Killer Films
Killer Films is a New York City-based independent film production company founded in 1995 by film producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler. The company has produced many acclaimed independent films over the past two decades including Far From Heaven (nominated for four Academy Awards), Boys Don't Cry (Academy Award winner), One Hour Photo, Kids, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Happiness, Velvet Goldmine, Safe, I Shot Andy Warhol, Swoon, I'm Not There (Academy Award nominated), Kill Your Darlings, Still Alice (Academy Award winner) and Carol (nominated for six Academy Awards). Killer Films also executive produced Todd Haynes' five episode HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce, which went on to win five Emmys, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Industry |
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Founded | 1995 |
Founder | |
Headquarters | , United States |
Website | Killer Films |
In 2014, Killer Films merged with Glass Elevator Media to form Killer Content, Inc.[1]
Awards and recognition
Killer Films productions have received multiple awards and nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Emmy Awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Independent Spirit Awards. On the occasion of Killer's 10th anniversary in 2005, the company was feted with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.[2]
Christine Vachon's first feature production, Poison, directed by Todd Haynes, won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival. Poison was one of the defining films of the emerging New Queer Cinema.[3][4][5] For her work on Far From Heaven, another Todd Haynes collaboration, Vachon was honored by the New York Film Critics Circle, and received the Producer of the Year Award from the National Board of Review.[6]
Vachon produced the Showtime television adaptation of the public broadcasting radio program, This American Life, for which she won an Emmy. In 2011, Christine was invited to give the State of Cinema Address at the San Francisco Film Society's 54th San Francisco International Film Festival.
Vachon has also written two books on her life and career, Shooting to Kill (1998),[7] and A Killer Life (2006).[8]
One of Killer's most recent films, Kill Your Darlings, directed by John Krokidas, and starred Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan, was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and went on to be nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.[9] After producing Magic Magic, which debuted at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival to wide acclaim, Killer re-teamed with writer-director Sebastián Silva on his new feature, Nasty Baby.[10]
In 2015, Julianne Moore won the Best Performance by an Actress Oscar for her part in the 2014 Killer film Still Alice, directed by Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer, based on the novel of the same name, written by Lisa Genova.[11] That same year, Killer re-teamed with director Todd Haynes on Carol, based on the 1952 romance novel, The Price of Salt, written by Patricia Highsmith. The film stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.[12]
In 2017, the company produced Janicza Bravo's Lemon starring Brett Gelman and Judy Greer;[13] Beatriz at Dinner starring Salma Hayek and Chloë Sevigny;[14] and Dina directed by Dan Sickles & Antonio Santini, the latter of three winning the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.[15][16]
In May 2017, the company signed a two-year first look deal with Amazon Studios.[17]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Worldwide box office | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1991 | Poison | $787,280[18] | |
1992 | Swoon | — | |
1994 | Go Fish | $2.4 million[19] | |
1994 | Postcards from America | — | |
1995 | Safe | $512,245[20] | |
1995 | Kids | $7.4 million[21] | |
1995 | Stonewall | $692,400[22] | |
1996 | Plain Pleasures | — | |
1996 | I Shot Andy Warhol | $1.9 million[23] | |
1997 | Bad Bosses Go to Hell | — | Short film |
1997 | Office Killer | $76,054[24] | |
1998 | Happiness | $2.8 million[25] | |
1998 | Velvet Goldmine | $1.1 million[26] | |
1998 | I'm Losing You | $13,996[27] | |
1998 | Dark Harbor | — | |
1999 | Boys Don't Cry | $11.5 million[28] | Won one Academy Award |
2000 | Crime + Punishment in Suburbia | $26,394[29] | |
2001 | Series 7: The Contenders | $195,065[30] | |
2001 | Women in Film | — | |
2001 | The Safety of Objects | $319,299[31] | |
2001 | Storytelling | $2 million[32] | |
2001 | Hedwig and the Angry Inch | $3.6 million[33] | |
2001 | The Grey Zone | $517,872[34] | |
2001 | Chelsea Walls | $60,902[35] | |
2002 | One Hour Photo | $52 million[36] | |
2002 | Far From Heaven | $29 million[37] | Nominated for four Academy Awards |
2003 | Party Monster | $742,898[38] | |
2003 | Camp | $2.6 million[39] | |
2003 | The Company | $6.4 million[40] | |
2004 | A Home at the End of the World | $1.5 million[41] | |
2004 | A Dirty Shame | $1.9 million[42] | |
2005 | The Notorious Bettie Page | $1.8 million[43] | |
2006 | Infamous | $2.6 million[44] | |
2007 | An American Crime | $1.3 million[45] | |
2007 | Savage Grace | $1.4 million[46] | |
2007 | I'm Not There | $11.7 million[47] | Nominated for one Academy Award |
2007 | Then She Found Me | $8.4 million[48] | |
2008 | Gigantic | $165,888[49] | |
2009 | Motherhood | $726,354[50] | |
2009 | Cracks | $29,683[51] | |
2009 | Cairo Time | $2 million[52] | |
2010 | Lulu at the Ace Hotel | — | Short film |
2010 | Loop Planes | — | Short film |
2010 | Virginia | $12,728[53] | |
2010 | Dirty Girl | $55,125[54] | |
2011 | Dragonslayer | — | |
2012 | Shut Up and Play the Hits | $629,107[55] | |
2012 | At Any Price | $380,594[56] | |
2013 | Magic Magic | — | |
2013 | Kill Your Darlings | $2.1 million[57] | |
2013 | Dealin' with Idiots | $17,909[58] | |
2013 | Deep Powder | — | |
2013 | The Last of Robin Hood | $288,545[59] | |
2013 | WildLike | — | |
2013 | Bluebird | — | |
2014 | Young Bodies Heal Quickly | — | |
2014 | Electric Slide | — | |
2014 | Still Alice | $44 million[60] | Won one Academy Award |
2014 | Mala Mala | $10,761[61] | |
2015 | Nasty Baby | $80,828[62] | |
2015 | Carol | $40.3 million[63] | Nominated for nine British Academy Film Awards Nominated for six Academy Awards Nominated for five Golden Globe Awards |
2015 | Big Sky | — | |
2016 | Woman in Deep | — | Short film |
2016 | Goat | $23,020[64] | |
2016 | Wiener-Dog | $716,633[65][66] | |
2016 | White Girl | $200,242[67] | |
2016 | Frank & Lola | $9,188[68] | |
2016 | A Kind of Murder | $89,899[69] | |
2016 | London Town | — | |
2017 | Dina | $96,524[70] | |
2017 | Lemon | $29,528[71] | |
2017 | Where Is Kyra? | $59,717[72] | |
2017 | Beatriz at Dinner | $7.4 million[73] | |
2017 | Wonderstruck | $3.3 million[74] | |
2017 | My Days of Mercy | — | |
2017 | First Reformed | $3.9 million[75] | Nominated for one Academy Award |
2018 | Colette | $13.8 million[76] | |
2018 | Vox Lux | $1.4 million[77] | |
2019 | American Woman | — | |
2019 | Inside the Rain | $8,140[78] | |
2019 | Dark Waters | $23.1 million[79] | |
2020 | Zola | $4.5-5 million[80] | |
2020 | Shirley | $305,805[81][82] | |
2020 | The World to Come | $204,797[83] | |
2020 | Brothers by Blood | $104,744[84] | |
2021 | The Velvet Underground | — | |
2022 | Under the Influence | — | |
2022 | Anything's Possible | — | |
2023 | Past Lives | $16.5 million[85] | |
2023 | She Came to Me | TBA | |
2023 | You Sing Louder, I Sing Louder | TBA | |
2023 | A Good Person | $3.1 million[86] | |
2023 | May December | TBA | |
TBA | A Different Man | TBA | |
TBA | On Swift Horses | TBA | |
TBA | The Brutalist | TBA |
Television
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2005 | Mrs. Harris | TV movie Nominated for twelve Emmy Awards[87] |
2007–2009 | This American Life | TV series Won three Emmy Awards[88] |
2010 | The Neistat Brothers | TV series |
2011 | Mildred Pierce | TV miniseries Won five Emmy Awards[89] |
2015–2017 | Z: The Beginning of Everything | TV series |
2018–2019 | This Close | TV series |
2021 | Halston | TV miniseries |
2021 | Pride | TV miniseries |
See also
Further reading
- Vachon, Christine. Shooting to Kill: How an Independent Producer Blasts Through the Barriers to Make Movies that Matter, Avon Books, 335 p., 1st ed., 1998, ISBN 0380798549.
- Vachon, Christine. A Killer Life: How an Independent Film Producer Survives Deals and Disasters in Hollywood and Beyond, Simon & Schuster, 279 p., 1st ed., 2006, ISBN 0743256301.
References
- "Killer Films Merges With Glass Elevator Media to Form Killer Content". The Hollywood Reporter. May 27, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
- "Swoon: Ten Years of Killer Films". MoMA. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- "Killer Films' Co-Founders Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler on Lesbian Romance 'Carol' and Indie Resilience". The Hollywood Reporter. September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
- Levy, Emanuel (June 27, 2015). "Gay Pride 2015: Celebrating Todd Haynes' Poison". EmmanuelLevy. Archived from the original on July 13, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
- Dillard, Clayton (April 3, 2013). "Hearth of Darkness: Rob White's Todd Haynes". Slant Magazine. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
- "Christine Vachon Bio". HBO. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
- "Shooting to Kill". HarperCollins. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
- "Christine Vachon's 'A Killer Life'". NPR. December 21, 2006. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
- "'Kill Your Darlings' slays Venice". Cornell Chronicle. September 9, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
- Sneider, Jeff (August 14, 2013). "Kristen Wiig in Talks for Indie 'Nasty Baby' With TV on the Radio Singer Tunde Adebimpe (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
- Dove, Steve (February 26, 2015). "Julianne Moore Wins Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role". The Oscars. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
- McGovern, Joe (July 30, 2015). "Todd Haynes' Carol changes its release date". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
- Hipes, Patrick (August 17, 2016). "Brett Gelman-Starring Indie 'Lemon' Wraps; Janicza Bravo's Feature Directorial Debut". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- Jafaar, Ali (August 1, 2016). "Chloe Sevigny, Salma Hayek & Jay Duplass Join 'Beatriz At Dinner'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- Patten, Dominic (December 5, 2016). "Sundance 2017: Robert Redford, New Rashida Jones Netflix Series, 'Rebel In The Rye' & More On Premiere, Docu, Midnight & Kids Slates". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- Billington, Alex (January 29, 2017). "Sundance 2017 Awards: 'Dina' & 'Chasing Coral' Are Big Doc Winners". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- Lang, Brent (May 2, 2017). "Amazon Signs First Look Deals with Bona Fide Productions, Killer Films, and Le Grisbi Productions (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- Poison at Box Office Mojo
- Go Fish at Box Office Mojo
- Safe at Box Office Mojo
- Kids at Box Office Mojo
- Stonewall at Box Office Mojo
- I Shot Andy Warhol at Box Office Mojo
- Office Killer at Box Office Mojo
- Happiness at Box Office Mojo
- Velvet Goldmine at Box Office Mojo
- I'm Losing You at Box Office Mojo
- Boys Don't Cry at Box Office Mojo
- "Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (2000)". The Numbers.
- Series 7: The Contenders at Box Office Mojo
- The Safety of Objects at Box Office Mojo
- "Storytelling (2002)". The Numbers.
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Box Office Mojo
- The Grey Zone at Box Office Mojo
- Chelsea Walls at Box Office Mojo
- One Hour Photo at Box Office Mojo
- Far From Heaven at Box Office Mojo
- Party Monster at Box Office Mojo
- Camp at Box Office Mojo
- The Company at Box Office Mojo
- A Home at the End of the World at Box Office Mojo
- A Dirty Shame at Box Office Mojo
- The Notorious Bettie Page at Box Office Mojo
- Infamous at Box Office Mojo
- An American Crime at Box Office Mojo
- Savage Grace at Box Office Mojo
- I'm Not There at Box Office Mojo
- Then She Found Me at Box Office Mojo
- Gigantic at Box Office Mojo
- Motherhood at Box Office Mojo
- Cracks at Box Office Mojo
- Cairo Time at Box Office Mojo
- Virginia at Box Office Mojo
- Dirty Girl at Box Office Mojo
- "Shut Up and Play the Hits (2012)". The Numbers.
- At Any Price at Box Office Mojo
- "Kill Your Darlings (2013)". The Numbers.
- Dealin' With Idiots at Box Office Mojo
- The Last of Robin Hood at Box Office Mojo
- Still Alice at Box Office Mojo
- Mala Mala at Box Office Mojo
- "Nasty Baby (2015)". The Numbers.
- Carol at Box Office Mojo
- Goat at Box Office Mojo
- "Wiener-Dog (2016)". The Numbers.
- "Wiener-Dog". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
- White Girl at Box Office Mojo
- Frank and Lola at Box Office Mojo
- A Kind of Murder at Box Office Mojo
- Dina at Box Office Mojo
- Lemon at Box Office Mojo
- Where is Kyra? at Box Office Mojo
- Beatriz at Dinner at Box Office Mojo
- Wonderstruck at Box Office Mojo
- First Reformed at Box Office Mojo
- Colette at Box Office Mojo
- Vox Lux at Box Office Mojo
- "Inside the Rain (2019)". The Numbers.
- "Dark Waters". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
- "Zola (2021)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
- "Shirley". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
- "Shirley". The Numbers. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
- "The World to Come (2020)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
- "Brothers by Blood (2021)". The Numbers.
- "Past Lives (2023)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- "A Good Person (2023)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- "Mrs. Harris". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
- "This American Life". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
- "Mildred Pierce". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
External links
- Killer Films website
- Christine Vachon (February 24, 2017). Film-makers can defy Trump. Depicting the lives of others is an act of resistance. The Guardian