Editor

The Philadelphia Film Society is pleased to announce that it has promoted Director of Programming Michael Lerman to Artistic Director and hired Tom Quinn and Ryan Werner as programmers of the Philadelphia Film Festival. Lerman, Quinn and Werner previously worked together as programmers for the Woodstock Film Festival, successfully building the Festival through the programming of diverse, intelligent and engaging films. Quinn and Werner begin immediately, and will work with Lerman to curate the selection of films for the 19th Philadelphia Film Festival, scheduled for October 14, 2010– October 24, 2010 at multiple venues throughout Philadelphia.

Ryan Werner is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at IFC Entertainment, where he oversees all marketing and publicity for the company’s theatrical and home video releases. At IFC Films, he has worked on campaigns for films such as the recently released JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK, IN THE LOOP, GOMORRAH, SUMMER HOURS, THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, CHE and 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS. He's also worked with established filmmakers such as Gus Van Sant, Michael Winterbottom, Todd Solondz, Spike Lee, Arnaud Desplechin, Hou Hsiao hsien and new talent like Joe Swanberg, Barry Jenkins, Mia Hansen-Love and Aaron Katz. Prior to IFC, Werner was Head of Theatrical Distribution at Wellspring and Palm Pictures. He also worked at Magnolia Pictures, Shooting Gallery, Sundance Channel and IFP. For the past 5 years, Werner was a programmer at the Woodstock Film Festival. In 2006, he received The Hollywood Reporter’s Next Gen Award.

Tom Quinn began his film career in Los Angeles doing domestic publicity at Dennis Davidson Associates working on such films as BREAKING THE WAVES, and SECRETS AND LIES. Quinn later moved on to work for Samuel Goldwyn Jr., eventually becoming the VP of Acquisitions, where he was responsible for acquiring RAISING VICTOR VARGAS and SUPER SIZE ME. Quinn is currently Senior VP of Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing. Some of his more recent acquisitions include: FREAKONOMICS, CENTURION, I AM LOVE, MONSTERS, FOOD INC, BRONSON, ONG BAK 2, RED CLIFF, MAN ON WIRE, and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. Some of Quinn’s productions include: OUTRAGE, COCAINE COWBOYS 2, and SPLINTER. He is also responsible for creating Magnet Releasing, Magnolia's genre arm, the Six Shooter Series, as well as the annual Oscar Shorts Program. On the festival circuit, Quinn has been a programmer for the Atlanta Film Festival, Woodstock Film Festival, and is one of the creators and Head of Programming for ActionFest.

“We’re thrilled to have Tom and Ryan come aboard as our programmers for the Philadelphia Film Festival,” said Andrew Greenblatt, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Film Society. “both Tom and Ryan have years of experience curating for other great festivals and have built a fantastic reputation through the quality of their programming. In partnering once again with our Artistic Director Mike Lerman, I’m certain that the upcoming Film Festival will be just the first of many successful festivals as we grow in quality and reputation over the next several years.”

"I'm extremely excited to be working with Andrew, Michael and Ryan on a festival in a town as eclectic and historic as Philadelphia," said Quinn.

“I’m incredibly happy to be back working with Tom and Ryan again,” said Lerman. “We accomplished a ton in Woodstock and I think we pushed it as far as it could go. In Philadelphia, the sky is the limit.”