Peacock, Tubi and Pluto TV. Macias is responsible for acquiring global content rights for all distribution and streaming platforms, including Cine-verse’s owned-and-operated digital networks such as the Dove Channel, Screambox, Fandor and RetroCrush. Additionally, she oversees all content marketing. Coming off its huge win late last year with the indie horror hit Terrifier 3, Cineverse later this year will release two more marquee horror titles: Silent Night Deadly Night and an unrated update of Troma’s The Toxic Avenger, produced by Legendary Pictures and starring Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood. Macias joined Cineverse in 2013 and was promoted into her present position in 2020. Before joining Cineverse, she oversaw content acquisitions at Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment, where she established the distribution strategy for the company’s digital distribution services and acquired rights for branded content such as National Geographic, WWE, NFL and Shout! Factory. Earlier in her career, Macias held a series of progressively more responsible positions at DirecTV and The Walt Disney Co.

Ed Seaman is CEO of MVD Entertainment Group, a movie and music distribution company that sources independent as well as archival films for home video and digital release. MVD boasts a huge catalog of audio and video products that it releases on physical formats as well as digitally, both transactional and streaming. MVD exclusively represents such video labels as Arrow Films, Severin, Synapse, Blue Underground, 88 Films, VCI, Troma and Eureka Entertainment, along with in-house label MVD Rewind. Recently MVD signed Cleopatra Entertainment and Altered Images for physical and digital distribution. MVD finds opportunities in serving the collector market with cult and genre films on Blu-ray Disc and 4K Ultra HD, with high demand despite reduced retail shelf space and studio offerings. Digital distribution continues to be a significant growth area. Founded by industry veteran Tom Seaman in 1987, MVD remains an independent family owned-and-operated business. MVD’s customers are major retail chains and digital platforms, along with independent retailers and digital sites. Recent releases include The Linguini Incident (starring David Bowie and Rosanna Arquette), the films of Russ Meyer (coming from Severin), and, due later this year, The Rock Prophet, the story of Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Link Wray.

Dan Gurlitz wears three hats in the independent film world. He is the founder of Soundview Media Partners, publisher of The Sound View: Independent Film Digest, and digital sales director at MVD Entertainment. Gurlitz launched Soundview in 2010 as a boutique sales agency for documentarians. The company has since expanded into other genres over the years, placing more than 600 films into the market through a variety of channels. Notable projects in 2024 included Mark: A Call to Action, about the life and work of Dr. Mark Bookman, whose efforts to improve the lives of people with disabilities took him from his native Bryn Mawr to Tokyo; and Final Fight, about soldiers returning from war who are suffering from PTSD. Coming up in June is The River: A Songwriter’s Stories From the South, an exploration of three great rivers in the American South — the Mississippi, the Cumberland and the Tallahatchie — in 10 songs and stories. Prior to launching Soundview, Gurlitz spent 26 years in independent film distribution, first as a sales rep for a variety of film companies and then in key executive positions with Fox Lorber Associates, WinStar TV and Video (Wellspring Media), The Disinformation Company and Koch Entertainment (eOne).

Dan Cohen is Chief Content Licensing Officer for Paramount Global, where he champions independent film as the President of Republic Pictures. The acquisition label, revitalized in 2023 under Paramount Global Content Distribution, leverages Paramount Global’s vast worldwide distribution channels across home entertainment, streaming, television and other platforms, to distribute a wide range of acquired films. Under Cohen’s supervision, Republic Pictures’ recent acquisition titles include the Sundance 2025 Audience Award winner Twinless, the Oscar-nominated September 5 (Venice 2024, Telluride 2024), the Emmy-nominated The Greatest Night in Pop, and Rob Peace (Sundance, 2024), nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Additional titles include Blackberry (Berlin 2023), Self Reliance (SXSW 2023), William Friedkin’s final film The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Venice 2023), Edward Burns’ Millers in Marriage (TIFF, 2024) and The End We Start From (TIFF, 2023). Coming up: Bad Apples, a comedy thriller directed by Jonatan Etzler in his English-language debut. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as a teacher whose class of 10-year-olds is disrupted by one unruly pupil. Cohen joined Paramount/Republic in 2017 after a 20-year run at The Walt Disney Co., most recently as EVP of pay-TV and digital in the Disney ABC Television Group.

Danny Fisher is the CEO and co-founder of FilmRise, a New York-based film and television studio and a global leader in the AVOD/FAST space. Fisher has been recognized by the industry as a leader and innovator in streaming TV, particularly in AVOD and FAST. Under his leadership, FilmRise has grown into one of the world’s largest providers of content to the streaming universe. FilmRise has more than 700 FAST channels, a library with more than 30,000 movies and episodes across various genres, including drama, action, classic television, true crime, British, horror, sci-fi, comedy, holiday and creator content. FilmRise also owns and operates 22 ad-supported streaming apps, led by its flagship FilmRise Free Movies and TV. The FilmRise technical team recently announced a proprietary AI service that combines AI and human expertise to upconvert content from SD to HD. The company’s content team was also an early innovator in curating and reformatting creator content for streaming TV platforms. FilmRise currently has 32 creators on its roster, including Ryan Trahan, Uncle Roger, Preston and Brianna, and Unspeakable. Prior to co-founding FilmRise, Fisher was the co-founder and CEO of City Lights Media Group, which created and produced Food Network’s popular series “Chopped.”

Doug Schwab is founder and President of Maverick Entertainment Group of Deerfield Beach, Fla., since 1997 a leading distributor and producer of Black cinema and other niche indie films. Maverick has released more than 1,500 films and boasts the world’s largest library of Black cinema, including such titles as The Comeback and Boxed In and Boxed In 2. Maverick releases more than 100 films each year across physical and digital platforms worldwide and provides content to such major digital platforms as Tubi, Peacock, Roku and Vizio. Maverick films are also available on demand on Freevee, Samsung and Fandango at Home, and on such streaming platforms as FilmRise, Xumo, Fawesome and Crackle. Additionally, the Maverick Black Cinema app, available on Roku, Amazon Fire and Comcast, offers a curated selection of premium content. Maverick Black Cinema FAST channels can be found on Tubi, Freevee, Sling, The Roku Channel and Plex, and built into Samsung, Vizio, LG, Google, TCL and Hisense smart televisions. This past year Maverick premiered several original productions, including Nothing Even Matters, I Hate I Love You and Garrett Morris and Michael Schultz. Schwab has more than 40 years of experience in the home entertainment industry. Prior to starting Maverick he was a buyer at Blockbuster Entertainment Corp.

Nick Savva is the CEO of Giant Pictures, an independent distribution company founded in 2017. The company has grown to become one of the country’s most active indies, with interests spanning streaming, direct-to-consumer channels and, most recently, theatrical releases, including Sony Music’s Luther Vandross documentary from Sundance 2024, Luther: Never Too Much. Under Savva’s leadership, Giant has expanded its reach and visibility, highlighted by its successful partnership with the Tribeca Festival to create the Tribeca Films label. This co-venture acquires 25 films annually from top global festivals and brings them to streaming platforms. Earlier this year Giant launched an international sales division at the EFM in Berlin, offering newly completed films from its growing catalog, as well as titles from its partner labels, including Tribeca Films and Drafthouse Films. Highlights from the international slate include Absolute Dominion, a $10 million martial arts/sci fi film directed by Lexi Alexander, and the acclaimed documentary Thank You Very Much, about comedian Andy Kaufman, which will receive a U.S. theatrical release through Drafthouse Films in the spring. Giant’s catalog has also grown significantly, expanding from 1,000 to more than 2,000 titles over the past year. Before joining Giant, Savva held acquisition roles at Tribeca Enterprises and Revolver Entertainment.

Barrett Dungy is President of One Culture Media Group, a leading holder of multicultural film and television show rights. A recognized advocate of diverse programming, Dungy has more than 20 years of experience addressing the challenges he saw in Hollywood regarding the distribution of African-American and other multicultural content. Working through Urban Home Entertainment and his various other companies, including his comedy label, The Ruckus Comedy, Dungy has brought more than 300 films to a global audience. He has secured international distribution rights and provided early career opportunities for talent such as Tyler Perry, Kevin Hart, Zoe Saldaña and Lil Rel Howery. UHE films and television shows are available on various broadcast networks and online streaming platforms, both domestically and internationally. The Ruckus Comedy label features top comedians such as Kevin Hart, Jamie Foxx, Monique, D.L. Hughley, Mike Epps and Ron White. The label also distributes Gotham Comedy Live, The BIG Black Comedy Show, Laffapalooza, and both the Kings of Comedy and the Queens of Comedy. Dungy dedicates significant time to speaking engagements and mentoring industry newcomers and veterans on navigating the independent project distribution landscape outside of the Hollywood system. Many of his clients have found success through partnerships and independent distribution.

John Kim is CEO of Deep C Digital, a distribution company he founded in 2017. Representing more than 1,000 titles across all genres, Deep C Digital has become a leading distributor of family and Black cinema content, with films in the company’s library boasting such ‘A’-list names as James Earl Jones, Tim Allen, Meghan Markle, Chadwick Boseman, Sigourney Weaver and Snoop Dogg. Many of Deep C Digital’s titles were previously represented by Disney, Fox, Universal Studios and other bigger-name independent distributors. Recent releases include the Kevin Sorbo starrer God’s Here, which received six nominations at this year’s International Christian Film & Music Festival; And God Made Man, starring Dean Cain and Kevin Sorbo; and A Christmas in New Hope, starring Ryan Cooper, Malcolm Goodwin and Katrina Bowden. Kim has more than 20 years of home entertainment experience. He was VP at Paramount Home Entertainment, where he managed the digital distribution team, and Executive Director at Walt Disney Home Entertainment, where he managed Disney’s live-action and animated catalog businesses, and converted many Disney classics from VHS to DVD. Kim was a pioneer in recognizing YouTube as a valuable AVOD distribution outlet and created a YouTube channel that has amassed more than 1 million subscribers.

Rich Wolff is CEO of Breaking Glass Pictures, an independent film distributor based in Philadelphia. With more than 30 years of experience in the industry, Wolff has acquired and licensed more than 800 films for TVOD, SVOD, AVOD and DVD/Blu-ray Disc release. Specializing in diverse and boundary-pushing cinema, Wolff acquires more than 40 films annually and works closely with producers, sales agents, directors, and other distribution companies to bring a broad spectrum of genres to market, including action, documentaries, dramas, horror, LGBTQ+, thrillers and international cinema. Recent acquisitions include the concert film A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheater, the 1980s Miami crime drama Silent Partners; the animated LGBTQ+ superhero film Maxxie La Wow: Drag Super-Shero; and Diva Futura, a documentary on the pornographic film agency that premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. In addition to acquisitions, Wolff actively produced about 15 films last year, with his latest project, Freak Off, currently in post-production. Wolff is a regular attendee at such key industry events as the Cannes Film Festival, TIFF, Sundance, NATPE and AFM. Before launching Breaking Glass Pictures in 2009, Wolff was a financial founder of the TLA Entertainment Group, which operated theaters, video stores and film-based mail-order catalogs.

Susan Helfrich is the COO and co-founder of Breaking Glass Pictures, the independent film distributor based in Philadelphia. Since co-founding the company in 2009, she has been instrumental in securing direct platform deals, negotiating licensing agreements, and expanding distribution across the digital distributor realm, from TVOD to SVOD, AVOD and FAST. Under her leadership, Breaking Glass has grown into a distributor of carefully curated films in a wide range of genres, from horror and thrillers to documentaries and LGBTQ+ cinema. Notable titles include EFC, a drama about women’s mixed martial arts with an explosive showdown between reigning champion Cassady Jones and rising contender Alexa Star, as well as the thrillers Taboo: Family Secrets, A Halloween Feast and Hayride to Hell, the latter a slasher film about a farmer who exacts bloody revenge on the unscrupulous townspeople, including the local sheriff, who want to steal the farm that’s been in his family for 200 years. Last year, Breaking Glass co-produced 15 films, including The Lizzie Borden Game, a supernatural thriller currently in post-production. Before transitioning to film, Helfrich had a successful career in the travel industry, where she pioneered celebrity-hosted fan experiences on cruise ships, blending entertainment with immersive audience engagement.

Joseph Amodei is President and CEO of Virgil Films & Entertainment, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year as a champion of independent features, documentaries, TV series and special-interest films. Recent releases include Confessions of a CEO, The Quest: Everest and I Could Never Go Vegan, all of which are available for digital rental or purchase on Prime Video, Fandango at Home and other major platforms. Amodei has more than 30 years of experience in the indie film world. His love for independent films and documentaries fueled his early 2000s run as president of USA Home Entertainment in 2000. There, he shepherded such films as Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich and Robert Altman’s Gosford Park into the home entertainment world. Amodei is now producing films as well as distributing them, a pursuit that began with Who Do I Think I Am?, a documentary on legendary Bruce Springsteen saxman Clarence Clemons. He has also worked as executive producer on the inspirational documentary Seven Yards, about paralyzed former football hero Chris Norton, and the Netflix documentary series “Happy Jail,” which earned him a Telly Award. Amodei also won a New York Emmy for his work on The Real Bedford Falls: It’s a Wonderful Life.

Timothy Maggiani recently was made partner and Co-President of Virgil Films & Entertainment, working closely with company founder Joe Amodei, who credits him with helping the company stay current. “While my love has always been the ‘movie,’ Tim has the mind of a digital savant, keeping up to date with the ever-changing world of new delivery, new accounts to discover and new ways to help get the films out there,” Amodei says. Maggiani has been at Virgil his entire career, joining right after he graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor of science degree in communications media with a specialty in scriptwriting. He was hired to help grow the digital distribution side of the business at a time when the primary vehicle for delivering independent films to home viewers was on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, and helped the company pivot to digital, establishing and nurturing relationships with newly minted video-on-demand retailers such as iTunes, Amazon’s Prime Video and Vudu (now Fandango at Home). Maggiani has since overseen the successful release of such hit independent films as Forks Over Knives, Restrepo, I Am Chris Farley, Just One Mile, The Girl Who Wore Freedom, Seven Yards and many others.

Shaun Hill is President of Indican Pictures, an independent film studio and distributor that has supported and championed independent and emerging filmmakers for more than 20 years. Under Hill’s leadership, Indican has partnered with Lionsgate, Giant Pictures, Criterion and Magnolia to release 20 to 30 films per year. The company supports a diverse staff that is 85% DEI and boasts a slate of more than 450 films that is as diverse as its employees. Recent releases include the Arabic crime drama and Cannes Un Certain Regard winner Hounds, which over one night in Casablanca follows an impoverished father-son duo as they attempt to dispose of a body after a botched kidnapping; the upcoming Maori production Ka Whawhai Tonu; and the recent Tribeca comic drama God Save the Queens. Indican films have won multiple NAACP, Spirit, Image, Fipresci and Red Nation awards for impactful stories that engage audiences worldwide, and can be viewed on Apple TV, Comcast, Dish, DirecTV, Max, Hulu, Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Spectrum, BET, Revry, Tubi, Xumo and Fandango, as well as worldwide airlines and educational institutions. Hill co-founded the company with Randolph Kret in 2004, after both previously worked in production and as film programmers for the Hollywood Film Festival and Slamdance.

Andreas Olavarria is President and CEO of Level 33 Entertainment, a worldwide film sales and distribution company he founded in 2010. Level 33 distributes and sells content across all media platforms including theatrical, VOD, DVD and streaming. Olavarria has overseen the acquisition, marketing and distribution of more than 300 independent feature films, including the recent 200+ screen theatrical release of the Ernest Hemingway adaptation Across the River and Into the Trees, starring Liev Schreiber and Josh Hutcherson; the zombie-comedy All You Need Is Blood, featuring Mena Suvari and Eddie Griffin; and the comedy/fantasy Timestalker, from Alice Lowe and co-starring Nick Frost. Olavarria also produces and executive produces two to four original feature films each year. Upcoming productions include an untitled original horror movie set to shoot this summer, and the animated feature film Pierre the Pigeon-Hawk, featuring the talents of Will.i.am, Jennifer Coolidge and Snoop Dogg in connection with Anthony Davis’ new entertainment venture, JAKM3N. Olavarria has more than 25 years of experience in the development, production and distribution of motion pictures. Prior to founding Level 33, he worked as an executive at both 20th Century Fox and The Walt Disney Studios, as well as in the world of independent film.

Mitch Mallon is the founder and CEO of Stadium Media, a global digital distribution company established in 2015 that supplies independent movies and shows to more than 150 countries around the world. The company has brought to market such indie films as the Christina Grimmie-starring romantic comedy The Matchbreaker; A Day Without a Mexican, director Sergio Arau’s pro-immigrant mockumentary; director Richard Schenkman’s quirky The Man From Earth; and the just-released Albany Road, with stand-up comedy performances from Matt Rife, Modi, Nick Offerman, David Cross and Anjelah Johnson. The company also has an extensive live-music catalog, with the recently released Moby-directed Punk Rock Vegan Movie; No Rewind: The Orchestra Starring ELO Former Members; and Dhani Harrison’s Innerstanding. Mallon has enjoyed a more than 30-year run in the home entertainment business. In the early 2000s he was a key player in the launch of one of the industry’s first digital content companies, Egami Media, a subsidiary of Image Entertainment. Mallon built relationships with such digital platforms as iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and Google YouTube. Mallon has also spoken at various conferences and festivals, including the Asia TV Forum & Market in Singapore, the St. Petersburg International Media Forum, and the Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.

Bill Sondheim is CEO of Greenfield Media LLC, a content management consulting business that provides release strategies, financing options and new film pick-ups to a diverse roster of film companies and producers, including Giant Pictures, Neon, Bleecker Street, The Asylum and Acme Rocket Fuel. Greenfield is also involved with fundraising and content evaluations for several major film companies that provide off-balance sheet catalog financing. Greenfield last year sold digital rights to two films to Warner Bros. Discovery: Gunner, with Morgan Freeman,
and Kickboxer, with Scott Adkins. He also helped manage the international expansion plan for Giant Pictures; and handled the restoration of the controversial Caligula and the upcoming cult classic Freaked. Sondheim has been working with independent film for more than two decades. He was president of PolyGram Video, where he oversaw the release of such films as Fargo, The Usual Suspects, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Big Lebowski. He later was president of GoodTimes Entertainment, oversaw the development of Sony Music Entertainment’s dual-disc technology initiative, and headed entertainment and worldwide distribution for Gaiam, later Gaiam Vivendi. In 2013 he began a six-year run as president of Cinedigm (now Cineverse), where he oversaw the company’s expansion into OTT and China.

Robert Blair is President and CEO of VCI Entertainment, a pioneer in the made-for-video film market and the oldest continually operated home video company. VCI specializes in bringing to DVD and Blu-ray Disc classic and cult films. Recent releases include a 4K Ultra HD edition of Dark Night of the Scarecrow, a 1981 made-for-TV horror classic; the 1918 silent film Stella Maris, with Mary Pickford; and the 1970 comedy/drama Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx, starring Gene Wilder and Margot Kidder — making its Blu-ray Disc debut. VCI also has a new ad-free streaming service, VCI Classics+, available on Roku, FireTV and Chromecast, which streams an eclectic menu of films such as The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, which takes a look at what would have happened had President Kennedy’s assassin lived; the 1941 comedy Road Show, directed by Hal Roach; the eerie 1949 film noir Impact; and vintage “Dick Tracy” serials. VCI, with a library of more than 6,000 titles, was established in 1976 by Blair’s father, Bill. Robert, who began his career as a teenager working at a 16mm film distributor and laboratory, was initially in charge of sales and marketing in the early days of the video rental business.

Berry Meyerowitz is the Co-President of Quiver Distribution, which specializes in production, acquisition and global distribution. With deep-rooted partnerships across digital, linear, cable, and satellite platforms, Quiver delivers its content to screens worldwide. Recent releases include Cleaner, an action-thriller in the vein of Die Hard, starring Daisy Ridley and Clive Owen, about a group of radicals who take 300 hostages at an energy company’s gala; the sci-fi mystery Trapped Inn, which follows an American cycling team stranded in a historic European lodge during a training camp; and A Mistake, a medical drama that stars Elizabeth Banks in a gripping story of ethical dilemmas and professional consequences. With 25 years of expertise in film distribution, Meyerowitz has been a driving force in shaping the industry’s digital and streaming strategies. As CEO of Phase 4 Films he built a top-tier independent distribution brand, leading to its acquisition by Entertainment One, where he served as President of U.S. Film and Distribution. In 2019 he co-founded Quiver Distribution with Jeff Sackman and Sean Monson. Earlier in his career, Meyerowitz helmed Peace Arch Home Entertainment, which he joined through the sale of his company, kaBOOM! Entertainment. Before that, he worked at 20th Century Fox as Marketing Director.

Richard Lorber is Chairman and CEO of Kino Lorber Media Group, a leader in independent film and series distribution, including theatrical, physical media and streaming. Kino Lorber each year acquires and releases 30 first-run and repertory films in North America, as well as more than 350 titles for TVOD and disc release. Recent releases include Oh, Canada, about a dying filmmaker (Richard Gere in the present, Jacob Elordi in flashbacks) who in a final interview admits that his status as a progressive icon is built on lies and half-truths; Every Little Thing, an Australian film about a Hollywood woman who cares for injured hummingbirds; and Green Border, a drama from Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland about the so-called “green border” between Belarus and Poland. Recent company highlights include back-to-back Oscar nominations for Best Documentary Feature for 2024’s Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat and 2023’s Four Daughters; the premiere of the series “Babylon Berlin” on international series streamer MHz Choice; and Kino Film Collection’s launch of its own standalone streaming service. An industry pioneer, Lorber co-founded and served as the head of Fox Lorber for 20 years. He later spent six years as president of Koch Lorber Films. He acquired Kino International in 2009 to form Kino Lorber.

Randy Wells is the Chief Revenue Officer and President of Home Entertainment of Magnolia Pictures, a leading independent film studio for more than 20 years. Magnolia Pictures is the theatrical and home entertainment distribution arm of the Wagner/Cuban Companies. Magnolia recently acquired U.S. rights to the Toronto International Film Festival breakout 40 Acres, a post-apocalyptic film directed and written by R.T. Thorne and starring Danielle Deadwyler, and The Assessment, a sci-fi thriller starring Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel, which premiered at last year’s TIFF. Wells joined Magnolia Pictures in 2005, when he formed and launched the home entertainment division, where he continues to spearhead all aspects of home entertainment, from digital distribution, inclusive of TVOD, SVOD, AVOD and FAST channels, to the marketing and distribution of the physical and digital release catalog. He is also responsible for identifying new digital distribution/OTT platform partners and negotiating deal terms across all digital formats. Before joining Magnolia Pictures, Wells served as VP at Miramax Home Entertainment and Executive Director at Artisan Home Entertainment (now Lionsgate). Earlier in his career Wells spent 10 years in marketing, merchandising and inventory management at Blockbuster Entertainment Corp., once the largest video rental dealer in the world.

Bill Vergos is head of digital film distribution at Freestyle Digital Media, which distributes independent films across digital platforms, including streaming and VOD, helping filmmakers reach global audiences with diverse genres. Within 25 years of industry experience, Vergos has worked on such notable films as Catch Me If You Can and Rocky Balboa. Since joining Freestyle in 2010, when the company was formed, Vergos has built its distribution network, overseeing the release of more than 100 films annually across multiple platforms, including theatrical, pay-TV, TVOD, DVD, SVOD and AVOD. Under his leadership, Freestyle’s catalog has grown to more than 700 titles, including award-winning films such as Daruma. Recent releases include the Canadian comedy/drama I Like Movies; Allswell in New York, a character-driven film about three strong women, led by Liza Colón-Zayas, that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; and the Slamdance Film Festival animated indie favorite Unicorn Boy. In 2025 Freestyle Digital Media will expand its theatrical distribution reach for select independent films. Prior to joining Freestyle, Vergos was director of product management and production at VDI Entertainment. He has been a regular attendee of the Slamdance Film Festival, SXSW, the Dances with Films festival and the American Film Market.

Eric Doctorow is the CEO of Random Media, an independent film distribution company he founded 12 years ago. Doctorow is a veteran media executive who is well known for his relationships and leadership in the home entertainment market for more than 40 years. He held senior management positions at Paramount Pictures for 20 years, rising to president of Paramount’s worldwide home entertainment division. He also oversaw the distribution of other home entertainment franchises including MTV, Nickelodeon and CBS properties. Doctorow is known for establishing many marketing and distribution strategies now standard in the industry and led Paramount’s entry into the DVD business. He was responsible for distributing Titanic, the most successful domestic home video release of all time. After his stint at Paramount, Doctorow led MGM’s worldwide home entertainment business, managing the studio’s joint venture with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Doctorow is a founding member of DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group and a past inductee into the video industry’s Hall of Fame. He also serves on various boards. Recent Random Media releases, available for digital purchase and on DVD, include My Partner, Aloha Means More Than Just Goodbye, The Get Rich Quick Scheme and The Gift of Fear.

               

Welcome to Media Play News’ third annual Top Indie Power Players list, our annual salute to the key movers and shakers in independent film distribution.

Actress Charlize Theron once said, “I feel 100% sure that I have the career that I have today because of independent filmmaking.” Undoubtedly, many other actors feel the same way, since so many of them got their start in independent film. Independent filmmakers care less about box office success than they do about telling a compelling story, and while they turn to festivals and limited theatrical showings to drum up awareness, their core audiences have always been in the home. And thanks to the proliferation of digital distribution, particularly streaming and niche FAST channels, the options for delivering films directly to consumers have never been greater.

We launched this project in 2022 because we felt the distribution side of the independent film world wasn’t getting nearly as much attention as it deserved. We knew there were all sorts of awards and honors on the creative side, but very little attention on the acquisition and distribution executives responsible for bringing this great content to the public.

As we did last year, we are profiling what our judges consider the top 30 power players in independent film distribution. The process was simple: We solicited nominations through our website, and then had a panel of distribution executives, creatives and entertainment journalists narrow down the nominees to 30.

And by independent film, we’re not just talking about newly made movies. Over the 100-year-plus history of cinema, independent productions have steadfastly held their own among the big Hollywood tentpoles, and some of our honorees are focused on bringing to the home market vintage indies that have either achieved cult status or been all but forgotten.

The envelope, please …

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Nick Savva is the GM of Giant Pictures, a New York- and Los Angeles-based independent movie company he co-founded in 2017. The company has quickly established itself as a key player in U.S. digital distribution. The coming year will see the launch of Tribeca Films, a new co-venture between Giant Pictures and the Tribeca Festival, which plans on acquiring upwards of 25 movies per year for streaming platforms. Savva has also expanded Giant’s theatrical releasing capabilities via its majority stake in genre distributor Drafthouse Films, where he also serves as CEO. With more than 1,000 titles under management from client labels such as Participant Media, Sony Music, Red Bull Studios and Yellow Veil Pictures, Giant Pictures under Savva’s leadership is fueling new Preferred Partner deals with YouTube Free Primetime Content (Google’s licensed AVOD offering) as well as The Roku Channel. Savva is also investing in the direct-to-consumer segment, having launched FAST channels with Tribeca and Baby Einstein, a beloved children’s brand. Recent Giant Pictures releases include Oliver Stone’s climate documentary Nuclear Now, Alex Winter’s The YouTube Effect and the 4K restoration of Robert De Niro’s 1993 crime thriller classic A Bronx Tale.

Garson Foos is CEO and co-founder of Shout! Studios, which over the past 20 years has expanded its business activities through various media platforms, multiple streaming channels, and extensive content libraries — including cult classics (movies and TV), new films, family friendly content, animation and anime. Shout! also boasts a solid slate of original productions. Another key area is content licensing and distribution, particularly in the realm of digital media and streaming. Shout! has been recognized by the industry for revitalizing cult and class film and TV series on various viewing platforms, including DVD, Blu-ray Disc, 4K UHD, and digital streaming. Today, digital streaming — TVOD, SVOD, AVOD and FAST — has become a well-established business for Shout!, especially for cult and classic film and TV. In recent years, Shout! has also emerged as a leading distributor of top anime and animation content. Through its partnership with GKIDS, Shout! distributes 22 Studio Ghibli classics. In addition, Shout! has ventured into original content development and productions for feature films and series including new seasons of the cult TV show “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” remakes of select Roger Corman films from the New Horizons Pictures library, and the Shout! original movie Old Henry, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

Julie Dansker is SVP of streaming and content strategy at Shout! Studios. A seasoned entertainment executive with longstanding relationships with content creators, content buyers, digital and streaming platforms, studios, and networks, Dansker oversees the licensing and streaming sales team, leading the streaming and content distribution strategy for Shout! Studios. She drives the monetization for all film and series content across global SVOD, AVOD channel partners and broadcasters, executing licensing deals, managing portfolios of AVOD channel partners and pitching and launching FAST channels. Utilizing data-driven analytics, her team monitors performance and optimizes engagement across partners. Dansker also collaborates with the acquisitions team to identify and acquire elevated new releases and is on the Shout! Studios team developing original content across television, feature films and podcasts, actively pitching and setting up original productions. The most-notable recent films include Shekhar Kapur’s What’s Love Got to Do With It?; the award-winning Western Old Henry, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival; Linoleum, starring Jim Gaffigan and Rhea Seehorn; and Drugstore June, on which she served as executive producer. Promoted into her present position in October 2022, Dansker joined Shout! in November 2020 from The Orchard, where she was VP of sales and marketing.

Chris McGurk is chairman and CEO of Cineverse, a publicly traded entertainment company with dual headquarters in Los Angeles and New York. The company distributes content across all windows, from theatrical to TVOD/DVD/Blu-ray Disc and streaming: SVOD, AVOD and FAST. Cineverse’s network of fan channels includes Dog Whisperer, with Cesar Milan, and iconic children’s entertainers Sid & Marty Krofft, as well as Screambox, RetroCrush, the Dove Channel, and the company’s flagship service, Cineverse. McGurk has enjoyed a long and transformative executive career in the film, TV and streaming content industries. Cineverse’s proprietary, next-generation streaming technology solution, Matchpoint, powers the distribution of more than 71,000 film, TV and podcast titles, with 1.4 million total SVOD subscribers and 4 billion minutes streamed. Matchpoint’s suite of AI tools are now offered as an SaaS solution — supporting media companies, platforms and OEMs. Before joining Cineverse in 2011, McGurk was the founder and CEO of Overture Films and CEO of Anchor Bay Entertainment. McGurk also served as vice chairman of the board and COO of MGM Studios. Earlier in his career McGurk served in various executive capacities at Universal Pictures and several senior executive roles at The Walt Disney Studios, including Studios CFO and president of The Walt Disney Motion Picture Group.

Erick Opeka is president and chief strategy officer at Cineverse. He oversees the company’s efforts in streaming, distribution and technology, as well as corporate strategy and M&A initiatives. Additionally, Opeka oversees the company’s portfolio of three-dozen streaming services and FAST channels that reach more than 80 million connected-TV viewers each month. These networks include the company’s recently launched flagship streaming service Cineverse, as well as Fandor (indie film), Screambox (horror), Docurama (documentaries), CONtv (fandom), Dove Channel (family), RetroCrush (anime), AsianCrush (pan-Asian) and others. In addition, the company operates and manages streaming channels for more than a dozen strategic partners, including Red Bird Capital’s All3Media, American Public Media, Nacelle, Real Madrid and more. Opeka’s strategic growth approach, including the completion of eight M&A transactions over the past four years, led to triple-digit growth in Cineverse’s streaming business. Before joining Cineverse, Opeka co-founded and led New Video Digital, eventually transforming it into the world’s largest independent film and TV aggregator. He began his career at Madstone Entertainment, a pioneer in digital exhibition and distribution. A U.S. Army veteran, Opeka is vice chair at streaming trade association OTT.X and is a board member at streaming producer Roundtable Entertainment. He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Television Academy.

Richard Lorber is the chairman and CEO of Kino Lorber Media Group, a specialty film and television distributor that each year releases more than 40 films theatrically and brings more than 350 titles annually to the home entertainment market through physical and digital releases. The company specializes in international, documentary, independent and classic cinema and has recently expanded its episodic releases with the acquisition of the two leading international TV streamers, MHz Choice and Topic. This year Lorber also launched his own subscription streamer, Kino Film Collection, in partnership with Amazon, featuring more than 400 titles, including the company’s newest theatrical releases and films from its 2,000-title library. Recent 4K UHD releases include such Hollywood classics as To Live and Die in L.A. and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Boxed set releases include Cinema’s First Nasty Women, the Francois Truffaut Collection, A French Village from MHz Choice and classic Nordic noirs “The Bridge” and “The Killing.” The company also launched its Kino Cult line of genre favorites in numbered Blu-ray Disc editions. An industry pioneer, Lorber co-founded and served as the head of Fox Lorber for 20 years. He later spent six years as president of Koch Lorber Films. He acquired Kino International in 2009 to form Kino Lorber.

Danny Fisher is CEO of FilmRise, a New York-based film and television studio that is one of the world’s largest providers of content in the AVOD/FAST space. Fisher has guided the company from a startup in the basement of his Brooklyn residence in 2012 to one of the largest third-party providers of content to streaming platforms, with tens of thousands of FilmRise titles currently streaming all over the world. Fisher also created the FilmRise Streaming Network, one of the world’s largest independently owned portfolios of ad-supported streaming apps and FAST channels. Fisher has recently steered FilmRise into several new directions, including stitching short-form creator content, primarily from YouTube, into 23-minute segments and licensing them as half-hour episodes to AVOD networks, FAST channels, and even some SVOD services and regular television networks. Successful shows include “Unspeakable” and “PrestonPlayz.” FilmRise offers movies and television shows across all genres, from Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen” and its own “Bloodline Detectives,” hosted by Nancy Grace, to films such as Sprinter, the 2018 sports drama executive produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and Driveways, a 2019 drama that had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival. Before co-founding FilmRise, Fisher was founder and CEO of City Lights Media Group, which created and produced Food Networks’ popular series “Chopped.”

Kent Sanderson is president of acquisitions and ancillary distribution at Bleecker Street, a position he has held since the company’s inception in 2014. He also serves as co-president of Decal, the home entertainment joint venture he co-founded in 2021 and runs with his Neon counterpart, Andrew Brown. Over the past 10 years, Sanderson has managed a slate of acquisitions and co-productions that is now more than 70 titles deep and has included a wide array of independent and commercial-facing projects, from the 100% Rotten Tomatoes-rated Leave No Trace, the acclaimed workplace thriller The Assistant, and Steven Soderbergh’s heist comedy Logan Lucky, to this year’s Academy Award-nominated Golda, starring Helen Mirren. Sanderson also oversees all of Bleecker’s revenue streams outside theatrical, including streaming, VOD, physical media, non-theatrical and international partnerships. He signed first pay-TV output deals with Amazon’s Prime Video, Hulu and Paramount+ with Showtime, and has completed an array of second-window and beyond sales with every major streaming platform. Previously, Sanderson worked at GoDigital, and during a six-year run at Focus Features built a digital distribution arm before moving into acquisitions. He began his career in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency.

Andrew Brown is president of digital distribution at Neon as well as co-president of Decal, which he co-founded in 2021 and runs with Bleecker Street’s Kent Sanderson. Brown’s roles extend to all digital distribution and physical media channels for Neon’s library and the direct-to-consumer digital and merchandising portal Neon Cinema. Neon is best known for such films as Spencer; I, Tonya; Parasite; and recent Oscar winner Anatomy of a Fall. At Decal, Brown oversees the home entertainment rights for Neon, Bleecker Street and XYZ, with a collective output that includes the comedy Ride the Eagle, starring Jake Johnson, J.K. Simmons and Susan Sarandon; the horror film The Offering, directed by Oliver Park; and the romantic comedy Which Brings Me To You, starring Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff. During his more than 20 years in the film and TV industry, Brown has been at the forefront of the digital video business, starting with Rainbow Media (now Altice) and InDemand. Starting in 2006, he took over the expansion and development of Time Warner Cable’s VOD service, making it into one of the nation’s largest streaming video platforms. After Time Warner Cable’s acquisition by Charter in 2016, Brown joined Neon as the SVP of digital marketing, strategy and distribution.

Ben Means is president of Distribution Solutions and Mill Creek Entertainment, divisions of Alliance Entertainment, a leading independent film and TV content distributor. He joined Distribution Solutions when it was founded in 2015 as the third-party home entertainment division of Sony Pictures. Three years later he negotiated the company’s sale to Alliance and since has driven its growth into a leading partner of choice for the licensing and distribution of films from both major and independent studios. Distribution Solutions currently has more than 40 label partners,
8,300 active DVD/Blu-ray Disc SKUs, and 3,200 hours of digital content. In 2019 Means was instrumental in Alliance’s acquisition of Mill Creek Entertainment, which expanded the home entertainment business under his purview even further. Means has more than two decades of entertainment industry management experience. Prior to joining Distribution Solutions, he served as VP of North American operations for the Walt Disney Co.’s Buena Vista Home Entertainment and EVP of worldwide operations at 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment — the youngest person to hold those positions. He implemented the first VMI systems at both Disney and Fox, the first and second studios to go direct with retailers, and has won 13 “Vendor of the Year” awards, including five at Walmart.

Jeff Hayne is SVP of acquisitions and productions at Mill Creek Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliance Entertainment. With direct sales pipelines to all primary retail and online partners, Mill Creek Entertainment licenses, produces, markets and distributes a growing array of film and television content to more than 100 digital platforms, 30,000 retail stores and hundreds of online retailers. Since taking over licensing and production activities at Mill Creek in 2007, Hayne has driven the company’s evolution from a boutique indie label into one of the biggest full-service licensing companies in North America. Mill Creek’s library includes Oscar-winning theatrical features, Emmy-winning classic and contemporary TV series, original documentaries and pop-culture favorites. Upcoming releases include 47 Days With Jesus, from Pinnacle Peak; Icons Unearthed: Star Wars, from Nacelle; and the complete series of 1960s sitcom “Bewitched.” Licensing partners include all the major studios and TV networks as well as hundreds of independent filmmakers and library owners. Hayne has successfully licensed and released more than 5,000 DVD and Blu-ray Disc products and is nearing that same number on digital platforms. Hayne and Mill Creek have also produced and released more than 85 new productions, mostly documentaries, which have found a home on such streaming platforms as Netflix, Starz, Hulu and Prime Video.

Ed Seaman is CEO of MVD Entertainment Group, a full-service movie and music distribution firm that exclusively represents a vast catalog of audio and visual products for DVD, Blu-ray Disc, 4K Ultra HD, CD, vinyl and digital rights, worldwide. MVD exclusively represents such video labels as Arrow Films, Severin, Synapse, Blue Underground, 88 Films, VCI and Troma, along with in-house label MVD Rewind. Recently MVD signed Random Media for digital distribution, along with the U.K.’s Eureka Entertainment. Additionally, MVD is consistently sourcing independent and archival films for home video and digital release. MVD finds opportunity in serving the collector market with cult and genre films on Blu-ray Disc and 4K Ultra HD, with high demand despite reduced retail shelf space and studio offerings. Digital distribution, meanwhile, is growing dramatically. “Serving Artists and Audiences” is MVD’s purpose statement and has served as a guiding light for Seaman throughout his career. Founded by industry veteran Tom Seaman in 1987, MVD remains an independent family owned and operated business. MVD’s customer base consists of major retail chains and digital platforms, along with independent retailers and digital sites. MVD continues to grow and in 2023 posted another banner year.

Eric Wilkinson is the director of acquisitions at MVD Entertainment Group. He oversees the company’s two boutique labels, MVD Rewind Collection and MVD Marquee Collection, which he launched in 2017 as a curated selection of Blu-ray Disc and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray special-editions of cult movies that pay homage to VHS releases from the video rental store era, many of which have never been released on any optical disc format. Each title is numbered and comes in a slipcover that looks like a weathered VHS box. Early releases include Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, the 1978 sci-fi horror film about a group of scientists who band together to save the world from mutated killer tomatoes, and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Lionheart and Black Eagle. Recent releases include Best Picture Academy Award winner Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman; Wes Craven’s take on the DC superhero Swamp Thing; and the cult classic Ghoulies. Wilkinson joined MVD in 2015. Previously, his career path took him through MGM Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Kino Lorber. He began his career in home entertainment in 1989 as a clerk at the independent New Jersey video store chain Hometown Video and as a brand manager for 20th Century Fox Home Video at Star Video in 1998.

Joseph Amodei is president and CEO of Virgil Films & Entertainment, which he founded in 2003 to develop, acquire, market, distribute and produce movies in the narrative feature film, documentary, episodic television and special-interest categories. Amodei has enjoyed a career in the film industry for more than 30 years. Under Amodei’s leadership the company has released such award-winning hits as the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary Ruth; We Are Columbine, in which four survivors of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history return to Columbine High School 20 years later to share their experiences and journeys toward healing; and Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock’s notorious takedown of fast-food convenience. Amodei’s personal love for independent films and documentaries made its way into his business life when he became president of USA Home Entertainment in 2000. There, he shepherded such films as Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich and Robert Altman’s Gosford Park into the home entertainment world. Amodei has recently begun producing, beginning with Who Do I Think I Am?, the Clarence Clemons documentary. He has also worked as executive producer on the Netflix documentary series “Happy Jail,” which earned him a Telly Award. Amodei won a New York Emmy for his work on The Real Bedford Falls: It’s a Wonderful Life.

Andreas Olavarria is president and CEO of Level 33 Entertainment, a global film sales and distribution company he founded in 2010. Level 33 distributes and sells content across all media platforms including theatrical, VOD, DVD and streaming. Olavarria has overseen the acquisition, marketing and distribution of more than 150 independent feature films, including the recent theatrical and day-and-date home releases Double Down South, from Tom Schulman; the icy thriller Cold Meat, starring Allen Leech and Nina Bergman; and the SXSW sci-fi rom-com Molli and Max in the Future, starring Zosia Mamet and Aristotle Anthari. In 2024 Level 33 will continue to build upon the theatrical distribution footprint for select independent films, its relationships with a growing list of key VOD partners, and strategic international partnerships for monetizing content overseas. Olavarria produces and executive produces a handful of original feature films each year, and this year will be announcing a partnership with a new entertainment venture founded by an active NBA all-star and future hall of famer. He has more than 25 years of experience in the development, production and distribution of motion pictures, having worked as an executive at both 20th Century Fox and The Walt Disney Studios, as well as in the world of independent film.

Doug Schwab is founder and president of Maverick Entertainment Group, a Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based company that for nearly 30 years has been a trailblazer in the distribution of Black cinema and other niche indie films. Maverick has released more than 1,500 films and boasts the world’s largest library of Black cinema. Dedicated to both acquiring and producing content, Maverick releases more than 100 titles annually, distributed across physical and digital platforms worldwide. Maverick provides content to such major digital platforms as Tubi, Peacock, Roku and Vizio. Maverick films are also available on demand on Freevee, Samsung and Vudu, as well as on streaming platforms such as FilmRise, Xumo, Fawesome and Crackle. Additionally, the Maverick Black Cinema app, available on Roku, Amazon Fire, and Comcast, offers audiences a curated selection of premium content. Maverick Black Cinema FAST channels can be found on Tubi, Freevee, Sling, The Roku Channel and Plex, and built into Samsung, Vizio, LG, Google, TCL and Hisense smart televisions. This past year Maverick premiered several original productions, including The Comeback, Boxed In 2, Dope Boy Magic and A Christmas Family Secret. A native of New Orleans, Schwab has more than 40 years of experience in the home entertainment industry and leveraged the expertise he gained as a Blockbuster buyer to lay the foundation for Maverick’s inception and growth.

Shaun Hill is CEO of Indican Pictures, an independent film studio that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Under Hill’s leadership, Indican has partnered with industry leaders such as Lionsgate, Giant Pictures, Criterion and Magnolia to release upwards of 30 films per year and more than 450 to date. Indican’s recent releases include Hounds, a crime drama that premiered at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard 2023; the acclaimed documentary Green City Life, which calls to action revolutionary initiatives on sustainable re-vegetation and bio-waste recovery; Native American films The Windigo and The Heart Stays; and the international fantasy actioner The Phantom Warrior, with Dean Cain. Indican films have won NAACP, Spirit, Image and Prism awards for impactful stories that engage audiences worldwide, and can be viewed on Apple TV, Comcast, Dish, DirecTV, Max, Netflix, Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Spectrum, Showtime, Starz, Tubi, Xumo and Vudu, as well as worldwide airlines and educational institutions. Hill co-founded the company with Randolph Kent. She serves as an advisory board member for the University of Riverside and a judge for UCLA’s Masters screenwriting program. She happily champions the next generation of filmmakers and has her first TV series coming out in 2024.

David Gregory is co-founder, president and CEO of Severin Films, an independent distributor of what it calls “entertainment with sharp edges” for physical media and digital platforms. The company’s catalog includes projects by such filmmakers as Alejandro Jodorowsky, Roman Polanski, Dario Argento, Paul Morrissey, Mike Leigh, Peter Greenaway, and Patrice Leconte; classic “exploitation” films; landmark American indies; horror from Spain, Turkey, France, Germany, the Philippines, Canada, New Zealand, Poland, Indonesia and the Soviet Union; a formidable collection of Italian gialli, cannibal movies, zombie movies, erotic thrillers and 1980s action hits; and Gregory’s own documentary features. Founded in 2006, Severin Films has also become a major player in the production of bonus features for disc releases, creating international materials for Criterion, Warner Bros., Paramount, Arrow, Kino Lorber, and Shout! Factory. Gregory began his career as a filmmaker and in 1997 co-founded the U.K. label Blue Underground. He later worked at Anchor Bay Entertainment, producing special features for such films as Heathers, The Wicker Man and The Man Who Fell to Earth. Over the past year, Gregory has overseen Severin’s production and release of such Blu-ray collections as Danza Macabra: The Italian Gothic Collection Vol. 2, The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle, Cushing Curiosities and Game of Clones: The Bruceploitation Collection.

Bill Vergos is head of digital film distribution at Byron Allen’s Freestyle Digital Media, a multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, satellite, digital and streaming platforms. He joined the company when it was established in 2010 and set up its robust distribution footprint, which now consists of a library of more than 500 titles and upwards of 100 releases annually across all media platforms, including theatrical, pay-TV, TVOD, DVD, SVOD and AVOD, which also includes Local Now, an American over-the-top internet television service owned by The Weather Group LLC, also a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. Recent releases include the 2023 Slamdance Grand Jury Prize winner Waiting for the Light to Change; The Road Dog, starring comedian Doug Stanhope; the adventure drama Survive, directed by Mark Pellington; the music documentary Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughn: Brothers in Blues; and Dear Zoe, starring Sadie Sink. Vergos also heads up film sales to all cable/satellite transactional platforms, DVD retailers and other non-theatrical outlets. Vergos is a 25-year veteran of the entertainment industry. Prior to joining Freestyle he was director of product management and production at VDI Entertainment. He has more than 30 commercial, feature film and music video credits.

Mitch Mallon is the founder and CEO of Stadium Media, a global digital distribution company established in 2015 that supplies programs to more than 150 countries around the world. The company has brought to market such indie films as the Christina Grimmie-starring romantic comedy The Matchbreaker; Bad Grandmas, a comedy with Pam Grier and Florence Henderson about four grandmothers who accidentally kill a conman; American Satan, a supernatural musical thriller film directed by Ash Avildsen; and stand-up comedy performances from Matt Rife, Lewis Black, Ralphie May, Craig Shoemaker and Rhys Darby. The company also has an extensive live music catalog, with the recently released 5 Seconds of Summer Live at the Royal Albert Hall. Mallon has enjoyed a more than 30-year run in the home entertainment business. In the early 2000s, he was a key player in the launch of one of the industry’s first digital content companies, Egami Media, a subsidiary of Image Entertainment. Mallon built relationships with such digital platforms as iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and Google YouTube. Mallon has also spoken and mentored at a variety of festivals, including the Asia TV Forum & Market in Singapore, the St. Petersburg International Media Forum, and the Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.

Eric Doctorow is the CEO of Random Media, an independent film distribution company he founded 10 years ago that distributes independent films on a worldwide basis. Doctorow is a highly respected media executive who is well known for his leadership in the home entertainment market for more than 40 years. He held senior management positions at Paramount Pictures for 20 years, rising to president of Paramount’s worldwide home entertainment division. He also oversaw the distribution of other home entertainment franchises including MTV, Nickelodeon and CBS properties. Doctorow is known for establishing many marketing and distribution strategies now standard in the industry. He led Paramount’s entry into the DVD business and was responsible for distributing Titanic, the most successful domestic home video release of all time. After Paramount, Doctorow was chosen to lead MGM’s worldwide home entertainment business, managing MGM’s joint venture with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. While at MGM, Doctorow pioneered a long-tail content distribution model now used throughout the industry. This model, called Manufacturing On Demand (MOD), allowed MGM to create more value for its vast library than previously thought possible. Doctorow is a founding member of DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group and a past inductee into the video industry’s Hall of Fame.

Rich Wolff is CEO of Breaking Glass Pictures, a Philadelphia-based film distribution company providing worldwide content in the TVOD, SVOD, AVOD and DVD/Blu-ray Disc space. Wolff acquires and aggregates more than 100 films per year, representing a wide swath of genres, including actioners, documentaries, dramas, horror films, LGBTQ+ films, thrillers and foreign-language movies. Recent releases include Girls on Film, about the toxic relationship between a cam girl and a lonely, disturbed heiress; Barrio Boy, a cross-cultural LGBTQ+ romance between a Nuyorican barber and an Irishman; and Scalper, in which a psychic is confronted with a nightmarish reality as everyone around her falls victim to the sadistic reign of terror unleashed by “The Scalper.” In addition to acquiring films for home release, Wolff produces around 12 films a year, with his newest title, Conjuring the Cult, which is in the early stages of production. During his more than 20-year career in the entertainment industry, Wolff has licensed more than 500 films for distribution. He has been a regular attendee of the Cannes Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the American Film Market, and others. Before launching Breaking Glass Pictures in 2009, Wolff was a financial founder of the TLA Entertainment Group, which operated theaters, video stores and film-based mail-order catalogs. Wolff began his career as a punk-rock concert promoter.

Robert Blair is president and CEO of VCI Entertainment, a pioneer in the made-for-video film market and the oldest continually operated home video company. The company specializes in bringing to DVD and Blu-ray Disc classic and cult films, such as the recently released Horrors of the Black Museum, a 1959 British thriller; the 1918 silent film Stella Maris, with Mary Pickford; and the 1970 crime drama The Gamblers, starring Suzy Kendall. VCI also has a new ad-free streaming service, VCI Classics, available on Roku, FireTV and Chromecast, which serves up an eclectic menu of films such as The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, which takes a look at what would have happened had President John F. Kennedy’s assassin lived; the 1941 comedy Road Show, directed by Hal Roach; the eerie 1953 film noir The Hitch-Hiker, written and directed by Ida Lupino; and vintage “Dick Tracy” serials. VCI, which currently has a library of more than 6,000 titles, was established in 1976 by Blair’s father, Bill. Robert, who had begun his career as a teenager working at a 16mm film distributor and laboratory, was initially in charge of sales and marketing just as the home video industry was still embroiled in a VHS vs. Betamax format war.

Bill Sondheim is CEO of Greenfield Media LLC, a content management company that helps independent filmmakers secure financing, assists in production setup, and secures global distribution deals. Greenfield also acts as a consultant, helping to devise and execute distribution strategies for various established independent film companies, including Giant Pictures, Neon Pictures, Bleecker Street, and ReelWorks Studios. Greenfield is also advising on the content and rollout plans for several iconic Hollywood classics that Giant Pictures recently restored to 4K UHD, including A Bronx Tale and Caligula. In addition, Greenfield is working with Allied Vaughn and its MOD offerings to ensure an orderly phase-down of physical goods with major studios and leading independents. Sondheim has been promoting independent film for more than two decades. He was president of PolyGram Video, where he brought to market such films as Fargo, The Usual Suspects, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Big Lebowski. He later was president of GoodTimes Entertainment, oversaw the development of Sony Music Entertainment’s dual-disc technology initiative, and headed entertainment and worldwide distribution for Gaiam, later Gaiam Vivendi. In 2013 he began a six-year run as president of Cinedigm, where he oversaw the company’s expansion into OTT and China.

Dan Gurlitz is the founder of Soundview Media Partners and publisher of The Sound View: Independent Film Digest. Soundview Media Partners launched in 2010 as a boutique sales agency for documentarians in 2010. While documentaries remain a core focus of the agency, Soundview has expanded its genre activity over the years, placing more than 600 films into the market through a variety of channels, including the Emmy Award-winning They Survived Together, the Pozo-Seco Singers story Nobody Famous, and Leda, the re-imagined Greek myth, in 3D. Soundview also offers targeted film-marketing services to select clientele. In 2016 Soundview launched Soundview EDU, its direct non-theatrical licensing initiative. It now represents a library of more than 700 films. In February 2020 Soundview launched The Sound View, an interactive monthly digital publication featuring indie film reviews, articles and more. The publication has grown dramatically and now reaches 14,000+ subscribers. Prior to joining Soundview, Gurlitz spent 26 years in independent film distribution, first as a sales rep for a variety of film companies and then in key executive positions with Fox Lorber Associates, WinStar TV and Video (Wellspring Media), The Disinformation Company and Koch Entertainment (eOne). Additionally, Gurlitz works with MVD Entertainment, representing its vast digital library.

Michael Rosenberg is president of Film Movement, a New York City-based film distributor founded in 2002. The company specializes in world cinema, independent films and documentaries, and releases more than 20 new films each year. Its catalog includes titles by directors such as Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Sergei Loznitsa, Andrzej Wajda, Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent. Recent and upcoming releases include Jessica Hausner’s Cannes competition film Club Zero; Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s 20,000 Species of Bees, winner of three Goya Awards; the award-winning documentary In the Rearview; and Indonesian director Kamila Andini’s Yuni. In 2015 Film Movement launched the reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Chen Kaige, Lee Chang-Dong, Stanley Kwan, Marleen Gorris, King Hu, Takeshi Kitano and Peter Greenaway. Film Movement Plus, a subscription streaming service, is available at FilmMovementPlus.com as well as on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and mobile devices, and has recently launched as an Amazon Prime Video channel. Rosenberg spent more than 25 years working for Koch Entertainment and its successor company, Entertainment One U.S. He became an owner of Film Movement in 2014. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America.

William Lustig is the founder and CEO of Blue Underground, an indie film company specializing in bringing obscure movies and exploitation cinema to home video. Lustig entered the video business as an established filmmaker himself, having directed the genre films Maniac, Vigilante, Hit List, Relentless, Uncle Sam and the “Maniac Cop” trilogy. On top of distributing many of Lustig’s past works, Blue Underground has also solidified itself as the primary home for such filmmaking luminaries as Dario Argento (Inferno, The Stendhal Syndrome, Two Evil Eyes), Lucio Fulci (Zombie, House by the Cemetery, The New York Ripper) and Jess Franco (Eugenie, Marquis De Sade’s Justine, 99 Women). Blue Underground is an industry leader in the restoration and authoring of classic cult films for 4K Ultra HD. Recent and upcoming releases include 4K restorations of The Girl From Rio, Night of the Blood Monster, Goodbye Uncle Tom and Deathdream. Lustig started his career on the creative side, beginning as an apprentice editor on the 1974 revenge thriller classic Death Wish. After a 16-year run as a film director, he went on to produce critically acclaimed special-edition DVDs for Anchor Bay Entertainment at a rate of eight releases a month, which then led to the formation of Blue Underground in 2002.

Bill Bromiley is president of Saban Films, the film acquisition and distribution venture from Saban Capital Group that was founded in 2014. Saban Films focuses on commercial, talent-driven films, boarding projects at all stages of production and through release across multiple platforms in North America and select international territories, including a same-day theatrical/VOD release strategy. Recently acquired Saban titles include the suspense thriller Knox Goes Away, directed by and starring Michael Keaton, Al Pacino and James Marsden; the action thriller Cult Killer, starring Alice Eve and Antonio Banderas; and Butcher’s Crossing, starring Nicolas Cage, which made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Saban Films’ successes range from theatrical hits such as the horror reboot Wrong Turn, starring Charlotte Vega and Matthew Modine, and Brad Furman’s acclaimed City of Lies, starring Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker. Prior to joining Saban, Bromiley served as chief acquisitions officer of RLJ Entertainment, where he was responsible for the acquisition of all content and oversaw the development and distribution of the Image, One Village, Madacy, Amity and Slingshot film brands. Bromiley also previously served as president of First Look Home Entertainment.

Berry Meyerowitz is the co-founder of Quiver Distribution, a film and TV company operating in the United States, Canada and international markets. Quiver acquires, develops, finances and produces films from established and emerging stars and filmmakers. Upcoming releases include Irena’s Vow, starring Sophie Nelisse and Dougray Scott; and Outlaw Posse, a Western directed by and starring Mario Van Peebles. The company recently produced and released the Netflix Original Happiness for Beginners, with Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes; The Wrath of Becky, the sequel to the hit 2020 film Becky; Fear the Night, starring Maggie Q; Bandit, starring Josh Duhamel, Elisha Cuthbert and Mel Gibson; and the Walter Hill Western Dead for a Dollar with Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe and Rachel Brosnahan. Before launching Quiver with partner Jeff Sackman, Meyerowitz founded Phase 4 Films. Following the sale of Phase 4 Films to eOne, Meyerowitz stayed on as president of eOne’s U.S. film business. Meyerowitz has executive produced more than 30 feature films, including Mayim Bialik’s directorial debut As They Made Us, with Dustin Hoffman and Candice Bergen. Earlier in his career, Meyerowitz served as president of Peace Arch Home Entertainment, which he joined through the sale of his company, kaBOOM! Entertainment. Before that, he worked at 20th Century Fox as marketing director.

Steve Saltman is head of domestic sales for Electric Entertainment, a film and television sales and distribution company founded by film producer and director Dean Devlin in May 2001. Saltman has more than 30 years of entertainment industry experience, specializing in television and digital distribution as a key executive in sales, legal and business affairs, acquisitions, and development. His main focus at Electric is licensing Electric’s properties to the various outlets, channels and platforms. Recent acquisitions include Adam the First, starring David Duchovny; Exile, starring Adam Beach as a man who receives a death threat from the man whose family he killed in a drunk driving accident; and Year of the Fox, a drama about a biracial teenager navigating Aspen’s party scene while her adoptive parents go through a bitter divorce. Before joining Electric Entertainment in 2018, Saltman was SVP of worldwide television and new media at Image Entertainment. Earlier roles include executive positions at Blockbuster Entertainment, Ablaze Entertainment and Genesis Entertainment. Saltman has also worked as a consultant for such companies as Australian Broadcasting Corp., Bounce TV and New World Distribution.

Welcome to Media Play News’ second annual Top Indie Power Players list, our salute to the titans of independent film distribution.

We launched this annual project in 2022 because we saw a conspicuous void in the world of independent film. There are all sorts of awards and honors for both indie movies and indie filmmakers, but very little attention has been paid to the executives who are charged with bringing this great content to the public.

Our list this year expands to 30 from 20, as we have strived to be as inclusive as we could. And, once again, our panel of judges from the independent film distribution world helped us select executives who play a key role in bringing indie product to the home market, which has traditionally been its ultimate destination — via streaming (SVOD, AVOD and FAST), transactional digital (VOD and sellthrough), and disc (DVD, Blu-ray Disc and 4K Ultra HD).

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Danny Fisher is CEO of FilmRise, a New York-based film and television studio that is one of the world’s largest providers of content in the AVOD/FAST space. Fisher created a unique data analytics model that set in motion the company’s successful approach to acquisition and distribution of ad-supported content. Fisher has guided the company from a startup in the basement of his Brooklyn residence in 2012 to one of the largest third-party providers of content to streaming platforms, with tens of thousands of FilmRise titles currently streaming all over the world. Fisher also created the FilmRise Streaming Network, one of the world’s largest independently owned portfolios of ad-supported streaming apps and FAST channels. FilmRise offers movies and television shows across all genres, including Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Kitchen Nightmares”; the iconic true crime series “Unsolved Mysteries” and “Forensic Files”; the classic American TV series “The Rifleman” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show”; longstanding British favorites such as “Midsomer Murders” and “Doc Martin”; as well as one of the most-streamed TV series of 2021, “Heartland.” Recently, FilmRise launched an originals production division, producing successful shows such as “Meet, Marry, Murder Hosted by Michelle Trachtenberg” and “Bloodline Detectives Hosted by Nancy Grace.” Before founding FilmRise, Fisher was founder and CEO of City Lights Media Group, a film and television production and distribution company with one of New York’s largest post-production facilities, which created and produced Food Networks’ popular series “Chopped.”

Learn more about FilmRise.

Chris McGurk is chairman and CEO of Cinedigm, a publicly traded entertainment company with dual headquarters in Los Angeles and New York. There, he leads a team bringing streaming-first content and next-generation technology to myriad partners. Cinedigm holds nearly 60,000 film and TV assets and reaches 83 million streaming viewers monthly, across 1.1 billion unique consumer devices, with 2.14 billion minutes streamed in the company’s most-recent quarter. Cinedigm has more than two dozen streaming channels, including free, ad-supported linear and paid SVOD, with 1.2 million total subscribers; these include the company’s newly launched flagship service, Cineverse, and linear channel The Elvis Presley Channel, as well as existing channels such as Screambox, for horror fans; classic anime brand RetroCrush; and the family-focused Dove Channel. Cinedigm distributes content across all windows, from theatrical to TVOD/DVD/Blu-ray Disc and streaming. Notable recent releases include the instant cult horror hit Terrifier 2 and the critically hailed The Outwaters. McGurk has enjoyed a long and transformative executive career in the film, TV and streaming content industries. Before joining Cinedigm in 2011, McGurk was the founder and CEO of Overture Films and CEO of Anchor Bay Entertainment. McGurk also served as vice chairman of the board and COO of MGM Studios. Earlier in his career, McGurk served in various executive capacities at Universal Pictures and several senior executive roles at The Walt Disney Studios, including Studios CFO and president of The Walt Disney Motion Picture Group.

Erick Opeka is chief strategy officer at Cinedigm and president of Cinedigm Networks, where he drives the distribution company’s corporate strategy and M&A efforts, and also oversees a portfolio of more than two dozen streaming SVOD, AVOD and FAST linear networks available online, and on mobile devices, gaming consoles and connected TVs. These networks include the company’s recently launched flagship streaming service Cineverse, as well as Fandor (indie film), Screambox (horror), Docurama (documentaries), CONtv (fandom), Dove Channel (family), RetroCrush (anime), AsianCrush (pan-Asian) and others. Under Opeka’s leadership, the company has entered into several channel partnerships with significant partners, including for the company’s newest streaming channels — The Elvis Presley Channel (in partnership with Elvis Presley Enterprises LLC and ABG Entertainment), pop culture-focused NacellePop (with The Nacelle Company) and, coming soon, The GoPro Channel (with Roundtable Entertainment and GoPro Inc.). Opeka has nearly 20 years of experience as an executive at the intersection of entertainment and technology. Prior to joining Cinedigm, Opeka co-founded and ran New Video Digital, growing it into the largest independent film and TV aggregator in the world. He began his career at Madstone Entertainment, a vertically integrated exhibitor, distributor and digital cinema pioneer. Opeka is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Learn more about Cinedigm.

Bill Bromiley is president of Saban Films, the film acquisition and distribution venture from Saban Capital Group. Founded in 2014, the company focuses on commercial, talent-driven films, boarding projects at all stages of production and through release across multiple platforms in North America and select international territories, including a day-and-date theatrical/VOD release strategy. Saban Films’ successes have run the gamut from theatrical hits such as the horror reboot Wrong Turn, starring Charlotte Vega and Matthew Modine, to Brad Furman’s acclaimed City of Lies, starring Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker, and Ian Nelms and Eshom Nelms’ Fatman, with Mel Gibson. Saban Films is a major force in the eventized theatrical space, being behind the biggest Fathom events with horror icon and heavy metal mastermind Rob Zombie’s 3 From Hell and Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Recently acquired Saban titles include the action-thriller Hellfire, with Stephen Lang, Harvey Keitel and Dolph Lundgren; the action-spy thriller Darkness of Man, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme; and Butcher’s Crossing, starring Nicolas Cage, which made its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Prior to joining Saban, Bromiley served as chief acquisitions officer of RLJ Entertainment, where he was responsible for the acquisition of all content and oversaw the development and distribution of the Image, One Village, Madacy, Amity and Slingshot film brands. Bromiley also previously served as president of First Look Home Entertainment.

Andrew Brown is president of digital distribution at Neon as well as co-president of Decal, which he co-founded in 2021 and runs with Bleecker Street’s Kent Sanderson. Brown’s roles extend to all digital-distribution and physical-media channels for Neon’s library, the annual FYC DVD boxed set and the direct-to-consumer digital and merchandising portal Neon Cinema. Neon is best known for such films as Spencer; I, Tonya; Parasite; and Triangle of Sadness, the Best Picture-nominated film at this year’s Academy Awards. At Decal, Brown oversees the home entertainment rights for Neon, Bleecker Street and XYZ, which combine to make a slate of best-in-class, high-profile films including the comedy film Ride the Eagle, starring Jake Johnson, J.K. Simmons and Susan Sarandon, and the horror film The Offering, directed by Oliver Park. During his more than 20 years in the film and TV industry, Brown has been at the forefront of the digital video business, starting with Rainbow Media (now Altice) and InDemand. Starting in 2006, he took over the expansion and development of Time Warner Cable’s VOD service, making it into one of the nation’s largest streaming video platforms. After Time Warner Cable’s acquisition by Charter in 2016, Brown joined Neon as the SVP of digital marketing, strategy and distribution.

Kent Sanderson is president of acquisitions and ancillary distribution at Bleecker Street, a position he has held since the company’s inception in 2014. He also serves as co-president of Decal, the home entertainment joint venture he co-founded in 2021 and runs with his Neon counterpart, Andrew Brown. Sanderson has managed a slate of acquisitions and co-productions that is now more than 65 titles deep, and has included a wide array of independent and commercial-leading projects, from the 100% Rotten Tomatoes-rated Leave No Trace, the workplace drama The Assistant, and the heist comedy Logan Lucky to the British thriller Eye in the Sky; the upcoming Golda, starring Helen Mirren; and Meg Ryan’s What Happens Later, in which she costars with David Duchovny. Sanderson also oversees all of Bleecker’s revenue streams outside theatrical, including streaming, VOD, physical media, non-theatrical and international partnerships. He has closed first pay-TV output deals with Amazon’s Prime Video, Hulu and Showtime Networks, and has completed an array of second-window and beyond sales with every major streaming platform. At Decal he has oversight over its entire home entertainment slate, including releases from Bleecker, Neon and XYZ. Previously, Sanderson worked at GoDigital, and during a six-year run at Focus Features built a digital distribution arm before moving into acquisitions. He began his career in the mailroom at the William Morris Agency.

Learn more about Decal.

Julianne Gorman is VP of marketing at Distribution Solutions, a division of Alliance Entertainment, a leading independent film and TV content distributor in North America. Gorman helms DS Brand Studios, comprised of the creative, marketing, digital delivery, and production teams, and oversees the development of nearly every aspect of introducing a physical or digital release into the marketplace. Labels served include Mill Creek Entertainment, AMC Networks, Vertical, Decal and more than 40 others. In 2022, Gorman oversaw sales materials, packaging design, consumer and retail marketing, mastering, authoring, and digital delivery across 125 releases in addition to corporate communications and branding. Next on her agenda: overseeing creative and marketing assets for the recent Mill Creek Entertainment licensing deal with Walt Disney Studios, and several title-specific campaigns, including marketing for NCircle Entertainment’s licensed “Barbie” content to coincide with the feature film release in July 2023. Significant upcoming releases include the Oscar-nominated All Quiet on the Western Front and Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist. Gorman has more than 20 years’ experience in home entertainment marketing. Prior to joining Distribution Solutions in 2018, she held executive roles in sales and marketing for music product at Warner Music Group; Starz, where she handled marketing for The Weinstein Company and Starz Originals; and Turner Broadcasting, for the 2016 relaunch of the TNT/TBS brand apps.

Learn more about Distribution Solutions.

Bill Sondheim is CEO of Greenfield Media LLC, a content management company that produces five to six films per year with strong cast and commercial appeal. Greenfield helps to secure film financing, assists in production setup and secures global distribution deals. Greenfield also acts as a consultant, helping devise and execute distribution strategies for various established independent film companies, including Giant Pictures, Neon Pictures, Bleecker Street and Shout! Factory. In addition to these traditional theatrical and home entertainment distribution companies, Greenfield is advising the content and rollout plans for several SVOD, AVOD and FAST streaming entities, including Herflix, Impact Professionals, Walk at Home and Alamo Drafthouse. In addition, Greenfield is working with Allied Vaughn and its MOD offerings to ensure an orderly phase-down of physical goods with major studios and leading independents. Sondheim has been promoting independent film for more than two decades. He was president of PolyGram Video, where he brought to market such films as Fargo, The Usual Suspects, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The Big Lebowski. He later was president of GoodTimes Entertainment, oversaw the development of Sony Music Entertainment’s dual-disc technology initiative, and headed entertainment and worldwide distribution for Gaiam. In 2013 he began a six-year run as president of Cinedigm, where he oversaw the company’s expansion into OTT and China.

Learn more about Greenfield Media LLC.

Ed Seaman is CEO of MVD Entertainment Group, a full-service music and movie distribution firm that exclusively represents thousands of audio and visual products for DVD, Blu-ray Disc, CD, vinyl and digital rights, worldwide. Recent and upcoming releases include the long-awaited sci-fi comedy 5-25-77 (2022) from writer-director Patrick Read Johnson; the acclaimed rock-doc Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008); 1992’s Super Cop (aka Police Story 3) and the “In the Line of Duty” franchise (1985-1989), starring Michelle Yeoh, both from 88 Films US; Black Sunday (1977) and Silent Running (1972) from Arrow Video US; studio hits The Last American Virgin (1982) and At Close Range (1986) from the MVD Rewind Collection; along with MVD’s first-ever 4K Ultra HD Collector’s Edition releases of MGM’s 1988 Best Picture Academy Award-winning Rain Man, and Wes Craven’s cult classic adaptation of DC comics’ Swamp Thing (1982). “Serving Artists and Audiences” is MVD’s purpose statement and has served as a guiding light for Seaman throughout his career. Founded by industry veteran Tom Seaman in 1987, MVD remains an independent family owned-and-operated business. Today, MVD’s customer base consists of major retail chains and digital platforms, along with independent retailers and digital sites. MVD continues to grow and in 2022 posted record sales.

Eric D. Wilkinson is director of acquisitions at MVD Entertainment Group. He oversees the distribution company’s MVD Rewind Collection, which he launched in 2017 as a curated selection of Blu-ray Disc special editions of cult movies that pay homage to releases from the video store era, many of which have never been released on any optical disc format. Each title is numbered and comes in a slipcover resembling a weathered VHS box. Early releases include Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Lionheart and Black Eagle; recent releases include the Nicolas Cage comedy Vampire’s Kiss, Ski Patrol and 1989’s Witchtrap. Wilkinson also oversees the MVD Marquee Collection, which launched in 2018 and features Blu-ray releases of more-prestigious catalog titles too “new” to be considered cult. Recent Marquee Collection releases include The Fabulous Baker Boys, Anvil! The Story of Anvil and the upcoming Oscar Best Picture-winning Rain Man, making its debut on 4K Ultra HD. Wilkinson joined MVD in 2015. Previously, his career path took him through MGM Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Kino Lorber. He began his career in home entertainment in 1989 as a clerk at the independent New Jersey video store chain Hometown Video and as a brand manager for 20th Century Fox Home Video at Star Video in 1998.

Learn more about MVD Entertainment Group.

David Gregory is co-founder, president and CEO of Severin Films, an independent distributor of what it calls “provocative cinema” for physical media as well as digital platforms. The company’s catalog includes projects by iconic filmmakers Alejandro Jodorowsky, Roman Polanski, Dario Argento, Paul Morrissey, Mike Leigh, Lucio Fulci, Just Jaeckin, Peter Greenaway, Dennis Hopper, Joko Anwar, Patrice Leconte, Walerian Borowczyk, Sergio Martino, Alex de la Iglesia and U.K. comedy legends The Comic Strip; classics of Blaxploitation, Ozploitation and Nunsploitation; landmark American indies; groundbreaking horror from Spain, Turkey, France, Germany, Philippines, Canada, New Zealand, Poland, Indonesia and the Soviet Union; and a formidable collection of Italian gialli, cannibal, zombie, erotic thrillers and 1980s action hits. Founded in 2006, Severin Films has also become a major player in the production of bonus features for disc releases, creating international materials for Criterion, Warner Bros., Paramount, Arrow, Kino Lorber and Shout! Factory. Gregory began his career as a filmmaker and in 1997 co-founded Blue Underground. He later worked at Anchor Bay Entertainment, producing special features for such films as Heathers, The Wicker Man and The Man Who Fell to Earth. Over the past year Gregory has overseen Severin’s production and release of such landmark Blu-rays as The Changeling UHD; Danza Macabra: The Italian Gothic Collection; and Violent Streets: The Umberto Lenzi/Tomas Milian Collection.

Learn more about Severin Films.

Mitch Mallon is the founder and CEO of Stadium Media, a global digital distribution company established in 2015 that supplies programs to more than 150 countries around the world. The company has brought to market such indie films as the Christina Grimmie-starring romantic comedy The Matchbreaker; Bad Grandmas, a comedy with Pam Grier and Florence Henderson about four grandmothers who accidentally kill a conman; and American Satan, a supernatural musical thriller film directed by Ash Avildsen. The company has also released vintage TV shows such as “That Girl” and “The Danny Thomas Show,” as well as concerts featuring Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty and The Eagles. Mallon has enjoyed a more-than-30-year run in the home entertainment business and was one of the first movers in the digital distribution space. In the early 2000s he was a key player in the launch of one of the industry’s first digital content companies, Egami Media, a subsidiary of Image Entertainment. The field was virtually unknown at the time, and Mallon built relationships with such digital platforms as iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and Google/YouTube. Mallon has also spoken and mentored at a variety of festivals including the Asia TV Forum & Market in Singapore, the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in Seoul, and the Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.

Michael Rosenberg is president of Film Movement, a New York City-based film distributor founded in 2002. The company specializes in world cinema, independent films and documentaries, and releases more than 20 new films each year. Its catalog includes titles by directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner, Sergei Loznitsa, Andrzej Wajda, Ciro Guerra and Melanie Laurent. Recent and upcoming releases include Dominik Moll’s acclaimed police procedural The Night of the 12th; the award-winning documentary Children of the Mist; Indonesian director Kamila Andini’s period drama Before, Now & Then, which premiered at last year’s Berlinale; and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s early feature film Passion. In 2015 Film Movement launched the reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Eric Rohmer, Stanley Kwan, Takeshi Kitano and Peter Greenaway. Film Movement Plus, a subscription streaming service, is available at FilmMovementPlus.com as well as on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and mobile devices. Rosenberg spent more than 25 years working for Koch Entertainment and its successor company, Entertainment One U.S. He became an owner of Film Movement in 2014. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America.

Richard Lorber is the president and CEO of Kino Lorber Group, a leading specialty film and television distributor that brings more than 350 titles annually to the home entertainment market through physical and digital releases. The company specializes in international, documentary, independent and classic cinema, and has recently expanded its episodic releases with the acquisition of leading international TV streamer MHz Choice. Recent 4K UHD releases from Kino Lorber include such Hollywood classics as The Italian Job, Marathon Man, Death Wish, High Plains Drifter and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. Recent and upcoming boxed set releases include Cinema’s First Nasty Women, the classic BBC TV series “Maigret,” the Francois Truffaut Collection, and Paris Police 1900 from MHz. An industry pioneer with more than 40 years’ experience, Lorber co-founded and served as the head of Fox Lorber for 20 years. He later spent six years as president of Koch Lorber Films. He acquired Kino International in 2009 to form Kino Lorber. Lorber is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the executives branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and was honored by the French government for his cultural contributions with the “Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.”

Learn more about Kino Lorber Group.

Garson Foos is the CEO and co-founder of Shout! Factory and its filmed entertainment production and distribution arm, Shout! Studios, which specializes in all aspects of distribution, including theatrical, VOD, digital, DVD/Blu-ray Disc and broadcast. Shout! finances, produces, acquires and distributes an eclectic slate of movies, animated features, specialty films and series. Shout! owns and operates content libraries including “Mystery Science Theater 3000” (in partnership with creator Joel Hodgson) and the Roger Corman New Horizons Pictures library, and operates the streaming service Shout! Factory TV and its family of FAST channels. Shout’s upcoming releases include the sci-fi comedy-drama Linoleum, starring Jim Gaffigan and Rhea Seehorn; the epic fantasy adventure The Magic Flute, executive produced by Roland Emmerich and starring Jack Wolfe and F. Murray Abraham; the rom-com What’s Love Got to Do With It?; the action-comedy Showdown at the Grand, starring Terrence Howard and Dolph Lundgren; the neo-Western thriller Head Count, starring Aaron Jaukobenko, Melanie Zanetti and Ryan Kwanten; and documentary feature Refuge. Foos got his start in entertainment while in high school, working at the iconic Rhino Records store run by his older brother, Richard. The two continued to work together at the Rhino Records label, where Garson Foos rose to EVP of marketing. After the company was sold to Warner Music, the Foos brothers and partner Bob Emmer in 2003 launched Shout!

Melissa Boag is EVP of Shout! Factory’s family entertainment division, a significant part of the company’s multiplatform business. She provides leadership across the company and big picture strategy that supports Shout’s long-term growth. She creates marketing and distribution strategies for a large slate of new releases and catalog titles. Boag oversees distribution on key anime lines, including the partnerships with GKIDS on movies from GKIDS and Studio Ghibli titles, including perennial favorites such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, and with Eleven Arts on titles such as A Silent Voice and Poupelle of Chimney Town. In family animation and live-action entertainment, Boag directs the digital and home entertainment strategy with Sesame Workshop on “Sesame Street”; Laika on films including Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings; Hasbro/eOne on the “My Little Pony,” “Transformers” and “Power Rangers” franchises; and Toei on “Digimon Adventure tri.” She also collaborates on acquisitions and production of family and anime movies. Boag took over the family division at Shout! in 2015 and was promoted into her present position in March 2022. She joined Shout! in 2003 as head of marketing. She began her career in the music industry, where she held a series of progressively more responsible marketing roles at Interscope, Epitaph and MCA Records.

Andreas Olavarria is president and CEO of Level 33 Entertainment, a global film sales and distribution company he founded in 2010 “to break the mold of the traditional Hollywood movie distribution model,” according to the company. Level 33 distributes and sells content across all media platforms including theatrical, VOD, DVD and streaming. Olavarria has overseen the acquisition, marketing and distribution of more than 100 independent feature films, including the action thriller Arctic Void, directed by Darren Mann; the family dramedy The Last Right, directed by Aoife Crehan and starring Michiel Huisman and Brian Cox; and the big wave surfing documentary Facing Monsters, directed by Bentley Dean. Olavarria has also produced and executive produced a number of feature films and TV movies, most recently the family film A Unicorn for Christmas. Level 33 is developing and producing an original content slate across key genres such as action, horror, thriller and family entertainment for global distribution in the year ahead. Olavarria has more than 25 years of experience in the development, production and distribution of motion pictures, having worked as an executive at both 20th Century Fox and The Walt Disney Studios as well as in the world of independent film. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Dan Gurlitz is the founder of Soundview Media Partners and the publisher of The Sound View: Independent Film Digest. Soundview Media Partners launched as a boutique sales agency for documentarians in 2010. While documentaries remain a core focus of the agency, Soundview has expanded its genre activity over the years, placing more than 600 films into the market through a variety of channels, including the Emmy Award-winning They Survived Together, the Pozo-Seco Singers story Nobody Famous, and Leda, the re-imagined Greek myth in 3D. Soundview also offers targeted film marketing services to select clientele. In 2016 Soundview launched Soundview EDU, its direct educational and non-theatrical licensing initiative. It now represents a library of more than 750 films in this regard. In February 2020, Soundview introduced The Sound View — an interactive, electronic, monthly publication featuring indie film reviews and articles with a focus on physical media. The publication has grown dramatically and now reaches 14,000 subscribers. Prior to founding Soundview, Gurlitz spent 26 years in independent film distribution, first as a sales rep for a variety of film companies and then in key executive positions with Fox Lorber Associates, WinStar TV and Video (Wellspring Media), The Disinformation Company and Koch Entertainment (eOne). Additionally, Gurlitz works with MVD Entertainment, representing its vast digital library.

Shaun Hill is CEO and owner of Indican Pictures, an independent film distribution company that has released more than 425 films. The primary audiences for Indican’s films are home audiences, and the company currently releases upwards of 30 films annually through digital retailers, airlines and DVD/Blu-ray Disc. The company also releases approximately 10 to 12 films per year into theaters. Indican has key digital/streaming partnerships with Magnolia Pictures, Lionsgate Pictures, Criterion and Giant Pictures. Indican Pictures films are currently available on Apple TV, Netflix, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Vudu, Vizio, IMDbTV, Xumo, HBO, Hoopla, Starz and Showtime Networks. Recent releases include When Men Were Men, the first all-queer film; Gossamer Folds, the recent GLAAD nominee for Best Film; Blood Brothers, starring Jacqueline Bissett; and La Femme Anjola, starring the No. 1 actress in Nigeria, Rita Dominic. The company has won NAACP awards, Spirit awards, Image awards and Prism awards, and currently has over 80% female employees. Hill co-founded the company in 2004 with Randolph Kret. She started in production and produced seven feature films before working as a programmer for the Hollywood Film Festival and Slamdance. She has two feature films slated to go into production in 2023. Hill serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Riverside and donates to Native American charities.

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Tamara Birkemoe is EVP of international at global film and TV distributor Screen Media, part of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. Birkemoe joined Screen Media through its 2019 acquisition of Foresight Unlimited, with a library that includes The Last Full Measure, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Diane Ladd and Peter Fonda; and The Hurricane Heist, starring Toby Kebbell and Maggie Grace. During her 16 years at Foresight, Birkemoe was instrumental in the foundation, growth and success of the company and its slate. During its most successful year Foresight generate $287 million in worldwide box office and $65 million in international film licensing. At Screen Media Birkemoe oversees the international department and is part of the Screen Media global acquisition and co-production team. She doubles as president of the Foresight division and oversees all Foresight projects from acquisition through worldwide sales and distribution. Throughout Birkemoe’s career, she has successfully led teams of many sizes and shepherded numerous projects from acquisition and development through production, worldwide sales and distribution. Birkemoe has a unique global perspective due to her multicultural upbringing. Her parents were from Chile, she was born and raised in Italy and Sweden, and she speaks five languages fluently.

Mike Messina is EVP of distribution and sales at Screen Media, an international distributor of movies and TV series through theatrical; home video; pay-per-view, free, cable and pay television; and SVOD and AVOD platforms. Messina oversees all domestic content distribution, sales, and marketing. He joined the company, which is owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, in December 2017. Recent releases include The Locksmith, starring Ryan Phillippe as a thief fresh out of prison who tries to work his way back into the life of his ex-fiancée (Kate Bosworth) and daughter; and Poker Face, a revenge thriller starring and directed by Russell Crowe. During his tenure, Messina has overseen the releases of such hits as The Outpost, directed by Rod Lurie and starring Orlando Bloom, and Willy’s Wonderland, starring Nicolas Cage, as well as the Emmy-winning documentary Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street. Prior to joining Screen Media, Messina spent five years at Starz Digital, where he rose to VP of global distribution and acquisitions and was responsible for international digital sales of Starz Original series as well as domestic digital distribution and acquisition of independent films. Before that, he spent nine years at New Amsterdam Entertainment, where he ultimately served as SVP and a producer. His producing credits include Dawn of the Dead (2004).

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Nick Savva is the GM of Giant Pictures, a digital distribution company he founded in 2017 in New York along with post-production entrepreneur Jeff Stabenau. Giant partners with studios and filmmakers to release movies and series across all major streaming platforms, including Apple TV, Netflix, Hulu, Google/YouTube, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Amazon Freevee, Peacock, Vudu, XUMO, Kanopy and more. Giant Pictures under Savva has quickly established itself as a key player with interests in every area of U.S. distribution and streaming, with more than 1,000 titles under management and upwards of 40 new-release indie features annually. Over the past 12 months Giant has acquired a majority stake in specialty distributor Drafthouse Films, expanded the footprint of linear FAST channels Tribeca Channel and Kino Cult across much of the smart-TV ecosystem; struck distribution deals with key international outlets such as Sky Group, SBS Australia and Rakuten; and celebrated its first Oscar nomination with feature documentary A House Made of Splinters, directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont. The company has also become a trusted digital aggregator for multiple independent labels, including Participant, Topic Studios, Abramorama, BMG, Indican Pictures, Yellow Veil, The Match Factory, Magic Light Pictures and Altitude Films. Savva’s growth plans for Giant involve expanding the company’s L.A. office with more staff hires, increasing its theatrical releasing capabilities through Drafthouse Films and adding more direct-to-consumer channels to its portfolio.

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Joseph Amodei is president and CEO of Virgil Films & Entertainment, which he founded in 2003 to develop, acquire, market, distribute and produce movies in the narrative feature film, documentary, episodic television and special-interest categories. Amodei has enjoyed a career in the film industry for nearly 30 years. Under Amodei’s leadership the company has released such award-winning hits as the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary Ruth; We Are Columbine, in which four survivors of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history return to Columbine High School 20 years later to share their experiences and journeys toward healing; and Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock’s notorious take-down of fast-food convenience. Amodei’s personal love for independent films and documentaries made its way into his business life when he became president of USA Home Entertainment in 2000. While shepherding films like Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, Spike Jones’ Being John Malkovich and Robert Altman’s Gosford Park into the home entertainment world, Amodei learned what it took to get these films noticed. In addition to running Virgil, Amodei has put his efforts into producing, beginning with Who Do I Think I Am?, the Clarence Clemons documentary. He also has worked as executive producer on the Netflix documentary series “Happy Jail,” which earned him a Telly Award. Most recently Amodei was awarded a New York Emmy for his work on The Real Bedford Falls: It’s a Wonderful Life.

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Malik Ali is founder and CEO of the MPI Media Group, a leading producer, distributor and licensor of films, TV shows, documentaries and performances. The company has a library of more than 2,000 titles, and its list of best-sellers includes vintage Sherlock Holmes movies, Beatles films, the Emmy Award-winning ABC miniseries “War and Remembrance,” and the 131-DVD set of the complete “Dark Shadows” series, which was packaged in a coffin-like case and pioneered the boxed-set concept for TV series on DVD. MPI’s wholly owned subsidiaries include MPI Home Entertainment, Dark Sky Films and the WPA Film Library. The company was launched in 1976 by Ali and his brother, Waleed, a college student who was involved in renting films to show on campus. He developed relationships with film studios; MPI built its library by acquiring home video rights to many classic documentaries, horror films and, especially, high-profile television programs that allowed the company to utilize the networks’ marketing efforts in selling their videos. Recent and upcoming MPI releases include the Oscar-hailed Netflix Original All Quiet on the Western Front on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray Disc and DVD; Mother May I?, starring Kyle Gallner and Holland Roden; “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”; and Woody Allen’s A Rainy Day in New York.

Robert Blair is president and CEO of VCI Entertainment, the oldest continually operated pre-recorded home video company and a pioneer in the made-for-video film market. The company has a library of more than 6,000 titles; VCI’s current focus is bringing vintage Hollywood classics to DVD and Blu-ray Disc as well as a new streaming platform available on the VCI Classics app, Roku and Amazon Fire. Recent releases include a 90th anniversary edition of Rain, the 1932 pre-Code drama directed by Lewis Milestone that stars Joan Crawford as prostitute Sadie Thompson; a 50th anniversary 4K restoration of Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, the 1972 horror-comedy directed and written by Bob Clark, about six friends in a theatrical troupe who dig up a corpse on an abandoned island to use in a mock Satanic rite; and legendary deejay Alan Freed in Rock, Rock, Rock, a 1956 jukebox musical featuring performances by Chuck Berry, the Flamingos, and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. The company was established in 1976 by Blair’s father, Bill. Robert, who had begun his career as a teenager working at a 16mm film distributor and laboratory, was initially in charge of sales and marketing just as the home video industry was still embroiled in a VHS vs. Betamax format war.

Andy Lyon is the founder and CEO of 101 Films, one of the United Kingdom’s fastest-growing independent film distribution brands, and 101 Films International, an international sales agency with a large network of distribution partners around the world. 101 Films was launched in 2011 and has since acquired more than 2,000 films, including Jane, a dark psychological potboiler directed by Sabrina Jaglom (Home Again, Unforgettable); Renegades, a 2022 British crime action thriller film directed by Daniel Zirilli and starring Nick Moran and Lee Majors; the horror relaunch Jeepers Creepers: Reborn; and the Ugandan actioners Who Killed Captain Alex and Bad Black. The company distributes films across all forms of media, including physical, digital, TV, SVOD and AVOD. Lyon is a highly regarded U.K.-based entrepreneur with nearly 30 years of experience in the film distribution business. In addition to 101 Films and 101 Films International, he leads Hollywood Classics International, one of the U.K.’s leading sales agencies, representing DVD and Blu-ray Disc rights for various studio and indie movies; distribution service provider Trinity Creative Partnership; and Amcomri Productions, which now produces its own feature film content including the recently released multi-million-dollar box office movie Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist.

Doug Schwab is founder and president of the Maverick Entertainment Group, a Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based company that for 26 years has been a leading distributor of Black cinema and other niche indie films. Having released more than 1,500 films since 1997, Maverick currently controls the world’s largest library of feature-length Black cinema. Maverick both funds and produces approximately 50 originals and acquires another 80-plus movies a year and distributes them physically and digitally worldwide. Maverick has sold millions of DVDs at Walmart and supplies content directly to major digital players such as Tubi, Peacock and Roku. Maverick content is also available on demand on Freevee, Vizio, Samsung, Crackle, Vudu, Hoopla, Xumo and more, as well as the Maverick Black Cinema app on Roku and Amazon Fire. Maverick Black Cinema FAST channels can be found on Tubi, Freevee, Sling, The Roku Channel and Plex, and built into Samsung, Vizio, LG, TCL and HiSense smart televisions. A native of New Orleans, Schwab has more than 40 years of experience in the home entertainment industry. He utilized the expertise and contacts he gained as a Blockbuster buyer to initially launch and develop Maverick, and now leads creation, promotion and distribution efforts for various genres within the independent film category.

Learn more about the Maverick Entertainment Group.

Berry Meyerowitz is the co-founder of Quiver Distribution, a film and TV company operating in the United States, Canada and international markets. Quiver acquires, develops, finances and produces films from both established and emerging stars and filmmakers, in addition to exploiting its library of more than 700 movies and series. Upcoming releases include Blueback, starring Mia Wasikowska, Eric Bana and Radha Mitchell; The Wrath of Becky, which premiered at SXSW 2023 and is the highly anticipated follow up to Becky, starring Lulu Wilson and Sean William Scott; and Irena’s Vow, starring Sophie Nelisse and Dougray Scott. In 2022 the company produced and released Walter Hill’s Western Dead for a Dollar, with Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe and Rachel Brosnahan, and Bandit, starring Josh Duhamel and Elisha Cuthbert, among other films. Before launching Quiver with partner Jeff Sackman, Meyerowitz founded Phase 4 Films and built the company into one of the leading independent U.S. distributors. Following the sale of Phase 4 Films to eOne, Meyerowitz stayed on as president of eOne’s U.S. film business. Meyerowitz has executive produced more than 30 feature films, including Mayim Bialik’s directorial debut As They Made Us, with Dustin Hoffman, Diana Agron, Candice Bergen and Simon Helberg. Earlier in his career, Meyerowitz served as president of Peace Arch Home Entertainment after selling them his company kaBOOM! Entertainment. Before that he worked at 20th Century Fox as marketing director.

Rich Wolff is CEO of Breaking Glass Pictures, a Philadelphia-based film distribution company providing worldwide content in the TVOD, SVOD, AVOD and DVD/Blu-ray Disc space. Wolff acquires and aggregates more than 100 films per year, representing a wide swath of genres, including actioners, documentaries, dramas, horror films, LGBTQ+, thrillers and foreign-language movies. Recent releases include Give or Take, an award-winning comedy from director Paul Riccio that was released on DVD and through digital retailers; season three of the French LGBTQ series “Woke”; and the SXSW religious thriller Raquel 1:1, released on VOD and digital platforms. In addition to acquiring films for home release, Wolff will produce 10 films in 2023. With more than 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry, Wolff in his career has licensed more than 500 films for distribution, both domestically and worldwide. He has been a regular attendee of the Cannes Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the American Film Market, the Berlin Film Festival, SXSW and others. Before launching Breaking Glass Pictures in 2009, Wolff was a financial founder of the TLA Entertainment Group, which operated theaters, video stores and film-based, mail-order catalogs from offices in Philadelphia, London and Santa Monica, Calif. Wolff began his career as a punk-rock concert promoter.

William Lustig is the founder and CEO of Blue Underground, an entertainment company specializing in the release of obscure films and exploitation cinema on home video. Lustig entered the video business as an established filmmaker himself, having directed the genre films Maniac, Vigilante, Hit List, Relentless, Uncle Sam and the “Maniac Cop” Trilogy. On top of distributing many of Lustig’s past works, Blue Underground has also solidified itself as the primary home for such filmmaking luminaries as Dario Argento (The Stendhal Syndrome, Two Evil Eyes), Larry Cohen (God Told Me To, Bone), Lucio Fulci (House by the Cemetery, The New York Ripper) and Gary Sherman (Dead & Buried, Death Line). Blue Underground is an industry leader in the burgeoning arena of restoration and authoring for UHD. Recent releases include 4K restorations of Marquis De Sade’s Justine, Eugenie and Quiet Days in Clichy. Lustig started his career on the creative side, beginning as an apprentice editor on 1974’s Death Wish. After a 16-year run as film director, he went on to produce critically acclaimed special-edition DVDs for Anchor Bay Entertainment at a rate of eight releases a month, which then led to the formation of Blue Underground in 2002. HorrorNewsNet credits Lustig with having had “a major impact on genre cinema.”