Three weeks before its scheduled presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, fledgling US distributor Row K is understood to be reappraising its business model amid reports of unpaid bills and confusion over its inaugural slate.
Six months after opening its doors, the company, backed by Media Capital Technologies (MCT) and run by Christopher Woodrow and Raj Singh, is reportedly fielding calls from vendors and consultants about overdue payments and is considering pushing the early-summer release of the comedy Poetic License into September.
Industry sources said Woodrow and Singh are questioning the commercial viability of Row K’s 2026 slate after the first release in January of Gus Van Sant’s well-regarded Venice premiere, Dead Man’s Wire, underperformed at the North American box office. The true-life hostage drama grossed $2.2m, and sources say Row K lost around $10m on the release.
Maude Apatow’s feature directorial debut Poetic License was initially scheduled to open on May 15 and stars her mother, Leslie Mann, and is produced by her father, comedy veteran Judd Apatow.
Row K announced four acquisitions out of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) under the leadership of president Megan Colligan, the former president of Imax Entertainment and Paramount worldwide marketing and distribution.
Besides Poetic License and Dead Man’s Wire, they include the romance Charlie Harper starring Emilia Jones, and Jaume Collet-Serra’s action reboot Cliffhanger starring Lily James and Pierce Brosnan.
Screen understands Woodrow and Singh would like Row K to champion more robust commercial prospects like Cliffhanger. However, now there is a cloud over that release too, following reports that a deal with sales agent CAA Media was not fully consummated despite press releases last autumn announcing the August 28 release date and describing it as “the anchor of Row K’s 2026 slate”.
Sources close to Charlie Harper told Screen that Row K has met all its contractual commitments on the release so far. The film remains scheduled for September 25.
Where all this leaves Row K’s April 13 CinemaCon presentation remains to be seen.
Representatives for Row K did not comment on reports of unpaid bills, release date changes, and whether it has completed the acquisition of Cliffhanger.
However, they issued a statement from MCT’s Woodrow and Singh that read: “Row K’s release of Dead Man’s Wire has provided an important opportunity to evaluate and refine our strategy as a new entrant building in a highly competitive marketplace.
“Like many early-stage companies, we moved quickly to establish a slate and are now taking a more measured, disciplined approach – prioritising commercially viable titles, strengthening our internal infrastructure, and aligning our team accordingly.”
The statement continued, “As is standard in our industry, certain payments are scheduled in alignment with incoming receivables as part of prudent working capital management, and we remain in active communication with our partners to ensure all obligations are met in a timely fashion. Row K is well-capitalized, continues to support its existing projects, and is focused on long-term, sustainable growth with a clear emphasis on commerciality.”
A spokesperson for CAA Media Finance, which advised on the launch of Row K and set up an introductory lunch meeting between Woodrow and Colligan last summer, declined to comment.
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