Kent Sanderson Named President of Bleecker Street (EXCLUSIVE)
Kent Sanderson has been promoted to president of Bleecker Street, the indie studio behind “Logan Lucky” and “Captain Fantastic.” The veteran executive previously served as the company’s head of acquisitions and ancillary distribution. Sanderson has been with Bleecker Street, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, since its inception in 2014.
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. In his new post, Sanderson will continue to report to Bleecker Street CEO Andrew Karpen.
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Sanderson’s elevation is one of several key promotions across the company. Vikki Hart has been elevated to vice president, distribution and sales. She previously had been director of sales, distribution. At the same time, Miranda King has been promoted to vice president, acquisitions and co-productions. She previously served as director, acquisitions and co-productions.
“Bleecker Street has grown to be what it is today thanks to a fantastic team who live and breathe film,” Karpen said. “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.”
Recent Bleecker Street releases include “One Life” with Anthony Hopkins and David and Nathan Zellner’s “Sasquatch Sunset” starring Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough, which premiered at this year’s Sundance, Berlinale and SXSW before its nationwide release this month.
“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,” Sanderson said. “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. She will continue to work under head of theatrical distribution Kyle Davies.
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, which stars Cate Blanchett, and the upcoming “The Fabulous Four” with Susan Sarandon and Bette Midler, with finished film acquisitions like “Ezra” with Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro. She will continue to report to Sanderson.
In addition to Karpen, Sanderson, and Davies, the Bleecker Street senior executive leadership team includes: Irwin Reiter, CFO; Tyler DiNapoli, president of marketing, media and research; Myles Bender, president of marketing and creative advertising; and Rachel Allen, SVP of publicity.
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