Following the success of “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Beyonce: Renaissance,” AMC Theaters is expanding its newly established film distribution team in its efforts to sign deals with music artists to bring concert films directly to cinemas.
As part of that expansion, the chain has hired Stephanie Terifay in the newly created position of vice president of Distribution. She will be responsible for engaging the music industry to develop future projects and tailoring distribution strategies and marketing plans to reach out to fans.
Terifay joins AMC from Fandango, where she led the integrated marketing team and worked closely with Hollywood studios, independent distributors, exhibitors and brand partners on a variety of films. Prior to Fandango, she worked as part of the marketing leadership of the Sundance Institute, Film Independent, Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Los Angeles Clippers and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
AMC has also promoted 13-year company veteran Kevin Arnold to vice president of Programming Promotions & Partnerships, where he will oversee promotional strategies that drive moviegoer engagement. Both Arnold and Terifay will report to Nikkole Denson-Randolph, SVP of Content Strategy and Inclusive Programming, who oversees the new distribution wing.
“The remarkable success of AMC Theatres Distribution last Fall opened an exciting new business for AMC, and we are thrilled to have Stephanie Terifay’s expertise and enthusiasm build upon the brilliant leadership of Nikkole Denson-Randolph,” said Elizabeth Frank, chief content officer. “Through the addition of Stephanie and the much-deserved elevation of Kevin Arnold, AMC Theatres Distribution is well positioned to continue to deliver exciting and compelling content to moviegoers at AMC and across the industry domestically and internationally.”
AMC stunned the industry when it abruptly announced last September that it would partner with indie distributor Variance Entertainment to release Swift’s concert film “The Eras Tour” in theaters without the support of a major Hollywood studio. With studios pulling films out of the autumn release slate, Swift and AMC threw exhibitors a life preserver as “Eras Tour” grossed $250 million worldwide, a box office record for concert films.
That was followed in December by Beyonce’s concert film “Renaissance,” which earned a comparatively modest $43.9 million worldwide that was still enough to rank it among the Top 10 highest grossing concert films ever.
