FilmDistrict Distribution LLC. was an American independent motion picture company based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. It specialized in acquisitions, distribution, production, and financing. It was founded in September 2010 by

Bob Berney Bob Berney (born 1953) is an American independent film executive based in Los Angeles. Currently, he is the CEO of Picturehouse, an independent motion picture marketing and distribution company that acquires, markets and distributes films from th ...

and Peter Schlessel in partnership with Graham King and Timothy Headington. FilmDistrict's releases were distributed by

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures l ...

for home media, with the exception of ''

Red Dawn ''Red Dawn'' is a 1984 American action drama film directed by John Milius with a screenplay by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. The film depicts a fictional World War III centering on a land invasion of the continental United States by an alliance ...

'', which was released on DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. FilmDistrict was merged into Focus Features in 2014. ''

Soul Surfer A soul surfer (term invented during the 1960s) is a surfer who surfs for the sheer pleasure of surfing. Although they may still enter competitions, winning is not the soul surfer's main motive, since they scorn the commercialization of surfing. T ...

'', '' Looper'', ''

Evil Dead ''Evil Dead'' is an American horror film franchise created by Sam Raimi consisting of four feature films and a television series. The series revolves around the ''Necronomicon Ex-Mortis'', an ancient Sumerian text that wreaks havoc upon a g ...

'' and ''

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was burie ...

'' were retained by

TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...

after 2014.

History

FilmDistrict acquired and released between four and eight wide release, commercial titles per year. This includes select titles from

GK Films GK Films is a British-American film and television production company founded in 1990 by Graham King, located in Santa Monica, California. In 2005, the firm, which was known as Initial Entertainment Group at that time, signed a deal with Warner ...

and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. In December 2010, FilmDistrict and

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

signed a Pay-TV deal. FilmDistrict partnered with

on select films such as ''

'' and '' Looper''. FilmDistrict's CEO Peter Schlessel also made alternative distribution arrangements for their film releases. In 2012, Schlessel closed a three-picture distribution deal for their 2012 films to go through

Open Road Films Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...

. Open Road released '' Lockout'', the

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

-produced sci-fi action movie that stars

Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young in the Australian television series ''Neighbours ...

and

Maggie Grace Margaret Grace Denig (born ) is an American actress and model. She is known for playing Shannon Rutherford on the ABC television series ''Lost'' (2004–2006; 2010), Kim Mills in the '' Taken'' trilogy (2008–2014), Irina in ''The Twilight Sa ...

, on April 13, 2012. Open Road also released the ''

'' remake on November 21, 2012. On Open Road's official website they list both the ''

'' remake and '' Playing the Field'', even though Open Road was never involved in distributing those two films. On March 23, 2012, Peter Schlessel announced that FilmDistrict hired Christine Birch as President of Marketing as the company rebuilt its distribution team. She worked on '' The Help'', ''

Real Steel ''Real Steel'' is a 2011 American science fiction sports drama film starring Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo and co-produced and directed by Shawn Levy for DreamWorks Pictures. The film is based on the short story "Steel", written by Richard Mat ...

'' and '' War Horse'' when she was at DreamWorks. On April 12, 2012, Schlessel announced Jim Orr has joined FilmDistrict as the new President of Distribution. He held similar positions when he was at MGM and

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. At the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard sectio ...

, FilmDistrict bought the U.S. rights for romantic thriller ''Dead Man Down'' and, from Intrepid Pictures, ''

Oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American s ...

''. On May 31, 2012, they have hired three new executives: Tracy Pollard (Senior VP of Creative Advertising), Brad Goldberg (Senior VP of Media), and Anna Baxter (Senior VP of Digital Marketing). FilmDistrict also announced that Adrian Alperovich has been promoted from President of Acquisitions and Operations to COO. On June 25, 2012 FilmDistrict announced they have hired Elissa Greer as Senior Vice President of Publicity. In April 2013, FilmDistrict announced the launch of a unit, High Top Releasing, which "will provide distribution-for-hire services including sales, in-theatre marketing and print control support, film rental negotiation and collection capabilities to independent producers who have the ability to provide their own prints-and-advertising and marketing resources." On October 2, 2013, it was announced that Peter Schlessel would be replacing James Schamus as CEO of

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in the U ...

effective January 2014, and FilmDistrict was shut down as a distributor. Future FilmDistrict titles will be absorbed and released under

, the first being ''

That Awkward Moment ''That Awkward Moment'' (released as ''Are We Officially Dating?'' in Australia, Indonesia, and New Zealand) is a 2014 American bromantic comedy drama film written and directed by Tom Gormican in his directorial debut. The film stars Zac Efron, ...

''. FilmDistrict's last film is Paul W. S. Anderson's ''

'', which the company produced and financed with German-based

Constantin Film The Constantin Film AG is a German mini-major film production and distribution company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of p ...

handled the U.S. distribution. High Top Releasing later co-released Eli Roth's '' The Green Inferno'' with Blumhouse Tilt. In 2020, the rights to FilmDistrict's library were purchased by Content Partners, an investment company who also owns

Revolution Studios Revolution Studios Distribution Company, LLC is an American motion picture and television studio headed by Chief Executive Officer Scott Hemming. The company focuses primarily on the distribution, remake and sequel rights to titles in its libra ...

Filmography

Released

High Top Releasing

References

External links

* (archived) {{Authority control Defunct film and television production companies of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Entertainment companies established in 2010 Mass media companies disestablished in 2014 2010 establishments in California 2014 disestablishments in California Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Universal Pictures subsidiaries 2014 mergers and acquisitions American independent film studios