Chelsea Barnard has been named President of Film at Megan Ellison’s Annapurna, the company announced Thursday.
Barnard has been with Ellison since the company’s founding six years ago, and will now oversee motion picture development and production. She’ll remain the lead film executive on Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming film, an untitled movie about fashion that reunites him with Daniel Day Lewis, as well as Bennett Miller’s take on “A Christmas Carol.”
“Chelsea’s specific eye for content that supports and enhances the Annapurna brand is invaluable and I could not be happier to watch her step in to a role that I have always hoped and envisioned for her,” Ellison said in a statement.
“I couldn’t be more excited to accelerate our creative endeavors and diversify the types of high quality and imaginative films we’ll be producing as Annapurna continues to grow in exciting new ways,” Barnard added.
Prior to her tenure at Annapurna, Barnard worked in production on titles like “Borat” and “Religulous!”
Barnard’s promotion comes on the heels of a slew of hires at Annapurna — like Marc Weinstock as President, Sue Naegle as President of the new Annapurna TV, David Kaminow promotion to President of Marketing and landing longtime distribution executive Erik Lomis.
Upcoming Annapurna releases include “Downsizing,” Alexander Payne’s latest starring Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig and Neil Patrick Harris.