EXCLUSIVE: Utopia is ramping up its content acquisition and partnership strategies with the hire of Charlie Sextro as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Business Development.
Sextro recently served as Sundance Film Festival’s Senior Film Programmer and Curator for the last 13 years.
With Sextro’s hire, Utopia is further bolstering its distribution, production and technology initiatives. Sextro’s long tenure at Sundance saw him help curate the festival program from over 4,000 feature film submissions each year to a lineup of fewer than 100, all the while developing and maintaining relationships with filmmakers, studios and industry leaders.
“Sundance has been responsible for elevating some of the most exciting and prestigious filmmakers who shape and challenge our creative industry. It’s all thanks to their incredible and dedicated programmers who continue to be a guiding light,” said Utopia Co-Founder, Robert Schwartzman. “We’re so honored to welcome Charlie into our company and to collaborate with someone who has developed such a keen eye for discovering bold storytellers.”
Utopia’s catalog is 140 feature movies strong and the studio is coming off one of its biggest hits with Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, which they produced. Showgirl enjoyed a multi-million dollar box office run and several major award nominations, including Best Original Song, Lead Actress and Supporting Actress.
“We’re in a very competitive market, more so than ever, and it’s constantly redefining itself and creating new challenges,” Schwartzman continued. “I believe we have to keep an open mind with how to operate and allow room for unexpected partnerships and alternative growth strategies. Charlie is very much in tune with this mindset, having had a front row seat for over a decade at a pivotal film market that has sparked major crossover acquisitions, and seeing the potential in films that have proven to connect with audiences, all while maintaining an authentic voice. We hope to continue to build bridges and push boundaries with the addition of Charlie alongside our team at Utopia.”
Beyond programming, Sextro held multiple operational roles within the Sundance Institute, most notably producing Sundance NEXT Fest, a film/music/comedy festival in Los Angeles, launching a touring short filmmaking lab across the U.S., and strategizing Sundance’s online pivot during the pandemic. In joining Utopia, Sextro will have freedom to create and implement new strategies.
Sextro was initially hired to curate Sundance’s NEXT and Midnight sections, eventually expanding to oversee American fiction films, episodic projects and genre-bending documentaries. He supported the early work of many of the most beloved contemporary filmmakers like Ryan Coogler, Sean Baker, Chloé Zhao, Ari Aster, Janicza Bravo, DANIELS and Jordan Peele.
Outside of Sundance, Sextro has held positions as the Editor-in-Chief of streamer DOCUMENTARY+, an interviewer for The Creative Independent, and programming duties at Red Bull Music Festival, Portland Art Museum, and FORM Arcosanti. He cut his teeth in film acquisitions at Tartan Films USA and Paramount Vantage.
“I am ready for the next chapter in my career where I can commit my expertise and network to common problems facing filmmakers and industry partners in such uncertain times,” said Sextro to Deadline. “I refuse to buy into pessimists’ proclamations about the death of indie film, a sector I have dedicated myself to. It’s exciting to see savvy filmmakers finding success by getting creative in distribution deals that maximize returns and allow them to retain control of their releases. In this new world of indie film, I think Utopia is uniquely positioned to champion filmmakers with a similar mindset and become one of the most sought-after distributors and producing partners.”
Schwartzman and Co-Founder, Cole Harper, have been launching and growing several technology solutions, such as PowerFlix and Altavod, to provide filmmakers with a hybrid solution of aggregation, self-distribution and the procurement of professional distribution services.
“More and more movies are made each year as filmmakers have more access than ever to resources, production technology and financial partners,” said Harper. “But when they finish their film and realize that distribution opportunities are limited, what options are on the table and which ones align with their objectives? In hiring Charlie, we’re gaining tens of thousands of case studies in how to best answer that question, and for Charlie, he now has a multiple-choice proposal he can present to any filmmaker he comes across to give them the distribution deal they want.”
