New York, NY, January 12, 2005 – As IFC prepares to premiere four films at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, the leading indie film distributor announces the elevation of three key executives in acquisitions, marketing and public relations. The new IFC Vice Presidents include: Sarah Lash who becomes Vice President of Acquisitions, IFC Films; Nevette Previd who becomes Vice President of Marketing, IFC Films; and Michelle Panzer who becomes Vice President of Public Relations, IFC Entertainment. The announcements were made today by IFC Entertainment President, Jonathan Sehring.
"The combined strengths of Sarah Lash, Michelle Panzer and Nevette Previd have helped IFC deliver an enviable slate of films propelled by the smartest marketing and PR campaigns in the business," commented Sehring. "I'm proud to acknowledge the hard work of these talented executives."
Sarah Lash joined the company four years ago and has been instrumental in acquiring some of IFC's most memorable films including Y Tu Mama Tambien. More recently the executive coordinated the acquisitions of such critically acclaimed films as Metallica: Some Kind of Monster and Touching The Void in addition to anticipated films such as The Edukators, Dust To Glory and Brothers, which bows at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Lash also took the lead on setting up deals with foreign sales partners for IFC productions including Pathe for American Gun, Renaissance for the Baxter and Pandora for Casa de los Babys. Prior to IFC, Lash was the Director of Acquisitions at Lions Gate Films. Lash continues to report to Caroline Kaplan, IFC's SVP of Productions and Acquisitions.
Nevette Previd is charged with developing poster and trailer campaigns as well as strategic promotional efforts while overseeing the development and implementation of media strategies for all the company's film properties. Memorable campaigns include Touching The Void, The Saddest Music in the World and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. Previd was Director of Marketing for Atom Shockwave in London and head of publicity for Fox Searchlight Pictures in New York. Previd reports to Ron Tsuruda, IFC's newly appointed SVP of Marketing.
Michelle Panzer creates PR strategy and heads implementation of all PR outreach activities for IFC Entertainment including film campaigns, IFC Entertainment corporate strategy and IFC Films' award campaigns. Panzer has been instrumental in achieving national visibility for IFC films such as Touching the Void, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, The Saddest Music in the World, When Will I Be Loved and Casa De Los Babys. Prior to joining IFC in 2002, Panzer served as Executive Director of Regional Publicity and Promotions at Fine Line Features. Panzer will continue to report to IFC Entertainment President Jonathan Sehring.
IFC will present four films at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Miranda July's Me And You And Everyone We Know starring July and John Hawkes will bow in Dramatic Competition, Rebecca Miller's The Ballad of Jack and Rose starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Catherine Keener will bow in the Premieres section and Susanne Bier's Brothers starring Ulrich Thomsen and Connie Nielson will bow in the World Cinema, Dramatic Competition section. InDigEnt, a wholly owned subsidiary of IFC, will present Steven Buscemi's Lonesome Jim starring Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler in Dramatic Competition.
IFC Films is a leading theatrical film distribution company bringing the best of independent and specialized films to theaters. IFC Films builds its slate of titles from both acquisitions and in-house productions. The company recently announced the U.S. distribution agreement for Turtles Can Fly, which is the Iranian AMPAS entrant and a co-distribution arrangement with Focus for the award-winning film Brothers. IFC collaborated with Lions Gate to co-distribute Michael Moore's blockbuster Fahrenheit 9/11.
Upcoming IFC Films include The Ballad of Jack and Rose (directed by Rebecca Miller and starring Daniel Day Lewis), Dana Brown's Dust to Glory, Aric Avelino's American Gun (starring Marcia Gay Harden, Forest Whitaker, Donald Sutherland, and Nikki Reed), Michael Showalter's The Baxter, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Nobody Knows, Hans Weingartner's The Edukators, Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know, and Kevin Wilmott's CSA: The Confederate States of America.
Past IFC Films include Joel Zwick's Academy Award®-nominated My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Alfonso Cuáron's Academy Award®-nominated Y Tu Mamá También, Todd Graffs Camp, John Sayles' Casa de los Babys, Kevin Macdonald's Touching the Void, Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, and James Toback's When Will I Be Loved.
IFC Entertainment (IFC Films, IFC Productions, and InDigEnt) is a part of IFC Companies, which has created a unique end-to-end business model and brand that focuses on developing and nurturing talent and maximizing the value of independent film. With a television network, a film distribution and production unit, and a VOD service, IFC Companies represents the future of independent film. IFC Companies uses its unique position to broaden the independent film audience nationwide and to expand the opportunities for independent filmmakers. IFC Companies is a division of Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc.