Veteran exec Kent Sanderson has been promoted to president of Bleecker Street, the indie studio announced on Wednesday. Sanderson has been with the company since its launch in 2014.
Sanderson previously served as Bleecker Street’s head of acquisitions and ancillary distribution. In his previous role, he led both the curation of Bleecker’s film slate and the company’s home entertainment strategy, including co-founding and co-running home entertainment label DECAL, which Bleecker operates as a joint-venture with NEON. He will continue to report to CEO Andrew Karpen.
Addtionally, key promotions also include Vikki Hart-Gallagher, who has been elevated from director of Sales, Distribution to vice president, Distribution & Sales; and Miranda King, who has been promoted from director, Acquisitions & Co-Productions to vice president, Acquisitions & Co-Productions. The newly elevated team comes as Bleecker Street celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and continues to work towards curating a robust and unique slate of highly-anticipated films.
“Bleecker Street has grown to be what it is today thanks to a fantastic team who live and breathe film,” Bleecker Street founder and CEO Karpen said in a statement to TheWrap. “Kent has proven himself to be a great leader in addition to having a keen understanding of how to balance the creative and financial sides of an independent film studio. I look forward to this next chapter as we take Bleecker Street into its second decade. I have always said that the power of Bleecker’s success is in its people; I am incredibly proud of Kent, Vikki and Miranda, as well as what all of us have achieved over the past 10 years.”
Sanderson added: “I am thrilled to take on this new role as we not only celebrate this important company milestone, but as we delve further into our biggest and most diverse year yet. It’s been a true joy to build a slate that mixes everything from sasquatches, to outer space thrillers, to Bette Midler’s first theatrical leading role in more than a decade, and of course, the latest from the great Mike Leigh. I am so proud to be a part of the Bleecker family, and cannot wait to share more of the incredible movies we have coming up.”
Hart has a long history with Bleecker Street and previously worked alongside Karpen at Focus Features. An integral member of the distribution team, Hart plays a crucial role in making Bleecker’s focus on theatrical a reality. She will continue to work under head of theatrical distribution Kyle Davies, and will help build upon the success of recent releases like “Golda,” “Waitress: The Musical,” “I.S.S.” and “One Life.”
King joined Bleecker Street from ICM’s talent department in 2019. As a senior member of the acquisitions team, she has a key role in determining the creative direction of the Bleecker Street slate strategy, which mixes financing stage investments in production like the Cannes-premiering “Rumours” from directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson and starring Cate Blanchett, and the upcoming “The Fabulous Four” with Susan Sarandon and Bette Midler, with finished film acquisitions like “One Life” with Anthony Hopkins and “Ezra” with Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro. She will continue to report to Sanderson.
In addition to Karpen and Sanderson, the Bleecker Street senior executive leadership team includes: Irwin Reiter, CFO; president of Marketing, Media & Research Tyler DiNapoli; president of Marketing & Creative Advertising Myles Bender; president of Distribution Kyle Davies; and Rachel Allen, SVP of Publicity.
Variety first reported the news.
