A new distributor is making one hell of a first impression.
Row K Entertainment went on a spending spree out of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, snatching up Jaume Collet-Serra’s “Cliffhanger” reboot starring Pierce Brosnan and Lily James for eight figures, Gus Van Sant’s “Dead Man’s Wire” starring Bill Skarsgård and Al Pacino, Maude Apatow’s directorial debut “Poetic License” and the Nick Robinson/Emilia Jones romantic drama “Charlie Harper” in short order.
The deal for “Cliffhanger,” a kidnapping thriller set in the Italian Alps, is the biggest out of this year’s TIFF market at press time, and the flurry of acquisitions left many in the industry asking the same thing: Who in the world is Row K Entertainment?
The company was launched in August by entertainment investment company Media Capital Technologies led by Christopher Woodrow, who made a name for himself in Hollywood running Worldview Entertainment, a production company that ousted him over allegations of embezzlement in 2014 and shut down the following year in a flurry of lawsuits.
The new company Row K is spearheaded by Megan Colligan, former president of IMAX Entertainment and president of worldwide marketing and distribution at Paramount Pictures. The U.S. distributor aims to focus on wide-release, star-driven and prestige filmmaker-driven movies that have global appeal.
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Given the spending spree, Row K has quickly drawn attention as a new player to watch. It’s one likely to be welcomed by the independent film market, which has seen record-low sales from Sundance but some activity out of Cannes. Apart from Row K, TIFF has also had meager sales.
That there’s another buyer willing to distribute films and commit to wide releases is also good news for theaters, which are desperate for more product as they claw their way back to pre-pandemic box office levels. The slate of films shows promise.
“It looks like Row K Entertainment has picked up an interesting dynamic and diverse slate of films at TIFF with these four films acquired straight off the rack at the festival and these titles, if properly marketed and positioned, could prove to be very successful for the company,” said Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
But it may be a while before Row K’s impact will be felt by the theater companies. It took A24 and Neon years to get to a level where their wider distributions hit with audiences, and it could take newer players like Row K a similar amount of time to ramp up.
“We are building a pipeline of star-driven titles made for the big screen, and ‘Cliffhanger’ checks every box,” Woodrow, co-chair of Row K and president of MCT, said in a statement to TheWrap.
For Woodrow, Row K represents a fresh start after the implosion of Worldview Enertainment.
“They clearly raised a lot of money, which Chris Woodrow has a history of being able to do,” said one industry insider familiar with the company. “Weaker history of making money, but hope they do.”
Row K declined to specify how much money it has raised other than to say the company has “significant funding.”
What is Row K Entertainment?
Row K didn’t waste time making an impact after MCT announced the distribution company on Aug. 26. A little more than a week later, the company was on the ground at TIFF ready to make deals. Within four days, it had made its first acquisition with “Dead Man’s Wire.”
Row K, which takes its name from Row K in a movie theater, often considered the best seat for viewing films, is looking to fill the gap between studio blockbusters and more independent projects with “wide release, star-driven and prestige filmmaker-driven movies with global appeal.”
In its launch announcement, Row K committed to releasing up to 10 films each year.
“There’s an underserved demand in the distribution market for high-quality, commercial content supported by an efficient, targeted marketing strategy,” Woodrow and fellow Row K and MCT principal Raj Singh, formerly an investment analyst and CEO of National Lampoon, said in their launch release. “Between the tentpole budget levels of major studios and the limited reach of boutique players, Row K was built to fill this void.”
Row K Entertainment is headquartered in West Hollywood and led by Colligan. Last week, Row K rounded out its executive team with the appointment of Mo Rhim — a former IMAX and Paramount strategy executive — as chief revenue officer; Ben Carlson — general manager of research firm Marketcast — as chief marketing officer; and Steve Garrett — another former IMAX and Paramount executive — as head of distribution and acquisitions.
Financial backer
Row K is backed by its parent, MCT, which was founded by Woodrow and media investor Michael Lambert in 2019. Woodrow previously founded Worldview and he’s listed as an executive producer on roughly 40 films including “Birdman,” “Black Mass” and “Hacksaw Ridge.”
Woodrow made headlines in 2014 when he was ousted from Worldview amid allegations of embezzlement and a subsequent lawsuit. Woodrow countersued at the time for $55 million saying he had been “smeared” and in 2022 sued Worldview for defamation, even through the business had ceased to operate for nearly a decade.
Three days after TheWrap asked about Woodrow’s past, Row K canceled a planned interview with Woodrow, Singh and Colligan.
Worldview shut down in 2015, the year that its biggest success, “Birdman,” won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, along with Best Director for Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
In 2018, Woodrow and Worldview settled their various lawsuits in a “walkaway” agreement with no money exchanged, with Woodrow being cleared of fault.
After Worldview, Woodrow founded MovieCoin, an attempt to cash in on the cryptocurrency craze by crowdfunding film projects using NFTs.
But with MCT, Woodrow appears to be on more solid ground. It has served as Lionsgate’s primary slate co-financing partner since 2023. The company has invested in over 20 films with the studio, including “Saw X,” “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” and the John Wick spinoff “Ballerina.”
MCT is also backed by institutional investors including MassMutual, which acquired an interest in the company in 2021, in addition to a group of family offices — private firms that manage the finances for extremely wealthy families — and high-net-worth investors.
The acquisitions
Here’s a rundown of Row K has acquired so far:
The “Cliffhanger” remake is currently in post-production and is slated for a wide theatrical release in 2026. The remake follows a seasoned mountaineer who operates a luxury chalet in the Dolomites with his daughter and are targeted by kidnappers during a weekend trip.
“Dead Man’s Wire” is described as “the fascinating true story of the 1977 kidnapping that made aspiring Indianapolis entrepreneur Tony Kiritsis an eccentric outlaw folk hero.”
“Charlie Harper” follows two young adults, Charlie and Harper, who fall in love while navigating their early 20s, discovering themselves both as individuals and as a couple.
“Poetic License” follows a former therapist (Mann) and soon-to-be empty nester whose family settles in a new town and “takes an unexpected turn when she becomes the point of tension between two inseparable best friends and college seniors, Sam (Hoffman) and Ari (Andrew Barth Feldman).”
Correction: The original story misstated the year Woodrow sued Worldview for defamation. We regret the error.
