Milestone Film and Video [1] is an independent film distribution company, founded in 1990 in the United States by Dennis Doros and Amy Heller. The company researches and distributes cinematographic material from around the world, including silent film, post-war foreign film renaissance, contemporary American independent features, documentaries and foreign films.
Milestone was founded in 1990 in New York City by Dennis Doros and Amy Heller, who had both worked in the film restoration and distribution industries. The company now operates out of Harrington Park, New Jersey. Prominent supporters such as Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme have presented Milestone's film releases in the past. [2]
Milestone has distributed the works of Alfred Hitchcock, Luchino Visconti, Pier Paolo Pasolini, F.W. Murnau, Orson Welles, Shirley Clarke, Lionel Rogosin, Mikhail Kalatozov, Luis Buñuel, Takeshi Kitano, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Alan Berliner, Charles Burnett, Eleanor Antin, Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, George T. Nierenberg, Kathleen Collins, Ayoka Chenzira, Erich von Stroheim and Philip Haas, among many others. [3]
Milestone restores and preserves old footage. In 2013, Dennis Doros, Milestone's co-founder and board member of the Association of Moving Image Archivists, gave a series of talks to universities and film societies about the search for Shirley Clarke's film Portrait of Jason . Thought lost for many years, the original materials surfaced in the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research archives. [4] Dennis Doros was elected President of AMIA, serving from 2017 to 2021.
The Cool World is a 1963 feature film directed by Shirley Clarke about African-American life in the Royal Pythons, a youth gang in Harlem. In 1994, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life is a 1925 documentary film that follows a branch of the Bakhtiari tribe of Lurs in Persia as they and their herds make their seasonal journey to better pastures. It is considered one of the earliest ethnographic documentary films. In 1997, Grass was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Joseph Ezekiel Strick was an American director, producer and screenwriter.
Dimension Films is an American film production company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, to produce and release independent films and genre titles, specifically horror and science fiction films.
The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes.
Shirley Clarke was an American filmmaker.
Vertigo Films is a British television and film production company based in London, England. Vertigo Films has been responsible for the production and distribution of Bronson, StreetDance 3D, and Monsters. It now focuses solely on the production of television series, with subsidiary company Vertigo Releasing taking over film distribution.
Amy Beth Pascal is an American film producer and business executive. She served as the Chairperson of the Motion Pictures Group of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Co-Chairperson of SPE, including Sony Pictures Television, from 2006 until 2015. She has overseen the production and distribution of many films and television programs, and was co-chairperson during the late-2014 Sony Pictures hack.
StudioCanal Limited, operating as StudioCanal, is the official branch of StudioCanal in the British Isles. The company releases many films, including foreign, anime, independent, art, British, Irish and American films in the United Kingdom and sometimes Ireland.
On the Bowery is a 1956 American docufiction film directed by Lionel Rogosin. The film, Rogosin's first feature was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.
New Video is an American entertainment distributor and collector of independent digital content. The company works with independent producers, filmmakers and television networks to curate content for many types of distribution platforms, including digital, cable, video on demand, Blu-ray, DVD, and theatrical releases.
Ornette: Made in America is a 1985 American documentary film directed and edited by Shirley Clarke that studies saxophonist and free jazz innovator Ornette Coleman. The film does not chronicle the life of Coleman but rather emulates his freeform style by mixing together excerpts from performances, interviews, experimental music videos and reenactments of Coleman's childhood. Included are interviews with and original footage of William S. Burroughs, Buckminster Fuller, Ed Blackwell, Robert Palmer, George Russell, John Rockwell, Don Cherry and Denardo Coleman.
Portrait of Jason is a 1967 documentary film directed, produced and edited by Shirley Clarke and starring Jason Holliday.
Altitude Film Distribution is a British film distribution company, part of the Altitude Film Entertainment group. The parent company was launched in 2012 by Optimum Releasing founder Will Clarke. Altitude Film Entertainment is vertically integrated, with divisions that handle film production, finance and international sales, as well as UK distribution.
Ross Lipman is an American restorationist, independent filmmaker and essayist. He is best known for his 2015 documentary Notfilm, his work with the Bruce Conner Family Trust and as Senior Film Restorationist at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, where he restored numerous independent and avant-garde works.
Jason and Shirley is a 2015 drama comedy fantasy film directed by Stephen Winter. The film is a historical re-imagining that revisits the making of Shirley Clarke's 1967 documentary Portrait of Jason.
Jason Holliday was an American hustler and nightclub performer. He is the star of Shirley Clarke's 1967 documentary Portrait of Jason.
Skyscraper is a 1959 documentary film by Shirley Clarke about the construction of the 666 Fifth Avenue skyscraper.
Gravitas Ventures is an independent film distribution company owned by Anthem Sports and Entertainment. The company was founded by Nolan Gallagher in Los Angeles, California in 2006 and moved its headquarters to Cleveland, Ohio in 2019, where it focuses on the distribution of Independent feature films and documentaries.
Umbrella Entertainment is an Australian film distribution company that began operating in 2001. It is based in Kew, Victoria.