Worldview Entertainment was an American motion picture finance company focused on theatrical-quality feature films for worldwide distribution. The company produced ♠ over 20 films, including Fox Searchlight’s critically acclaimed hit Birdman, which was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning four Oscars, ♠ including Best Picture, and grossed more thanR$100 million in global box office revenue.
History [ edit ]
Worldview Entertainment was founded in ♠ 2007 by Chairman and CEO, Christopher Woodrow,[1] and Maria Cestone. Molly Conners joined the company in 2009 as COO. Worldview ♠ Entertainment signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 2010 and has since become the agency's top film finance and production ♠ client. Sarah E. Johnson, daughter of Franklin Resources Chairman, Charles B. Johnson, became a partner and investor in the company ♠ in 2011. Worldview established a four-yearR$30 million credit facility with Comerica in 2013 to provide debt financing for the company's ♠ films, which coincided with the infusion ofR$40 million in new equity from existing investors. TheR$70 million doubled the company's capital ♠ base.
The company's first film was William Friedkin's black comedy, Killer Joe, which it financed along with Voltage Pictures in 2010. ♠ The film premiered at the 2011 Venice Film Festival before making its North American debut at the Toronto International Film ♠ Festival, where it was sold domestically to LD Entertainment in one of the biggest sales at the festival. The film ♠ was distributed theatrically in the summer of 2012, with star Matthew McConaughey receiving a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award ♠ as Best Male Lead.
Worldview's 2012 slate included three films that premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival including the Guillaume ♠ Canet crime thriller, Blood Ties, which was the biggest domestic sale at the festival, after being purchased by Lionsgate and ♠ Roadside Attractions; and James Gray's period drama, The Immigrant which was sold domestically to The Weinstein Company. The Company went ♠ on to premiere two films at the 2013 Venice Film Festival, including David Gordon Green's drama Joe, which was sold ♠ domestically to Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions. Worldview also premiered six films at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival including the ♠ West Memphis Three crime thriller, Devil's Knot,[2][3][4] which was sold domestically to Image Entertainment; and Eli Roth's horror thriller, The ♠ Green Inferno, which was sold domestically to Open Road Films.[3][5]