Biography
On his website, Ira Deutchman describes himself as follows: Movie Producer, Distributor, Exhibitor, Columbia University Professor and Cubs Fan. His Twitter handle reads: @nyindieguy. As one of the founders of Cinecom and later Fine Line Features, Ira is the go-to guy for all things Indie and one of the most respected names in the independent film business. He has been involved in producing, distributing or marketing some of the most important indie films of the 1980s to the present including sex, lies and videotape, A Room with a View, Stop Making Sense, Hoop Dreams and El Norte. He acquired and distributed fellow maverick Robert Altman’s The Player and Short Cuts, marketed fellow maverick John Sayles’ The Brother From Another Planet and Matewan and was the executive producer of maverick member Alan Rudolph’s Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. Additionally through Cinecom he distributed maverick Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense and Swimming to Cambodia (serving as co-Executive Producer) and through Fine Line, distributed fellow maverick Nancy Savoca’s Household Saints.
Overview of the Archive
The Ira Deutchman Papers represent the creator’s ongoing career in the film industry, including his personal interests, teaching, and work as a production company executive for Cinecom and Fineline Features. The collection includes extensive catalogs and programs from film conferences and festivals around the world.
“Ira has had enormous influence on the shape of independent cinema in various capacities, and he has a real eye for quality. This collection will demonstrate that film directors are not the only creatives in the film industry and that one can also be a visionary in the business sense.”
Daniel Herbert, University of Michigan associate professor of screen arts and cultures
The inclusion of Deutchman’s papers into the University of Michigan’s Screen Arts Mavericks & Makers collection makes a concrete connection in our understanding of what a filmmaker does and how an audience gets to see it. He has worked with fellow U-M mavericks Robert Altman, John Sayles, Alan Rudolph and Nancy Savoca and strengthens our sense of what makes their work unique and compelling.
Deutchman Symposium
Tastemaker International: Ira Deutchman and the Art & Business of Independent Cinema was the 2017 symposium in conjunction with the Cinetopia Film Festival. Film scholars gathered to discuss his impact on the marketing and distribution of independent films and Deutchman served as the Guest of Honor, speaking on panels ahead of the opening of the exhibit: Ira Deutchman: A Commitment to Specialty Films.
More on Ira Deutchman
“I believe that it is important to understand the role of marketers, distributors, exhibitors and curators in the support and creation of film culture in the U.S. Without that part of the independent film ecosystem, it’s hard to imagine how these maverick filmmakers could have survived. By bringing this part of the discussion to their collection, the University of Michigan is making a huge contribution to the study of independent cinema.”
Ira Deutchman
Hinds, J. (2015, December 2). U-M Library lands papers of indie film producer. Detroit Free Press.
Browse the Screen Arts Makers & Mavericks Finding Aids at the University of Michigan Library’s Special Collections Research Center.
Screen Arts Mavericks & Makers 