Jonathan Sehring

President

IFC Entertainment

As president of IFC Entertainment, Jonathan Sehring oversees Rainbow Media Holdings’ group of companies devoted to bringing the best of specialty films to the largest possible audience. A multi-platform leader in the independent film industry, IFC Entertainment consists of the IFC Center, IFC Films, Festival Direct and IFC Productions.

One of the most well respected film executives in New York, Mr. Sehring is considered a maverick among his peers for expanding the audience for independent films. He was part of the team that launched The Independent Film Channel in 1994 and later created IFC Entertainment and launched all of the companies it operates today.

The first company formed under IFC Entertainment was IFC Productions. Launched in 1997, IFC Productions is a feature film production company that provides financing for select independent film projects. Production highlights include: Academy Award-winner Boys Don’t Cry, Mira Nair’s Venice Award-winner Monsoon Wedding, Richard Linklater’s Waking Life, Errol Morris’ Mr. Death, Stephen Soderbergh’s Gray’s Anatomy, Rebecca Miller’s The Ballad of Jack and Rose and Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know.

In 2000, Mr. Sehring launched IFC Films, IFC Entertainment’s foray into film distribution. Today, IFC Films is a leading theatrical film distribution company releasing two to three films per month. Two IFC Films releases received Academy Award nominations in 2007.

Mr. Sehring oversaw the design and construction of the IFC Center, a multi-million dollar renovation of New York City’s historic landmark The Waverly Theater, which opened in 2005. The IFC Center is a three screen, state-of-the-art cinema that shows art-house films in the heart of Greenwich Village and the bricks and mortar home of the IFC brand.

In 2006, Mr. Sehring continued to forge new ground in the independent film world with the launch of the first theatrical/VOD day and date distribution model. IFC Entertainment’s day and date film distribution model makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them in theaters through IFC Films and simultaneously on cable’s On Demand platform and PPV through IFC In Theaters.

IFC Entertainment expanded upon the success of IFC in Theaters through the launch of Festival Direct in 2008, a straight to On Demand release of the best films culled from the world’s leading film festivals.

Since its creation, IFC Entertainment has been a leader in the independent film industry, producing and distributing unique, exceptional product. Among its most notable film projects are: the second highest grossing independent film on record My Big Fat Greek Wedding (IFC Films distributed); Academy Award®-winning Boys Don’t Cry (produced by IFC Productions); Me and You and Everyone We Know (produced by IFC Productions and IFC Films distributed); foreign language hits Y Tu Mama Tambien (IFC Films distributed), 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (IFC Films distributed) and Monsoon Wedding (produced by IFC Productions); and documentary hits Touching the Void (IFC Films distributed) and the highest grossing documentary on record Fahrenheit 9/11 (IFC Films co-distributed).

Mr. Sehring also served as executive producer on original programming produced for The Independent Film Channel including: John Favreau’s "Dinner for Five," Isaac Julien’s "Baaadassss Cinema," Albert Maysle’s "With the Filmmaker," Adam Simon’s "The American Nightmare" and Errol Morris’ "First Person."

Prior to IFC Entertainment, Mr. Sehring oversaw all programming and production activities for Bravo and The Independent Film Channel, where he was responsible for creating and launching several award-winning shows and series, including Bravo’s Emmy-nominated series "Inside the Actors Studio" and CableAce Award-winning series "The South Bank Show," and IFC’s CableAce Award-winning profile of Sam Fuller "The Typewriter, The Rifle and The Movie Camera." Prior to joining Bravo, Mr. Sehring was director of programming for Janus Films, Inc., where he worked in various positions in both distribution and production.

Mr. Sehring is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, sits on the International Arts Advisory Committee of the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio, and serves on the Board of Directors for Film Independent. He was awarded the prestigious Chevalier of Arts and Letters by the French government in 1999, the recipient of both the Sarasota Film Festival’s Filmmakers’ Tribute Excellence in Producing Award and a IFP Gotham Tribute Award in 2007.