Nicholas Kemp is joining Kino Lorber as director of theatrical marketing, after a five-year run as the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s digital marketing manager. Kemp begins at Kino Lorber on January 30, and will report to the company’s sr. VP theatrical/nontheatrical distribution and acquisitions Wendy Lidell.
Kemp has been building the digital presence of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, where he’s overseen cross-channel content and digital marketing for the New York Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, and year-’round programming. He has pioneered Film Society’s video initiatives, mining the institution’s existing archives and creating new content, while serving as co-producer of its weekly podcast, The Close-Up.
Kemp has shaped the organization’s voice online and grown followers across social media channels and other digital platforms, besides bringing new, data-driven digital marketing strategies to the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Previously, he worked on web content and audience engagement campaigns for film and other media projects, including independent film website Hammer to Nail, where he helped launch their Short Film Contest.
Lidell said, “All of us at Kino Lorber look forward to working with Nicholas. He is clearly a marketing executive with multiple talents, and we are delighted to give him an opportunity to bring the skills he honed, cultivating audiences in New York, at one of the city’s great art institutions, to bear on cultivating film audiences nationwide. We welcome him to our team.”
Kino Lorber is opening Simon Stone’s The Daughter, starring Geoffrey Rush, Paul Schneider, Ewen Leslie, Miranda Otto and Sam Neill on Jan. 27 in New York, followed by Josef von Sternberg’s rarely screened and fully restored Anatahan, exclusively at Metrograph on Feb. 3. Later this year the company will release Vanessa Gould’s Obit., Bruno Dumont’s Slack Bay, and the Hungarian dramedy Kills on Wheels to theaters nationwide, to name a few of its upcoming theatrical releases.
With a library of 1,500 titles, Kino Lorber Inc. has been a leader in independent art house distribution for over 30 years, releasing over 25 films per year theatrically under its Kino Lorber, Kino Classics, and Alive Mind Cinema banners, including five Academy Award nominated films in the last eight years.
In addition, the company brings over 250 titles each year to the home entertainment market through physical and digital media releases under its five house brands. It also now distributes a growing number of third party labels in all ancillary media and is a direct digital distributor to all major digital platforms including iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Filmstruck, Tribeca Shortlist, Amazon, Vimeo, VHX, Fandor, and Mubi.
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More