10AM – DISTRIBUTION: NAVIGATING THE MARKETPLACE AS WELL AS FORECASTING THE FUTURE

BRAD BALFOUR, EDITOR AND CHIEF AT INSIDER MEDIA LLC – MODERATOR

RICHARD GLADSTEIN – PRODUCER/EDUCATOR AND EXEC AT FILM COLONY
Two-time Academy Award® nominee Richard N. Gladstein is a filmmaker, executive and educator. He is president and founder of the production company FilmColony. Cumulatively, Gladstein’s films have received 27 Academy Award® nominations and earned in excess of US$1billion worldwide. A frequent collaborator of Quentin Tarantino – he was as producer The Hateful Eight, and executive producer of Tarantino’s first three films: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown. Gladstein’s two Academy Award® nominations for ‘Best Picture of the Year’ were for producing The Cider House Rules and Finding Neverland. Other produced films include; The Bourne Identity, She’s All That, The Time Being (he also co-wrote the screenplay), Paper Man, Killshot, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, The Nanny Diaries, The Crossing Guard, 54 and Hurlyburly,, among others.

In education, in addition to served as executive director at Brooklyn College’s Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, he was dean at the American Film Institute (AFI) Conservatory and the Marion Knott filmmaker-in-residence at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film & Media Arts. Gladstein is the recipient of awards from the National Board of Review, Critics Choice Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association and two Boston University Distinguished Alumni Awards. In addition to Academy Award® nominations, Gladstein has also been nominated for awards from the British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes) and multiple Producers Guild of America (PGA) Best Producer of the Year awards.

Prior to the formation of FilmColony he was executive vice president & head of production at Miramax Films, where he supervised all production activities and spearheaded the creative and operational relationship with The Walt Disney Co. after its acquisition of Miramax. Prior he was vice president of production & acquisitions at LIVE Entertainment.

Gladstein frequently speaks about filmmaking, the industry and higher education. He has twice testified twice before the US Congress regarding film piracy and copyright protection. He has also appeared at such venues as SXSW, the Producer’s Guild of America “Produced By” conference, The Beijing Film Academy, The Tel Aviv Cinematheque, as well as at film festivals and conferences worldwide. He also frequently serves as a juror for festivals and awards organizations such as the Gotham Awards.

DYLAN LEINER – SR VP ACQUISITIONS & PRODUCTION SONY PICTURES CLASSIC
As Executive Vice President of Acquisitions, Production and Business Affairs at Sony Pictures Classics, Dylan Leiner oversees the acquisitions, production, business affairs / administration activity for the company and has been involved with a broad range of films, including BETWEEN THE TEMPLES, KNEECAP, WICKED LITTLE LETTERS, THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE, LIVING, THE FATHER, WHIPLASH, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, THE RIDER, A SEPARATION, AMOUR, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN, PERSEPOLIS, RUN LOLA RUN and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, among others, including the upcoming THE ROOM NEXT DOOR and I’M STILL HERE. During his tenure at the company, Sony Classics has garnered over 150 Academy Award nominations and over 30 Oscar wins. Dylan has been named by The Hollywood Reporter as a member of its 35 under 35 “Next Generation Group” and by Crain’s New York Business among its “40 executives under 40”.  He is Co-Founder and Co-Director of the New York based film mentorship program, The Marcie Bloom Fellowship in Film, now in its 17^th year and has organized thought leadership exchanges with international groups such as Unifrance, La Femis and the Sam Spiegel Film School & Film Lab. A former college soccer player, Dylan Co-Founded and oversees the non-profit New York Film and Entertainment Soccer Tournament (NYFEST), an annual charity event benefitting underserved youth and taking place during the Tribeca Film Festival.

MADELINE SCHUMACHER – GIANT FILMS, HEAD OF CONTENT
Madeleine Schumacher serves as the Head of Content at Giant Pictures, where she oversees acquisitions and content management of over 50 films and documentaries per year across three distribution labels: Giant Pictures, Drafthouse Films and Tribeca Films. Madeleine has also produced dozens of independent short and feature films, including the Shudder Original “The Last Thing Mary Saw,” starring Stefanie Scott and Isabelle Fuhrman. Madeleine routinely participates as a guest speaker at Brooklyn College, Colgate University, and her alma mater NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she leads discussions on today’s evolving distribution landscape.

11:30AM – MARKETING: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MARKETING & PR

LESLEE SCALLON – CO-FOUNDER, DANCES WITH FILMS – MODERATOR

JASON BYLAN – TRAILER PARK, CREATIVE DIRECTOR
A multi-award-winning Creative Director and industry veteran boasting over 20 years experience, including that of VP of Creative, and Director for a gallery of premium movie channels.  Jason originally graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a calling to make movies and then went on to spend two decades promoting other people’s movies.

Tapped to lead the creative launch team for the bold, iconoclastic, multi-platform channel EPIX – then a joint venture from studio titans, Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate.  Jason spearheaded the On Air Creative and Short Form Content department for a decade, taking it from scrappy start up to a brand valued at 1.3 Billion, despite that figure not reflecting any of his budgets.

Prior to EPIX, Jason helped pioneer among the first suite of hi-def movie channels for AMC Networks back when HD TV’s themselves were still in their infancy.   Of particular pride , remains the first ever horror channel – Monsters HD, as well as another entirely of his own creation, “FU” – the first ever Asian-Action movie channel.

In his tenure, Jason has lead the promotional charge on a wealth of content from Hollywood blockbuster premieres, stewarding beloved franchises (from Indiana Jones to Friday The 13^th), scripted original series, documentaries, original comedy, and live events.  He has directed talent from Academy-Award winning actors to adorable dogs.  This work has garnered him many awards including over two dozen Promax Golds.  Moreover, this work has garnered great collaborative relationships that have lasted longer than some of the channels.

KATHERINE MATTHEWS – OBSCURED PICTURES
Katherine Matthews is a SVP at Obscured Pictures, overseeing the company’s publicity, awards campaigns, and North American sales slate. She has worked closely with remarkable filmmakers including Debra Granik, Jim Jarmusch, Sebastián Lelio, and Kitty Green, collaborating across studio, agency, and independent campaigns. Her work spans major international film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Sundance, Telluride, Toronto, London, SXSW, and Tribeca. Recent sales title campaigns she led include Andrew DeYoung’s FRIENDSHIP and Andrea Arnold’s BIRD, and she has partnered extensively with leading sales teams including WME, CAA, UTA, Cornerstone, and The Match Factory.

Some of her recent campaigns include awards for Emmy winners PEE-WEE AS HIMSELF and 100 FOOT WAVE, Academy Award nominee THE APPRENTICE, and release campaigns for JOHN CANDY: I LIKE ME, BOTTOMS, LEAVE NO TRACE, THE HOLDOVERS, and THE ASSISTANT. Katherine is a member of the Television Academy and a voting member of BAFTA. Above all, she champions film and filmmakers, believing deeply in cinema’s power to create change.

LINA CATALFAMO PLATH – FOUNDER, FRANK PR
Frank PR has devised and implemented publicity campaigns for some of the entertainment industry’s most prestigious organizations, companies, and events. With over 20 years of publicity experience, the agency’s service-oriented philosophy includes working with their clients to determine long & short-term strategic publicity objectives and developing customized media needs to support each initiative.

In the feature-film space, they have worked with A24, ABC NEWS STUDIOS, AMAZON MGM STUDIOS, BLEECKER STREET FILMS, BRIARCLIFF, FOCUS FEATURES, GREENWICH ENTERTAINMENT, HBO DOCUMENTARY FILMS, HULU, IFC, LIONSGATE, MAGNOLIA PICTURES, NETFLIX, and PARAMOUNT PICTURES, ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS, SANDBOX FILMS, TUBI, UAR, among others. In addition to their work in the film space, FRANK PR works with television clients such as FOOD NETWORK, COOKING CHANNEL, INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY and HBO. 

FRANK PR also provides corporate consulting for AGBO, AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY, HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, J. CREW, MGM+, MONTCLAIR FILM FESTIVAL, NANTUCKET FILM FESTIVAL, SARASOTA FILM FESTIVAL, and WARNER BROS PICTURES.

1PM – MAKING THE SALE: THE PRODUCER / SALES AGENT DYNAMIC

SCOTT MACAULAY – EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF FILMMAKER – MODERATRO
SCOTT MACAULAY is a film producer, president of the New York-based production company, Forensic Films, and journalist. He is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Filmmaker, a quarterly print publication daily website published by The Gotham. As a producer, his recent producing credits are Kitty Green’s drama, The Assistant, starring Julia Garner. Nominated for both Gotham and Spirit awards, The Assistant premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, played Sundance and the Berlin International Film Festival,s and was released to critical acclaim by Bleecker Street in January, 2020. Other recent productions include Green’s award-winning Netflix Original hybrid documentary, Casting JonBenet; Elisabeth Subrin’s dramatic feature, A Woman, A Part; and Candice Breitz’s Venice Biennale-premiering art installation, Love Story. Previous producing credits with partner and Forensic co-founder Robin O’Hara include Peter Sollett’s Raising Victor Vargas; Harmony Korine’s Gummo (co-producer) and julien donkey-boy; Alice Wu’s Saving Face; Tom Noonan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning What Happened Was and his follow-up feature, The Wife; Jesse Peretz’s The Chateau; Bryan Barber’s Idlewild; John Leguizamo’s Undefeated; and James Ponsoldt’s debut, Off the Black. Forensic has also been involved as a co- or associate producer in many international productions, including Olivier Assayas’s Demonlover and Clean.

In 1998, Macaulay and O’Hara were awarded an Independent Spirit Award for their work in independent film, and in 2018 Macaulay was awarded the Cinereach Producing Fellowship. Prior to his work in film, Macaulay was the Programming Director and Performance Curator of New York’s experimental art center, The Kitchen.

RICHARD A. BEYMAN – LEWIS BRISBOIS BISGAARD & SMITH LLP
Richard “Rip” Beyman is a Partner and National Vice Chair of the Entertainment, Media & Sports Practice at Lewis Brisbois. He has extensive experience in entertainment transactions across all media and platforms, advising producers on rights acquisition, development, financing, production, and distribution, and representing creative talent and executives. His current work includes structuring independent film financings utilizing New York State’s robust film tax credit program. Rip is also an accredited arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association’s International Centre for Dispute Resolution for entertainment-related disputes.

ISADORA JOHNSON – CINETIC MEDIA
Isadora Johnson is a sales agent at Cinetic Media since November 2022, bringing extensive experience from previous roles including associate manager of content acquisitions at HBO from September 2020 to November 2022, and publicist for Film at Lincoln Center from February 2018 to April 2020. Earlier in their career, Isadora served as a junior publicist and later as a publicity assistant at Basic Books from December 2015 to February 2018. Isadora holds a bachelor’s degree in Film Studies and English Literature from Kenyon College and a certificate in Publishing from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Additionally, Isadora completed high school at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.

CARYLANNA TAYLOR – FILM SALES COMPANY
CARYLANNA TAYLOR is the Manager of Sales and Acquisitions at The Film Sales Company, a New York-based sales company that strategizes and secures distribution for independently produced films. Since its founding in 2002, the company has successfully raised financing for and sold over 200 films to a diverse group of domestic and foreign distributors. A graduate of the American Film Conservatory’s M.F.A. in producing and cultural anthropologist, Carylanna has worked in development with Oscar-winning production companies and has produced documentary and narrative shorts and features. Through her role at The Film Sales Company, she is delighted to help filmmakers have their films be seen and valued throughout the world.