David Spitz has been tapped to serve as Head of US Theatrical Distribution for independent studio Black Bear, the company announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The former Lionsgate distribution head will oversee theatrical for the new expansion of Black Bear\u2019s distribution infrastructure, which builds on the leadership of its established theatrical businesses in the UK, Ireland, and Canada.<\/p>\n
More from TheWrap<\/strong><\/p>\n Spitz will manage the theatrical release of up to 12 films per year, curating a slate that blends critically acclaimed, filmmaker-driven fare with broadly resonant action and genre titles. He will report to the US theatrical distribution division\u2019s president Benjamin Kramer, who made today\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDavid is one of the most respected and accomplished distribution executives in the theatrical business,\u201d Kramer said in a statement. \u201cHe has a fantastic track record of shepherding the work of outstanding filmmakers and delivering commercial hits to wide audiences. His deep relationships with exhibitors, and proven instincts for release strategies, make him an ideal addition to our growing team. We at Black Bear are deeply excited to work alongside him in delivering transportive theatrical experiences to audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m thrilled to join Black Bear at this exciting moment, as they enter an ambitious new chapter,\u201d Spitz added. \u201cI look forward to working with Ben, as well as the great distribution teams across Black Bear\u2019s other territories, to create theatrical events that drive audiences to theaters and connect with viewers across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n A longstanding leader in the theatrical distribution industry, Spitz joins Black Bear from Lionsgate, where he served for 18 years as President of Distribution, having initially joined the company in 2003. Throughout his career, he has overseen theatrical distribution strategy for films earning over $10 billion in domestic box office, representing a diverse range of critical and commercial hits.<\/p>\n Among his titles have been Academy Award winners including \u201cCrash,\u201d \u201cLa La Land,\u201d and \u201cPrecious;\u201d franchises including \u201cThe Hunger Games,\u201d \u201cJohn Wick,\u201d \u201cNow You See Me,\u201d \u201cSaw,\u201d and \u201cThe Expendables;\u201d and other influential hits, such as \u201cThe Blair Witch Project,\u201d \u201cThe Big Sick,\u201d \u201cWonder,\u201d \u201cKnives Out,\u201d \u201cBuena Vista Social Club,\u201d and \u201cFahrenheit 9\/11.\u201d<\/p>\n At Lionsgate, Spitz also released films targeted to underserved audiences, including the highest-grossing Spanish-language film in domestic box office history, \u201cInstructions Not Included,\u201d as well as Code Black\u2019s \u201cAll Eyez on Me,\u201d Kevin Hart\u2019s \u201cLet Me Explain,\u201d and 19 Tyler Perry films.<\/p>\n Prior to Lionsgate, Spitz was with Artisan Films and its predecessor LIVE Entertainment. Earlier, he handled film sales for MGM Distribution and acquisitions for Mann Theaters.<\/p>\n The post Black Bear Taps David Spitz as Head of US Theatrical Distribution<\/a> appeared first on TheWrap<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ca.news.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" David Spitz has been tapped to serve as Head of US Theatrical Distribution for independent studio Black Bear, the company announced on Thursday. The former Lionsgate distribution head will oversee theatrical for the new expansion of Black Bear\u2019s distribution infrastructure, which builds on the leadership of its established theatrical businesses in the UK, Ireland, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1956684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[345291,345290,82851,345292,345293],"class_list":["post-1960892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-black-bear","tag-david-spitz","tag-lionsgate","tag-theatrical-distribution","tag-theatrical-experiences"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Ryan-Reynolds-Dwayne-Johnson-Tessa-Thompson-and-More-Set-Panels.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1960892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1960892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1956684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1960892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1960892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1960892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/div>\n