Chuck Braverman, Moderator
Richard Abramowitz, Abramorama
Cristine Dewey, ro*co films
Orly Ravid, The Film Collaborative
Jonathan Dana, Code Entertainment
January 9, 201868 Minutes
RICHARD ABRAMOWITZ is an innovative leader with more than 35 years of experience in the distribution and marketing of independent films. His company, Abramorama, takes a personalized, focused form of film marketing and distribution that bypasses traditional film studios and their methodology, providing valuable distribution alternatives to content makers and owners.
Abramowitz’s many distribution projects include Ron Howard’s Grammy-winning documentary The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years; Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam Twenty; Amir Bar-Lev’s definitive film on The Grateful Dead, Long Strange Trip; Laurie Anderson’s acclaimed Heart of a Dog; Peabody Award-winner Listen to Me Marlon; Banksy’s Spirit Award winner and Academy Award nominee Exit Through the Gift Shop; Sacha Gervasi’s Spirit Award-winning Anvil! The Story of Anvil; and Spike Lee's Oscar-nominated 4 Little Girls. He has been a consultant to Neil Young’s Shakey Pictures for more than 15 years and worked with Jonathan Demme from 1984 until his untimely passing in 2017.
Abramowitz was a co-founder of Stratosphere Entertainment, the independent distribution and production company financed by Carl Icahn. Previously, he was President/COO of RKO Pictures Distribution. Prior to that, as a senior executive at Cinecom he distributed films by Tom Stoppard, Volker Schlondorff, Mira Nair, John Salyes, Robert Bresson and Merchant Ivory, including the multiple Academy Award-winner A Room with a View.
Abramowitz is on the Board of Directors of the Jacob Burns Film Center and teaches at the film conservatory at Purchase College.
CRISTINE DEWEY is Managing Director of ro*co films International. She builds and maintains relationships with media buyers and acquisition executives around the world to ensure that our documentaries get the attention they deserve. She manages the international contracts and works collaboratively with filmmakers to maintain a long-term international distribution presence for each of our films.
Cristine joined ro*co in 2005 after several years of experience as a community activist. She has a B. A. in English from Carleton College and a professional back-ground in development and grants administration.
JONATHAN DANA has been a pioneer in the independent film business since 1971. He served as Director of Acquisitions and Development at The Samuel Goldwyn Company, President of Motion Pictures and Television at Atlantic Releasing, CEO of specialized distribution company Triton Pictures, and is a long time executive producing partner with CODE Entertainment.
Among other awards, his movies have won numerous prizes at both Sundance and Cannes. His films include dramas The Spitfire Grill, A World Apart, Patty Hearst, Extremities, Mindwalk, Stormy Monday, Palmetto, Noel, and Kill the Irishman; comedies Valley Girl, Teen Wolf, Night of the Comet, Wish You Were Here, Drowning Mona, Scorched, and You Kill Me; foreign language Soldier of Orange, The Hairdresser’s Husband, and Toto the Hero; and documentaries Ballets Russes, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse, Oscar nominee Colors Straight Up and his own directorial debut Sandstone (1975), recently profiled on CNN's The Seventies. As producer's representative Dana’s credits include sleeper hit What the Bleep Do We Know, 2012 Spirit Award nominee We Were Here, and 2012 Sundance Audience Award winner and 2013 Spirit winner and Oscar nominee, The Invisible War. He was executive producer of The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden, which premiered at Telluride 2014, and The Forger, starring John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, and Tye Sheridan, Toronto 2015. He is currently Consulting Producer on music biodioc WAYNE SHORTER: Zero Gravity, in post production, extreme rowing doc LOSING SIGHT OF SHORE, now streaming worldwide on NETFLIX, and executive producing HALLELUJAH: IT GOES LIKE THIS, the story and times of Leonard Cohen's iconic anthem, now shooting. Dana was an initial investor and supervised the launch of the online indie film community Withoutabox.com, subsequently purchased as an operating division of Amazon’s IMDb. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds an MBA and a PhD from Stanford Business School. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Born in Israel, raised in Manhattan, and living in Los Angeles, Orly Ravid is the founder/co-executive director of the distribution non-profit The Film Collaborative (TFC) and an entertainment attorney at MSK (Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP). Non-profit on purpose, TFC specializes in distribution of documentaries and arthouse cinema without taking filmmakers' rights. TFC is proud to have included on its slate such films as The Invisible War(Sundance/Oscar-nominee), Unrest (Sundance), The Hunting Ground (Sundance), The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin (SXSW), More Art Upstairs (Hot Docs), The Last Laugh (Tribeca), For the Love of Spock (Tribeca), Tower (SXSW), A Suitable Girl (Tribeca),Racing Extinction (Sundance), to name just a few. TFC offers free educational resources and advice regarding distribution and provides distribution services including: sales/licensing, festival, theatrical and digital distribution, as well as fiscal sponsorship. TFC recently co-published How Not to Sign a Film Contract: Know What You're Saying Yes To and co-authored and published the case study book series Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul. Orly has a 17-year career in independent film as an acquisitions and business affairs executive, and her experience encompasses all aspects of distribution, domestic and international sales/licensing, development, production, grassroots marketing, and festival programming. Orly regularly speaks at film schools and on film festival panels about film distribution, new media, splitting rights, and entertainment legal issues, and is a passionate advocate for filmmakers.
Comments