First Run Features: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox company |

|name = First Run Features |

|logo = FRFlogoRev.jpg |

|type = |

|parent = |

|owner = |

|foundation = 1979 |

|founder = |

|dissolved = |

|___location = [[New York City|New York, NY]], USA |

|key_people = |

|num_employees = |

|industry = [[Film distribution]]|

|products = Films, [[Video on demand|VOD]], [[DVD]]s, [[Blu-ray Disc|Blu-rays]]|

|revenue = |

operating |profit |=

|homepage = http://www.firstrunfeatures.com

}}

'''First Run Features''' is an [[independent film]] distribution company based in New York City.<ref>[http://realscreen.com/2010/07/29/firstrunfeatures-20100729/ Kelly Anderson, ''Distributor profile: First Run Features, Real Screen'', ''July 29, 2010'']</ref> First Run was founded in 1979 by a group of filmmakers in order to advance the distribution of independent film. Today First Run is one of the largest theatrical and home video distributors in the United States, releasing 12 to 15 films a year in theaters nationwide and 40 to 60 titles to the home video market annually. First Run distributes a large number of documentaries in addition to foreign films, including many films about [[LGBT]] issues, Jewish experience, and political and human rights issues.

==History==

First Run is the American distributor for films by [[Monika Treut]], [[Michael Sporn]], and [[]], in addition to many others. Among the films First Run distributes in the US are the ''[[Up Series]]'', ''[[For the Bible Tells Me So]]'', ''[[A Jihad for Love]]'', ''[[Alice (1988 film)|Alice]]'', ''Moving Midway'', and ''[[Save Me (2007 film)|Save Me]]''. Many of the films First Run Features has distributed have been endorsed by [[Human Rights Watch]]. First Run works in collaboration with HRW to bring films dealing with human rights issues to a wider audience.

First Run was founded in 1979 by a group of filmmakers in order to advance the distribution of independent film.<ref>[https://www.firstrunfeatures.com/presskits/first_run_press/fran.pdf The Independent: "Fran Spielman" interviewed by Eric Breitbart and Morris Sapadin] vol 4 no I</ref> In the 1980s, the company focused on more mainstream documentaries and started distributing films on video.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/14/arts/film-finding-a-place-for-small-movies-in-the-big-picture.html |title= Finding a Place for Small Movies in the Big Picture |work= The New York Times |date= 1998-07-14 |access-date= 2017-11-05}}</ref>

It is one of America's largest independent distributors of documentaries and [[art film]]s, releasing 12 to 15 films a year in theaters nationwide and 40 to 60 titles on DVD and [[video on demand|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 (film series)|''Up'' series]], [[Ross McElwee]]'s ''[[Sherman's March (1986 film)|Sherman's March]]'', the [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-nominated ''[[The Most Dangerous Man in America]]'', ''[[Laura Dekker|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 (2009 film)|Crude]]'', [[Alex Gibney]] and [[Eugene Jarecki]]'s ''[[The Trials of Henry Kissinger]]'', ''[[Alice (1988 film)|Alice]]'', ''[[Save Me (2007 film)|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==

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! Year

! Title

|-

| 2016

| ''A Matter of Time''<ref name=Devlin>{{cite news|last=Devlin|first=Mike|title=Kathryn Calder raises ALS awareness with personal doc A Matter of Time|url=https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/local-arts/kathryn-calder-raises-als-awareness-with-personal-doc-a-matter-of-time/|access-date=August 22, 2020|newspaper=Vancouver Sun|date=July 28, 2016}}</ref>

|-

| 2015

| ''[[Welcome to Leith]]''<ref name=Indiewire>{{cite news|last=Van Cott|first=Kaeli|title=First Run Features Acquires Sundance Doc 'Welcome to Leith'|url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/first-run-features-acquires-sundance-doc-welcome-to-leith-20150622|accessdateaccess-date=February 1, 2016|newspaper=Indiewire|date=July 22, 2015}}</ref>

|-

| 2015

| ''[[Troublemakers (2015 film)|Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art]]''<ref name=Rosen>{{cite news|last=Rosen|first=Steven|title=Land Art|url=http://citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-33724-land_art.html/|accessdateaccess-date=January 29, 2016|newspaper=Cincinnati City Beat|date=September 30, 2015}}</ref>

|-

| 2015

| ''The Looking Glass''<ref name=Levine>{{cite news|last=Levine|first=Sydney|title=John Hancock's 'The Looking Glass' is Coming to Theaters Via First Run Features|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/sydneylevine/john-hancocks-the-looking-glass-is-coming-to-theaters-via-first-run-features-20151006/|accessdateaccess-date=January 29, 2016|newspaper=Indiewire|date=October 6, 2015}}</ref>

|-

| 2013

| ''A Girl and a Gun''

|-

| 2012

| ''[[Pink Ribbons, Inc.]]''<ref name=Vlessing>{{cite news|last=Vlessing|first=Etan|title=NFB’sNFB's Drisdell discusses challenges of "Pink Ribbons" release|url=http://realscreen.com/2012/01/25/nfbs-drisdell-discusses-challenges-of-pink-ribbons-release/|accessdateaccess-date=February 1, 2012|newspaper=Reelscreen|date=January 27, 2012}}</ref>

|-

| 2011

| ''[[The Man Nobody Knew]]''<ref name="TMNK">{{cite video |people=Carl Colby (director) |date=September 2011 |title=The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby |url=httphttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt1931549/ |medium=Motion picture |publisher=Act 4 Entertainment |___location=New York City |ref=September 23, 2011}}</ref>

|-

| 2010

| ''[[The Most Dangerous Man in America]]''

|-

| 2009

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|-

| 2009

| ''[[Altiplano (2009 film)|Altiplano]]''

|-

| 2009

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|-

| 2008

| ''[[Moving Midway]]''

|-

| 2008

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|-

| 2008

| ''[[Constantine's Sword (film)|Constantine's Sword]]''

|-

| 2008

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| 2002

| ''The Butterfly''

|-

| 2001

| ''Venus Boyz''

|-

| 2001

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| 1992

| ''[[Utz (film)|Utz]]''

|-

|1992

|[[Alice (1988 film)|''Alice'']]

|-

| 1991

| ''[[The Architecture of Doom]]''

|-

| 1986

| ''[[Sherman's March (1986 film)|Sherman's March]]''

|-

| 1984

| ''[[Before Stonewall]]''

|-

| 1983

| ''[[Wild Style]]''

|-

| 1979

| ''[[The War at Home (1979 film)|The War at Home]]''<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-classic-vietnam-era-documentary-the-war-at-home-and-its-lessons-of-nonviolence|title=The Classic Vietnam-Era Documentary "The War at Home" and Its Lessons of Nonviolence|last=Canby|first=Peter|magazine=The New Yorker|date=2018-10-12|access-date=2019-01-27|language=en|issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

|-

| 1975

| ''[[A Boy and His Dog (1975 film)|A Boy and his Dog]]''

|-

|}

==References==

{{reflistReflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Sources==

* [http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/ First Run Features website]

* {{IMDB company|0002318}}

* [http://www.the-numbers.com/market/Distributors/FirstRun.php First Run Features box office]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Film distributors of the United States]]

[[Category:Companies based in New York City]]

[[Category:First Run Features| ]]