Indie Power
March 31, 2025
The morning after the 97th Academy Awards, Media Play News received a press release from the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA) alerting us to the fact that independent films won 15 of the 20 awards in feature film categories.
Those awards went to eight films, which according to IFTA are “distinguished by their financing, production, and territory-by-territory sales outside of the major Hollywood studios.” Among them was Anora, the evening’s big winner with five Oscars, including Best Picture, Directing (Sean Baker), Actress in a Leading Role (Mikey Madison), Writing (Original Screenplay) and Film Editing.
Others were The Brutalist (Adrien Brody, Actor in a Leading Role; Cinematography; Original Score), A Real Pain (Kieran Culkin, Actor in a Supporting Role), Emilia Pérez (Zoe Saldaña, Actress in Supporting Role; “El Mal,” Original Song), Conclave (Adapted Screenplay), Flow (Animated Feature Film), No Other Land (Documentary Feature Film) and, from Brazil, I’m Still Here (International Feature Film).
IFTA proudly noted that “IFTA member companies, including FilmNation Entertainment, Pathé, Protagonist Pictures, SND Films, Studiocanal, and Wild Bunch, played pivotal roles in the production, financing, sales and distribution of this year’s award-winning films.”
What’s missing from this picture? The actual distributors, including Neon, the force behind Anora; A24, which brought The Brutalist to theaters and then to home audiences for digital rental or purchase; Distribution Solutions, which is bringing The Brutalist to Blu-ray Disc and 4K Ultra HD on March 25; and all the other independent film distributors whose sole mission is to deliver these wonderful films to the widest possible audiences.
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Most indie films play the festival circuit and then get a limited theatrical release to drum up interest in advance of their ultimate destination: the home. And in this issue, we salute 30 of the most important “power players” who are involved in the “last mile” of entertainment: the route from theaters to the home.
Never before, in the nearly 50-year history of home entertainment, have there been this many distribution channels to the home. Accordingly, our honorees range from Danny Fisher, the wizard of FAST, and Andrew Brown, who oversees digital distribution for Neon, to Ilia Beizerman of Distribution Solutions and Robert Blair of VCI Entertainment, whose success in the physical media realm underscores the fact that there is still a viable market for independent films on DVD, Blu-ray Disc and 4K Ultra HD.
There are several new faces in the Top Indie Power Players, class of 2025. Dan Cohen is known in Hollywood as chief content officer for Paramount Global, but his duties as president of the revitalized Republic Pictures make him a driving force in the indie film world as well, our editors believe. Timothy Maggiani of Virgil Films and Susan Helfrich of Breaking Glass Pictures are profiled alongside their respective bosses because they each are playing increasingly important roles in their film distribution companies. John Kim, who once managed digital distribution for Paramount Home Entertainment, now runs Deep C Digital, which over the past few years has become a leading distributor of family and Black cinema content. And Barrett Dungy of the One Culture Media Group is a recognized advocate of diverse programming with over 20 years of experience addressing the challenges he saw in Hollywood regarding the distribution of African-American and other multicultural content.
These and other newcomers join a powerful cadre of repeat honorees such as Chris McGurk of Cineverse, Garson Foos of Shout! Studios and Richard Lorber of Kino Lorber, true titans in the world of independent film distribution; cutting-edge firebrands such as Nick Savva of Giant Pictures; and mavericks like Doug Schwab of the appropriately named Maverick Entertainment, a leading distributor and producer of Black cinema and other niche indie films.
Congratulations to all of you, and a hearty “thank you” for all that you do.