Erin Westerman has been promoted to president of production at Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group. She joined Lionsgate back in October 2017 as EVP of production and during her tenure has helped develop and execute the company’s refocused film production strategy, targeting titles and filmmakers in the horror, action, faith, family and comedy sectors such as Rian Johnson’s genre redefining Knives Out, starring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans and Jamie Lee Curtis, to be released this Thanksgiving, and the Untitled Charles Randolph/Jay Roach Project from Bron Studios starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie.
Westerman was also instrumental in bringing the Point Grey partnership (Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg/James Weaver) and Megamix (Jonathan Levine) producing deals to the studio.
“Since joining Lionsgate, Erin has consistently demonstrated her outstanding taste for material as well as her keen eye for talent. Time and again, she has shown her leadership experience and steady hand while skillfully managing the process of assembling, producing and releasing a slate of studio films,” said MPG president Nathan Kahane. “I could not ask for a more trusted creative partner to lead our film group as president of production.”
MPG chairman Joe Drake said Westerman has “a relentless commitment to creative excellence ensuring that, for artists with a deep love of the theatrical experience, our studio is the home where they can truly thrive. Now she has the mandate and authority to deliver on that promise.”
Prior to joining Lionsgate, Westerman was head of creative development at Good Universe, where she worked on such films as The Disaster Artist, Neighbors 2, Always Be My Maybe, and Don’t Breathe. She also spent five years as a production executive at Walt Disney Studios where she oversaw production on such films as Cinderella, directed by Kenneth Branagh, and Into The Woods, directed by Rob Marshall.
Westerman said she’s “honored to play a role in the film group’s next chapter.”
Full Lineup Set For AFI Fest; Official Selections Span 44 Countries, Include 9 Best International Feature Oscar Submissions
The American Film Institute (AFI) has unveiled the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, taking place in Los Angeles from October 23-27. Rounding out the slate of already announced titles are such highlights as September 5 directed by Tim Fehlbaum, All We Imagine As Light directed by Payal Kapadia, The Luckiest Man in America directed by Samir Oliveros (AFI Class of 2019), Zurawski v. Texas from executive producers Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence and directors Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and Oh, Canada directed by Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969). A total of 158 films are set to screen at the 38th edition of AFI Fest.
Of the official selections, 48% are directed by women and non-binary filmmakers and 26% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Additional festival highlights include documentaries Architecton directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie directed by David Bushell; Devo directed by Chris Smith about the legendary new wave provocateurs; Gaucho Gaucho directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw; Group Therapy directed by Neil Berkeley with Emmy® winner Neil Patrick Harris and Tig Notaro; No Other Land directed by a Palestinian-Israeli team comprised of Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal; Pavements directed by Alex Ross Perry; and Separated directed by Errol Morris. Notable narrative titles include Black Dog (Gou Zen) directed by Guan Hu; Bonjour Tristesse directed by Durga Chew-Bose with Academy Award® nominee Chloë Sevigny; Caught By The Tides directed by Jia Zhangke; Hard Truths directed by Mike Leigh with... Read More