{"id":401312,"date":"2025-11-24T12:38:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/401312\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T12:38:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:38:14","slug":"christy-urchin-dead-mans-wire-distributors-join-awards-fray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/401312\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Christy,’ ‘Urchin,’ ‘Dead Man’s Wire’ distributors join awards fray"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eighteen months ago, Mubi was a respected streaming service still trying to duplicate almost a decade of overseas theatrical success in the U.S. \u2014 then the acquisition of Coralie Fargeat\u2019s \u201cThe Substance\u201d<\/a> changed everything. Over the course of one awards season, the pop culture phenomenon made the distributor a serious player in the art-house business, landing four Oscar nominations, including best picture, and a slew of critics and guild award wins. (It made money too.)<\/p>\n

A year later, a plethora of new distributors are hoping to duplicate Mubi\u2019s success and that of relatively recent arrivals such as Neon and A24. All three have released films in an assortment of genres, but outside of profitable horror films, it\u2019s the prestige Oscar players that have put them on the map. And like Focus Features and Searchlight Pictures before them, those companies are increasingly focusing on in-house productions. As a result, a big gap has emerged for independent films looking for homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few of those distributors were taking very narrow lanes of what they were doing,\u201d explains one longtime industry executive, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the art-house business. \u201cAnd if you didn\u2019t make something that narrowly fit their brand and their desire for how their slate was presented, even if it was a terrific film, they didn\u2019t want it. And that\u2019s OK, but it means that there\u2019s room for another distributor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sydney <\/p>\n

Sydney Sweeney in \u201cChristy,\u201d distributed by Black Bear Pictures.<\/p>\n

(Allie Fredericks \/ TIFF)<\/p>\n

Some of these new players have spawned organically. Black Bear Pictures, which has developed and co-financed movies since 2012, has released films in the U.K. and owns Canadian distributor Elevation Pictures. In the U.S., the company decided it wanted more control to serve its films better in the theatrical space and launched a new distribution arm this summer under Benjamin Kramer that has already released David Mich\u00f4d\u2019s \u201cChristy,\u201d<\/a> featuring a legit lead actress contender in Sydney Sweeney.<\/p>\n

Similarly, distributor Row K will also drop its first release \u2014 Gus Van Sant\u2019s Venice Film Festival premiere, \u201cDead Man\u2019s Wire,\u201d starring Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd and Colman Domingo \u2014 into the Oscar fray. Headed by Searchlight and Paramount veteran Megan Colligan, Row K has a broad mandate of opening eight to 10 films a year. It has had a busy festival season so far, also picking up Maude Apatow\u2019s potential crowd-pleaser \u201cPoetic License.\u201d And that\u2019s not all: Newcomer 1-2 Special, launched by former Sideshow executive Jason Hellerstein, who helped guide successful Oscar and theatrical runs for \u201cDrive My Car\u201d and \u201cFlow,\u201d has Harris Dickinson\u2019s breakout directorial debut, \u201cUrchin,\u201d<\/a> and Colombia\u2019s international film entry \u201cA Poet\u201d on its slate this season. RJ Millard and Bill Guentzler have just launched Obscured Releasing, which picked up the documentaries \u201cStop the Insanity\u201d and \u201cEndless Cookie\u201d (the latter is also competing for animated feature). And also looking to make noise is the Forge, with its biggest acquisition to date, Kristen Stewart\u2019s \u201cThe Chronology of Water.\u201d<\/p>\n

While not all of the aforementioned players see awards as central to their mission \u2014 Black Bear leading with \u201cChristy\u201d is coincidental, for instance \u2014 being in contention can help fledgling distributors find their footing. Before Mubi struck gold with \u201cThe Substance,\u201d Neon picked up \u201cI, Tonya\u201d out of the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017 and guided Allison Janney to a supporting actress Oscar the following March \u2014 just 12 months after its first-ever release.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Dacre Montgomery, left, and Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd in \u201cDead Man\u2019s Wire,\u201d from Row K Entertainment. <\/p>\n

(Stefania Rosini \/ Row K Entertainment)<\/p>\n

But awards season success hasn\u2019t always ensured long-term financial viability. The ghosts of Broad Green Pictures and FilmDistrict still linger. As does the legacy of Open Road Films, which guided \u201cSpotlight\u201d to a best picture win in 2016 before shuttering less than two years later. (See also: CBS Films, which landed a best picture nom in 2017 with \u201cHell or High Water\u201d and was closed down due to corporate restructuring less than two years later.)<\/p>\n

Even A24, which has had incredible Oscar success, didn\u2019t initially find traction with voters. Acclaimed early releases such as \u201cSpring Breakers,\u201d \u201cThe Bling Ring,\u201d \u201cThe Spectacular Now\u201d and \u201cA Most Violent Year\u201d found love with critics groups, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., and Indie Spirit and Gotham Awards voters, but it wasn\u2019t until Year 3 when \u201cEx Machina,\u201d \u201cAmy\u201d and \u201cRoom\u201d arrived that the distributor cracked the Academy Awards glass ceiling.<\/p>\n

For all the challenges facing the Hollywood economy, the recent proliferation of new players in the awards race brings with it the hope and optimism of a new campaign. After all, you never know what might break through with a surprise nomination \u2014 or win. \u201cIt is nice to actually have some clear space to be doing both your release campaign and your awards campaign in concert with one another,\u201d said one marketing executive, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about their decision-making. \u201cAnd sometimes the benefit is you\u2019re really just starting to kick into high gear when everybody\u2019s starting to peter out. And sometimes that can feel like a breath of fresh air.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eighteen months ago, Mubi was a respected streaming service still trying to duplicate almost a decade of overseas…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":401313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1675,177719,1582,276,110971,49747,190019,190015,190018,1020,190016,2961,224,5337,101959,37096,67573,190017,9924,1628],"class_list":{"0":"post-401312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-acquisition","9":"tag-black-bear-pictures","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-christy","13":"tag-critic","14":"tag-dead-man","15":"tag-distributor","16":"tag-distributor-row-k","17":"tag-film","18":"tag-good-picture","19":"tag-la","20":"tag-los-angeles","21":"tag-losangeles","22":"tag-mubi","23":"tag-neon","24":"tag-searchlight-pictures","25":"tag-urchin","26":"tag-wire","27":"tag-year"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115604719427842708","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}