Exactly four weeks before the launch of the EFM (February 12-18) in Berlin, former Miramax head of sales Yvette Zhuang and former WME Independent co-head of international Zach Glueck have launched the sales agency Manifest Pictures.
Joined by former WME executive Cory Lynch as EVP of finance, the Los Angeles-based outfit is assembling a slate ranging from “edgy genre fare to star-driven franchises” and is backed by production and financing company QC Entertainment, whose credits include BlacKkKlansman and Get Out, and its principal financier Edward H. Hamm Jr.
The new venture has additionally partnered with Gramercy Park Media to supply premium features at all stages of production and development for the sales slate. Gramercy Park Media financed 2024 Cannes selection The Surfer with Nic Cage and the upcoming A24 release Famous starring Zac Efron.
Manifest will also work with third-party producers, financiers, and filmmakers and will attend Berlin.
Co-CEOs Zhuang and Glueck said, “We are lovers of storytelling first and foremost. We created this company to amplify the voices of great creatives and help them manifest their vision. We feel privileged to have Ted Hamm, Ray Mansfield and Sean McKittrick at QC backing us in this venture, and the team at Gramercy Park as our strategic partners. Together with them and our broader network of filmmakers and producers, we hope to offer a nimble and client-forward approach, bringing the kind of top-level films the marketplace needs.”
“It has been incredibly rewarding to work alongside Zach and Cory at WME Independent and we are excited to support them and continue our work together in this next chapter,” WME Independent co-heads Deborah McIntosh and Alex Walton said.
At Miramax, Zhuang led global sales and distribution on 2024 release The Beekeeper starring Jason Statham, Oscar-winning The Holdovers, and The Gentlemen from Guy Ritchie. She is also producing Miramax’s adaptation of Thai box office hit and Oscar entry How To Make Millions When Grandma Dies.
Glueck has packaged and sold more than 100 independent films, most recently including Nuremberg starring Russell Crowe and Rami Malek that is in release through Sony Pictures Classics, Gus van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire in release through Row K, and the upcoming SXSW world premiere Power Ballad from John Carney with Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas.
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