Ted Hope
Ted Hope
Ted Hope (born 1962) is an American independent film producer based in New York City. He began work as Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society on September 1, 2012. Currently, he serves as Co-Head of Movies for Amazon Studios. Hope has produced the first films of such notable filmmakers as Ang Lee, Hal Hartley, Nicole Holofcener, Todd Field, Michel Gondry, Moises Kaufman, Bob Pulcini, and Shari Berman, among others. In the early 1990s, Hope co-founded with James Schamus the production/sales company Good Machine, which he and his partners sold to Universal in 2002. That same year he co-founded This is That with his current partner Anne Carey, Good Machine's Head of Business Affairs Diana Victor, and his former assistant, Anthony Bregman. Among Ted's twenty-three Sundance entries, are three Grand Jury Prize winners: American Splendor (2003), The Brothers McMullen (1995) and What Happened Was... (1994). American Splendor also won the FIPRESCI Award at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, the Critics prize at the 2003 Deauville Film Festival and was nominated for five Spirit Awards and one Academy Award. Hope has also produced two Sundance Opening Night selections: Nicole Holofcener's Friends with Money (2006) and Moises Kaufman's The Laramie Project (2002), which was nominated for five Emmys. Hope was instrumental in organizing the successful 2003 anti-trust campaign against the MPAA and its ban on screeners, uniting a diverse constituency, strategizing the effort, and ultimately providing in court the oral testimony that helped sway the judgement. Although the MPAA head, Jack Valenti, claimed The Screen Ban was about combating "piracy", it was recognized by the court as stifling competition, particularly that of independent filmmakers against Hollywood. Hope has claimed a double win in the court case, as it is also where he met his wife filmmaker Vanessa Hope. In 2013, IndieWire named Hope to its inaugural list of Influencers, a list "dedicated to 40 of the people and companies who have captured our attention as we watch them try to figure out what the independent film industry is today and, more importantly, what it will become." The Hollywood Reporter cited Hope and his partners at This is That among the twenty-five most powerful people in the Independent Film business.On January 8, 2014, Hope was named CEO of Fandor, a curated online service for independent and international films. He left Fandor at beginning of 2015 to become the head of production for Amazon Original Movies, stating, "To help carry the torch into the feature film world for such an innovative company is a tremendous opportunity and responsibility. Amazon Original Movies will be synonymous with films that amaze, excite, and move our fans, wherever customers watch."