CAA’s Roeg Sutherland is set to be honored with the Zurich Film Festival’s Game Changer Award for his outstanding achievements and contributions within the film industry.
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The co-Head of CAA’s Media Finance department as well as its International Film Group, will be presented with the award during the festival’s industry-focused Zurich Summit, which takes place in October within the framework of the 20th Zurich Film Festival (ZFF).
As part of the recognition, FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner will host the Game Changer Award recipient conversation, in which he will speak with Sutherland about his journey.
“Roeg is a passionate cinephile and industry leader, who has not only discovered, but also nurtured and developed the careers of countless artists. In the past several years, he has secured financing and sold some of the most important and critically acclaimed films, both domestic and international,” commented ZFF Artistic Director Christian Jungen.
“His impressive client list includes Oscar winners, nominees, and auteurs like Nadine Labaki, who he signed by specifically flying to Lebanon to meet the Capernaum filmmaker in person – one of my favorite anecdotes about Roeg highlighting his commitment and dedication.”
Jungen also noted Sunderland’s contribution to the festival, describing him as “an integral part” of the event and its history for his work in convincing his wide network to attend the Zurich Summit. This in turn, had helped establish strong ties and connections between the festival and Hollywood, he added.
“Like Roeg, we at the Zurich Film Festival pride ourselves with discovering emerging filmmakers, and since we share that very same desire, it is fitting that during our 20th anniversary edition, he is our worthy recipient,” he concluded.
Zurich said the Game Changer Award pays tribute to excellency in the film business with a focus on leaders that not only cherish change and forward-thinking approaches in the business, but also stand for the DNA of what cinema has represented since its invention.
Past recipients include Oscar-winner Patrick Wachsberger ( CODA ), Co-Chair & CEO Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group Pamela Abdy and Sony Pictures Classics’ Co-Presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, among others.
Serving on the Board at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Sutherland specializes in the packaging and representation of independently financed film, television, and digital content.
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In addition, he consults with select class-leading producers and financiers on their media investments. ZFF noted that over the past five years, films packaged and/or sold by CAA Media Finance have generated approximately $5 billion at the worldwide box office.
Sutherland also represents a global roster of filmmakers, helping to package, source financing for, and/or sell distribution rights to their films, both English and local language releases.
Clients include Ladj Ly ( Les Misérables ), Sam Mendes ( 1917 ), Rian Johnson ( Knives Out ), Walter Salles ( I’m Still Here ), Justine Triet ( Anatomy of a Fall ); Jacques Audiard ( Emilia Perez ); Roland Emmerich ( Midway ); Martin McDonagh ( Banshees of Inisherin ); Alejandro González Iñárritu ( The Revenant , Birdman ); Ana Lily Amirpour ( Bad Batch ); James Gray (Ad Astra, Lost City of Z ); Labaki ( Capernaum ); Juan Antonio Bayona ( A Monster Calls ); Claire Denis ( High Life ); Dan Gilroy ( Roman J. Israel , Nightcrawler ); Paul Thomas Anderson ( Licorice Pizza ); Kathryn Bigelow ( The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty ); Darren Aronofsky ( The Wrestler, Black Swan ); Gaspar Noé ( Climax ); Terrence Malick ( A Hidden Life ), Yann Demange ( ’71 ); Karim Aïnouz ( Invisible ); Julian Schnabel ( In The Hand of Dante ); Joe Talbot ( The Last Black Man In San Francisco); Khalil Joseph ( BLKNWS ); and Steve McQueen ( 12 Years A Slave ), plus Arthur Jafa and Morten Tyldum among others.
Under Sutherland’s leadership CAA Media Finance has become one of the largest suppliers of feature films into the U.S. theatrical marketplace, brokering more than 100 distribution deals per year for films with budgets ranging from $100K to more than $150M.
He has also led the packaging, financing and sales of such projects as the Best Picture Academy Award-winning Coda, Conclave, Hit Man, May December, The Holdovers, Longlegs, The Trial of the Chicago Seven, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Pieces of a woman, The father, Greyhound, Malcolm & Marie, 12 Years A Slave, Her, Sicario, Nocturnal Animals, and You Were Never Really Here among others.
Media Finance also works with and advises a number of financing and distribution entities such as Elevation (Canada), Library Pictures International, Goodfellas (France), NEON (U.S.), FilmNation Entertainment (U.S.), AC Brazil, Elysian Film Group Distribution (UK), Wild West (France), UMA (Indonesia and Southeast Asia), and Asbury Park Pictures (U.S.).
Sunderland welcomed the honor.
“The independent film community has always been recognized for fostering audacious storytelling and discovering fresh voices, just as much as it is for its resilience. The very nature of the business demands that we constantly think about the business in unique and innovative ways,” he said.
“The Zurich Film Festival has played a pivotal role in supporting our collective mission to support artists and the independent film ecosystem, and I am deeply honored by this award.”
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