Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures continues to add Hollywood vets as it ramps up to become a full-fledged production and distribution house, naming former Focus Features head of publicity Adriene Bowles to the same position at Annapurna, TheWrap has learned.
Bowles has worked for Focus since it was created in 2002, serving as its president of worldwide publicity and executive vice president of marketing since 2007. She has overseen the publicity campaigns for Oscar-winning movies including “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Brokeback Mountain.”
Annapurna, the indie shingle behind “Zero Dark Thirty” and last summer’s surprise hit “Sausage Party,” hired former Twentieth Century Fox President of Domestic Theatrical Marketing Marc Weinstock as its president in November. That came after it brought on longtime The Weinstein Company distribution chief Erik Lomis last March, which prompted speculation the company had designs on becoming a full-fledged distribution engine as well as content creator.
That proved true earlier this year, as Annapurna launched a distribution arm in January, which will be overseen by Weinstock alongside Lomis, President of Marketing David Kaminow, and their respective teams.
Its first release will be “The Hurt Locker” director Kathryn Bigelow’s untitled drama about the 1967 Detroit riots, which is set to hit theaters on Aug. 4 — the 50th anniversary of the riots. Bigelow is producing alongside Annapurna’s Ellison and Matthew Budman, while Mark Boal wrote the script. Boal and Colin Wilson are also producers and Greg Shapiro is executive producing. Bigelow, Boal and Ellison worked together previously on “Zero Dark Thirty.”