Keri Putnam (born 1965) is an American film, media and arts executive and producer was the executive director at

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

. She is a former executive vice president at

HBO Films HBO Films (formerly called HBO Premiere Films and HBO Pictures) is an American production and distribution company, a division of the cable television network HBO that produces feature films and miniseries. The division produces fiction and non-f ...

, and former president of the production at

Miramax films Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

Background

Education and early career

Putnam graduated from

Princeton Day School Princeton Day School is a private coeducational day school located in Princeton, in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The largest division is the Upper School (grades 9� ...

in 1983. She graduated ''summa cum laude'' from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and holds a bachelor's degree in both theatre history and literature, class of 1987''.'' She began her career working in the literary office of regional theaters, including

Williamstown Theater Festival The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. I ...

McCarter Theatre McCarter Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. It was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1963. A two-time Tony Award winner, the McCarter’s legacy traces back to ...

, Arena Stage and the ART.

HBO

In 1987, Putnam joined HBO as an assistant in original programming and served as HBO New York City Productions Vice President from 1996 to 1999 and as the executive vice president from 2002 to 2006. During her tenure at

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, she oversaw 48 award-winning films and mini-series including ''

If These Walls Could Talk ''If These Walls Could Talk'' is a 1996 American anthology television film, broadcast on HBO. It follows the plights of three women and their experiences with abortion. Starring Anne Heche, Cher, Demi Moore and Sissy Spacek, each of the three ...

'', ''Mi Vida Loca,'' '' Empire Falls'', ''

Lackawanna Blues ''Lackawanna Blues'' is an American play written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson that premiered in 2001. It was later adapted as a television movie that aired in 2005. The play dramatizes the character of the author's primary caregiver when he was gr ...

'' and ''

Normal Normal(s) or The Normal(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Normal'' (2003 film), starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson * ''Normal'' (2007 film), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, and Andrew Airlie * ''Norma ...

''. The projects she supervised collectively received 50

Emmy awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

and nominations, as well as numerous other honors such as Peabody and Golden Globes Awards. In 2005, she was the senior HBO production executive involved in the formation of Picturehouse, a joint venture between

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

subsidiaries,

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

and

to acquire and distribute films such as ''Elephant'', a Gus van Sant film that received the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the 56th Cannes Film Festival.

Miramax Films

In 2006, Putnam joined

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

, then a division of Walt Disney Pictures after the departure of the Weinstein brothers from the company, as President of Production. She oversaw the production and acquisition of 20 films including ''

No Country for Old Men ''No Country for Old Men'' is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written, directed, produced and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin ...

'', ''

There Will Be Blood ''There Will Be Blood'' is a 2007 American epic film, epic historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1927 novel ''Oil!'' by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kev ...

'', ''

Gone Baby Gone ''Gone Baby Gone'' is a 2007 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Ben Affleck in his directorial debut. Affleck co-wrote the screenplay with Aaron Stockard based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. The film star ...

'', ''The Queen'', ''Adventureland'' and ''Diving Bell and the Butterfly''. She left the company when it was shut down before being sold by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Sundance

In February 2010, she was appointed as executive director of

's, the nonprofit arts organization founded by Robert Redford. In this role, she oversees the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

as well as the institute's many year-round programs to support independent storytelling artists around the world through labs, workshops, and educational resources. Putnam and

Cathy Schulman Cathy Schulman (born 1965) is an American film producer. A graduate of Yale University, Schulman's screen credits include '' Isn't She Great'', '' Sidewalks of New York'', '' Employee of the Month'', '' Crash'', '' The Illusionist'', ''Darfur N ...

co-founded ReFrame in 2017, a non-profit organization aimed to support women in the media industry. Keri Putnam was appointed an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University from 2018 to 2024.

References

External links

Cornell University bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Putnam, Keri 1965 births Living people American media executives Harvard University alumni Princeton Day School alumni Miramax people Cornell University faculty