Producer Bill Pohlad’s River Road Entertainment on Monday named veteran producer Kim Roth as co-president and chief financial officer of the company.
The move came as part of a major reorganization at the production company, which also promoted Christa Zofcin Workman to co-president and chief operating officer.
“I am incredibly excited to re-energize River Road and its mission as a filmmaker-friendly home to extraordinary creative projects as well as a developer and producer of its own home-grown material,” Pohlad said in a statement. “So much is changing in the industry and in the world, but we remain optimistic and excited to have Kim and Christa leading River Road into the future.”
Roth, who spent 16 years at Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, joins River Road from Macro, a multi-platform media company founded by Charles D. King focused on the African American, Latino and multicultural market. Over the years, Roth has overseen such films as Dee Rees’s “Mudbound;” “American Made” starring Tom Cruise; Alan Yang’s “Tigertail” for Netflix; “The Good Lie” starring Reese Witherspoon, and Spike Lee’s “Inside Man.”
Roth also executive produced and co-produced Denzel Washington’s “Fences,” “Three Kings” starring George Clooney and Mark Walhberg, and Christopher Nolan’s “Insomnia,” among others.
“I have long admired the filmography of River Road Entertainment and Bill Pohlad’s passionate support of filmmakers and artists. Bill is deeply committed, as am I, to tell stories about people whose perspectives and experiences expand our own,” Roth said in a statement. “I look forward to joining Bill, Christa and the tremendous team at River Road to build on the brand and legacy with bold content from diverse voices.”
Pohlad formed River Road in 1987 and the shingle has produced and financed some of the most significant independent films, including the 2014 Academy Award-winning Best Picture ”12 Years A Slave,” the 2011 Palme d’Or winner of the Cannes International Film Festival “The Tree of Life,” and Ang Lee’s ”Brokeback Mountain.”
Workman joined River Road in 2011 as executive vice president and head of business and legal affairs and was instrumental in helping to guide the company through recent changes. She previously served as head of business and legal affairs at Tom Cruise’s United Artists. She began her career working in finance at MGM Studios.
“It has been an honor to be part of a company, led by Bill Pohlad, who creates quality filmmaking with depth and artistry,” Workman said in a statement. “Kim brings a unique set of assets which are a critical step towards fulfilling the company’s vision, and I’m inspired and thrilled to work alongside Bill, Kim and our talented team to take River Road to the next level.”
Roth and Workman will work side-by-side to implement the company’s vision and drive the overall strategy with hopes of pushing River Road into a new era of creativity and productivity. Roth will oversee the development and production of projects, while providing management and direction to the creative team, and Workman will continue to oversee business operations, legal affairs and management of the company’s intellectual property.
River Road has a number of projects in development and is actively looking to expand upon their slate. River Road is producing “Dreamin’ Wild” alongside Oscar-winning “Green Book” producer Jim Burke of Innisfree Pictures. The film, which Pohlad wrote and will direct, is based on an article by Steven Kurutz about the real-life story of musical duo Donnie and Joe Emerson. River Road is also producing “Unfollow” alongside Participant Media and Bruna Papandrea, and the Spike Lee-directed film adaptation of “American Utopia” based off of David Byrne’s stage show of the same name.