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As President of Sundance Selects and IFC Entertainment, Jonathan Sehring oversees multiple brands that are devoted to bringing the best of specialty films to the largest possible audience: Sundance Selects, IFC Films, IFC Midnight, IFC Productions, IFC Center and SundanceNow.
One of the most well respected executives in the specialty film business, 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 Sundance Selects/IFC Entertainment and each of the brands that they operate today.
The first company formed under Sundance Selects/IFC Entertainment was IFC Productions, a feature film production company, in 1997. Critically acclaimed films from IFC Productions include: Kim Pierce’s Academy Award®-winning Boys Don’t Cry, Richard Linklater’s Waking Life, Errol Morris’ Mr. Death, Steven Soderbergh’s Gray’s Anatomy and Rebecca Miller’s The Ballad of Jack and Rose.
The opening of the IFC Center in 2005 marked IFC Entertainment’s foray into film exhibition. Sehring oversaw the design and construction of the IFC Center, a multi-million dollar renovation of The Waverly Theater, a historic NYC landmark, to create a state-of-the-art cinema that shows art-house films in the heart of Greenwich Village. In 2009, he oversaw the IFC Center’s expansion to a five screen theater.
Sehring forged new ground with the launch of the first theatrical/VOD day and date distribution model in 2006. Sundance Selects/IFC Entertainment’s unique distribution model makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them in theaters, as well as on demand. Today, all three of the division’s film distribution labels utilize the model: IFC Films, a label established in 2000 that has grown under Sehring’s direction to become a leading U.S. distributor of high profile talent-driven independent film; IFC Midnight, a genre label established in 2010 that features the best in entertainment, including horror, science-fiction, thrillers, action and more; and Sundance Selects, a label launched in 2009 to distribute prestige films that focuses on American independents, documentaries and world cinema.
In 2010, Sehring spearheaded the launch of SundanceNow, an online destination enabling consumers to rent or buy the best in contemporary and classic independent films from all over world, as another platform to broaden the reach of independent film.
Since its inception, Sundance Selects/IFC Entertainment has been a leader in the independent film industry, distributing and producing unique, exceptional product. Among its most notable film projects are: Academy Award®-nominated In the Loop starring James Gandolfini (IFC Films distributed); Transamerica (IFC Films co-distributed), the second highest grossing independent film on record at the time of its release and an Academy Award ®-nominated film; Academy Award ®-nominated My Big Fat Greek Wedding (IFC Films distributed); Steven Soderbergh’s Cannes award-winning biopic CHE (IFC Films distributed); Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know (produced by IFC Productions and IFC Films distributed); foreign language hits such as the Academy Award®-nominated films Y Tu Mamá También, After the Wedding and Days of Glory (IFC Films distributed); Golden Globe®-nominated 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (IFC Films distributed); Fahrenheit 9/11 (IFC Films co-distributed), the highest grossing documentary on record at the time of its release; as well as genre hits such as Tom Six’s horror film The Human Centipede (First Sequence) and Lars Von Trier’s Cannes prize winner Antichrist (IFC Midnight).
Prior to Sundance Selects/IFC Entertainment, Sehring oversaw all programming and production activities for Bravo and The Independent Film Channel. In this role, he was responsible for creating and launching several award-winning shows and series, including Bravo’s Emmy® Award-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. He also served as Executive Producer on critically acclaimed IFC originals such as 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 joining Bravo, Sehring was Director of Programming for Janus Films, Inc., where he worked in various positions in both distribution and production.
Sehring is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and sits on the International Arts Advisory Committee of the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio. He is the recipient of the Chevalier of Arts and Letters, awarded by the French government, the Sarasota Film Festival’s Filmmakers’ Tribute Excellence in Producing Award, the Woodstock Film Festival’s Industry Maverick Award and an IFP Gotham Tribute Award.
