Mentors: Sales and Acquisitions
Learn about the nuts and bolts of the all-important packaging, marketing and selling of your film. Who you are selling to? How do you land that buyer? Who picks up the tab? Find out here.
Mentor session signup is open to all Film, Gold and Platinum badge holders at a first-come, first-served basis. Registrants who signed up online must check-in 30 minutes before your mentor time slot to guarantee your spot. Limited on-site signup is also available for a small number of mentor sessions spots and will begin 30 minutes before the first time slot of each session.
To sign up for a session with Jeff Deutchman: http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/58
To sign up for a session with Keri Safran: http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/84
To sign up for a session with Nicholas Ogiony: http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/150
To sign up for a session with Peter Jarowey: http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/149
To sign up for a session with Peter Trinh: http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/101
To sign up for a session with Peter Van Steemburg: http://mentor.sxsw.com/events/156
To sign up for a session with Ryan Kampe: http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/142
To sign up for a session with Hailey Wierengo: http://mentor.sxsw.com/mentors/230
Presenters
Hailey Wierengo is an agent in the Independent Film Group at leading talent and literary UTA, where she focuses on the packaging, financing and sales of independent film. In this capacity she has worked on titles including Mike Mills’ BEGINNERS, Miranda July’s THE FUTURE, Jesse Peretz’s OUR IDIOT BROTHER, Lynn Shelton’s YOUR SISTER’S SISTER and Lee Tolan Kreiger’s CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER.
Wierengo joined UTA’s agent training program in 2008 and was promoted to agent in 2011. Raised in Chicago, Wierengo attended the University of Michigan where she studied Film and Media Studies and Art History. Wierengo went on to intern at Bob Berney’s distribution company Picturehouse in New York, where she contributed to the release of LA VIE EN ROSE starring Marion Cotillard.
Wierengo lives in Los Angeles.
As Director of Acquisitions for IFC Films/Sundance Selects, Jeff Deutchman has discovered and acquired some of the most critically-acclaimed independent films of the last five years, including documentaries "Cave of Forgotten Dreams," "The Art of the Steal," "The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975," "The Flat," and "Room 237," genre films "The Human Centipede," "Valhalla Rising," and "Kill List," and indie breakthroughs "Medicine For Melancholy," "Afterschool," "Daddy Longlegs," "Cold Weather," "Weekend," and "Sleepwalk With Me."
Deutchman is also the director/producer of the feature documentary, "11/4/08" – a vérité collage of footage shot all over the world on the day Barack Obama was elected President. The film had its world premiere at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival, was released theatrically in 20 cities, and is currently available on iTunes, Netflix and other digital platforms.
Keri Safran, Director of Acquisitions at Open Road Films.
Keri began working in the entertainment industry at Broadway’s Roundabout Theatre Company. Since moving to LA, she has worked at The Walt Disney Studios, Lionsgate, The Weinstein Company and One Way Out Media. Along with Tom Ortenberg, whom she has worked with for over four years, she is one of the first two employees of Open Road Films. Open Road is an exciting new domestic distribution company, solely acquisitions-based, and jointly owned by AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas. Their films include The Grey (Liam Neeson), David Ayer’s End of Watch (Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena), Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects (Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta-Jones), and Andrew Niccol’s The Host (Saorsie Ronan), based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight series). She is currently playing both Kate in Taming of the Shrew in Los Angeles, and her original character, 'Lacey Shapiro,' in the comedy web series she created, 'Women of Fashion.' Keri is an alumna of the Groundlings Sunday Company, and The University of Texas at Austin.
Grew up in Chicago. Moved to LA with stars in my eyes. Worked at WMA / WME for Cassian Elwes and transitioned over to CAA Film Finance in 2010. Smiths Forever
Peter Jarowey is an acquisitions executive at ARC Entertainment. Jarowey has been instrumental in carrying out campaigns for over 60 titles, including The Way starring Emilio Estevez, Bunraku starring Josh Hartnett and Demi Moore, For Greater Glory starring Andy Garcia and Eva Longoria, and the 800-screen release of Nitro Circus 3-D. He has taken titles from discovery to purchase to marketing to release and has extensive experience with multi-platform releases.
Prior to joining ARC Entertainment, Jarowey worked at Trium Entertainment, supporting the work of Mark Koops (co-creator of The Biggest Loser) in digital/TV reality content. He began his career at Camelot Entertainment Group, specializing in international acquisitions and production. He graduated from Denison University with a degree in Film Studies. He resides in Los Angeles.
Prior to founding Visit Films, Ryan spent a number of years in International Distribution at Focus Features. With Visit Films, he has been responsible for the worldwide sales and development of a number of important American independent and international films that have premiered in festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, and Toronto from filmmakers as diverse as Harmonie Korine, Werner Herzog, the Duplass Brothers, Valérie Donzelli, Joe Swanberg and David Robert Mitchell.
Ryan speaks on numerous panels each year and has served on a number of film festival juries while logging over 200,000 air miles flown annually. He is as an avid soccer enthusiast and graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.
Saturday, March 9
