River Road Entertainment

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River Road Entertainment
TypePrivate
IndustryEntertainment
Founded1987; 35 years ago (1987)
FounderBill Pohlad
Headquarters2000 Avenue Of The Stars
Suite 620-N
Los Angeles, California, United States[1][2]
4050 RBC Plaza
60 S. 6th Street
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States[1]
Key people
Bill Pohlad
(president)
WebsiteRiverRoadEntertainment.com

River Road Entertainment is a Los Angeles[1][2] and Minneapolis based[1] independent production company, which was founded in 1987 by Bill Pohlad, who is also the company's president. River Road’s body of film includes Academy Award®-winning Best Picture 12 Years A Slave directed by Steve McQueen, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2011 Cannes International Film Festival and Spike Lee’s screen adaptation of Broadway’s David Byrne’s American Utopia. Other titles include Sean Penn’s Oscar®-nominated Into The Wild, Jean Marc Vallée’s Oscar®-nominated Wild, Doug Liman’s Fair Game, Bill Pohlad’s Golden Globe-nominated Love & Mercy, Ang Lee’s Academy Award®-winning Brokeback Mountain, Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion, J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls as well as feature documentaries including Robert Kenner’s Academy Award®-nominated Food, Inc..[3]

History[]

Bill Pohlad founded the company River Road Entertainment in 1987.

In October 2006, veteran Frank Hildebrand was appointed head of production, ex-director of Film Finance Corporation Australia, Deborah Zisper took care of the business.[4]

In September 2007, Mitch Horwits was promoted to president of the company.[5]

In July 2008, River Road invested in the financing of The Runaways, a biopic about the history of one of the american female rock and roll bands of the 1970s, named The Runaways, which included Joan Jett, Cherie Curie, and the late Sandy West.[6]

In April 2017, Gray Rembert joined the company as executive vice president after he left GK Films.[7]

In June 2020, Kim Roth was appointed Co-President and Creative Director of the company, then promoted Christa Zofcin Workman to Co-President and COO.[8][9][10]

Bill Pohlad[]

Bill Pohlad directed his first feature film in 1989[11] and continued writing and directing commercial and documentary films over the next ten years.[12] In the early 2000’s, he returned to feature films and spent the next fifteen years producing and executive producing under the River Road banner. His credits include the Academy Award®-winning Best Picture 12 Years A Slave, directed by Steve McQueen, and Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life which won the Palme d’Or at the 2011 Cannes International Film Festival, as well as Spike Lee and David Byrne’s American Utopia. In addition, Pohlad has produced such films as Jean Marc Vallée’s Wild, and Doug Liman’s Fair Game. Pohlad has also served as executive producer on numerous films including Ang Lee’s Academy Award®-winning Brokeback Mountain, Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion, J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls and numerous feature documentaries including Robert Kenner’s Academy Award®-nominated Food, Inc. He is an executive producer for Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life as well as Brett Morgen’s Chicago 10.[3]

In 2014, Pohlad directed Love & Mercy, a portrait of singer/songwriter, Brian Wilson. Variety Magazine wrote of it, "A wonderfully innervating cure for the common musical biopic, Bill Pohlad’s “Love & Mercy” vibrantly illuminates two major breakthroughs — one artistic, one personal — in the life of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson."[13] The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival[14] and received two Golden Globe nominations.[15] It placed within the top 10 of 76 critics’ lists including Variety’s Andrew Barker and IndieWire’s Edwin Arnaudin and Saul Austerlitz.[16]

As of 2014, Pohlad was writing and directing Dreamin' Wild for Focus Features,[17] as well as developing an unorthodox portrait of the poet Walt Whitman.[18]

Films[]

Release Date Title Director(s) Distributor(s) Co-production with
December 9, 2005 Brokeback Mountain Ang Lee Focus Features Alberta Film Entertainment, Good Machine, Paramount Pictures
June 9, 2006 A Prairie Home Companion Robert Altman Picturehouse, New Line Cinema GreeneStreet Films, Sandcastle 5 Productions, Prairie Home Productions, Armenia Film Studio
November 10, 2006 Fur Steven Shainberg Picturehouse Edward R. Pressman Film, Iron Films, Vox3 Films, Furthefilm LLC
January 18, 2007 Chicago 10 Brett Morgen Roadside Attractions Consolidated Documentaries, Participant Productions, Curious Pictures
September 21, 2007 Into the Wild[19] Sean Penn Paramount Vantage[19] Paramount Vantage,[19] Square One C.I.H.[19] and Linson Film[19]
September 24, 2007 Lust, Caution Ang Lee Focus Features Haishang Films, Sil-Metropole Organisation
June 12, 2009 Food, Inc. Robert Kenner Magnolia Pictures Dogwoof Pictures, Participant Media
March 19, 2010 The Runaways Floria Sigismondi Appartition Linson Entertainment
October 1, 2010 Fair Game[20] Doug Liman Summit Entertainment
(United States)
Gulf Film
(United Arab Emirates)[21] 		Participant Media,[22] Weed Road Pictures,[22] Hypnotic,[22] Zucker Productions[22]
May 27, 2011 The Tree of Life Terrence Malick Fox Searchlight Pictures Plan B Entertainment
November 8, 2013 12 Years a Slave Steve McQueen 20th Century Fox
(North America)
Entertainment One Films
(United Kingdom and Ireland)
Lionsgate Films
(International) 		Fox Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Regency Enterprises, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4 Productions
June 5, 2015 Love & Mercy Bill Pohlad Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions Battle Mountain Films
September 11, 2015 Time Out of Mind Oren Moverman IFC Films Blackbird, Cold Iron Pictures, Gere Productions, QED International
October 7, 2016 A Monster Calls J. A. Bayona Universal Pictures
(Spain)
Entertainment One Films
(United Kingdom)
Focus Features
(United States) 		Participant Media, Apaches Entertainment, Telecinco Cinema, Peliculas La Trini
June 29, 2017 The Last Face Sean Penn Saban Films FilmHaven Entertainment, Gerber Pictures, Matt Palmieri Productions
July 26, 2017 Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Luc Besson EuropaCorp Distribution EuropaCorp,[23] TF1 Films Production, Fundamental Films, BNP Paribas, Orange Studio, Novo Pictures, Belga Films Fund
October 17, 2020 American Utopia Spike Lee HBO
(United States/Canada)
Universal Pictures
(International) 		HBO Films, Participant, Warner Music Entertainment, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, RadicalMedia, Todomundo

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "River Road Entertainment". Archived from the original on 2013-09-26. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  2. ^ a b "River Road Entertainment Inc - Company Profile and News". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  3. ^ a b "River Road Entertainment - Client & Contact Info | IMDbPro".
  4. ^ McClintock, Pamela (2006-10-20). "River Road widens". Variety. Retrieved 2021-03-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ McNary, Dave (2007-09-21). "River Road taps Horwits as president". Variety. Retrieved 2021-03-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Siegel, Tatiana (2008-07-29). "River Road to finance 'Runaways'". Variety. Retrieved 2021-03-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Busch, Anita (2017-04-18). "Grey Rembert Joins Bill Pohlad's River Road Entertainment". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-03-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (2020-06-15). "River Road Names Kim Roth As Co-President & Chief Creative Officer; Promotes Christa Zofcin Workman To Co-President & COO". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-03-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "Imagine Entertainment Vet Kim Roth Joins Bill Pohlad's River Road". The Hollywood Reporter. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  10. ^ "River Road Entertainment Taps Kim Roth as Chief Creative Officer". TheWrap. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  11. ^ "Old Explorers - Production & Contact Info | IMDbPro".
  12. ^ Cieply, Michael (8 September 2014). "Filmmaker Pins Hopes on a Beach Boy". The New York Times.
  13. ^ "Toronto Film Review: 'Love & Mercy'". 9 September 2014.
  14. ^ Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/filmfestivals/la-et-mn-toronto-film-festival-john-cusack-paul-dano-brian-wilson-s-20140908-story.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ "Love & Mercy".
  16. ^ "Love & Mercy". Metacritic.
  17. ^ "Bill Pohlad to Direct 'Dreamin' Wild' Music Biopic for Focus Features". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 April 2019.
  18. ^ "{TB EXCLUSIVE} "12 Years a Slave" Producer Gets 'Nostalgic'". 2 April 2014.
  19. ^ a b c d e "Into the Wild (2007)". 2016-10-06. Archived from the original on 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  20. ^ "AFI Catalog: Fair Game (2010)". 2014-04-03. Archived from the original on 2014-04-03. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  21. ^ "Fair Game". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  22. ^ a b c d "Fair Game (2010)". BFI. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  23. ^ "Luc Besson's EuropaCorp Posts $31 Million Loss in 'Transition Year'". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-03-30.

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