In addition to the celebration of Schrader’s work, Ira Deutchman will be feted with the Honorary Trailblazer Award. Deutchman has been making, marketing, and distributing films since 1975. He’s worked on more than 150 films, including some of the most successful independent films of all time. Deutchman’s latest projects include “Searching for Mr. Rugoff,” “Nickel & Dimed,” and “Radio Girls.”
The festival, which runs from October 15-20 in the Hudson Valley towns of Woodstock, Rosendale, Kingston and Saugerties, will see writer-director Paul Schrader receive the Honorary Maverick Award. His latest, Oh, Canada, starring Richard Gere, Uma Thurman and Jacob Elordi, will screen at Woodstock. Filmmaker Ira Deutchman will be presented with the Honorary Trailblazer Award
Martin Scorsese, Ethan Hawke and John Turturro are all listed as advisers to a new proposal to buy the former Metro Theater, which closed in 2005.
Inside the Latest Plan to Reopen the Upper West Side’s Metro Theater — Including Support from Martin Scorsese and Ethan Hawke | by Brian Welk, Indiewire, 7/25/2024
Film producer Ira Deutchman is in talks with the owners of the art deco movie house, which has been closed since 2005, with a plan to open its doors again.
Under Deutchman’s plan, the Metro would be a nonprofit venture, IndieWire said. “He and partner Adeline Monzier, together the founders of Upper West Side Cinema Center, Inc., intend to solicit donations, find private investors, and secure additional financial support from either the city or the state governments.”
Plan To Revive Landmarked UWS Metro Theater Gets Second Wind.
The long-vacant Upper West Side Metro Theater might be getting a second chance. | by Vianella Burns, Patch, 7/25/2024
In a statement released last Wednesday, NFoMT announced their full endorsement of a plan proposed by film producer Ira Deutchman and film consultant Adeline Monzier, founders of Upper West Side Cinema Center, Inc. (UWSC), a nonprofit committed to reintroducing world-class art cinema to the neighborhood.
Once open, Deutchman hopes the new Metro Theater will serve as an anchor destination for the film community and have a halo effect. “There are certain types of institutions that draw people from other neighborhoods. We’re living in this post-pandemic world where there’s a lot of retail space that is either underutilized or not utilized at all. Something like this could transform the neighborhood. Who doesn’t want more restaurants, more businesses, more street life, more pedestrian traffic to invigorate a neighborhood?” Deutchman asked.
“It was inspirational as a landmark independent success but also there was no other story like that … about a woman being able to make the movie she wanted to make,” said Ira Deutchman, a New York-based film professor and indie producer.
How ‘Hester Street’ made its way to the stage | by PJ Grisar, The Forward, 3/19/2024
When theater producer Michael Rabinowitz reached out to Joan Micklin Silver to adapt her film Hester Street for the stage in 2015, she didn’t jump at the opportunity.
Before answering his email, Silver called up independent film producer Ira Deutchman, who had been helping her tie up loose ends with the rights to her films since the death of her husband. When Deutchman asked Silver how she felt about the idea, she was honest.
“She said, ‘Well, you know, I don’t understand why — the movie exists. Why would you want to turn it into something else?’” Deutchman recalled.
Crucially, Ira Deutchman donated his entire archive of papers and other professional materials after visiting my New Line class a few times and consulting with Philip Hallman and other people at U-M’s Special Collections. This material was instrumental in the crafting of chapter four of the book, which is entirely about Fine Line Features, New Line’s specialty film division.
On this panel—aptly titled “The Unstreamables”—were several acclaimed filmmakers, including Nancy Savoca, Ayoka Chenzira, and Ira Deutchman.
“I usually call shorts a ‘résumé film,’ ” says Ira Deutchman, an independent producer and marketing consultant who founded Cinecom before creating Fine Line Features and Emerging Pictures. Among his feature-length acquisitions and releases are Robert Altman’s The Player (1992) and Gus van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho (1991). “It’s a proof of concept in terms of whether the team of people making the movie are actually capable of making the movie. It’s also a showcase of your talent that can make the difference as to whether you can get work as a film or TV director or as a writer or producer.”
It is also the best opening of an Italian move Stateside since The Great Beauty, said producer Ira Deutchman. The Fine Line Features founder and Columbia prof is the head of Cinema Made In Italy, a initiative sponsored by Cinecitta’ that contributes P&A funds to Italian films for U.S. theatrical release.
Missing Movies, a nonprofit organization that seeks to publicize the problem of films that are unavailable for broadcast and home entertainment release due to rights/clearance issues, lack of available materials or “distributor indifference,” has published a list of the most sought-after films that are out of view.
The group has chosen its top 101 (mostly North American) films that they hope will become more readily available this year, according to Missing Movies. The list includes features such as Robert Duval’s Angelo, My Love, Vernon Zimmerman’s Deadhead Miles, Elaine May’s The Heartbreak Kid, Liz White’s Othello and Allen Baron’s Terror in the City, and documentaries including Jim Brown’s The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time, Bob Dylan’s Eat the Document, Frederick Wiseman’s The Garden, and Marcels Ophuls’s The Memory of Justice.
“As the years went on, I replaced those recordings one-by-one as they became available on other (better) media, and my shelf of VHS cassettes got smaller and smaller. As of this moment, that shelf is still occupied by films that, as far as I can tell, are completely out of circulation, many of which are now on the Missing Movies list of films.” —Ira Deutchman
This week’s guest has been part of some of your favorite movies like “Hoop Dreams,” “Stop Making Sense,” “Pumping Iron,” “A Room with a View” and much more! That is filmmaker and marketer/distributor Ira Deutchman. He chats all things from making a film to how they get sold and distributed.
Who Owns an Indie Film? | by Nick Dager, Digital Cinema Report, 4/18/2022
“Digital storage is actually a mixed bag and quite controversial in the archiving business,” said Deutchman. “On the one hand, yes, it is easier and cheaper to store things digitally, but in the long run, film actually has higher longevity and reliability. Technology keeps changing and there is never a guarantee that whatever storage device you choose will exist in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. Part of the challenge is the continual need to transfer from one medium to another as these things evolve.”
The film is being supported by Cinema Made In Italy, a initiative sponsored by Cinecitta’ and led by Ira Deutchman, the longtime producer, distributor and marketer of independent films, founder of Fine Line Features, and Columbia University film professor. The group contributes P&A funds to Italian films in U.S. theatrical release and and has boosted dozens of them over the past eight years “Pretty much any Italian film where we feel like the distributor has shown that they are going to put some effort behind theatrical,” said Deutchman. The idea is “to create the knowledge among American art film audiences that Italian cinema is alive and well and playing in theaters.”
Professor Ira Deutchman is a founding filmmaker of Missing Movies, a new non-profit organization dedicated to empowering filmmakers, distributors, archivists, and others to locate lost materials, clear rights, and advocate for policies and laws to make the full range of our cinema history available to all.
According to Savoca, “We began an extensive research project, and with the help of our lawyer, Sue Bodine and the original distributor of the film, Ira Deutchman, we were finally able to create a scenario where the film could be made available again.
As distributor and director Ira Deutchman wrote at Indiewire, “If there were a Guinness Book of World Records entry for most ‘thank you’ credits at the end of films, I can’t imagine that anyone else could have more than Irwin.”
“During the ‘80s and ‘90s, DuArt was doing so much of this work that an enormous percentage of films that premiered at Sundance were going through the lab at the same time with the same deadlines. It became part of the job to prioritize the films so that none of them missed their premiere dates,” Deutchman remembered.
“One thing on a lot of festival directors’ minds for a while has been that the traditional arthouse audience — where a lot of the audience for festivals comes from — is aging,” says veteran indie film exec, director and Columbia University professor Ira Deutchman. “They’re trying to entice younger audiences.”
Entertaining and enlightening. Deutchman’s deep dive into the movie going culture that Rugoff helped create is irresistible nostalgia and important film history.
For devotees of indie history, an absolute must-see. “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” captures it all quite beautifully with both intelligence and emotional resonance. Leo Sidran’s original score is exquisite and Deutchman inserts himself into the film’s structure in all the right ways.
Catch Mr. Rugoff tonight! | by Lincoln Spector, Bayflicks, 8/31/2021
If you love independent cinema, you must watch this film.
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff” Film Review | by Reno Lovison, Chicago Broadcasting Network, 8/31/2021
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff” is obviously a labor of love, or at least a labor of deep appreciation and respect for the man who Deutchman describes as his mentor, as the person who taught him everything he knows about film distribution.
Film Culture Searches for a Leader | by Armond White, National Review, 8/25/2021
What’s missing from contemporary film culture? That question is the real subject of “Searching for Mr. Rugoff,” the new documentary exploring the little-known career and forgotten reputation of film distributor and exhibitor Donald Rugoff whose Cinema 5 company set an unmatched standard for the serious appreciation of movies in the 1960s and 70s.
We look at the prospects for four wide releases coming this weekend, including “Westworld” co-creator Lisa Joy’s first feature film, “Reminiscence” (Warner Bros/HBO Max), a film noir homage starring Hugh Jackman, Thandie Newton, and Rebecca Ferguson, as well as an indie documentary making the rounds, film distribution veteran Ira Deutchman’s “Searching for Mr. Rugoff.”
Searching for Mr. Rugoff makes a persuasive case that Rugoff was a sort of Charles Foster Kane of indie cinema, a mad, eccentric bully who built an empire and then lost it.
A very lively, entertaining movie. People who care about the movies will be fascinated. It’s well worth searching out.
Film Review: Searching for Mr. Rugoff | by Christopher Lloyd, Film Yap, 8/19/2021
A first-rate documentary that explores a single life with the right mix of curiosity and skepticism. Part paean, part indictment of the man himself, but mostly an appreciation of eclectic filmmaking and the behind-the-scenes people like Don Rugoff who made it viable.
What makes the movie essential viewing for film aficionados is its subject’s unshakable conviction that even the wildest and most unconventional pictures can and will be appreciated by an audience that’s been properly prepped to accept them on their own terms. That’s the duty of exhibitors, distributors, critics and everyone else who’s made a career out of sharing films with other people, and for some of us it’s a sacred vocation.
Film Review: Searching for Mr. Rugoff | by Pat Padua, Spectrum Culture, 8/19/2021
Essential watching for anybody interested in the business end of the industry. And with its nostalgic look at old New York and a cast of colorful characters, it’s not just for the cinephile.
Ira Deutchman and Mr. Rugoff | by David Hudson, The Criterion Collection Daily, 8/19/2021
Ira Deutchman’s (@nyindieguy) SEARCHING FOR MR. RUGOFF (@MrRugoff) carries on rolling out across the country.
Acclaimed film producer and distributor Deutchman virtually sat down with The Knockturnal to discuss Rugoff’s legacy, the timing of the film, and why independent cinemas need to be preserved. Below, hear what the Fine Line Features founder had to say.
Review: SEARCHING FOR MR. RUGOFF, Gone, Gone, Gone | by Peter Martin, Screen Anarchy, 8/17/2021
Directed by Ira Deutchman, the documentary is a briskly informative celebration for anyone who loves independent and international cinema.
A few days before the film was released in select theaters and via arthouses’ virtual cinema platforms, I spoke with Deutchman (an distributor, marketer and professor in his own right) about the film’s unfilmic origins and how theatrical moviegoing, always in a state of premature burial, can rebound once more.
Ira Deutchman’s documentary provides an entertaining appreciation of this elusive figure, as well as an era when upscale film culture was at a zenith of popularity we’ll probably never see again.
Review: SEARCHING FOR MR. RUGOFF | by Leonard Maltin, LeonardMaltin.com, 8/16/2021
It’s rare that a documentary affects me on a personal level but this one evoked a flood of memories. Searching for Mr. Rugoff captures a time and place when movies really mattered to a whole generation.
Whether one is a cinephile or not, the documentary holds something of interest for everyone. I just recently had a chance to speak with Deutchman by Zoom. Here is a condensed digest of our conversation, edited for length and clarity.
Reviews: Searching for Mr. Rugoff | by Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com, 8/14/2021
A beautifully structured tale of movie love. “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” is both dramatic and enlightening, a moving document of an American life that has a bit of “Citizen Kane” to it.
It really points out just how much people loved movies in that era, and how much these theaters and distribution companies fostered that love.
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff” Review | by Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 8/13/2021
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff ” is an entertaining and instructive jaunt, and it bristles with small shocks.
In the documentary “Searching for Mr. Rugoff,” director Ira Deutchman takes us on a journey back to the films, entertaining and enlightening, that have served as the cultural milestones of our lives.
Equal parts documentary, investigation, and film history feature, and all three are compelling in different ways…You’ll be charmed by it.
Review: Searching for Mr. Rugoff | by Christopher Reed, Hammer to Nail, 8/13/2021
To all who rejoice at the choices in our cinematic feed beyond the latest Marvel release, we must pay tribute to Rugoff and those who came after for creating space for those alternatives. We therefore emerge from “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” educated, entertained, and very grateful.
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff” is not only a fascinating exposé of a bullheaded businessman who changed the face of cinema, but also a remembrance of a time when seeing new and strange movies was a special experience. This wonderful documentary gives him the same spotlight he placed on so many others throughout his life.
Review: Ira Deutchman’s ‘Searching for Mr. Rugoff’ | by Q.V. Hough, Vague Visages, 8/13/2021
In today’s world of carefully crafted film industry personas, “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” stands out with its character study about an art house fanatic who embraced the beautiful chaos of being a curious cinephile.
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff” provides the kind of entertaining history lesson that cinephiles like us need to learn…the real show is the incredible film culture he resurrects—one that will make cinephiles nostalgic for a time when a movie opening was an exciting event every single week.
An essential history of film culture. I got the warm-and-fuzzies from seeing the love here for moviegoing.
Talking Screens, August 13-19, 2021 | by Ray Pride, New City, 8/12/2021
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff” looks for the man and the motivations behind the exceptional taste and even more exceptional personal mayhem.
Long before Miramax and the Weinsteins, the studio classics divisions, and the vibrant indie film community, Rugoff, with his Cinema 5 film distribution and exhibition company, pioneered the concept and midwifed the birth of that community.
Without Donald Rugoff, quirky, thought-provoking films like “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” itself might never have made it to the screen.
I wasn’t even alive during this time, but it’s hard not to get a little bit misty-eyed at the way it evokes an era of truly social cinema-going. Where lining up to get into a sold-out session of some obscure European film that was all the rage at Cannes was as much a part of the experience as the film itself.
Movie Reviews: New Releases for Aug. 12-13 | By Scott Renshaw, Salt Lake City Weekly, 8/12/2021
The best moments in “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” celebrate that sheer showmanship with which Rugoff marketed his movies, including hiring people to wander through Manhattan in chain-mail armor banging coconuts together to promote Monty Python and the Holy Grail, or having artist John Willis craft specialized window displays for the movies showing in Rugoff’s theaters.
Reviews: Searching for Mr. Rugoff | by Michael J. Casey, Michael J Cinema, 8/12/2021
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff” is part obituary, part detective story.
After watching this doc you are left with the conviction that Don Rugoff, whatever his personal demons, changed film culture. He’s got my thanks.
August Short Fuses – Materia Critica, by Gerald Peary, The Arts Fuse, 8/10/2021
An essential documentary on the most important figure ever in American independent film distribution and exhibition.
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff” — 3 p.m. Aug. 15, featuring a Zoom Q&A with director Ira Deutchman
Onetime Cinema 5 employee, now a film distributor and academic, Ira Deutchman adds documentary filmmaker to his resume with this engaging, nostalgic and eye-opening film, his “search” for a lost figure in indie “art cinema” history, a man who peaked and plunged pre-Internet, whose name all but disappeared from movie history.
Last summer, distribution veteran Ira Deutchman took issue with virtual cinema releases for their fragmented approach: “Since no platform currently offers an end-to-end solution that is adaptable to everyone’s needs, the technology is jerry-rigged,” he wrote. “It requires building specialized links for each theater. In some cases, distributors must upload the films multiple times. Not exactly scalable.”
The film is a product of Deutchman’s years of diligent research and interviewing. What he has produced provides a full and rich portrait of Rugoff: a complicated, shrewd and crude figure with cinematic taste, who could be seen simultaneously as an “ogre and a genius.” Deutchman best sums up Rugoff’s contribution to film culture when he states: “What he was doing was manifesting the idea of film as art in a way that nobody else had ever done before and he wound up changing film culture in an enormously influential way.”
In an outtake from upcoming documentary “Searching for Mr. Rugoff,” the late Robert Downey Sr. talks about how his breakout film almost didn’t find a buyer.
Deutchman on this finally releasing: “My original intention was to highlight the majesty of the theatrical experience in an entertaining way, but given where we are right now, the story has become all the more poignant. Independent art houses need our support to survive.” This does indeed look like an enthralling film about a very peculiar part of cinema history in NYC.
John Fink said in his review, “Searching for Mr. Rugoff paints a vibrant picture of a specific era of moviegoing in New York City, in particular uptown, where movie palaces like the Paris, Beckman, Paramount, Sutton, and Cinema 1 & 2 flourished with top-notch film product. His theaters were higher-end when compared to the venues owned by Nick Nicolaou, the exhibitor who starred in Abel Ferrara’s documentary The Projectionist from earlier this year.”
EXCLUSIVE: Here’s your first trailer for producer-distributor Ira Deutchman’s documentary “Searching For Mr. Rugoff,” which chronicles the colorful history of impresario of art film, Donald S. Rugoff, who ran a chain of legendary theaters in New York including the Paris Theater, where the film will play.
The well-received film, which had its world premiere at Doc NYC in 2019, will be released in theaters on August 13. In the spirit of its subject, all proceeds from the release will be donated to the not-for-profit art house theaters presenting the film across the country.
“Unlike independent distributors, the streamers don’t have any obstacles to getting the film into the marketplace. With abundant financial resources and the fact that theatrical is an afterthought to them, they’re in the position to dominate the festival world, at least for the moment,” says Ira Deutchman whose CV includes founding Fine Line Features and holding high-ranking positions at Cinecom International, United Artists Classics, Cinema 5 and being Professor at Columbia University School of the Arts. Mr. Deutchman believes that the streamers’ supremacy is transient. “I think festivals are going to have a more important role going forward in creating demand for movies and the ecosystem will come around to something like it used to be.”
The pandemic is changing Hollywood, maybe forever | by Jake Coyle, Associated Press, 11/25/2020
Deutchman considers the idea that people, after a year of quarantines and lockdowns, won’t want to leave their living room “ludicrous.” But he does imagine continued mergers and acquisitions, and “a new equilibrium” for distributors and theater owners.
The indie producer, distributor, and marketer has an optimistic view about the fate of theaters once a vaccine becomes widely available.
State of the Industry: A Pivotal Year | Mill Valley Film Festival, 10/2020
2020 has brought about significant, unparalleled changes to all facets of the movie industry. How do we navigate from this uncertain place we’re in now? Could there be a silver lining in this upheaval, an opportunity for reinvention and innovation? At a time when there is anxiety and fear within the industry as a whole, we’ll discuss the possibilities for the future.
PARTICIPANTS:
IRA DEUTCHMAN, Founder, Cinecom and Fine Line Features; director, Searching for Mr. Rugoff
REBECCA GREEN, Producer, It Follows; Editor-in-Chief, Dear Producer
AIJAH KEITH, Director of Acquisitions, IFC Films
Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes & June Digest | by Rebecca Green, Dear Producer, July 9, 2020
For a moment, there was a small ray of hope in Ira Deutchman’s IndieWire piece, How Virtual Cinema Could Help Arthouses Secure Their Future in 7 Easy Steps. Now here was the kind of detailed plan that could bring us into the future that I’ve been waiting for.
I read Ira Deutchman’s recent article about virtual cinema with great interest. As the first to market with a virtual cinema title – Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles’s “Bacurau” on Thursday, March 19 – we at Kino Marquee have thought a great deal about this phenomenon.
“New Zealand has got a couple of advantages,” said Ira Deutchman, a professor of film at Columbia University School of the Arts and a veteran independent film producer. “One is the fact that they jumped on (the coronavirus situation) much quicker than others did and managed to get it under control. And the fact that it is an island helps.
“But I think it’s partially because New Zealand has an incredibly well-developed infrastructure for production that is not utilized tremendously by indigenous filmmakers,” he continued. “So, they are better set up to handle outside production coming into the country.”
“In some respects opening this movie in July seems like a very smart move because the landscape is so wide open,” said Ira Deutchman, a longtime veteran of film distribution and exhibition, referring to the lack of other major movies. “But anyone who says they know what is going to happen is lying.”
At Arthouse Convergence years ago, Ira [Deutchman] gave a keynote address about the long history of the death of it, from television to cable to VHS to DVD, and everything had been wrong so far. People inherently as a society want to get out of the house and that is more true than ever right now.
“Right from the moment it premiered at Cannes, there was no doubt that it was a special movie,” said Ira Deutchman, an independent producer and professor at Columbia Film School. “By the time the film showed in Toronto, the word of mouth was already incredible.”
But films like “Parasite” could be changing the marketing field for foreign cinema. Dergarabedian and Deutchman note that Neon, the distributor releasing “Parasite,” has done a great job marketing the best picture nominee, with Deutchman praising the speed with which Neon brought the film to a wide audience.
It was announced today by the Art House Convergence and the University of Michigan, in conjunction with Deutchman Company Inc, that they would jointly be presenting a national tour of art houses to bring attention to efforts to preserve art film and independent film history through the efforts of the University of Michigan’s Mavericks and Makers Archive. The tour will include screenings of Ira Deutchman’s “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” which recently premiered at the DOC NYC festival, receiving strong early critical notice.
This proliferation of content does not only arguably narrow the content viewed by users, it also has the potential to actually damage the independent market and limit the amount of low budget, independent films that are created. It may seem counter-intuitive to tie more channels of distribution to less opportunities to independently created content, but the reality is that with a heavily fragmented market, securing an audience (and financing) can be extremely difficult, as producer Ira Deutchman states, “That whole business model in the 80’s where you could essentially get an independent film financed by virtue of having a certain amount of guaranteed home video units that it was going to sell simply doesn’t exist anymore, because nobody has any numbers to back up how much business these things could potentially do on all of the various platforms that are out there.”
Doc NYC Film Review: ‘Searching for Mr. Rugoff’ | by Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 11/23/2019
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff,” an enthralling documentary that movie buffs everywhere will want to see (it feels, in its insidery way, as essential as any chapter of “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls” or “Pictures at a Revolution”), was produced and directed by Ira Deutchman, the veteran film distribution and marketing executive who got his start in the mid-’70s working for Rugoff.
The history of movie culture is full of colorful characters committed to elevating the experience. Donald Rugoff’s exhibition and distribution company Cinema 5 paved the way for a second generation of companies enhancing cinematic culture like the studio (sm)art-house divisions and Landmark Theaters, and then a third wave of companies like the Alamo Drafthouse and A24, turning movie-going into an event.
There’s never been anything quite like “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” that comprehensively documents this exciting period when documentaries and foreign-language films broke through to become part of the American cinematic diet through the efforts of innovators such as Rugoff… and the film captures the enthusiasm and ingenuity that defined the era in moviegoing. Although bringing this moment in time to vivid life would be invaluable enough, the film provides intrigue for those who aren’t necessarily interested in this history when “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” subtly becomes about history itself.
Searching for Mr. Rugoff tells the story of a legendary but now tragically little-known figure who revolutionized theatrical film distribution in the 1960s and 70s. But the film directed by Ira Deutchman serves as a eulogy not only for the complex figure at its center but also for a now-vanished era of moviegoing. Any film buffs who came of age during those years, and especially those who lived in New York City, will likely experience deep feelings of nostalgia upon viewing the film, which recently received its world premiere at DOC NYC.
SEARCHING FOR MR. RUGOFF (2019) DOC NYC 2019| by Steve Kopian, Unseen Films, 11/9/2019
Frankly SEARCHING FOR MR RUGOFF is stunner. It is a film about how the movies got to here. Highly recommended.
Review: Searching For Mr. Rugoff | by Ron Wilkinson, It’s Just Movies, 11/8/2019
This is not just the story of a man, but a story of film in modern-day America. The comedy and the tragedy, it is all here.
For any filmgoer who lived in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s, the name “Cinema 5” was as familiar as that of Loews or Trans-Lux. Cinema 5 was the premier art-house circuit in Manhattan, comprised of an array of stylish theaters including the Beekman, the Sutton, the Paris, the Plaza, the Paramount, and the Gramercy. Single-handedly, company founder Donald Rugoff turned New York’s Upper East Side into a cinema mecca.
This isn’t an easy or thin examination, instead taking on the life of a forgotten legend from the men and women that knew him personally and professionally. It’s also simply one of the festival’s most entertaining watches.
A loving and kaleidoscopic portrait of long-dead film exhibitor Donald Rugoff — a passionate sort who controlled most of New York’s art house theaters in the 1960s-’70s, and used them to foist the likes of Werner Herzog and Nicholas Roeg into the American consciousness — Deutchman’s debut gives the local legend the cinematic sendoff he’s always deserved.
Searching for Mr. Rugoff is the beating heart of this 10th annual DOC NYC. Every filmmaker lucky enough to have a feature or short showing here—from the very youngest film student and intern to Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple—will want to hunker down in this one, taking notes and viewing what’s up on the big screen with appreciation and maybe even awe.
Searching for Mr. Rugoff succeeds in its mission. It finds the remnants of Rugoff in the once-young employees and directors who collided with him in his lifetime and presents them in a way that left me wondering how exactly this man’s name has been absent from mainstream discussion for so long.
DOC NYC 2019 Films Featuring and Directed By Black Talent | by Wilson Morales, Blackfilm, 10/21/2019
Joe Piscatella’s Mai Khoi & the Dissidents, about a Vietnamese pop star-turned-political activist; David Michaels’s Tyson, a candid portrait of controversial boxer Mike Tyson; and Ira Deutchman’s Searching for Mr. Rugoff, about the outsized personality behind legendary art house distributor Cinema 5.
World premieres include: Joe Berlinger‘s The Longest Wave; Ngawang Choephel’s Ganden: A Joyful Land; Geeta Gandbhir’s Hungry to Learn; Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe’s He Dreams of Giants; Reiner Holzemer’s Martin Margiela: In His Own Words; Viva Van Loock’s Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope; Joe Piscatella’s Mai Khoi & the Dissidents; David Michaels’s Tyson; and Ira Deutchman’s Searching for Mr. Rugoff.
DOC NYC Unveils 2019 Lineup | by Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 10/10/2019
The slate includes world bows for pics including Joe Berliner’s The Longest Wave, Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe’s He Dreams of Giants about Terry Gilliam’s quest to adapt Don Quixote, Viva Van Loock’s opioid crisis doc Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope, and Ira Deutchman’s Searching for Mr. Rugoff about the force behind art house distributor Cinema 5.
United Artists Looks Back on 100 Years of Groundbreaking Films, by Paul Plunkett, Variety, 10/4/2019
“The ‘Classics’ designation came from the fact that it was mainly handling old classic movies that we’re in the UA catalog,” recalls independent producer Ira Deutchman, also a film professor at Columbia University who served as director of advertising and publicity for UA Classics. Adding domestic first-runs of current overseas hits was what kick-started the division.
Ira Deutchman, a Columbia University film professor and film marketer and distributor, said laurels, in conjunction with other factors, can indicate that a film is important, but he cautioned that such importance may not be enough to drive audience interest.
“To say a movie is important alone does not give you enough information to be interested in a film,” he said. “Whereas if you add it to a bunch of other information, then it actually can make a difference.”
With producer and indie film stalwart Ira Deutchman, they are working on a fictionalised version of Nickel And Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America, journalist Barbara Ehrenreich’s 2001 non-fiction book about the plight of the poor working in the US.
When curating the recent retrospective “NY Indie Guy: Ira Deutchman and the Rise of Independent Film” – a Columbia University exhibit honoring the 40-year career of a leading American independent film producer, marketer, and distributor – programmers Rob King and Jack Lechner made an upsetting discovery: Many of the films they picked to screen were unavailable in any form.
A theater chain could have added value for Amazon, argues indie distribution veteran and Columbia professor Ira Deutchman. “Amazon has for a long time been in the perfect position to disrupt the theatrical business, for three different reasons,” he said. “They need to have distribution for all their merchandise, need to continue putting their brand in front of consumers, and with cable unbundling, linear TV’s days are numbered. As the world heads toward everything by subscription, Amazon already has the most compelling bundle of services for its monthly subscription fee. With the additional of theatrical, it would be MoviePass on steroids.”
A heavyweight friendship | by Jessie Williams, Traverse City Record-Eagle, 8/3/2018
Cavett and director Robert S. Bader visited the sold-out State Theatre to view and discuss their new documentary film, “Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes.” Cavett and Bader sat down with film producer and moderator Ira Deutchman for a discussion and Q&A session after the film.
Demme Donation, Variety, 8/3/2018
Ira Deutchman, whose archive is part of the Mavericks collection, attended the Traverse City Film Festival to announce the donation.
“The Upper West Side has become a black hole,” said Ira Deutchman, a Columbia University film professor and a former specialty-film distributor who now consults for the industry. “Lincoln Plaza was the nation’s de facto art-house flagship.”
But Ira Deutchman, who once ran Fine Line, believes that what these indies are making and marketing — such as last year’s breakout “Lady Bird” or even the outré “The Shape of Water” — are not independent films at all. They’re the kinds of midlevel movies the studios used to produce before they started adapting comic books.
Oscar Winner May Not Really Be Best Picture | RealClear Life, 3/2/2018
“The Oscars have never been a very good predictor of what would stand the test of time,” Ira Deutchman, an independent producer and professor at Columbia University Film School, told RealClearLife.
Michael Moore Says Capitalism Killed Iconic Lincoln Plaza Cinema | Indiewire, 1/29/2018
- In a video interview, taken from footage provided by longtime distribution executive and Columbia film professor Ira Deutchman, Talbot said, “I pick the best stuff and hope the people show up.”
- Plans for the stage adaptation, from producers Michael Rabinowitz and Ira Deutchman, were first announced in 2016. Playwright Sharyn Rothstein (By the Water, All the Days) is at work on the script.
Broadway Vet Sarna Lapine to Direct Sharyn Rothstein’s HESTER STREET | Broadway World, 1/26/2018
- Producers Michael Rabinowitz and Ira Deutchman announced today that Sarna Lapine will be directing the stage version of HESTER STREET based on Joan Micklin Silver’s acclaimed 1975 independent film, adapted by Sharyn Rothstein.
- When I asked Ira Deutchman, Co-founder and Managing partner of Emerging Pictures, how the art house has changed in relation to the film industry, he noted three ways in which the art houses have had to respond: 1) the Transition to Digital Projection, 2) the Desire to Keep 35 mm Alive, and 3) the Focus on Event Programming. He notes, “I’m a big believer in the fact that the attraction of going to see a movie in a movie theatre as opposed to on a phone, or at home, or even on a big screen at home, has a lot to do with the experience, the audience, the communal experience. No matter what the technology is, the biggest appeal[s] of seeing a movie in a movie theatre are all the analog things: which are people, food, drink, conversation. None of that happens if you’re sitting at home.”
- During Kinberg’s first year at Columbia, his producing professor was Fine Line Features founder and president Ira Deutchman. He happened to read a script that Kinberg cracked called Ghouls of New York which centered around 19th century grave robbers. Deutchman sent it around Hollywood and soon enough Kinberg was signed by CAA with his professional life underway.
- Cinema Chat: ‘Wilson,’ ‘Neruda,’ ‘Rings,’ ‘The Comedian’ And More | WEMU
- 7 Reasons For Cinema Optimism: Lessons From the Arthouse Convergence | IndieWire, 1/20/2017
- Columbia University’s Ira Deutchman received the Convergence’s inaugural Spotlight Lifetime Achievement Award, and he used the occasion to speak directly to American cinemas and festivals about the need to reject the temptations of political passivity and acquiescence in their programming. That message resonated deeply and was echoed in various statements throughout the event. In her closing keynote conversation, director Cheryl Dunye reinforced the need to expand the conversation and to create meaningful connections across diverse communities and embracing the multitude of identities that individuals inhabit.
- ‘Hester Street,’ Film Based on Abraham Cahan Novel, Set for Theatrical Adaptation – Jewish Daily Forward, 12/20/2016
- While Rothstein’s involvement with the project is new, “Hester Street” has been considered for the stage since the spring, when producers Michael Rabinowitz and Ira Deutchman optioned the rights to the film.
- ‘Hester Street’ to Be Adapted for the Stage – The New York Times, 12/28/2016
- The producers Michael Rabinowitz and Ira Deutchman plan to stage readings in 2017 with the goal of moving the project to Broadway.
- Ira Deutchman receives first annual Spotlight Lifetime Achievement Award | Film Journal International
- Ira Deutchman Gets First Spotlight Laurels For Lifetime Indie Service | Deadline, 1/17/2017
- Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema: Why New Yorkers Could Lose a Crown Jewel | IndieWire, 12/7/2016
- Independent producing and distribution veteran Ira Deutchman noted that the Sunshine is one of the few venues in New York City where quality independent films can still generate substantial box office revenues. “In that part of town, the only other alternative is the Angelika, where the grosses can also be decent for independent movies, so it would literally be cutting the opportunities in half,” Deutchman said.
- President Donald Trump: Indie Film’s Response | IndieWire, 11-9-2016
- Veteran film producer Ira Deutchman said that the repercussions of Trump’s election will likely be dealt with by artists for many years to come. “People are going to have to remain vigilant and try to create work that’s going to actually incentivize people or help people understand what’s going on in this world,” he said.
- In NY, Carol Kane returns to her Oscar-nominated roots in ‘Hester Street’ | The Times of Israel
- Bailey Talks Audience Trends, TIFF 2016, ‘The Magnificent Seven’ | Variety, 8/8/2016
- Three Ways Forward For the Indie Industry in a Digital Age | Variety, 8/8/2016
- Indie Icon Donates Collection: Ira Deutchman | Current, 7/2016
- Stage Version of Hester Street Film in the Works | Playbill, 5/26/2016
- Ira Deutchman, a film professor at Columbia University who is also the co-founder of Emerging Pictures, is working with producer Michael Rabinowitz to develop the stage version of the motion picture, which earned Carol Kane an Oscar nomination for her performance as a Jewish immigrant, who arrives in America to find that her husband has “abandoned his past existence and started a new life on the Lower East Side.” Joan Micklin Silver, who wrote and directed the film, is consulting on the project.
- ’70’s Indie Film HESTER STREET to Be Adapted into Broadway Play with Music | Broadway World. 5/26/2016
- In a new interview with Indiewire, veteran film producer Ira Deutchman reveals that he plans to adapt Joan Silver’s 1975 indie hit HESTER STREET to the Broadway stage, with help from producer Michael Rabinowitz. Silver, who also helmed
- Ira Deutchman on Moving from Indies to Broadway with ‘Hester Street | Indiewire – 5/25/2016
- The Emerging Pictures co-founder and longtime distribution executive is co-producing a stage adaptation of the 1975 indie hit “Hester Street.”
- Hester Street To Be Adapted For Theater From American Nov | Indiewire, 5/25/2016
- In 1975 the indie film “Hester Street,” by writer-director Joan Micklin Silver, hit the big screen and became a total box office hit. Now, producers Michael Rabinowitz and Ira Deutchman have optioned the stage rights to the feature with hopes to produce a New York theatrical adaptation, with Micklin Silver as a consultant.
- ‘Hester Street’ Stage Adaptation In the Works for New York | Variety, 5/25/2016
- Producers Michael Rabinowitz and Ira Deutchman have optioned the stage rights to the 1975 indie-film success “Hester Street,” planning to produce a New York theatrical adaptation of the title in consultation with the movie’s writer-director, Joan Micklin Silver (“Crossing Delancey”).
- New distribution and marketing models in the on-demand age – Cineuropa, 5/21/2016
- “The medium is the message.” This stirring quote by visionary crackpot Marshall McLuhan opened multi-talented Ira Deutchman’s enlightening introduction to a strategic discussion on new distribution and marketing models in the on-demand age.
- Will Sean Parker’s Screening Room hurt or help the film industry? — The Guardian, 4/8/2016
- Veteran producer, distributor and exhibitor Ira Deutchman said from a “purely business perspective”, Screening Room makes sense for studios, once the threat of piracy is quashed.
- The Daily Buzz from Sundance 2016: Day 2 (1/23/2016) – KCPW
- Effie Brown on Matt Damon’s Diversity Comments” Indiewire, 10/9/2015
- And changes are underway in Hollywood, argued Ira Deutchman. He believes that the studios’ failure to reach mass audiences –which in Hollywood’s mind equals young men — may motivate them to rethink their repertoires from a purely economic perspective.
- BTN LiveBIG: NU alum and Hollywood legend named a Michigan ‘Maverick & Maker’ « Big Ten Network
- The Oscar Campaign That Changed Everything for Indies (Guest Column) – Hollywood Reporter
- Others in the indie community took note. The next year, Cinecom’s Ira Deutchman spearheaded a vigorous campaign for A Room With A View, resulting in a best picture nom. Three years after that came Miramax’s My Left Foot, giving us an introductory glimpse into Harvey Weinstein’s clever tactics and relentless determination. Once Harvey got a foothold, Oscar campaigns would never be the same again.
- Movie theater chain deal would make largest operator | WUWM, 3/4/2016
- Deutchman Film Archive Going to Michigan | Digital Cinema Report, 12/3/2015
- Ira Deutchman Donates Legendary Personal Archive to Unive | Indiewire 12/2/2015
- Art House Convergence: Why Critics Matter and Oscars Are | Thompson on Hollywood, 1-28-2016
- Columbia U film czar and indie vet Ira Deutchman grills me and Criticwire’s Sam Adams on where film criticism and distribution are heading in an evolving marketplace, and why we like smart publicists.
- The Indie Film Community Picks the Best Movies and TV Shows | Indiewire, 12-24-2015
- Famed film producer donates archives to the University – The Michigan Daily, 12/3/2015
- Indie film producer donates papers to University of Michigan – Crain’s Detroit Business, 12/2/2015
- U-M Library lands papers of indie film producer – Detroit Free Press, 12/3/2015
- The Close-Up: “New Hollywood?” Panel NYFF53 Update – 10/7/2015
- Cinema Chat: Cinetopia Festival arrives in Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor News, 6/11/2015
- “54: The Director’s Cut” – Friday, June 12 at 9:15 PM at the State. This newly reconstructed version of writer/director Mark Christopher’s 1998 classic, which debuted 25 minutes of new footage at the Berlin International Film Festival, will be followed by a live talk back with producer Ira Deutchman.
- Are Netflix and Paramount Movie Industry Scapegoats or Visionaries? – TheStreet, 7/9/15
- “The two [movies] they announced are very small,” Ira Deutchman, cofounder of Emerging Pictures, said in a phone interview. “They wouldn’t try this with movies they thought would have potential. But it’s at least a way to get [exhibitioners] to budge a little from their rigidity.”
- Verizon Partners with Vice to Win Millennial Hearts – TheStreet, 7/15/2015
- As more customers leave traditional cable bundles for internet base over-the-top television content, partnerships between content producers and content providers will become more common and more important, Ira Deutchman, co-founder of the digital exhibition company Emerging Pictures, told TheStreet.
- Jerusalem Pitch Point celebrates 10 years | Screen International, 7/17/2015
- The international panelists comprise Greek producer Thanassis Karathanos of Berlin-based Twenty Twenty Vision, Fortissimo’s Nelleke Driessen, festival strategist Pascale Ramonda, US producer Ira Deutchman, Serb producer Miroslav Mogorovic and Karni Ziv, head of the drama and comedy department of Israel’s Keshet Media Group.
- Whit Stillman’s ‘Metropolitan’ 25 Years Later | Indiewire, 8/6/2015
- producer’s rep Ira Deutchman
- Directors from Quentin Tarantino to Kevin Smith Remember | Thompson on Hollywood, 9/24/2015
- Columbia professor Ira Deutchman, who I can vouch, always gives good quote.
- Ode to the vanishing video store – Salon.com, 9/22/2015
- You have Ira Deutchman in the book who was a major figure in the independent film movement, because he was running Fine Line. And he speaks to how every single film those guys would make, every independent film, would go through the same economic equation
- Happy 100th Birthday, Film Studies – New York Times, 4/29/2015
- “Over the course of the 100 years since that first film course was taught at Columbia, we have seen the death of cinema predicted many times and yet it survives,” said Ira Deutchman, chairman of the Columbia film program. “Film scholarship has played an important part in that survival and thus is perhaps more vital than ever.”
- Distribution Maestro Jeff Blake Exits Sony – Indiewire, July 22
- by Tom Brueggemann Ira Deutchman, still a player in the specialized world, ran the A & O sidebar Midnight Film series on weekends
- Why Louisiana Is the Next (and Better) Hollywood – Mashable, July 22,2014
- According to Ira Deutchman, managing partner of Emerging Pictures and head of the producing program in the graduate film division at Columbia University, Toronto was once a burgeoning film center.
- Seed&Spark Partners With Emerging Pictures to Distribute a More Diverse Selection of Films in Local Movie Theaters Across the Country – Virtual-Strategy Magazine, March 2
- “We’re excited to be working with Seed&Spark and the filmmakers that use their platform to reach and engage with film audiences,” says Ira Deutchman, Co-Founder of Emerging Pictures. “This form of engagement, and the data it generates—coupled with the reach of the Emerging Pictures’ network—sets a film up for success across all platforms.”
- 20 Year Media Acquires Emerging Pictures (EXCLUSIVE) – Indiewire, January 20, 2015
- by Anne Thompson Emerging Pictures has a new owner and VP Sales and Distribution as cofounder Ira Deutchman moves on to a consulting role with the company.
- Indie biz struggles, but startups bloom – FilmJournal International, June 26, 2009
- Traditional players, meanwhile, are furiously trying to reinvent themselves and come up with new ideas. Case in point: Ira Deutchman and his Emerging Pictures aims to outfit art house theaters with digital projectors that will allow exhibitors to break the rigid and expensive 35mm model.
- Marco Bellocchio Retrospective: Two Approaches to Screening Specialty Movies – FilmJournal International, May 7, 2014
- As co-founder Ira Deutchman explains by telephone from his office in New York, Emerging Pictures was designed for independent films, not studio releases. “We actually make it easier and less expensive to get films into theaters,” Deutchman says. “We send out encrypted digital files by broadband to our servers in theaters, which then show them through digital projectors.
- Secrets behind the Oscar voting process – CNN Video, Feb 22, 2015
- Fear and Censorship: Paris, Sony Attacks Put Creative Freedoms Under Fire – Variety, 1/8/2015
- “We were already heading in the direction of possible self-censorship in Hollywood because of the Sony hacking, and this might just reinforce those tendencies,” said Ira Deutchman, chair of the film program at Columbia University and co-founder of Emerging Pictures.
- Fear and finances: Reasons behind Sony’s cancellation of ‘The Interview’ – WPIX News at 10 – 12/18-/2014
- “They were caught between a rock and a heart place. This was probably the right decision from a near term point of view,” said Ira Deutchman.
- Experts talk about severity and implications of unprecedented Sony hack – WPIX-TV – 12/18/2014
- Ira Deutchman’s appearance as part of a panel discussion about the Sony Hack.
- Christmas Oscar Contenders Breathe Sighs of Relief – NYTimes.com – 12/18/2014
- “There’s no doubt that ultimately the decision to pull the movie from theater chains was based on panic that set in; if people are scared to go to local multiplex, they’re not going to see anything this weekend,” said Ira Deutchman
- ‘Crouching Tiger’ Sequel Gets Exclusive Netflix Release
- In response to the Sarandos controversy last year, Drafthouse’s Tim League said it best, by paraphrasing part of a keynote speech by indie producer/distributor Ira Deutchman: “It has been proven time and time again that cinema is not competing against home entertainment … a person makes one critical decision on a Friday night: to stay in or to go out. Cinema doesn’t compete with the ‘stay in’ options like Netflix, Redbox or even reading a good book. It competes with dinner, bowling, roller skating, going to a bar, etc, the ‘go out’ options.”
- David Fincher’s ‘Gone Girl’ with Ben Affleck stirs Oscar buzz, but chilly style has yet to bring a trophy – NY Daily News
- “Maybe it’s just his time to win an Academy Award,” says Ira Deutchman, chair of Columbia University’s film program. “Sometimes a body of work builds up where people start paying attention. Arguably, when Martin Scorsese won his Oscar (for “The Departed”) it was not necessarily for his best film.
- Specialty B.O. Preview – Deadline.com, 7/2/2014
- “He’s working in a modest way which he’s not typically known for,” said Emerging Pictures head Ira Deutchman. “But he’s used his current physical limitations [to tap] renew himself creatively
- Bernardo Bertolucci Directs ‘Me and You.’ – New York Times, 6/29/2014
- Ira Deutchman, chairman of the film program at Columbia University and managing partner of Emerging Pictures, which is releasing “Me and You” (it opens Friday in New York), said he was struck by the film’s “youthful energy, something that one wouldn’t have expected from an ailing, aging director.”
- Elegy for Eluana: Italy’s Marco Bellocchio meditates on death and politics in ‘Dormant Beauty’ – Film Journal, 6/5/2014
- “He’s proven himself to have one of the longest and most distinguished careers of all the current-day Italian directors,” says Ira Deutchman, whose Emerging Pictures is distributing Dormant Beauty. “One of the things that gets me really excited working with him is that he’s proof that the golden days of Italian cinema are hardly over.”
- Italy’s Istituto Luce-Cinecittà Pacts With Emerging Pictures on ‘Cinema Made In Italy’ – Variety, 1/29/2014
- “Italian cinema has always captured the imagination of American audiences since the heyday of Fellini, Pasolini, Visconti, De Sica and Rossellini,” said Deutchman. ”Our goal is to create a marketing and distribution initiative that will allow new Italian films to regularly enter the marketplace with a presence and to help create an ongoing new audience.”
- EMERGING PICTURES ANNOUNCES “CINEMA MADE IN ITALY,” A MAJOR NEW INITIATIVE TO EXPAND AMERICAN AUDIENCE FOR ITALIAN CINEMA « Movie City News, 1/29/2014
- Ira Deutchman, Managing Partner of Emerging Pictures, said, “Italian cinema has always captured the imagination of American audiences since the heyday of Fellini, Pasolini, Visconti, De Sica and Rossellini. Our goal is to create a marketing and distribution initiative that will allow new Italian films to reg- ularly enter the marketplace with a presence and to help create an ongoing new audience. We’re thrilled to be working with Istituto Luce-Cinecittà and the Italian Trade Commission to create this truly groundbreaking program.”
- The Art House Paradox | Digital Cinema Report
- Daily Buzz: Sundance Episode 2 – Filmlinc.com, 1/17/14
- Ira Deutchman, Columbia University’s Film Dept Chair gave his recollections on Sundance’s early rise as an event not only for premiere screenings, but also as a marketplace.
- So Many Indie Films, So Many Reasons – New York Times, 1/9/14
“Many of these films are being released theatrically for the wrong reasons. Either they are doing a faux release to trigger cable TV or VOD deals, or they are vanity projects. These films clog up theaters and add to an environment that makes it hard to get attention for the films that deserve it. Hopefully, as online distribution outlets reach some kind of maturity, these films will find ways of reaching audiences without requiring a theatrical platform.”
— Ira Deutchman, managing partner, Emerging Pictures
- River Phoenix fascination continues 20 years after death, USA Today, 10/30/2013
- Ira Deutchman’s film company at the time, Fine Line, financed Phoenix’s final movie, Dark Blood, which was finished after his death. He says Phoenix was poised for a distinguished career.
- Do Film Festival Awards Matter? – MovieMaker Magazine, 8/19/2013
- by Sheri Candler… In looking at the theatrical exhibition side, Ira Deutchman, Managing Partner of Emerging Pictures, sees festival participation as beneficial for low budget films in particular.
- Theatrical is Dead – Long Live Theatrical: Events, Experiences, Scarcity & The Age of Abundance – Truly Free Film, 8/6/2013
- by Jon Reiss
- Op-Ed: The Cameo’s story, in three acts, Fayetteville Observer, 5/3/2013
- by Skye Dent “It’s wonderful that places like the Cameo exist, and it’s wonderful that the community rose up to protect it from technology obsolescence,” Deutchman says. “It’s so important that these venues survive and thrive all over the country.”
- The 2013 Art House Convergence | The Brave New Art House, Indiewire, 2/1/2013
- by Tom Hall In his brilliant closing address, Ira Deutchman, Managing Partner of Emerging Pictures and Chair of the Columbia University Film Program, gave a personal tour through the modern history of the art house, pulling from his vast experience to provide perspective on the modern art house environment.
- Q&A with Ira Deutchman, Columbia Film Program Chair – CINESPECT, 5/3/2013
- Indie Executives Tell Indiewire Why They Loved Roger Ebert, Indiewire, 4/9/2013
- I first encountered Roger Ebert when he was a young film critic at the Chicago Sun-Times. I was going to school in Chicago at the time, and he already had developed a reputation as being someone worth reading. I saw him from afar at the Chicago Film Festival and at other cinephile haunts in the city.
- Famed NY Sound-Mixing Studio, Sound One, Scrambles for Investors as New Owners Move to Close (Exclusive) – The Wrap, 10/8/2012
- “Sound One is easily the best-known and most revered post production house on the East Coast. Many classic films have been mixed there and some of their employees are legends on the field. If it closes up for good, it would be a big blow to the New York film business,” said Ira Deutchman, the chair of the Film Program for the School of the Arts, Columbia University, and a managing partner in Emerging Pictures, an all-digital specialty film and alternative content theater network.
- 50 Indie Film Tweeters Worth Following on Twitter in 2013 – Filmmaker’s Notebook, 1/8/2013
- Filmmakers Notebook brings you Part 2 of a list of 50 Indie Film Tweeters Worth Following on Twitter in 2013
- In aftermath of Sandy Hook massacre, cancellations of ‘Jack Reacher,’ ‘Django Unchained’ premieres are part of pop culture’s reaction – NY Daily News, 12/19/2012
- “Will there be some handwringing? Probably,” said Deutchman. “Will there be some accusations? Probably, but in reality Hollywood is just reflecting the appettite for violence in the larger culture. “And that’s what the real issue is.”
- BR theater’s deal to bring ‘indie’ films – The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA, 7/18/2012
- While attending the Cannes Film Festival in France in May, she arranged a meeting with Ira Deutchman, of Emerging Cinema, whom she knew from when he worked at Fine Line Features, the specialty film division of New Line Cinema.
- Does Hollywood hate adults? – , Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com, 7/7/2012
- Veteran indie producer and distributor Ira Deutchman, who’s been in the art-house business since the mid-’70s, reported a fascinating discovery on his own blog two weeks ago.
- ‘The Avengers’ gives New York City a starring role – NY Daily News, 7/5/2012
- “If they’re including those kind of scenes in Hollywood movies already that means they’ve tested the hell out of the concept to make sure it would be acceptable,” says Ira Deutchman, chair of the Columbia University School of Arts Film Program. “I think there may still be New Yorkers who cringe a little, but it’s clear the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, doesn’t.”
- Emerging Pictures, Cinemark pact for ballet programme, Screen International, 6/12/2012
- The Film Industry in Cannes – The Distributor, indieWIRE, 6/14/2012
- by Zack Coffman
- Carmike Cinema’s Ballet in Cinema series resumes Sunday – Columbus Legder-Enquirer, 3/10/2012
- She said the company’s two managing partners, Ira Deutchman and Barry Rebo saw a demand for cultural arts programming and decided to offer ballet and opera performance screenings to movie theaters.
- University Challenged – Educational Approaches To Filmmaking | new model cinema, 2/8/2012
- Does Digital Spell the End of the Art House? | ReelPolitik, 1/18/2012
- One of the most active contributors was Emerging Cinema’s Ira Deutchman, who noted the dominance of the digital debate at the conference. “Given the number of times that digital conversion has come up, maybe we should call this event the Art House Conversion,” he quipped.
- After gruesome 2011, Hollywood looks to rebound at box office – NY Daily News, 12/30/2011
- “I do think there will come a breaking point,” says Ira Deutchman, chair of the film program at Columbia University’s School of the Arts…
- Tips on Indie Distribution, Funding, Casting, The Independent, 11/2011
- MPA partners with China Intl. Copyright Expo – Variety, 11/9/2011
- Workshop guests include Ira Deutchman, Bec Smith, Sid Ganis
- Yes, Plans Exist to Finish River Phoenix’s “Dark Blood.” Just Don’t Expect to See It Soon. | indieWIRE, 11/8/2011
- by Eric Kohn Emerging Pictures managing partner Ira Deutchman, head of production at Fine Line at that time, condemned Sluizer’s attempts in a blog post. “Any attempt to finish ‘Dark Blood’ would be a travesty,” Deutchman wrote. “It would be trading on River’s fame in the most sordid kind of way. Is this what Sluizer needs to revive his directing career?”
- Internationally Acclaimed Bolshoi Ballet Brings The Sleeping Beauty and Esmeralda to Movie Theaters Nationwide This November | Business Wire, 11/1/2011
- Emerging Pictures’ “Ballet in Cinema” and National CineMedia’s Fathom Events Announce Agreement to Screen Two Ballets in November – DCinemaToday, 10/24/2011
- Culture City Online: Live from Europe in HD – Wall Street Journal, 11/1/2011
- Pixels and pirouettes: Live ballet in movie theaters – Washington Post, 10/7/2011
- For Chinese students, the U.S. is a land of cinematic opportunity – Los Angeles Times, 11/2/11
- What One Learns About Film Financing from Film Conferences, by Gary Baddeley, indieWIRE 10/4/11
- “From Britain With Love” Event at Lincoln Center – Apollos’ Girl Blog, 8/23/2011
- Montreal fest panels eye biz – Variety, 8/23/11
- Orly Ravid “Moving Indie Distribution Forward” > Hope for Film, 8/5/2011
- Found: Episode #2 | Traverse City Film Festival, 7/31/2011
- IRA DEUTCHMAN CHAIRS COLUMBIA FILM SCHOOL – Filmmaker Magazine, 7/30/2011
- Deutchman Takes Over as Chair of Columbia University School of the Arts Film Program – Thompson on Hollywood, indieWIRE, 7/28/2011
- Deutchman upped at Columbia U – Variety, 7/28/2011
- Ira Deutchman New Chair of Columbia’s Film School (Exclusive) – The Hollywood Reporter, 7/28/2011
- 15 Years of Film Distribution: The Then & Now – indieWIRE, 7/19/2011
- The Last Panel on Distribution You Ever Need to Attend – indieWIRE, 7/15/2011
- NOVAC To Host ‘Watch My Movie!’ Indie Film Panel Discussion – New Orleans Indie Movie | Examiner.com, 7/13/2011
- British invasion: Boedecker Theatre to screen series of films from Britain – Boulder Daily Camera, 7/7/2011
- Helena Bonham Carter Kicks Off Digital-Age British Film Festival – Forbes, 6/22/2011
- The New Digital Repertory Model > Hope for Film, 6/4/2011
- First Person | Ira Deutchman: How to recreate the repertory cinema for the digital age – indieWIRE, 6/4/2011
- TV Wars – Filmmaker Magazine, Spring 2011
- by David Rosen …The TV wars are underway and their outcome will do much to dtermine the future of non-theatrical film distribution and the Internet.
- Opera, ballet cinemacasts set for 2011-12 – Variety, 4/29/2011
- Seeing double: Two film festivals reel students in for cine-fun – Columbia Spectator, 4/21/2011
- 2011-2012 Season Announced for Opera in Cinema, Ballet in Cinema 2011/04/26
- Art House Convergence Notable Moments > SydneysBuzz, 3/11/11
- Speak, memory – Light Sensitive – Patrick McGavin, 3/7/11
- Indie Memphis Film Festival Set for November; Entry Deadlines and Fees Set – The Bloodshot Eye
- … producer Peter Gilbert (“Hoop Dreams,” “At the Death House Door”); Emerging Pictures co-founder Ira Deutchman; and Gill Holland (“Loggerheads”)…
- Ballet on the Big Screen – EU Jacksonville, 2/9/2011
- If you’re Emerging Pictures, led by scrappy executives such as managing partner Ira Deutchman, you get up off the mat and get busy.
- Digital screens boost alt options – Variety, 1/17/11
- Emerging managing partner Ira Deutchman says would-be members typically need to spend $10,000-$35,000 to be network-compliant, depending on the state of their current equipment.
- Local ballet lovers enjoy a Royal treat, Minneapolis StarTribune, 1/26/11
- The Heights is one of the few theaters around town that offer the special European broadcasts as part of a series through Emerging Pictures, …
- Oscar Votes Due Friday, Packed Golden Globes Party Weekend – indieWIRE, 1/12/11
- Ira Deutchman, in New York, anxiously hopes that his mailed ballot gets to PricewaterhouseCoopers on time, by 5 PM Friday, January 14
- How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sofia? – Hollywood Reporter, 1/11/11
- the second-most-retweeted post on Ira Deutchman’s Movietweeviews.com: “Sofia channels her inner Jarmusch in Entourage territory. Not a knock. It’s austere, beautiful and surprisingly moving.”
- From Russia With Love: “The Nutcracker” Live at Rave Motion Pictues – Las Vegas Examiner, 12/17/2010
- Top 10 Movie Tweeviews: Ira Deutchman’s Latest Great Idea – Hollywood Reporter, 12/29/2010
- Digital, schmigital… Movie theatres continue to dodge web bullets – Film Journal, 11/19/2010
- Alternative content had its champion in panelist and indie distribution vet Ira Deutchman, now atop Emerging Pictures, which has found a niche as a virtual …
- From La Scala to Bolshoi, Classics Tune Up for Big Screen – New York Times, 11/9/10
- “The technology has gotten good enough at this point so what we put on the screen is a really satisfying experience for the audience, without it costing a ridiculous amount of money,” said Ira Deutchman, the managing director of Emerging Pictures, which has a network of 140 theaters.
- Eugene Hernandez: Once More, With Feeling – indieWIRE, 11/1/2010
- …We also tracked the producers who enabled their work: Christine Vachon, Ted Hope, James Schamus, Andrea Sperling, Ira Deutchman, Jason Kliot & Joana Vicente, Anthony Bregman and Mary Jane Skalski….
- Filling up the niche – Variety, 11/7/2010
- Specialty theatrical market robust in wake of contraction By TATIANA SIEGEL The death of independent distribution has been greatly exaggerated…
- Emerging and CielEcran bring ballet to theaters – Hollywood Reporter, 9/16/10
- CielEcran deal broadens Emerging Pictures’ ballet roster – Screen International, 9/15/10
- Opera, ballet broadcast to Canadian cinemas – Hollywood Reporter, 9/7/10
- Emerging Pictures & Opus Arte to Screen Opera & Shakespeare > indieWIRE, 7/14/2010
- Pact surfaces for Emerging – Variety, 7/14/2010
- Ira Deutchman joins Kartemquin’s board – Studio Daily, 6/26/10
- Fine Line Features founder Ira Deutchman, well-known film producer and distributor, and founder of Cinecom, was just appointed to the Board of Directors of Kartemquin Films, the Chicago-based not-for-profit media arts organization.
- ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’: The enigma known as Banksy – L.A. Times, 3/30/10
- It’s not just about being good at things like social networking,” says Ira Deutchman, a longtime film distribution expert who has formed an independent …
- Scenes from the 4th Row – Westport News
- Bedusa and Tirola, who met while they both worked for Ira Deutchman, founder of Fine Line Features, brought years of experience in film to their joint …
- Un-Chartiered Territories in Oscar Etiquette – SF Examiner, 3/4/2010
- Indies get Net boost – Variety, 2/5/10
- “There’s much arguing online regarding the merits of films,” says Emerging Pictures’ CEO Ira Deutchman.
- Divas on the Big Screen – Wall Street Journal, 1/21/10
- Opera’s Unlikely Embrace of the Telecast – NYTimes.com, 1/12/10
- Eugene Hernandez: The Indie Summit – indieWIRE, 9/28/09
- Notes on a Crisis: Discussing Indie Film at the indieWIRE/MOMA Summit,
- Filmmaker Magazine Blog, 9/26/09
- MoMA Indie Summit Hashes Out Crisis – Thompson on Hollywood, 9/26/09
- Creative Destruction – Filmmaker Magazine, Fall 2008 (PDF)
- Scott Macaulay heads a roundtable discussion on the current indie model and what the hopes are for the future of the business.
- Thirty Something: IFP and Its Market Evolve. But, What’s Next? – indieWIRE, 9/19/09
- He subsequently carved a path to success via Ira Deutchman and New Line, eventually inspiring the launch of venerable ’90s specialty division Fine Line …
- Filmmaker Magazine: The FIND Film Financing Conference – 6/22/2009
- He cited distribution execs Bob Berney and Ira Deutchman as conceptual thinkers on the cutting edge of the new independent film business
- Jean-Jacques Beineix – The Hollywood Interview – 7/14/2009
- The man in charge of buying the film was a guy called Ira Deutchman and he was the guy who picked up Diva for the US But I think at that time, …
- Indie biz struggles, but startups bloom – Hollywood Reporter 6/25/2009
- Veterans, newcomers see opportunity in specialty fare By Steven Zeitchik
“A New Entry Stakes Out Low-Budget Film” – New York Times – June 14, 2009
Ms. Dickinson and Ms. Fisher have signed up an eclectic mix of entertainment industry personalities to advise them, including the Oscar-winning actress Tilda Swinton and Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment (and once Ms. Dickinson’s agent). Ira Deutchman, a longtime film distribution expert and producer, and John Hadity, a former production executive at Miramax, are also assisting.
- Filmmaker Magazine | FALL 2008: CREATIVE DESTRUCTION
- Scott Macaulay heads a roundtable discussion on the current indie model and what the hopes are for the future of the business.
- Podcast: Ira Deutchman on “The Brand Show”
- Taped at the PGA “Produced By” Conference on 6/7/2009
- PGA Event Video: Independent Filmmaking in the Digital World – 3/25/2009
- On March 25th, the Producers Guild sponsored an event that was called, “Independent Filmmaking in the Digital World: A Conversation with Ira Deutchman.”
- Does Cannes Matter? – indieWIRE, 5/13/09
- A ritual of Spring for many, the Cannes Film Festival kicks off its 62nd edition on Wednesday in the French Rivera, but does anyone care? Does the festival matter anymore? We …
- “Asia Workshop for Deutchman” – Variety – Oct. 12,2008
- By Patrick Frater – Veteran producer Ira Deutchman will again head to Asia for a two-day film production workshop being organized by the Motion Picture Assn.
- “A Docu on Arnel and Journey by Award-Winning RP Director” – Philippine Daily Inquirer – Sept. 22,2008
- By Ruben V. Nepales – Award-winning filmmaker Ramona Diaz is making a feature-length documentary on the rock band, Journey, tentatively titled “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey.”
- “A Classic Indie Returns: Whit Stillman on ‘Metropolitan'” – IndieWIRE – Aug. 14,2008
- By Eugene Hernandez – Nearly twenty years ago Whit Stillman‘s “Metropolitan” marked a distinctive moment in American independent filmmmaking.
- “‘Full Grown Men’: Indie Comedy Opens” – San Francisco Chronicle – July 24,2008
- By G. Allen Johnson – When The Chronicle was looking for a Bay Area-produced independent film to track from inception to distribution, David Munro and Xandra Castleton’s “Full Grown Men” seemed like a good bet.
- “‘Full Grown Men’ Director David Munro” – IndieWIRE – June 24,2008
- By Eric Kohn – …”Ira contacted us and said he wanted it in his film series. We were the last film chosen for that. In so many ways, we feel like we were the last person at the dance to get picked up.”
- “Beyond The Art House: True Indies Find Real Theatrical Alternatives Outside Commercial Venues” – IndieWIRE – March 17,2008
- By Steven Rosen – Commercial urban art houses are often so filled up with studio specialty division releases that truly independent films have a tough time getting in.
- “Smaller Spirit Nominees Challenged” – Variety – Feb. 21,2008
- By Anthony Kaufman – As filmmaker and docu nominee Michael Tucker says, “It doesn’t matter if it’s Spirit noms, Academy noms or Sundance prizewinners: Nobody is exempt from the savage reality of theatrical.”
- “Frustrated Indies Seek Web Distrib’n” – Variety – Feb. 15,2008
- By Anne Thompson – “We’re in the transitional post-major studio pre-Internet era,” says Emerging Pictures CEO Ira Deutchman. “Models will be clear in the future. We’re still heading toward Web 2.0.”
- “‘Full Grown Men’ Wins $100,000 Undiscovered Gems Prize” – IndieWIRE – Jan. 4,2008
- “You all know that distribution is in crisis,” said Emerging Pictures’ Ira Deutchman on Thursday afternoon in Manhattan, “And anything we can do to get all these films to some sort of audience is better than nothing.”
- “Down South, Singing the Indie Blues” – New York Times – Dec. 2,2007
- By John Anderson – Mr. Sayles and Ms. Renzi were happy with the marketing plan that was in place between them and Emerging Pictures, which has been using unorthodox methods to get specialized film to audiences.
- “Bloomberg Gets IFP Recognition” – Variety – Oct. 15,2007
- By Sam Thielman – The IFP’s 17th annual Gotham Awards ceremony will toast Michael Bloomberg for spearheading his “Made in NY” program, which offers tax and marketing credits to film and TV productions in the city.
- “‘Honeydripper’ Launches NYC Independent Film Event” – IndieWIRE – Sept. 19,2007
- By Eugene Hernandez, Brian Brooks – Nearly three decades after attending the first IFP market with his debut feature, filmmaker John Sayles kicked off the 2007 IFP Market with the U.S. premiere of his new film, “Honeydripper.”
- “Filmmaker Shares Tips on How to Cut Costs on First Film” – Capital News 9 – Sept. 18,2007
- By Lindley Pless – Rajnesh Domalpalli says teaming up with Ira Deutchman of Emerging Pictures, which decided to distribute the film, was the key to its success in the United States.
- “When Major Movie Stars Appear in Smaller Films” – Star Online – Sept. 6,2007
- By Ethan Sacks – Of course, attracting a star pulls both ways. Ira Deutchman has seen how important a big name can be in getting a film made.
- “Specialty Chiefs Bring Prestige to Sony” – Variety – Sept. 6,2007
- By Charles Lyons – “The specialized business has a different economic imperative than the major studio business,” Deutchman notes. “The Sony Classics guys grew up in the specialized world, and they understand the difference.”
- “Local Filmmaker’s Latest Project to Premiere at the Venice Film Festival” – Dayton Daily News – Aug. 24,2007
- By Dave Larsen – “The Speed of Life,” will make its world premiere Thursday on the island of Lido in Venice, Italy.
- “And the Winners… ‘Four Eyed Monsters'” – IndieWIRE – Dec. 17,2006
- By Brian Brooks – The New York Times and Emerging Pictures announced last Thursday night that “Four Eyed Monsters” is the winner of the 2006 Sundance Channel Audience Award for the “IndieWIRE: Undiscovered Gems” Film Series.
- “Emerging Spectators: Cultivating the Art-House Audience in a Post-Auteur Culture” – IndieWIRE – Dec. 11,2006
- By Anthony Kaufman – While Emerging Pictures is a pioneer, going into markets that haven’t had arthouse theaters before such as Scranton, Pennsylvania, Deutchman acknowledges, “It’s not going to happen overnight; it requires cultivation.”
- “Gotham Awards Grows to Include Studio Fare” – Variety – Nov. 28,2006
- By Anthony Kaufman – Observers were surprised by the news that this year’s feature nominees include three studio pictures: Warner Bros.’ “The Departed,” Sony’s “Marie Antoinette” and New Line’s “Little Children.”
- “‘Red Doors,’ ‘Man Push Cart’ Take Top Spots on BOT as Overall Box Office Declines” – IndieWIRE – Sept. 12,2006
- By Steven Rosen – While Emerging Pictures’ “Red Doors” and Films Philos’ “Man Push Cart” had strong New York debuts last weekend, overall box office was down substantially from the previous holiday weekend.
- “Frontier Daze” – Hollywood Reporter – Aug. 1,2006
- By Anne Thompson – As countless low-budget films still take the express train to Blockbuster, several alternative distributors are attempting to bridge the gap for filmmakers.
- “French Films Storm the U.S. Specialty Box Office Fortress” – IndieWIRE – July 18,2006
- By Steven Rosen – This weekend, Cinema Guild is joining with Ira Deutchman‘s Emerging Pictures to digitally project “La Moustache” at four theaters in Buffalo, Fort Lauderdale, Lake Worth, Fla., and Wilmington, N.C.
- “The New York Times and Emerging Pictures Present The IndieWIRE ‘Undiscovered Gems’ Series” – IndieWIRE – April 19,2006
- The eight-month-long film series is based on indieWIRE’s annual list of the top 15 films from major festivals around the world that have yet to find a theatrical distributor.
- “Emerging Syndicating Full Frame” – Variety – April 6,2006
- By Ian Mohr – Gotham-based digital cinema network Emerging Pictures is syndicating the Full Frame Documentary Film Fest via its chain of 11 sites for the third straight year.
- “Docs Get Day in Southern Sun” – Variety – April 2,2006
- By Kathy A. McDonald – Now in its ninth year, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has gained a reputation as a must stop on the fest circuit.
- “Lawsuit Over ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Reveals Unease Over Pay for ‘Arthouse’ Films” – New York Times – March 29,2006
- By Sharon Waxman – Can Hollywood make quality movies for both love and money?
- “Indies Finding Alternatives to Old-School Distribution” – Hollywood Reporter – March 29,2006
- By Gregg Goldstein – Emerging Pictures, Film Movement and Truly Indie are just three companies that scout festivals for films deserving of broader exposure.
- “Green to be Emerging as Distrib Veep” – Variety – Jan. 11,2006
- By Ian Mohr – Gotham indie distrib Emerging Pictures has upped Josh Green to veep of distribution.
- “Polychrome Opens Theatrical Deal for ‘Red Doors'” – IndieWIRE – Jan. 6,2006
- Writer/director Georgia Lee‘s award-winning debut feature film “Red Doors,” produced by Blanc de Chine Entertainment, will be distributed by Polychrome Pictures in association with Warner Bros.
- “Manhattan Mixer” – Variety – Nov. 29,2005
- By Anthony Kaufman – Ira Deutchman, IFP’s board chairman, says that while cynics can complain that a film should be disqualified for a Gotham award if a major studio backs it, “It really depends on the filmmakers involved, and how they maneuver within the system to make the films they want to make.”
- “7 Films Set for 9 Cities at indieWIRE Undiscovered Gems Film Festival” – IndieWIRE – Nov. 2,2005
- The indieWIRE Undiscovered Gems Film Festival will kick-off Monday, November 7, 2005, taking seven films to nine cities through December 4, 2005, via digital technology.
- “Solaris, Kindred Show Spirit for ‘Superheroes'” – Variety – Oct. 27,2005
- By Pamela McClintock – Kindred Media Group has pacted with Solaris Entertainment to exec produce writer-director Ed Radtke’s “Superheroes.”
- “A Nice Reunion…” – IndieWIRE – Sept. 29,2005
- Liz Manne would later join Deutchman in launching Fine Line Features, where Fred Berner and Peter Newman had producing deals.
- “Ebert’s Sunday Afternoon at Golden Eye” – IndieWIRE – Sept. 12,2005
- Roger Ebert checked out the party for the Golden Eye Film Festival with “51 Birch Street” director Doug Block, whose film is screening in the festival’s Real to Reel section, and producer Ira Deutchman.
- “Dealin’ for Dylan” – Variety – Sept. 7,2005
- By Brendan Kelly, Ian Mohr – Martin Scorsese’s fest entry “No Direction Home: Bob Dylan,” which clocks in at almost four hours, will get a promotional theatrical run courtesy of Gotham-based indie Emerging Pictures.
- “Emerging Pictures and IndieWIRE Partner to Bring Undistributed Films To Cites Across U.S.” – IndieWIRE – Aug. 10,2005
- Using digital technology, Undiscovered Gems will bring six to ten films culled from indieWIRE’s annual list of the best undistributed films to at least 12 cities nationwide.
- “Fests Get The Digital Treatment” – Variety – Aug. 8,2005
- By Ian Mohr – Gotham-based digital cinema network Emerging Pictures is furthering its efforts to “syndicate” film festivals by digitally distributing fest lineups nationally.
- “For $1 You, Too, Can Be an Executive Producer” – New York Times – May 22,2005
- By Charles Lyons – In the heady days of the late 1990’s, the Internet buzzed with a number of gambits for distributing “content” directly to the consumer. But the Internet’s bandwidth then wasn’t big enough.
- “IFP/L.A. Finds New Name” – Variety – May 3,2005
- By Dana Harris – IFP/Los Angeles has announced that it will relaunch itself under the moniker of Film Independent, or Find.
- “No Textbooks Required” – Variety – April 20,2005
- By Kim Snyder – “The rest of the world is finally catching up to Columbia,” says 18-year faculty veteran Ira Deutchman.
- “IFP Launches Mentor Panel” – Variety – April 20,2005
- By Ian Mohr – The Independent Feature Project’s New York chapter is launching the IFP Rough Cuts Lab, a mentorship program with the aim of identifying in-progress American indie pic projects that could benefit from the advice of film pros.
- “Dark Days After Bright Dreams” – New York Times – April 17,2005
- By Patrick Z. McGavin – “I remember at Sundance, even though people were raving, they were daunted by the running time, the subject matter,” said Ira Deutchman, an independent producer who negotiated the movie’s acquisition.
- “With Deutchman as Chairman, IFP/New York Touts New Producers Group Advocating for NY Filmmakers” – IndieWIRE – April 6,2005
- By Eugene Hernandez – “To band together to do something that might support independent filmmakers (in this way) is kind of a new direction for this organization,” commented Deutchman.
- “IFP Gotham Topper Emerges” – Variety – April 5,2005
- By Ian Mohr – Indie film vet and Emerging Pictures prexy-CEO Ira Deutchman was tapped Tuesday to take over as chairman of the Independent Feature Project’s New York chapter.
- “With Investment from Participant, Emerging Pictures Announces 12 City Digital Cinema Rollout for ’05” – IndieWIRE – Feb. 8,2005
- By Eugene Hernandez – Emerging will roll-out its Digital Cinema Network in 12 cities this year, offering an array of programming, including independent films and international films and other content, ranging from film festival programming, dramatic performances, and concerts.
- “Ebay Guru Clicks with Digital Cinema” – Variety – Feb. 7,2005
- By Ian Mohr – Gotham distribution banner Emerging Pictures is forging ahead with plans to create a national network of digitally equipped cinemas, having secured financial backing from eBay founder Jeff Skoll’s Participant Prods.
- “Hollywood, the Global Village: Festivals Feed a Love of Movies” – New York Times – Dec. 16,2004
- By Charles Lyons – Ira Deutchman, a film professor at Columbia University and president of Emerging Pictures, is exploring digital distribution for independent films.
- “Emerging Pictures Secures Art-House Screen in Manhattan Theater Complex” – IndieWIRE – Oct. 7,2004
- By Eugene Hernandez – Emerging Pictures will launch a new commercial art-house screen in Manhattan, the company announced Wednesday.
- “Film Schools: Class Action” – Hollywood Reporter – Sept. 14,2004
- By Sheri Linden – By helping to filter the pool of talent, Deutchman adds, “the role of the film school is that much more important.”
- “Is ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ a Documentary Film, or What is a Documentary Film?” – IndieWIRE – July 2,2004
- By Eugene Hernandez – Ira Deutchman of Emerging Pictures said, “I subscribe to the theory that docs are merely a style of filmmaking that uses a combination of found footage and people playing themselves to imply something approaching reality.”
- “Tony & Tina Marry You” – Movie City News – Apr 19,2004
- Greenwich Street Productions/Drewmark Productions announces the “Tony N’ Tina’s Free Wedding Giveway” contest in celebration of the film’s world premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival.
- “Have Hard Drive, Will Travel” – New York Times – April 1,2004
- By Sharon Waxman – For years independent cinema has been a big-city phenomenon, the non-Hollywood movies available only in major urban centers and – perhaps – on cable.
- “‘Bon Voyage’ Tops Specialty Box Office Once Again; ‘Dogville’ a Very Close Second” – IndieWIRE – March 31,2004
- By Brian Brooks – Emerging Pictures debuted its doc about the Chicago Cubs on six screens in the Windy City as well as Scottsdale, AZ over the weekend, for a per screen of $5,209.
- “Dream Wakes Up to ‘Best'” – Variety – Feb. 17,2004
- By Cathy Dunkley – Dream Entertainment has acquired all international rights to Tenafly Film Co.’s drama “Second Best,” produced by and starring Emmy winner Joe Pantoliano.
- “Newmark orders ‘Pizzas'” – Variety – Feb. 1,2004
- By Cathy Dunkley – Newmark/Echelon has acquired North American distribution rights to “A Tale of Two Pizzas.”
- “Digital Syndicated Fest Emerging” – Variety – Jan. 17,2004
- By Cathy Dunkley – Emerging Pictures and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival teamed up for a nationally syndicated festival utilizing Emerging Pictures’ digital cinema network.
- “‘Fei’ Up First for Emerging” – Variety – Oct. 26,2003
- By Zachary Pincus-Roth – Gotham-based Emerging Pictures will produce the Chinese-language pic “Fei,” which recently began principal photography in China.
- “Indies and Specialty Chiefs Mobilize Against Screener Ban by Valenti and MPAA” – IndieWIRE – Oct. 2,2003
- By Eugene Hernandez – The heads of the studio specialty divisions and the independent film community met to to denounce the move by Jack Valenti and the Motion Picture Association of America.
- “IFP/New York Celebrates Year 25 with Annual Market and Gotham Awards” – IndieWIRE – September 23,2003
- By Eugene Hernandez – Emerging Pictures and Digiscreen have announced plans for Jackson Hole festival finalists to screen in four states at digital venues during the week of the festival.
- “Exhib Cache Has Its Headaches” – Variety – Aug. 17,2003
- By Charles Lyons – The landscape is crowded, with new companies reaching into indie exhibition, including Madstone, Magnolia, Emerging Pictures and the Independent Film Channel
- “Digital Film Studio, Emerging Pictures, Taps Cultural Centers For Distribution” – CNN Financial News – Aug. 1,2003
- Greg Clarkin, Anchor: “Many independent films struggle to find theatrical footing but the good news is, they may be able to access the marketplace through a growing exhibition circuit.”
- “Auds Love Reality” – Variety – June 22,2003
- By David Rooney – Radically different from the reality programming that saturates television, nonfiction entertainment of a more upscale breed is making an impact on the big screen.
- “Movielink Brings Blockbusters to PC” – E! Online – Nov. 12,2002
- By Josh Grossberg – Given the technology’s still in its infancy, Deutchman says it remains to be seen if the price is attractive enough to make it worth the effort.
- “Film Companies Keep Dreaming of a Digital Future” – Village Voice – Sept. 3,2002
- By Anthony Kaufman – Can the digital revolution save independent film distribution?
- “Digital Auteurs Forge New Distrib’n Ground” – Variety – July 29,2002
- By Lauren Horwitch – Ira Deutchman, president and CEO of Emerging Pictures, is in talks to develop a circuit of theaters that digitally project DV films as well as those shot on film.
- “Cash-Strapped Micros Channel Alternative Rev Streams” – Variety – July 28,2002
- By Charles Lyons – Ira Deutchman, president of Emerging Pictures, hopes other micros will look toward exhibition of the digital variety.
- “Alliance Emerging for Old Theaters” – Variety – July 17,2002
- By Charles Lyons – The League of Historic American Theaters has established a strategic alliance with New York-based Emerging Pictures.
- “Deutchman Emerges with New Digital Outfit” – IndieWIRE – June 25,2002
- By Matthew Ross, Brian Brooks – Deutchman’s business model, is to spread the word to territories that may not be quite so familiar with the world of specialized films.
- “Debating ‘Independent’ and Considering the Film Critic, Snapshots from Lake Placid’s Third Film Forum” – IndieWIRE – June 18,2002
- By Eugene Hernandez, Brian Brooks – Saturday afternoon’s forum, “Staying Independent in an AOL/Time Warner McWorld,” was moderated by Ira Deutchman, CEO of Emerging Pictures.
- “Emerging Partners” – Variety – Jan. 16,2002
- By Charles Lyons – Emerging Pictures has formed an alliance with Parseghian Planco, the shingle of former William Morris agents Johnnie Planco and Gene Parseghian.
- “New, Savvy Players Up the Ante in Park City” – Variety – Jan. 8,2002
- By Charles Lyons – Fine Line and Cinecom founder Ira Deutchman will make the trek to Sundance with “Killing Time” from helmer Anthony Jaswinski.
- “Digital’s Emerging” – Variety – Oct. 18,2001
- By Charles Lyons – Ira Deutchman, StudioNext CEO, is merging his shingle with EmergingCinemas, a digital theater network conceived by high-definition pioneer Barry Rebo and consumer electronics/home theater exec Giovanni Cozzi.
- “Secret’s Out on Movie Being Filmed on Darrow Avenue” – Daily Northwestern – Feb. 9,2001
- By Mike Saewitz – According to Kathy Byrne of the Chicago Film Office, actors Jennifer Tilly and David Straithorn currently are filming “Ball in the House” in a home at Darrow Avenue at Church Street.
- “Pressman, Studionext Team on Web Skein” – Variety – Jan. 18,2001
- By Jonathan Bing – It’s Pressman’s first online production deal and represents Studionext’s biggest content play since Fine Line founder Ira Deutchman came on board as CEO.
- “Studionext Thinks Small” – Forbes – Oct. 7,2000
- By Amy Doan – Ira Deutchman has a knack for doing big things with small budgets.
- “Fine Line Founder, Deutchman, Joins Studionext As CEO” – IndieWIRE – Oct. 3,2000
- By Eugene Hernandez, Jeffrey M. Barker – After his first day of work, Ira Deutchman is already one of the most significant people working with online film.
- Inside Move: WB arthouse for Deutchman? – by Dan Cox, Variety, Aug 15, 2000
- Sources are pointing to Ira Deutchman, former president of Fine Line Features, as the prime candidate to run the show. Di Bonaventura has discussed the notion with Deutchman, but they’re still far from the negotiation stage.
- “Sex and the Movies: Female Directors Fight to Make Films About Teen Girls” – Chicago Tribune – June 15,2000
- By Donald Liebenson – “The general idea is that when girls begin to date, they tend to let the boys pick the movies for them,” observed Ira Deutchman, producer of “All I Wanna Do.”
- “Distributor to Release `The Dream Catcher’ in France” – Dayton Daily News – June 9,2000
- By Dave Larsen – Producer’s representative Ira Deutchman is still confident that the film will sell in North America, according to Radtke.
- “Scene Two: Selling the Movie” – Enquirer – May 25,2000
- By Margaret McGurk – A little more than a week ago, The Dream Catcher was picked up by a French distributor at the Cannes Film Market and will open in Paris in the fall.
- “All I Wanna Do” – New York Times – March 24,2000
- By A. O. Scott – The title of ”All I Wanna Do” tells you nothing at all about the movie except, by inference, that it’s for and about teenagers.
- “School Days” – New York Times – Feb. 25,2000
- By Dave Kehr – Now the film’s writer and director, Sarah Kernochan, and producer, Ira Deutchman, have persuaded Miramax to let them release the film on their own.
- “Liz Manne: Understanding ‘Independence’ and Taking Risks, Parts 1 & 2” – IndieWIRE – Dec. 13,1999
- By Eugene Hernandez, Mark Rabinowitz – Liz Manne kicked off the 90’s joining Ira Deutchman at New Line’s specialty spin-off, Fine Line Features.
- “The Decade According to John Pierson, Part 2” – IndieWIRE – Dec. 1,1999
- by Eugene Hernandez, Mark Rabinowitz – …This is the Ira Deutchman theory from the 80’s and 90’s. You’ve got to get a film on the top-5 choice list at any given moment for it to have a chance.
- “Miramax Catches ‘Traffic,’ FineLine’s ‘Five Senses'” – IndieWIRE – Sept. 14,1999
- By Eugene Hernandez – Despite persistent talk that his company is buying fewer movies, Harvey Weinstein made an appearance at a specially-arranged private screening Sunday morning and by the end of the day Miramax had purchased the rights to a film.
- “A Saturday Night At The Movies Yields Two Stand-Outs” – IndieWIRE – Sept. 12,1999
- By Eugene Hernandez – Repping North American sales for Justin Kerrigan’s bright, unflinching and fun look at a weekend in the life of a group of UK twenty-somethings, is Redeemable Features’ Ira Deutchman.
- “Premieres Bring Hope, Excitement, Surprise” – Dayton Daily News – April 25,1999
- By Dave Larsen – Film distributors once again attended, and although they keep their cards close to their chest, producer’s representative Ira Deutchman felt that several were very enthused by Radtke’s film, according to Bognar.
- “Film Snares Bid, But Game Not Over” – Dayton Daily News – April 21,1999
- By Dave Larsen – The offer for ‘Dream Catcher’ is not one the local producers and director can’t refuse, but it’s a start.
- “Like a ‘Dream’ Come True” – Dayton Daily News – April 11,1999
- By Dave Larsen – The Dream Catcher, produced and filmed in the Dayton area, heads to Hollywood for its world premiere next Sunday at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival with a major player in its corner.
- “Redeemable Gets ‘Mad’ With Talkington” – IndieWIRE – Dec. 14,1998
- New York-based Redeemable Features has agreed to produce “Diary of a Mad Freshman,” the feature film debut of award-winning director, Amy Talkington.
- “Redeemable, Chimera Will Have a ‘Ball'” – Variety – Nov. 18,1998
- By Monica Roman – Redeemable Features and Chimera Films will produce “A Ball in the House,” which Tanya Wexler will direct.
- “Actor’s ‘Arc’ Covenant; Lee Woos Li, Yeoh” – Variety – Nov. 3,1998
- The company had a deal on the Sarah Kernochan-directed “The Hairy Bird,” but is allowing producers Ira Deutchman and Peter Newman to get a distrib to buy them out after a number of creative clashes.
- “A ‘Lulu’ of a Deal” – Variety – Oct. 6,1998
- By Andrew Hindes, Monica Roman – Trimark Films has picked up U.S. rights to “Lulu on the Bridge,” novelist Paul Auster’s solo feature directorial debut, for a low- to mid-six figures.
- “Indie Financing Hits Hurdles” – Variety – Sept. 21,1998
- By Monica Roman – “One of the worst things that happened to indie film was when ‘Pulp Fiction’ made $100 million. It raised the bar and increased distributors’ expectations,” said producer Ira Deutchman.
- “Redeemable on ‘Interstate'” – Variety – June 25,1998
- By Monica Roman – Gotham-based production company Redeemable Features has agreed to produce “Interstate 60,” the feature directorial debut of Bob Gale.
- “Heche Commits to ‘Trixie'” – Variety – June 19,1998
- By Chris Petrikin – Anne Heche has committed to star in Alan Rudolph’s next directorial outing, “Trixie,” for Redeemable Features.
- “‘Mad’ Scribe Inks to Helm Redeemable Pic” – Variety – June 11,1998
- By Monica Roman – “Mad About You” exec producer and head writer Victor Levin will make his feature film directorial debut with “The Successor,” which will be produced by Redeemable Features.
- “Film’s Rising Star: New York”- New York Times – Feb. 10,1998
- By Kirk Johnson – ”Basically what’s happening is that Hollywood is trying to co-opt the entire independent film world,” said Ira Deutchman, a partner at Redeemable Features.
- “Indies’ Star Search” – Variety – Jan. 16,1998
- By Monica Roman – The independent film companies are using the same formulas as the studios,” said Ira Deutchman, whose Redeemable Features is producing Mark Christopher’s “54” for Miramax, starring Mike Myers, Neve Campbell, Selma Hayek, Ryan Philippe and Sela Ward.
- “Sundance Makes Zenovich’s ‘Day’; Doc to Debut During Fest Coverage” – IndieWIRE – Dec. 10,1997
- By Eugene Hernandez – The business of independent film is not a foreign concept for Zenovich, whose anticipated documentary, “Independent’s Day”, has been acquired for broadcast by the Sundance Channel.
- “‘Bird’ in Miramax’s Hand” – Variety – Nov. 5,1997
- In a preemptive bid, Miramax Films has picked up U.S. and other territorial rights to Redeemable Features’ 1960s period piece “The Hairy Bird” from Canada’s Alliance Communications, which financed the pic.
- “Redeemable, Praiser Partner” – Variety – Oct. 21,1997
- Gotham-based production company Redeemable Features has formed a strategic alliance with veteran publicist Cara White to act as producers’ reps and sales agents for independent films.
- “Gladstein enters ’54′” – Variety – Aug. 14,1997
- By Rex Weiner – Richard Gladstein has joined the producing team of Ira Deutchman and Dolly Hall on “54,” a Miramax film about Studio 54 co-founder Steve Rubell, according to sources close to Miramax.
- “Major Alliances” – Variety – July 24,1997
- After watching Disney-owned Miramax Films, Time Warner’s Fine Line Features and Polygram’s Gramercy Pictures bring home the gold at this year’s Academy Awards, more than one studio decided that buying a specialized film company is a small price to pay for an Oscar.
- “‘George’ Can’t Crack ‘Black'” – Variety – July 21,1997
- By Andrew Hindes – The publicity-driven platform release is unusual for Paramount, which acquired director Tony Vitale’s first effort from Ira Deutchman’s Redeemable Features.
“FILM REVIEW: It’s Not Only Straight and Narrow” – New York Times – July 18, 1997
Comedy this lighthearted is hardly a staple of the independent film scene, but ”Kiss Me, Guido” has an appealing indie flavor. (Producer credits are significant here: this is a collaboration by Ira Deutchman, the founder and former president of Fine Line Features, and Christine Vachon, whose audacious credits include ”Swoon,” ”Poison,” ”Safe” and ”I Shot Andy Warhol.”)
- “In ‘Guido,’ No Mafia, No Guns And No Guys With Money” – New York Times – July 17,1997
- By Bernard Weinraub – A script eventually landed on the desk of Ira Deutchman, former president of Fine Line Features and now president of Redeemable Features, a New York-based production company.
- “Dramatic Move for Myers in ’54′” – Variety – May 27,1997
- “54” will be produced by Ira Deutchman and Dolly Hall, and revolves around a Jersey kid who observes the scene as a bartender.
- “‘Bird’ Feathers Nest” – Variety – May 13,1997
- By Brendan Kelly, Monica Roman – Gaby Hoffmann (“Everyone Says I Love You”) and Kirsten Dunst (“Mother Night”) will star in Redeemable Features’ “The Hairy Bird,” which begins lensing next month in Toronto, sources said Saturday.
- “Fine Line Realigns Strategy” – Variety – May 7,1997
- By Dan Cox – But as the arthouse film company and its parent New Line Cinema are settling into the Time Warner family, structural changes at Fine Line are expected — both strategically and in its executive suites.
“Unlike many of you, I don’t consider myself an artist,” said Ira Deutchman, the keynote speaker opening Script Sessions. “I’m going to get a bit controversial. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with working with formulas, it’s what you do with them that counts.”
- “Tirola, Trela Ink with Fox” – Variety – Feb. 21,1997
- By Andrew Hindes, Chris Petrikin – They’re casting “Lucky Strikes” for Ira Deutchman’s Redeemable Films, which will be directed by Tirola and co-produced by Trela.
- “Par Pays $2 Mil for ‘Guido'” – Variety – Feb. 21,1997
- By Andrew Hindes, Monica Roman – Continuing its push into the specialized feature arena, Paramount Pictures has acquired domestic distribution rights to first-time helmer Tony Vitale’s “Kiss Me Guido” for about $2 million, according to sources.
- “Arranging Sneak Previews” – New York Times – Feb. 12,1997
- By David W. Chen – In an unusual agreement, Henry Holt, the publishing house, and Redeemable Features, a New York-based independent film company, have agreed to grant each other sneak peeks at what the other is working on at the early stages of the creative process.
- “The Economics of Independents: Specialized Movies Are All the Rage These Days for Major Studios” – Los Angeles Times – Jan. 31,1997
- By Claudia Eller – It’s once again in vogue either to own a distribution company that markets and releases independently made, sophisticated movies–as Disney has with Miramax Films–or have an in-house unit that fulfills the same purpose–as Sony has with its Classics division, and Fox has with Searchlight Films.
- “Redeemable Taps Holt Library to Publish Pix – Variety – Jan. 29,1997
- By Monica Roman – Gotham-based Redeemable Features has formed a strategic alliance with publisher Henry Holt and Co. to produce films based on novels published by Holt.
- “Redeemable Revamp” – Variety – Jan. 17,1997
- By Monica Roman – Former Fine Line Features prexy Ira Deutchman will team up with “Smoke” producers Pe-ter Newman and Greg Johnson when his two-year, first-look deal with New Line Cinema expires Feb. 1.
- “My IFFCON Experience” – IndieWIRE – Jan. 10,1997
- By Sarah Jacobson – The fun started when moderator Ira Deutchman grabbed the mike and went into the audience to get willing filmmakers to try out their pitches.
- “‘Gump’ Leads the Pack in Academy Award Nominations” – New York Times – Feb. 15,1995
- By Bernard Weintraub – To the amazement of almost everyone, “Hoop Dreams,” one of the most acclaimed documentaries in years, a film that several critics called the best of 1994, was not nominated for best picture or even best documentary.
- “Bear Hunting in Oscar Season: Five Strategies” – New York Times – Jan. 29,1995
- By Aljean Harmetz – No documentary has ever been nominated for best picture; the idea of pushing “Hoop Dreams” for best picture started as a publicity stunt.
- “Fine Line Takes a Long Shot for Best Picture Nomination” – San Jose Mercury News – Jan. 14,1995
- Ira Deutchman and a small gang of Fine Line studio folks stayed up till midnight one recent night to stuff 4,800 movie cassettes into envelopes to ship off members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
- “Deutchman Departs as Fine Line Features President” – Los Angeles Times – Jan 10,1995
- Ira Deutchman abruptly left Monday as president of Fine Line Features, the upscale movie division of New Line Cinema, as part of a larger reorganization in which the unit will lose some of its autonomy.
- “Oscar Offering a Few Surprises” – The Sunday Courier – Jan. 4,1995
- By John Horn – One of the year’s most acclaimed films is facing one of the Academy Awards’ toughest battles.
- “Sleeper Movie” – Fort Worth Star-Telegram – Dec. 24,1994
- David O. Russell’s Spanking the Monkey, fresh from limited theatrical release, is purported not to be about incest. It is, rather, “a film about frustration,” according to its chief apologist, distributor Ira Deutchman of Fine Line Features.
- “‘Hoop Dreams’ Shooting for Best-Picture Oscar” – Chicago Tribune – Dec. 10,1994
- By Gary Dretzka – As of this week, the film’s gross receipts were just under $1.5 million, a low figure for a major theatrical release but still enough to list “Hoop Dreams” among the top five documentaries of all time, says the distributor of the film, Fine Line Features.
- “Small Movie, Small Budget, Big Hopes.” – New York Times – Nov. 7,1994
- By Glenn Collins – The typical advertising budget for a major Hollywood film is $15 million or more. The advertising budget for “Hoop Dreams,” an independent film that has won rave reviews and a cult following, is $500,000.
- “From the Streets and the Gyms To the Courtroom and Beyond” – New York Times – Oct. 9,1994
- By Patrick Z. McGavin – The film makers sensed that these two teen-agers, who were using basketball to escape their tense lives, would be ideal subjects.
- “Getting Beyond the Gay Ghetto With Gay Films” – New York Times – Aug. 21,1994
- By Howard Feinstein – Ira Deutchman, president of Fine Line Features, adds that the Motion Picture Association of America’s approval process for movie trailers is part of the problem.
- “A Boy and His Mom Are Soon Partners” – New York Times – July 10,1994
- By Ellen Pall – Despite its central event, however, “Spanking the Monkey” is not truly about incest — or so says Ira Deutchman, president of Fine Line Features, which is distributing the film.
- “Dues Paid, a Hollywood Upstart Joins the Mogul Set” – New York Times – June 5,1994
- By Bernerd Weintraub – Mr. Shaye, chairman of the New Line Cinema Corporation, has now settled in quite happily in Beverly Hills as well as New York.
- “At Cannes, Offbeat Promising Wild Cards” – New York Times – May 23,1994
- By Janet Maslin – The bottom line has shifted this year at the Cannes International Film Festival.
- “Film Festival Serving as trade Forum” – Los Angeles Times – May 17,1994
- By Alan Citron – At the Carlton Hotel a few days ago, Fine Line Pictures gave an elegant luncheon, with director Roman Polanski and actors Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley, to celebrate the North American acquisition of Polanski’s “Death and the Maiden.”
- “How to Fix a Film at the Very Last Minute (or Even Later)” – New York Times – May 15,1994
- By William Grimes – Mr. Van Sant thought the unthinkable, and then asked the unaskable. Could the film be pulled so that he could rework it? Ira Deutchman, the president of Fine Line Features, which is distributing “Cowgirls,” took a deep breath and agreed.
- “Don’t Fence Him In” – Chicago Tribune – May 15,1994
- By Patrick C. McGavin – Gus Van Sant’s idosyncratic ‘Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” is ready to roll.
- “‘Paul’ Isn’t Dead, But The Project Is Cooling” – Variety – April 19,1994
- By Leonard Klady – Ira Deutchman, head of Fine Line –“Moon’s” stateside distrib — decided to give a rival trade an assist by reporting North American numbers beginning this weekend.
- “‘Cowgirls’ Reined In Again” – Variety – April 13,1994
- By Dan Cox – Fine Line Features has once again pushed back the release date of Gus Van Sant’s “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.”
- “Online Press Kits Sprouting Up” – Variety – March 31,1994
- By Variety Staff – “From my perspective, the opinionmakers, who constitute the core audience for any movie that’s more on the cutting edge, are the people who spend their days online chatting about movies,” said Fine Line Features president Ira Deutchman.
- “After a First Wave Of Raves, ‘The Piano’ Slips Into a Trough” – New York Times – March 10,1994
- By William Grimes – Mr. Deutchman put forward a double-wave theory of audience response to publicity overkill.
- “Fine Line Buys ‘Caro’ Rights” – Variety – March 9,1994
- By Dan Cox – Fine Line Features has grabbed North American rights to Nanni Moretti’s “Caro Diario” (Dear Diary), an Italian first-person comedy echoing the style of Woody Allen.
- “Fine Line to Distribute ‘Hoop Dreams’ Film” – New York Times – March 1,1994
- Fine Line Features announced yesterday that it had won the right to distribute “Hoop Dreams,” a three-hour film about the lives of playground basketball players in the projects of Chicago.
- “A Film Scholar Conjures Up A Hit Machine” – New York Times – Feb. 20,1994
- By Ann Hornaday – Although Mr. Schamus refers to Good Machine as a “farm league” for emerging directors, casts and crew, “he may be doing himself a disservice,” says Ira Deutchman, president of Fine Line Features.
- “Shorting `Cuts’: And Don’t Forget to Nominate Those Writer Guys” – Los Angeles Times – Feb. 6,1994
- By Jane Galbraith – In a recent letter to members of the Writers Guild of America promoting Robert Altman’s movie “Short Cuts,” Ira Deutchman stresses how the “contribution of the screenwriter is one of the most difficult to assess and therefore frequently overlooked.”
- “For Sundance, Struggle to Survive Success” – New York Times – Jan. 25,1994
- By Caryn James – “Success is a tricky mistress,” Robert Redford said. “It’s nice to have, but it’s a tricky thing to embrace.”
- “Oscar Hubbub: And Now for a Not-So-Subtle Voting Reminder” – Los Angeles Times – Jan. 23,1994
- By Jane Galbraith – Fearing that Fine Line might not promote him, Davison, previously nominated for best supporting actor in “Longtime Companion,” said his agent at William Morris paid for an ad on his behalf.
- “Playing The Wrong Tune” – Los Angeles Times – Jan. 2,1994
- By Jane Galbraith – Miramax’s heavy-handed marketing of No. 1 (sorta) `Piano’ has critics steamed.
- “Disney-Miramax Marriage Bearing Fruit for Indie” – Variety – Dec. 7,1993
- By John Evan Frook – But some competitors are skeptical. “There has always been a tendency on Miramax’s part to buy everything in the marketplace — to sweep the slate clean, ” says Fine Line Features president Ira Deutchman.
- “Death Likely to Kill ‘Blood'” – Variety – Nov. 12,1993
- By Adam Dawtry, Dan Cox – “Dark Blood,” the Fine Line Features release River Phoenix was shooting at the time of his death last week, will probably shut down in the next week, producer Nik Powell said Thursday in London.
- “Thalia to Showcase Fine Line Films” – New York Times – Nov. 10,1993
- The Thalia Theater, the venerable revival house on 95th Street west of Broadway, which reopened in July after six dark years, will show first-run art films distributed by Fine Line Features beginning on Friday.
- “Phoenix Death Halts Project” – Variety – Nov. 2,1993
- While Hollywood remained stunned over the sudden death of actor River Phoenix early Sunday morning, exec producers of the young thesp’s latest pic, “Dark Blood,” put the film on hold until they can figure out how to proceed without one of the three main stars.
- “The Little Movie Company That Might” – New York Times – Oct. 31, 1993
- By Aljean Harmetz – Ira Deutchman, president of Fine Line, says: “I think the whole Gramercy experiment is interesting. Because the cost of advertising to a mass audience is out of control, I think the future of the movie business might be carving the audience up into niches. But I’m not clear what niche Gramercy is in.”
- “There In Spirit If Not In Body Premiere” – Los Angeles Times – Oct. 7,1993
- By Bill Higgins – Director Robert Altman wasn’t at the opening of his film `Short Cuts.’ That didn’t stop people from talking about him.
- “Outtakes: A Look Inside Hollywood” – Los Angeles Times – Sept. 21,1993
- By Still, the film has every potential to draw in a bigger audience than “The Player” despite its long running-time, fragmented plotting, and strictly adult themes, asses Ira Deutchman, president of “Short Cuts” distributor Fine Line Features.
- “Taking a Long-Range View of `Short Cuts'” – Los Angeles Times – Sept. 12,1993
- By Jane Galbraith – Ira Deutchman believes because “Short Cuts” is about working-class characters in commonplace dilemmas, it is a more accessible picture to mainstream moviegoers who may more easily relate to the characters on screen.
- “Film Marketing Savvy Shapes, Shakes Indies” – Variety – Aug. 17,1993
- By Jennifer Pendleton – In a business in constant change, independent movie companies can count on only a few constants: Major studios will dominate the nation’s screens and hopelessly outspend them in marketing.
- “‘Amongst Friends’ Tops Off a Journey Of Self-Discovery” – New York Times – July 18,1993
- By Sarah Lyall – “He’s a stylist, a born storyteller, and I think the types of film making he’s capable of are as broad as his interests,” said Ira Deutchman, president of Fine Line Features, a division of New Line Cinema and the movie’s distributor. “This film twists conventions around and deals with a culture we’ve never seen on film before.”
- ‘Sleepless’ Wakes Up Seattle; Film Confabs Unspool” – Variety – July 1,1993
- By Bashirah Muttalib – A total of 38 panelists have committed to the Sundance event, including Fine Line Films prez Ira Deutchman, Sony Pictures Classics co-exec director Tom Bernard and producers Jim Jacks and Barbara Boyle.
- “FL finds ‘Adventure'” – Variety – June 29,1993
- By Andy Marx – Fine Line Features has acquired all North American rights in all media to “Enchanted April” director Mike Newell’s next film, “An Awfully Big Adventure.”
- “Fine Line Gets ‘Naked’ at Cannes for Big Coin” – Variety – May 26,1993
- By Andy Marx – Capping a busy Cannes Film Festival spending spree, Fine Line Features has acquired American distribution rights for Mike Leigh’s “Naked,” the much-talked-about film that was awarded the best director and best actor awards at this year’s fest.
- “Fine Line Draws ‘Blood,’ Buys Films’ World Rights” – Variety – May 21,1993
- By Michael Fleming – Fine Line Features with New Line Intl. Thursday acquired worldwide rights to “Dark Blood,” director George Sluizer’s erotic thriller from “The Crying Game” producers Nik Powell and Stephen Wooley.
- “Lang to Write ‘Blues’ Music” – Variety – April 22,1993
- By Andy Marx – “Lang is perfect for this movie,” Deutchman said. “Her work on the soundtrack will make it well worth the wait.”
- “Bravo Gets New Line on Films” – Broadcasting & Cable – March 29,1993
- By Rich Brown – Bravo has signed a deal with New Line Television giving the cultural cable network access to several independent theatrical films never before seen on television.
- “One Little Film’s Long Oscar Campaign” – Philadelphia Inquirer
- The backers of “Howard’s End” had a plan. It paid off in nine chances at the golden statuette, grosses three times the film’s cost and an exceptional year-long run.
- “Year of the Woman – Yeah” – Chicago Tribune – March 28,1993
- By Jessica Seigel – As one of America’s most visible and admired cultural exports, the movie actress long has been a worldwide symbol for America itself.
- “Fine Line Makes ‘Friends'” – Variety – Feb. 22,1993
- By Andy Marx, John Evan Frook – “Amongst Friends,” a Sundance Film Festival crowd pleaser, has been picked up for distribution, Fine Line Features confirmed Friday.
- “Independents Day for Oscars” – Variety – Feb. 18,1993
- By Andy Marx – Fine Line Films prexy Ira Deutchman, whose company distributed “The Player,” was less complimentary about the nominations, in light of that film’s omission from the best pic category.
- “The Executive Life; Skiing, Schmoozing, Chasing New Films” – New York Times – Feb. 7,1993
- By Anne Thompson – “The most valuable part of the festival is the networking,” said Ira Deutchman, president of Fine Line Features, whose company checked out several film acquisitions.
- “The Sundance Kid; Young Filmmakers Ride High at Festival” – The Washington Post – Jan. 30,1993
- By Pat Wechsler – At Sundance they’re calling it the “masturbation generation” – the group of “twentysomething” filmmakers desperately in need of ego-stroking, hungry for immediate gratification, fearfully unromantic and cynically disconnected.
- “Ratings System Draws Fire” – Variety – Jan. 28,1993
- By John Evan Frook – October Films partner Jeff Lipsky called for independents to fight the MPAA ratings system during yesterday’s Sundance Film Festival panel discussion on producing and financing independent film.
- “Inconsistent Ratings Bewilder Filmmakers, Exhibitors” – Los Angeles Times – Jan. 24,1993
- Ads call Madonna’s new movie “the erotic thriller of the year.” But anyone under age 17 can see the pop star bare her breasts and make steamy love to Willem Dafoe in “Body of Evidence” – if they are accompanied by an adult.
- “Filmmakers’ Academy Courtship is in Full Bloom” – Daily News of Los Angeles – Jan. 24,1993
- Jeff Lipsky barely misses a beat when asked how a tiny company like his October Films tries to get Academy Award nominations.
- “Sundance: A Kid Comes of Age” – The Washington Post – Jan. 24,1993
- By Pat Wechsler – This year, Sally Kirkland will be joined by such established actors as Bridget Fonda, Linda Hunt, Christopher Lloyd and Kris Kristofferson, all of whom have films competing for Sundance’s narrative feature prize.
- “‘Alive’ leads off ’93 movie Season” – Long Beach Press-Telegram – Jan. 19,1993
- The first of 1993’s movies – a collection of predict able sequels, costly star vehicles and low-budget offerings – arrived with a most unusual pairing: the Walt Disney Co. and cannibalism.
- “Director Wins in Court, Still Cites Censorship” – Philadelphia Inquirer – Dec. 2,1992
- By Hillel Italie – “There has been a certain amount of fear and reticence of what the effect might be of showing our film,” says British director Paul Yule, whose movie, Damned in the USA, survived a court challenge by the Rev. Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association over the right to show it in the United States.
- “Reviewing the NC-17 Film Rating: Clear Guide or an X by a New Name?” – New York Times – Nov. 30,1992
- By William Grimes – The NC-17 rating, a rarity since being created two years ago to replace the X rating, has been applied to five films in the last four months, raising questions about the criteria for applying it and its usefulness as a consumer guide to a film’s content.
- “Castle Rock greenlights Stillman’s ‘Barcelona'” – Variety – Nov. 20,1992
- By John Ewan Frook – Castle Rock Entertainment has given the greenlight to screenwriter-director Whit Stillman’s “Barcelona,” which marks his return to the director’s chair after the 1991 “Metropolitan,” which was nominated for an original-screenplay Oscar.
- “The Bare Facts of film” – Daily News of Los Angeles – Nov. 1,1992
- In the movie “Innocent Blood,” a female vampire, trying to stay cold in the night, strips off her clothes and stands naked.
- “Ruch Resigns as NL Marketing Prez” – Variety – Oct. 23,1992
- By Andy Marx- Following the major revamp of its movie production arm Tuesday, New Line Cinema’s president of marketing Sandra Ruch has resigned her position, effective in January.
- “Film Entertainment Goes Way Beyond the Big Screen” – Wichita Eagle – Oct. 23,1992
- An updated second edition of Jason E. Squire’s highly informative “The Movie Business Book,” replete with contributions from such movers and shakers as Mike Medavoy, Sydney Pollack, Ira Deutchman, Jack Valenti, Barry Reardon and entertainment attorney Peter Dekom, is being issued.
- “Fine Line, CTHV Getting ‘Naked'” – Variety – Oct. 16,1992
- By John Evan Frook – Fine Line Features and Columbia TriStar Home Video have joined forces to acquire the North American theatrical, homevideo and television rights to “Naked in New York,” which will mark the feature film directorial debut of Dan Algrant.
- “This Director’s Wish List Doesn’t Include Hollywood” – New York Times – Oct. 11,1992
- By Ellen Pall – “There’s never any predicting these things, but I have a hard time believing Hal is ever going to be a real Hollywood director,” said Ira Deutchman, president of Fine Line, which distributed “Trust” and “Simple Men.”
- “Just Too Foreign” – St. Petersburg Times – Sept. 15,1992
- By John Horn – In 1990, the small Italian film “Cinema Paradiso” starring {hilippe Noiret earned more money than the highly touted American release “The Two Jakes” with Jack Nicholson and Eli Wallach.
- “What Hollywood Learned at Summer School” – New York Times – Sept. 6,1992
- By Bernard Weintraub – “The bigger they were, the harder they fell,” said Ira Deutchman, president of Fine Line Features, a division of New Line Cinema, a major independent producer.
- “‘Blues’ To Get Some Bitg Stars” – Daily News of Los Angeles – Aug. 25,1992
- The film adaptation of Tom Robbins’ “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” will go “The Player” route – and be larded with major names in bit parts.
- “Honey, I Had to Shrink My Movie” – Los Angeles Times – Aug. 2,1992
- By David J. Fox – The murder thriller “Whispers in the Dark” initially received an NC-17 rating, and co-producer Martin Bregman angrily said the scenes in question were much less explicit than “Basic Instinct,” the recent R-rated sexual thriller starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone.
- “Little Movies Trying To Be Bigger Movies” – New York Times – July 30,1992
- By William Grimes – “When profit margins are much smaller, there’s much more emphasis on promotion work and publicity than on advertising,” said Ira Deutchman, the president of Fine Line, which distributes “The Player.”
- “Playing With Fiery Satire” – Philadelphia Inquirer – April 26,1992
- When Robert Altman cast “The Player,” which opened Friday, real live movie stars couldn’t wait to get in it and trash the real live movie system.
- “Old Novels, New Screenplays” – Los Angeles Times – April 26,1992
- By Terry Pristin – The success of the 1985 Ismail Merchant-James Ivory production of “A Room With a View”-dubbed “the `E.T.’ of classics” by Variety’s box-office analyst Art Murphy-paved the way for the two current [Forster] movies.
- “Altman’s Portrait of Hollywood: True or false?” – Chicago Tribune – April 19,1992
- By Anne Thompson – There’s nothing the East Coast media loves better than an inside job, a Hollywood-bashing movie full of real celebrities.
- “Hollywood Captivated By an Altman Film About How Awful It Is” – New York Times – Feb. 18,1992
- By Bernard Weintraub – Hollywood, which enjoys self-laceration as much as mean gossip, has, curiously, embraced the Robert Altman film, “The Player.”
- “A Film Company’s Success Story: Low Costs, Narrow Focus, Profits” – New York Times – Dec. 2,1991
- By William Grimes – Out West, two young hustlers wander aimlessly across the alienated landscape of “My Own Private Idaho,” the director Gus Van Sant’s moody art film.
- “New York Fest Takes a Shot at Cannes Movies” – Los Angeles Times – Sept. 4,1991
- By Pat Wechsler – Like Cannes, the collaboration between the film festival and the IFP market mixes business and art, the industry and moviegoing public under one umbrella.
- “Film’s Release Postponed Because of Violence at ‘Boyz’ Showings” – Boston Globe – July 20,1991
- The national release of a a light-hearted film about street life in the Bronx was postponed yesterday because of fears it would be confused with “Boyz N the Hood,” whose opening last weekend was marred by violence.
“Hollywood Seeks A White Audience For New Black Films” – New York Times – July 17, 1991
by Richard Bernstein – “Spike Lee can reach both blacks and whites,” said Ira Deutchman of Fine Line Features, an independent production company. “He has talked about designing his films to appeal to the two audiences, so that he has the cultural specificity of the black experience but ideas that appeal to white audiences.”
- “Young Filmmaker Tells It Straight” – Daily News of Los Angeles – June 4,1991
- Matty Rich remembers the last time he saw his father. ”I was lying in my bed, my sister was right next to me, my brother – we had bunk beds, my brother was in the top – and all I heard was, ‘The white man is doing this, he’s doing that,’ and I heard bang, crash, bang, crash.
- “The Film and the Dream: A Brooklyn Story” – New York Times – May 28, 1991
- By Richard Bernstein – Matty Rich is taking a visitor on a tour of a rooftop in Brooklyn where dreams and horrors are visible.
- “A Surprise Hit About Kids Who Get Lost in Hollywood’s Shuffle” – Chicago Tribune – Feb 18,1991
- By Frank James – The owner of a small South Side publishing house made his own movie about the growing pains of a black teenager.
- “Big and Little Buzzes at the Sundance Festival” – New York Times – Jan. 24,1991
- By Aljean Harmetz – “There’s a tendency of the festival to overblow expectations and that’s a real danger for ‘City of Hope,’ ” said Ira Deutchman, who has made a career of marketing independent films.
- “Blockbuster Busts: Hollywood’s Big Season Ends in Disappointment” – Los Angeles Times – Sept. 16,1990
- By Anne Thompson – Warner Bros. and Paramount gambled and won with the relatively modestly budgeted “Presumed Innocent” and the top-ranked “Ghost,” which boasts the summer’s strongest box-office legs.
- “Assembly-Line Sequels Sinking At Box Office” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch – Sept. 7,1990
- In Hollywood, history does tend to repeat itself. Every summer, the high-expectation sequels open well but don’t thrive, disappointing the audiences that yen for such adult fare as 1989’s ”Dead Poets Society” or this summer’s top-ranked ”Ghost.”
- “Hollywood Tactics Invade the Sundance Festival” – New York Times – Feb. 5,1990
- By Caryn James – As it turned out, the Utah audiences loved ”Metropolitan”; more important, it was one of the films covered most heavily and favorably in the press. Now distributors are actively pursuing ”Metropolitan,” and Mr. Deutchman is screening it again, this time from a position of strength.
- “Reeling Independents” – Philadelphia Inquirer – Oct. 22,1989
- After a run of success, small filmmakers are struggling. Sure, there’s still big money to be made on a “Sex, Lies, and Videotape.” But look what happened to Vestron and others that once challenged the big studios.
- “Is Bigger Better in the Media Business?” – Los Angeles Times – June 25,1989
- “I believe in rigorous management and providing high value to shareholders. But I don’t believe it should be-or has to be-at the expense of fulfilling our greater First Amendment responsibilities…”
- “Funny Meant Money at the Movies in 1988” – New York Times – Jan. 17,1989
- By Aljean Harmetz – ”’Bat 21,’ ‘Crossing Delancey,’ ‘Eight Men Out,’ ‘Something Wild,’ and ‘Married to the Mob’ would have been independent films a few years ago,” said Ira Deutchman, Cinecom’s former president of distribution.
- “At The Movies” – New York Times – April 15,1988
- By Lawrence Van Gelder – After the screening, there will be a panel discussion titled ”Making the Independent Feature.” Besides Ms. Rathborne, the panelists include such film makers and film executives as Ira Deutchman, Marcia Nasatir, Frank Perry and Jay Russell.
- “Now Playing: The New Hollywood” – New York Times – Jan. 10,1988
- By Aljean Harmetz – What is going on right now is a grab for power, with the small getting big and the big getting huge, immense, gargantuan.
- “Movie’s Title Leads to MPAA Conflict” – Philadelphia Inquirer – Oct. 25,1987
- What’s in a name? Quite a lot if the name of your movie is Sammy and Rosie Get Laid and it falls into the reluctant clutches of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
- “MPAA Turns Down Appeal Over Title of `Sammy, Rosie'” – Los Angeles Times – Oct. 17,1987
- By John Voland – Ira Deutchman, president of marketing and distribution for Cinecom, said from his New York office that the company will press on with the release of the British film.
- “A Title Rejection” – New York Times – Oct. 16,1987
- By Lawrence Van Gelder – The appeal board of the Motion Picture Association of America yesterday upheld a decision to refuse to register the title of a British film called ”Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.”
- “Dispute Brews Over Title of New British Film” – Los Angeles Times – Oct. 12,1987
- By John Voland – Cinecom Entertainment Group, screenwriter Hanif Kureishi and director Stephen Frears are embroiled in a fight with the Motion Picture Assn. of America over the supposedly vulgar title of their latest film, a dispute that threatens to hold up the movie’s distribution, publicity and advertising plans.
- “Oscar Night Will Go Down In History as a Declaration of Independents” – New York Times – April 9,1987
- By Aljean Harmetz – “A Room With a View,” the winner of three awards including best screenplay, was financed and distributed by Cinecom.
- “Independent Films Making It Big” – New York Times – April 6,1987
- By Aljean Harmetz – Hollywood’s yearly orgy of self-congratulation has been subverted by movies that were produced and financed outside the major studio system.
- “The Little Film That Could: `Room’ Already a Big Winner” – Los Angeles Times – March 30,1987
- By Jack Mathews – Considering Cinecom’s investment-less than $3 million, including advertising-the $20 million that “A Room With a View” has grossed qualifies it as an art-house blockbuster.
- “FilmDallas President Appointed” – Dallas Morning News – July 8,1986
- By Lorraine Adams – FilmDallas Investment Fund I and New World Pictures have named a former New York distribution executive — John G. Ives — to be president and chief executive of the joint venture’s new film company in Dallas.
“Merchant and Ivory Strike Gold” – New York Times – July 5, 1986
by Aljean Harmetz – ”At the least we knew ‘Room’ would be a respectable movie,” says Ira Deutchman, president of marketing and distribution at Cinecom, the small distributor that is in the enviable position of having bought all American rights to ”A Room With a View” when the film was simply an unmade script. Cinecom advanced Mr. Merchant $950,000, about average for a film with its lineage.
- “Into the Mainstream: Avant Garde Artists Gain Commercial Success” – New York Times – June 21,1986
- By Samuel G. Freedman – When the film Home of the Brave by performance artist Laurie Anderson opened in New York last month, it marked the latest and most striking example of an avant-garde artist’s crossing over into the commercial mainstream.
- “Mainstream Catches Avant Garde” – New York Times – April 24,1986
- By Samuel G. Freedman – When the performance artist Laurie Anderson’s film ”Home of the Brave” opens tomorrow, it will mark the latest and most striking example of an avant-garde artist crossing over into the commercial mainstream.
“Non Fiction is Surging in Movies” – New York Times – April 17,1986
by Aljean Harmetz – ”In general, the audience for more serious-minded films is growing,” said Ira Deutchman, president of Cinecom, a distributor of specialized films.
by Janet Maslin – According to Ira Deutchman of Cinecom, business was poor until the film was put on limited runs of two weeks in major cities and a week or less in smaller cities. With the urgency of a limited time in which to see the film, ticket sales perked up a bit.
- “Off Broadway” – New York Times – May 12,1985
- By Annette Insdorf – Although American independent filmmakers are hardly a new phenomenon, it is only in the past two years that they have represented a serious commercial alternative to Hollywood movies.
- “At The Movies: A Musical Movie House” – New York Times – Oct. 26,1984
- by Janet Maslin – ”Moviegoing has moved into the neighborhoods,” said Ira Deutchman, executive vice president for marketing and distribution for Cinecom, which is handling ”Stop Making Sense.”
“New York’s Film Festival: Ready to Launch” – New York Times – Sept. 23, 1984
According to Ira Deutchman, executive vice president of Cinecom International – the distributor of ”El Norte” – ”the natural habitat for a film like ‘El Norte’ is Montreal, where a jury controls the prizes. But what makes Toronto unique is that it’s an audience festival: the main award is for ‘Most Popular Film.’ If the audience likes a film here, it’s not an aberration but a true test of the film’s performance with a real audience.”
“Hollywood Thinks Small in a Big Way” – New York Times – March 13, 1983
by Aljean Harmetz – ‘The majors are spending too much in the theatrical arena and hoping to get it back in cable. They’ll discover in the long run that it’s not worth the effort for a large company,” said Ira Deutchman, vice president of Cinecom, distributor of Robert Altman’s ”Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.”
“Altman Films His ‘Jimmy Dean’ Play” – New York Times – Sept. 22, 1982
by Aljean Harmetz – “The first market for a film like this is in the 20 largest American cities,” said Ira Deutchman, Cinecom’s executive vice president. ”Eventually, you can go to the next 20. We’ll play at the Chicago Film Festival the first week in November. Then we’ll open in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago. It will cost a minimum of $40,000 to launch the film in New York, but even with a success like ‘Diva,’ you don’t end up spending more than $200,000 for prints and advertising across the whole United States.”