Jay Rosenzweig

Bruce Williams

Alan Zelnicker

Deanna MacDougal

Randy Manis

Brahm Braunstein

Caley Borden

RANDY MANIS
 Principal

Jay RosenzweigRandy has been an integral force in the growth and success of two of independent film’s most prominent distribution companies.

At Lionsgate, where he began his career, Randy was Vice President, Acquisitions and Business Affairs from 1997 to 2001. In addition to his duties as in-house counsel and his responsibility for all business-related matters, Randy played a central role in many of the company’s most
successful acquisitions and project involvements. He negotiated the acquisitions and handled all business issues related to the releases of Lionsgate’s Oscar winners Gods And Monsters, Affliction, The Red Violin, and Shadow Of The Vampire, in the production of Narc (released by
Paramount Pictures) and the iconic American Psycho, and in bringing Kevin Smith’s Dogma into the company which, during his tenure, was the company’s highest grossing film at the box office ($28 million).

At ThinkFilm, which Randy co-founded in 2001, he was instrumental in the company’s positioning and strategy in the independent film landscape. On the front-line of all of ThinkFilm’s acquisitions, Randy played the dual role of film evaluator and business negotiator. He led the charge in the company’s acquisition of the box office hit The Aristocrats; Half Nelson for which Ryan Gosling was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor; the Oscar-nominated documentaries Spellbound and The Story of the Weeping Camel; and the Oscar winning Born Into Brothels and Taxi To The Dark Side (both for Best Documentary Feature).

Other notable acquisitions at ThinkFilm include: Murderball which he executive produced and which won the Audience Award at Sundance, as well as an Oscar nomination; dramas The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys with Jodie Foster, The Assassination of Richard Nixon with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts, and the Edward Norton/Evan Rachel Wood film Down In The Valley; the subversive comedy Strangers With Candy starring Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert; and the Beastie Boys concert film Awesome; I Shot That, which he executive produced.

In addition to his acquisitions responsibilities, Randy’s mandate at ThinkFilm further encompassed all of the company’s Television and Ancillary sales (Home Video, Non-Theatrical, Airlines/Ships), as well as the management of all corporate, business and legal matters. Prior to the merger of ThinkFilm with international sales company Capitol Films, Randy had oversight of ThinkFilm’s foreign sales division, ThinkFilm International.

Randy and his partners steered ThinkFilm to a successful exit, selling the company after 5 years, having accumulated a library of over 250 films and generating topline revenue of $35 million.

Randy has been featured by The Hollywood Reporter in their annual edition of “The Next Generation: The Top 35 Executives Under 35”.

Randy recently produced Monogamy, Dana Adam Shapiro’s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated Murderball, starring Chris Messina and Rashida Jones. The film is in post-production.

A lawyer by profession, Randy was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1997 and was an associate at a prominent legal firm in Toronto before embarking on a career in film. He is a graduate of McGill Law School at the world renowned McGill University in Montreal where he graduated first in his class, winning the prestigious Aime Geoffrion National Programme Gold Medal and the Elisabeth Torrance Gold Medal.