For many still reeling from the news of James Schamus’ recent departure from Focus Features, the company’s latest bulletin has the tenor of a protracted funeral knell. Focus Features International will shut its London offices at the end of the year. Though cause for hand-wringing and sad-blogging among arthouse aficionados and Hollywood holdouts, this most recent development is by no means unexpected, as the company announced only weeks ago it would close its New York headquarters and relocate all operations to LA. The writing was on a wall that, if slowly crumbling, will soon be rebuilt to the specifications of the new CEO, Peter Schlessel, formerly of FilmDistrict. Under Schlessel, Focus will increase the number of films it releases each year and broaden beyond its characteristic emphasis on specialty fare.
If nothing else, time away from the office is only that much more Schamus can spend with frequent collaborator, Ang Lee. The two have produced some of the best indie films of the past 20 years, including the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain. The rest of Focus’ output wasn’t too shabby, either. Below, we’ve listed some of the best films released by the production/distribution company. Did we miss anything…?
Top Films Focus Features Produced:
Far From Heaven (2002)
Lost In Translation (2003)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Lust, Caution (2007)
Eastern Promises (2007)
In Bruges (2008)
Milk (2008)
Coraline (2009)
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Somewhere (2010)
Jane Eyre (2011)
Top Films Focus Features Distributed:
The Pianist (2002)
Swimming Pool (2003)
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
Brick (2005)
Atonement (2007)
A Serious Man (2009)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
No comments:
Post a Comment