On the eve of Cannes, film financing and sales outfit Mister Smith Entertainment has made several key promotions as well as adding a new hire to its team.
Shane Kelly, who has been with the company since 2019, is being promoted to senior vice president, international sales and acquisitions. In this new role, he will continue to oversee sales and distribution efforts while formalizing the addition of project acquisitions as part of his purview, continuing to report to Mister Smith CEO David Garrett. In his previous role as VP international sales and distribution, Kelly has been instrumental in helping manage the company’s slate through sales, financing, marketing and distribution.
In addition, Emma Mason is being promoted to vice president, international marketing and publicity and will continue to lead the marketing and publicity team and oversee festival strategy for the Mister Smith slate.
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Katie Hogan is being promoted to distribution and marketing executive, reporting to Kelly and Mason; and the company has hired Martina Buendía Silva, who has a background in finance and production, as its new executive sales assistant.
Augusta (“Goose”) Charlton previously joined the team in 2023 as director, sales and acquisitions.
Garrett stated: “Shane has been integral to shaping the company’s acquisitions and sales strategy in response to the past few rather changeable years in our business. His expertise, creative insight and wide-ranging relationships make him an invaluable leader here at Mister Smith and in the industry at large. As we continue to evolve into a full-service sales, finance and production outlet for best-in-class producers and filmmakers, it gives me great pleasure to recognize Shane, Emma and Katie’s hard work and talent. I think the dynamism of our passionate, future facing executives, who have their finger on the pulse of not just the film industry but culture generally, will continue to make Mister Smith a key tastemaker in the business.”
Mister Smith’s Cannes slate includes launching Thunder Road Pictures’ World War II action thriller “Perdition,” starring Sam Claflin and Rupert Friend, directed by Henry Dunham, and the horror feature “Dangerous Animals,” shooting in Australia from director Sean Byrne, starring Hassie Harrison, Jai Courtney and Josh Heuston.
Mister Smith’s slate also includes mystery thriller “Wichita Libra,” written and directed by Dunham and starring Phoebe Dynevor; Canadian romantic comedy “Young Werther,” directed by José Lourenço and starring Douglas Booth, Alison Pill and Patrick J. Adams; Ant Timpson’s adventure comedy “Bookworm,” starring Elijah Wood and Nell Fisher; “Grafted,” a body horror directed by newcomer Sasha Rainbow; Brian Epstein biopic “Midas Man,” starring Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Emily Watson and Eddie Marsan; Tribeca documentary competition title “Stylebender,” directed by Zoe McIntosh, about UFC World Champion Israel Adesanya; “The Threesome,” a comedy directed by Chad Hartigan and starring Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King and Ruby Cruz; and Alex Wolff’s psychological thriller “If She Burns,” starring Victoria Pedretti, Wolff, Asa Butterfield and Justice Smith.
