Black Bear's management division has signed rising directors Sandra Wollner and Stephanie Ahn, both of whom have recently earned recognition on the festival circuit. The move reflects the talent agency's push to build relationships with acclaimed emerging filmmakers ahead of their next projects, with both directors now represented by Black Bear's Joanne Roberts Wiles, whose existing client list includes Gregg Araki, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Karyn Kusama.

Austrian director Wollner's film Everytime won the top prize in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section this year and was acquired by 1-2 Special for US distribution, with further screenings set for Toronto and the New York Film Festival ahead of a 25 September US release; her earlier work The Trouble With Being Born won a Special Jury Award at Berlinale in 2020 and over 20 further international honours. Ahn, a Tisch School of the Arts graduate based in Brooklyn, premiered her directorial debut Bedford Park at Sundance 2026, where it won the Special Jury Prize for Debut Feature Film; the film was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and is due for release on 22 September 2026, with additional screenings planned in Toronto, Busan, Stockholm and Taipei.