Boxoffice Pro - February 2020

INDIE INFUENCERS SPONSORED BY SPOTLIGHT CINEMA NETWORKS
Art House Convergence 2020’s
Spotlight Lifetime Achievement Award:
Nancy Gerstman & Emily Russo,
Co-Founders, Zeitgeist Films
›› The Spotlight Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individuals whose commitment to the
theatrical experience and successful track record has made a major contribution to the history
of art house cinema. Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo, recipients of this year’s edition of the
award, have played a major role in the expanded prominence of independent and art house
cinema over the last 30 years. Since founding Zeitgeist Films together in 1988, the pair has
introduced over 200 films to art house theaters nationwide. Among their releases are early films
from leading voices like Christopher Nolan, François Ozon, Laura Poitras, Atom Egoyan, and the
Quay Brothers. Zeitgeist has also been instrumental in helping established auteurs find screens
across the United States, releasing works from directors like Andrey Zvyagintsev, Yvonne Rainer,
Agnés Varda, Abbas Kiarostami, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Peter Greenaway, and Raoul Peck. In 2017,
Zeitgeist entered into a multiyear agreement with Kino Lorber to co-acquire four to five films per
year for theatrical distribution. Boxoffice Pro interviewed Gerstman and Russo via email ahead
of Art House Convergence in a conversation that spanned the start of their careers and the
opportunities and challenges facing art house cinemas and specialty distributors.
NANCY GERSTMAN
“I was in love with
movies since I was
a child glued to the
TV watching Million
Dollar Movies …”
EMILY RUSSO
“I graduated from
SUNY Binghamton
with a degree in
cinema studies and
knew I wanted to
be involved in some
way with film … but
soon veered into an
enduring partnership
with my friend
and colleague,
Nancy.”
NANCY GERSTMAN (L)
AND
EMILY RUSSO
Congratulations on the award and the continued
success of Zeitgeist Films. Looking back
on the beginning of your careers, how did you
first come to work in this industry?
Emily Russo: I graduated from SUNY Binghamton
with a degree in cinema studies and knew
I wanted to be involved in some way with film. I
wrote my senior thesis on the films of Albert and
David Maysles. After trial by fire in filmmaking (as
a student) and production (early jobs being a P.A.)
and internship at the Independent Feature Project,
I answered an ad in the New York Times placed by
a distribution company
and became a booker
for classic French films
at Interama. It was a
small company and I
learned all aspects of
the business, from acquisitions
and sales
to marketing and
accounting. That
was the right fit,
as it also gave
me an appreciation for distinctive films, primarily
foreign-language films and documentaries. After
a few years there I struck out on my own as an
independent rep, working with Bruce Weber on a
release of his first documentary, Broken Noses, but
soon veered into an enduring partnership with my
friend and colleague at the time, Nancy Gerstman,
to launch our own company, Zeitgeist Films.
Nancy Gerstman: I was in love with movies
since I was a child glued to the TV watching
Million Dollar Movies (sort of the TCM of its time,
except that it showed the same movie every day
and twice on Sunday and did not
give you a vast array of genres or
any international cinema). Still,
it had a big effect on me.
But since I was an English
major I got into publishing
immediately after college.
After a few years I got a
job with a publisher
of film books and at
the same time started
working taking tickets
18 / FEBRUARY 2020