First Run Features
First Run Features is an independent film distribution company based in New York City.[1]
| Industry | Film distribution |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979 |
| Headquarters | New York, NY, USA |
| Products | Films, VOD, DVDs, Blu-rays |
| Website | http://www.firstrunfeatures.com |
History
First Run was founded in 1979 by a group of filmmakers in order to advance the distribution of independent film.[2] In the 1980s, the company focused on more mainstream documentaries and started distributing films on video.[3]
It is one of America's largest independent distributors of documentaries and art films, releasing 12 to 15 films a year in theaters nationwide and 40 to 60 titles on DVD and VOD annually. First Run distributes a large number of documentaries and foreign films, including many films about LGBT issues, Jewish experience, and political and human rights issues.
First Run is the American distributor for Michael Apted's Up series, Ross McElwee's Sherman's March, the Oscar-nominated The Most Dangerous Man in America, Maidentrip, Girl Model, Eames: The Architect and the Painter, For the Bible Tells Me So, A Jihad for Love, God Loves Uganda , D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus's Kings of Pastry, Joe Berlinger's Crude, Alex Gibney and Eugene Jarecki's The Trials of Henry Kissinger, Alice, Save Me, Anita: Speaking Truth to Power and Moving Midway, among many others. Many of the films First Run Features has distributed have been endorsed by Human Rights Watch.
Notable films
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2016 | A Matter of Time[4] |
| 2015 | Welcome to Leith[5] |
| 2015 | Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art[6] |
| 2015 | The Looking Glass[7] |
| 2013 | A Girl and a Gun |
| 2012 | Pink Ribbons, Inc.[8] |
| 2011 | The Man Nobody Knew[9] |
| 2010 | The Most Dangerous Man in America |
| 2009 | Crude |
| 2009 | Ballerina |
| 2009 | Altiplano |
| 2009 | A Wink and a Smile |
| 2008 | Moving Midway |
| 2008 | A Jihad for Love |
| 2008 | Constantine's Sword |
| 2008 | Praying with Lior |
| 2007 | For the Bible Tells Me So |
| 2007 | Save Me |
| 2007 | The Power of Forgiveness |
| 2007 | Please Vote for Me |
| 2007 | Breaking the Maya Code |
| 2004 | Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train |
| 2003 | Bonhoeffer |
| 2002 | The Butterfly |
| 2001 | Venus Boyz |
| 2001 | The Fluffer |
| 1999 | Gendernauts |
| 1999 | After Stonewall |
| 1995 | Whitewash |
| 1993 | Speak Up! It's So Dark |
| 1992 | Utz |
| 1991 | The Architecture of Doom |
| 1984 | Before Stonewall |
| 1979 | The War at Home[10] |
| 1975 | A Boy and his Dog |
References
- ^ Kelly Anderson, Distributor profile: First Run Features, Real Screen, July 29, 2010
- ^ The Independent: "Fran Spielman" interviewed by Eric Breitbart and Morris Sapadin vol 4 no I
- ^ "Finding a Place for Small Movies in the Big Picture". The New York Times. July 14, 1998. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- ^ Devlin, Mike (July 28, 2016). "Kathryn Calder raises ALS awareness with personal doc A Matter of Time". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
- ^ Van Cott, Kaeli (July 22, 2015). "First Run Features Acquires Sundance Doc 'Welcome to Leith'". Indiewire. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
- ^ Rosen, Steven (September 30, 2015). "Land Art". Cincinnati City Beat. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
- ^ Levine, Sydney (October 6, 2015). "John Hancock's 'The Looking Glass' is Coming to Theaters Via First Run Features". Indiewire. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
- ^ Vlessing, Etan (January 27, 2012). "NFB's Drisdell discusses challenges of "Pink Ribbons" release". Reelscreen. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
- ^ Carl Colby (director) (September 2011). The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby (Motion picture). New York City: Act 4 Entertainment.
- ^ Canby, Peter (October 12, 2018). "The Classic Vietnam-Era Documentary "The War at Home" and Its Lessons of Nonviolence". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
Sources
- First Run Features website
- First Run Features box office