Jeff Lipsky
- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
2024 marks Jeff Lipsky's 50th year in the independent film world and is internationally known for his expertise in independent film marketing, acquisition, and distribution. Co-founder of three successful film distribution companies, October Films, Lot 47 Films, and Adopt Films, Lipsky is also prominently featured in books written about Oscar® nominated writer/director Mike Leigh and Oscar® winning filmmaker Spike Lee.
Lipsky's distribution career was launched in 1974 working alongside his mentor and friend, actor/writer/director John Cassavetes, 'the godfather of American independent film.' Jeff distributed John's iconic film A Woman Under the Influence, starring Gena Rowlands, Academy Award® nominated for Best Actress and Best Director. Adjusting for inflation, the film grossed $89 million in North America alone.
Jeff Lipsky's filmmaking career took root with the 1997 film Childhood's End, starring Tony Award nominee and True Blood co-star Sam Trammell. It was selected for to compete at the San Sebastian and Montreal World Film Festivals. That was followed in 2006 with Flannel Pajamas, selected For Dramatic Competition at Sundance. It starred Emmy Award Winner Julianne Nicholson and Emmy Award nominee Justin Kirk. His next film, 2009's Once More With Feeling, was similarly selected by Sundance. It co-starred Oscar® nominee Chazz Palminteri, Drea de Matteo (The Sopranos), and Linda Fiorentino, New York Film Critics Circle Best Actress Award Winner for the film The Last Seduction...which had been distributed by Lipsky.
Lipsky next wrote and directed 2010's Twelve Thirty, starring Tony Award Winning actors Jonathan Groff and Reed Birney, and co-starring Mamie Gummer (daughter of Meryl Streep) and Halley Feiffer (daughter of Jules Feiffer.) His next trio of films were all New York productions: 2013's Molly's Theory of Relativity, co-starring Tony Award winner Cady Huffman, 2015's Mad Women, and in 2019 the riveting Holocaust-themed film The Last (aka The Last Nazi), starring Rebecca Schull. His most recent film released in 2024 is Goldilocks and the Two Bears.
As a distributor, in 1979 Jeff Lipsky became General Sales Manager of New Yorker Films where he distributed Wayne Wang's first film Chan Is Missing, Louis Malle's My Dinner with Andre, R.W. Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun, and Jean-Luc Godard's Every Man for Himself. In 1983 Lipsky was named Vice President of Distribution for Samuel Goldwyn Films where he distributed Dance with a Stranger, 3 Men and a Cradle, Gregory's Girl, The Care Bears Movie and Jim Jarmusch's iconic feature Stranger Than Paradise, which was named Best Picture in 1984 by the National Society of Film Critics.
Tom Skouras hired Lipsky as President of the Motion Pictures Division of Skouras Pictures in 1987 where he distributed screenwriter David Koepp's first film Apartment Zero, starring Colin Firth, two-time Academy Award® nominee My Life as a Dog, and the movie that introduced Mike Leigh to the U.S, High Hopes, a collaboration that forged a lasting mentor relationship for Lipsky, this time with Leigh's long-time producer Simon Channing-Williams.
In 1990 Lipsky co-founded October Films which immediately became one of the most highly regarded independent distributors, releasing films such as Leigh's Life Is Sweet, Gregg Araki's The Living End, Alain Corneau's Tous les matins du monde, and John Dahl's The Last Seduction.
After a two year return stint at Goldwyn, where he released Adrian Lyne's controversial Lolita, Lipsky co-founded Lot 47 Films in 1999. Some of Lot 47's releases include Tim Roth directorial debut The War Zone, Audrey Tautou's debut film, Venus Beauty Institute, the French multiple Academy Award winning comedy-drama. Other releases include Im Kwon-Taek's Cannes competition entry Chunhyang, Michael Cuesta's L.I.E., and the best reviewed film of 2002 (according to Metacritic), Zacharias Kunuk's The Fast Runner (Atanarjuat).
In 2006 Lipsky hung out his own shingle availing his distribution services, and prodigious experience, to producers of well made, challenging, but orphaned films. Some of the films he distributed for their producers during the next three years included Assisted Living, The War Tapes, Sweet Land, The Bridge, Nuremberg and David & Layla.
Lipsky co-founded his third distribution company, Adopt Films, in 2011. In 2014 Adopt released its first Oscar® nominated film, Hany Abu-Assad's Omar. Other notable Adopt releases included FOUR award-winning films acquired at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival: Christian Petzold's Barbara, Ursula Meier's Sister, Miguel Gomes' Tabu, and the Taviani Brothers' Golder Bear winner Caesar Must Die. Other Adopt releases included 2014's Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Winner, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Winter Sleep, and Berlin award-winner, Sebastian Schipper's Victoria.
In 2018 Lipsky launched Glass Half Full Media. Its first slate of films included Measure of a Man, starring Donald Sutherland, A Happening of Monumental Proportions, starring Oscar® winning actress Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner, and Katie Holmes, and Aardvark, starring Jon Hamm, and Zachary Quinto. In 2021, exclusively in theatres, Glass Half Full Media released Shepherd, The Story of a Jewish Dog, and Emma Dante's The Macaluso Sisters, still comfortably idling at 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Lipsky's distribution career was launched in 1974 working alongside his mentor and friend, actor/writer/director John Cassavetes, 'the godfather of American independent film.' Jeff distributed John's iconic film A Woman Under the Influence, starring Gena Rowlands, Academy Award® nominated for Best Actress and Best Director. Adjusting for inflation, the film grossed $89 million in North America alone.
Jeff Lipsky's filmmaking career took root with the 1997 film Childhood's End, starring Tony Award nominee and True Blood co-star Sam Trammell. It was selected for to compete at the San Sebastian and Montreal World Film Festivals. That was followed in 2006 with Flannel Pajamas, selected For Dramatic Competition at Sundance. It starred Emmy Award Winner Julianne Nicholson and Emmy Award nominee Justin Kirk. His next film, 2009's Once More With Feeling, was similarly selected by Sundance. It co-starred Oscar® nominee Chazz Palminteri, Drea de Matteo (The Sopranos), and Linda Fiorentino, New York Film Critics Circle Best Actress Award Winner for the film The Last Seduction...which had been distributed by Lipsky.
Lipsky next wrote and directed 2010's Twelve Thirty, starring Tony Award Winning actors Jonathan Groff and Reed Birney, and co-starring Mamie Gummer (daughter of Meryl Streep) and Halley Feiffer (daughter of Jules Feiffer.) His next trio of films were all New York productions: 2013's Molly's Theory of Relativity, co-starring Tony Award winner Cady Huffman, 2015's Mad Women, and in 2019 the riveting Holocaust-themed film The Last (aka The Last Nazi), starring Rebecca Schull. His most recent film released in 2024 is Goldilocks and the Two Bears.
As a distributor, in 1979 Jeff Lipsky became General Sales Manager of New Yorker Films where he distributed Wayne Wang's first film Chan Is Missing, Louis Malle's My Dinner with Andre, R.W. Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun, and Jean-Luc Godard's Every Man for Himself. In 1983 Lipsky was named Vice President of Distribution for Samuel Goldwyn Films where he distributed Dance with a Stranger, 3 Men and a Cradle, Gregory's Girl, The Care Bears Movie and Jim Jarmusch's iconic feature Stranger Than Paradise, which was named Best Picture in 1984 by the National Society of Film Critics.
Tom Skouras hired Lipsky as President of the Motion Pictures Division of Skouras Pictures in 1987 where he distributed screenwriter David Koepp's first film Apartment Zero, starring Colin Firth, two-time Academy Award® nominee My Life as a Dog, and the movie that introduced Mike Leigh to the U.S, High Hopes, a collaboration that forged a lasting mentor relationship for Lipsky, this time with Leigh's long-time producer Simon Channing-Williams.
In 1990 Lipsky co-founded October Films which immediately became one of the most highly regarded independent distributors, releasing films such as Leigh's Life Is Sweet, Gregg Araki's The Living End, Alain Corneau's Tous les matins du monde, and John Dahl's The Last Seduction.
After a two year return stint at Goldwyn, where he released Adrian Lyne's controversial Lolita, Lipsky co-founded Lot 47 Films in 1999. Some of Lot 47's releases include Tim Roth directorial debut The War Zone, Audrey Tautou's debut film, Venus Beauty Institute, the French multiple Academy Award winning comedy-drama. Other releases include Im Kwon-Taek's Cannes competition entry Chunhyang, Michael Cuesta's L.I.E., and the best reviewed film of 2002 (according to Metacritic), Zacharias Kunuk's The Fast Runner (Atanarjuat).
In 2006 Lipsky hung out his own shingle availing his distribution services, and prodigious experience, to producers of well made, challenging, but orphaned films. Some of the films he distributed for their producers during the next three years included Assisted Living, The War Tapes, Sweet Land, The Bridge, Nuremberg and David & Layla.
Lipsky co-founded his third distribution company, Adopt Films, in 2011. In 2014 Adopt released its first Oscar® nominated film, Hany Abu-Assad's Omar. Other notable Adopt releases included FOUR award-winning films acquired at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival: Christian Petzold's Barbara, Ursula Meier's Sister, Miguel Gomes' Tabu, and the Taviani Brothers' Golder Bear winner Caesar Must Die. Other Adopt releases included 2014's Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Winner, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Winter Sleep, and Berlin award-winner, Sebastian Schipper's Victoria.
In 2018 Lipsky launched Glass Half Full Media. Its first slate of films included Measure of a Man, starring Donald Sutherland, A Happening of Monumental Proportions, starring Oscar® winning actress Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner, and Katie Holmes, and Aardvark, starring Jon Hamm, and Zachary Quinto. In 2021, exclusively in theatres, Glass Half Full Media released Shepherd, The Story of a Jewish Dog, and Emma Dante's The Macaluso Sisters, still comfortably idling at 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
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