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EXCLUSIVE: Indie producer Pressman Film has expanded the role of chief operating officer Paula Paizes to include oversight of all production.
The company behind Wall Street. American Psycho, Badlands, Thank You for Smoking and The Crow, founded by the late legendary producer Edward Pressman and run by CEO Sam Pressman, also upped Max Loeb to VP, Production and Development.
Pressman Film is also expanding development and production efforts into Canada, Latin America and Asia, with several consultants. Toronto-based Bianca Rusu, who most recently worked as an agent at Vanguarde Artists Management, will serve as a creative and development consultant for Pressman Film in Canada.
Jorge Alfaro-Silva, most recently on the development and production team at Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, will consult on oversee development and production efforts for the company in Latin America and Asia.
With her added duties as President of Production, Paizes, who joined in 2019, now oversees all aspects of the company, including production, finance, distribution, merchandising, strategy and business affairs, reporting Sam Pressman. A seasoned media and entertainment executive, she has broad experience and deep relationships in Hollywood, Australia and internationally. Paizes “has a tremendous history with Pressman Film, having worked closely with my father and I on many films,” said Sam Pressman, calling her “a powerhouse when it comes to making deals.”
He praised Loeb’s “passionate intelligence for film and relationships with filmmakers.” Loeb joined Pressman in 2020 as Director of Development.
‘I am very excited to take on this new responsibility and to work with Sam and the team in leading the future generation of Pressman Film,” said Paizes. “We are actively building upon Ed’s legacy and embracing the next iteration of film and content creation. Our focus on expanding our team and plans for our film and TV production slate together with new media initiatives position us to be a strong and formidable player in the marketplace.”
Pressman Film is currently in post-production on Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire, starring Al Pacino, Colman Domingo, Bill Skarsgårdand and Cary Elwes and is teaming with Lionsgate and Frenesy Films on a new adaptation of American Psycho with Luca Guadagnino set to direct and Scott Z. Burns writing the script. The company recently premiered Piotr Winiewicz’s About a Hero on the international festival circuit and announced Autobiography, an upcoming first scripted feature from Toronto-based Shy Kids.
In 2024, Pressman Film broke new ground by offering the public an opportunity to invest in its future projects through a first-of-its-kind development slate raise on the Republic.com platform. The raise, which totaled over $2 million, is going towards a slate of upcoming projects, some based on the company’s pre-existing catalog of intellectual property others on new IP.
Prior to Pressman Film, Paizes worked as an entertainment attorney with law firm Blake Dawson Waldron; as in-house general counsel for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s company, The Really Useful Co.; as managing director of consulting and investment firm Ignite Capital Partners; and as a producer for Mark Gordon and Bob Yari’s Stratus Film Company. She also served as an arbitrator for bond company Film Finances.
Projects she produced and executive produced include Dead Man’s Wire, The Crow, Daliland starring Sir Ben Kingsley, Where Eskimos Live with Bob Hoskins), Black Limousine with David Arquette and Bijou Philips, and VR experience Evolver with Cate Blanchett, which was selected to compete in the Cannes Immersive Competition last year.
