IFC Films has named Scott Shooman, formerly of Endeavor Content and CBS Films, as its head of acquisitions reporting directly to IFC Films president Arianna Bocco, the distributor announced Thursday.
Shooman will serve as senior vice president of acquisitions and will be tasked with leading the acquisitions team at IFC Films, which acquires roughly 30 films per year across both the IFC Films and IFC Midnight slate, and that includes all stages of production from scripts to finished films.
Shooman will be based in New York, and manager of acquisitions Adam Koehler will report to him. He’ll also be the liaison between sister companies RLJE Films and the horror-focused streaming service Shudder, as well as the parent company AMC Networks
The appointment comes just in time for him to attend the Sundance Film Festival where IFC Films and Midnight have a handful of movies premiering, including the Venice Golden Lion winner “Happening” and Hanna Bergholm’s debut film “Hatching.”
“For more than 20 years, IFC Films has been an industry leader in independent film distribution and as we forge ahead in an ever-changing marketplace, I cannot think of a more exciting executive than Scott Shooman to lead our film acquisitions team,” Bocco said in a statement. “Scott has great intuition, impeccable taste and an innate understanding of both commercial and arthouse films that will continue to position IFC Films as a leader in acquiring exciting new content and discovering new voices. The breadth of Scott’s experience is unmatched and I can’t wait to see what he will accomplish working to shape our future slates.”
“IFC Films is one of the most iconic and refined brands in independent film,” Shooman said. “They embrace storytelling, established auteurs, fresh new voices, and are willing to take bold chances on innovative movies. With their dynamic thinking when it comes to curation and distribution, I could not be happier to join Arianna and the rest of the team at IFC Films. With the current evolution happening before our eyes in the film business, IFC Films is terrifically positioned to redefine the way movies are presented.”
Shooman joins IFC Films from Endeavor Content where he was a senior executive with a project specific focus in content and partnerships, working across the TV, feature, non-fiction, audio and live divisions.
Prior to Endeavor Content, Shooman served as head of acquisitions for CBS Films, acquiring titles such as “Hell or High Water,” “Inside Llewyn Davis and “At Eternity’s Gate,” among others. He also oversaw co-productions of films such as “Seven Psychopaths,” “The Woman in Black” and “What If.”
Prior to his time at CBS Films, Shooman spent a decade at Sony Pictures Entertainment. In 2006 he segued from their Screen Gems banner to help establish the newly formed Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group. There he was responsible for the acquisition and/or production of dozens of titles including “We Own the Night,” “The Raid,” “The Squid and the Whale,” “Attack the Block” and “Insidious.”
IFC Films current and upcoming releases include Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” Mia Hansen Love’s “Bergman Island,” Jacques Audiard’s “Paris, District 13” and Hany Abu Assad’s “Huda’s Salon.”
Deadline first reported the news.