Black Bear, the independent studio behind Sydney Sweeney's boxing drama "Christy," has appointed Bianca Parkes and Heather Phillips to lead marketing and publicity respectively, as it builds out a US theatrical distribution business. The pair report to Benjamin Kramer, the company's president of US distribution, and join a team that already includes former Lionsgate distribution chief David Spitz, underlining Black Bear's ambitions to become a serious player in film releasing despite "Christy" itself flopping at the box office with just $2 million against a $15 million budget.

Parkes, taking the head of marketing role, spent seven years at Neon, working on Oscar winners "Parasite" and "Anora" as well as "Longlegs", and also ran the company's design and merchandising division. Phillips, becoming head of publicity, spent a decade on 20th Century Fox's theatrical publicity and awards campaigns, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Gone Girl" and "The Revenant", and later served as chief communications officer for 101 Studios ("Yellowstone", "1883", "Tulsa King"). Black Bear, founded in 2011 and launched into distribution in 2025, plans to release 12 films a year, with upcoming titles including "Jason Statham Stole My Bike", "A Woman in the Sun", "The Rivals of Amziah King" and "Spa Weekend".