Leading management and production house Anonymous Content (“Spotlight,” “The Revenant”) has launched a sales and finance division, AC Independent. Nick Shumaker, who joined UTA’s Anonymous Content last year, will lead the new division which will be overseen from the company’s New York office.
AC Independent will manage financing, as well as domestic and global sales strategies for select titles in AC Studios, the premium independent film and television production studio that is part of Anonymous Content, as well as non-fiction projects in the band. AC Independent will also lead the financing and sale of titles for Anonymous Content’s management division, and work alongside the company’s expanding joint ventures.
The new division will also curate a curated selection of third-party content from top independent producers and directors around the world.
“Selling movies is a collaborative effort, and our paradigm will reflect that across all of our divisions,” said Nick Shumaker, director and producer at Anonymous Content and head of AC Independent. Shumaker, who is a well-respected cinema executive with longstanding connections within the international community, said the new division “will work in concert with (its) creators, managers, producers, executives and partner agencies.” “By better aligning our interests with those of our creators, we will facilitate a better bottom line for all parties, from inception of a project to delivery,” continued Shumaker.
Anonymous Content CEO Dawn Olmstead said the launch of AC Independent is an “incredible opportunity to build on the flywheel of Anonymous Content”.
“As we continue to chart the way forward for anonymous content and the vision we have for our future as a company, AC Independent has felt both an essential and natural addition to everything we do. offer,” continued Olmstead.
AC Independent will also work closely with Anonymous Content’s international president, David Davoli, to secure financing and sales for select international television titles.
Over the past six months, Anonymous Content has completed several high-profile sales, including Tim Sutton’s “Taurus” to RLJ/AMC+; and Einar Film’s Norwegian genre film “Handling the Undead” at Neon.
Other titles whose sales are handled by Anonymous Content include “Mrs. America” with Freemantle and Elizabeth Lo’s “Mistress Dispeller” with Submarine, both in production.
Further offerings from AC Independent will be announced in the coming months. AC Independent will unveil its inaugural slate at the European Film Market which runs alongside the Berlin Film Festival in February.
Anonymous Content’s list, meanwhile, includes “Swan Song” (Apple TV+), “Worth” (Netflix), “Stillwater” (Focus Features) and “The Midnight Sky” (Netflix), as well as the movie upcoming highly anticipated “Enemy” (Amazon) with Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre.
The company’s TV credits include recent “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” with Samuel L. Jackson and Dominique Fishback, and upcoming series “Time Bandits” by Taika Waititi, and “Shantaram” with Charlie Hunnam.
