IM Global hires TWC veteran Michael Rothstein

Stuart Ford’s sales-finance-production powerhouse IM Global has hired Michael Rothstein as president of international sales and distribution.

Rothstein was formerly president of international at The Weinstein Company where he served from its inception in 2005 until 2013, and previously worked with IM Global’s Ford at Miramax.

The exec will oversee a sales operation spread across regional offices in Los Angeles, London, Beijing and Mexico City. 

Reporting to Rothstein will be sales and distribution executives Tatyana Joffe, Emil Elmér, David Jourdan, Leslie Chen, Callum Grant, Talia Goldman and Weihan Zhang, as well as a sales division of over ‎40 people encompassing sales, marketing, legal, accounting, collections and technical operations. 

The IM Global slate encompasses 12 to 15 Hollywood titles per year as well as sales on Chinese language and Bollywood films through the company’s Anthem label which handles eight to 10 films per year.

Rothstein will also serve as a board member of Latin American joint venture Mundial which handles six to eight Latino films per year.

In addition, Rothstein will be active in licensing of the company’s library of approximately 250 titles. He will also take a management role in the company’s wholly owned Southeast Asian distribution venture, Apsara Distribution, which handles six to 10 wide release titles per year via an output partnership with Buena Vista International.

Prior to TWC, Rothstein was a sales executive at Miramax Films from 1997 to 2004.  During 16 years with the Weinsteins he was responsible for the international sale and distribution of Silver Linings Playbook, The King’s Speech, The Artist, Chicago, The Hours, Finding Neverland and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2. 

Ford said: “It’s over a decade since Michael and I were colleagues at Miramax… I’m highly confident that his know-how, profile and sophistication will be a major addition to our senior management team.”

Ford added that Rothstein would also “be a key contributor to our broader corporate expansion activities”.

Rothstein replaces outgoing president Jonathan Deckter who left the company last week upon the expiry of his contract after five years and has become a parter at Voltage.

Upcoming titles from IM Global, as financier-producer, includes Autobahn, Secret In Their Eyes, Viral and Incarnate.

In pre-production the company Antoine Fuqua’s The Man Who Made It Snow starring Jake Gyllenhaal in partnership with The Weinstein Company; and The Autopsy Of Jane Doe from director Andre Øvredal starring Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch, which begins production later this month.

IM Global is also the international distributor and co-financier on the currently shooting Gary Ross civil war epic The Free State of Jones starring Matthew McConaughey to be released in 2016 by STX Entertainment; and Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield, which begins production later this year.