Kyle Davies Exits Bleecker Street For AMC Theatres’ New Distribution Label Leawood Films
Kyle Davies is stepping down as President of Distribution at Bleecker Street to head distribution at Leawood Films, a new label launched by cinema chain AMC Theatres. Although Monday's announcement of Leawood Films only listed Davies as an advisor, it has since emerged that he is leaving Bleecker Street entirely for the new role, with the move described as amicable and a search now under way for his successor. Leawood Films will focus on distributing fully financed small- to mid-sized movies, marking AMC's move into film distribution alongside its core exhibition business.
Davies is expected to work alongside New York-based distributor Variance, which has previously handled AMC bookings for concert films including Taylor Swift's Eras Tour and Showgirl, and Beyoncé's Renaissance. At Bleecker Street, his notable successes included the Broadway capture film Hadestown, which has grossed over $20 million domestically since July, and the K-pop concert film Stray Kids: The Dominate Experience ($7.2 million). His career also spans senior distribution roles at Paramount Pictures, Relativity Media and Overture Films, where he worked on major titles such as A Quiet Place, Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Gladiator.
In short
- Kyle Davies leaves Bleecker Street to lead AMC's new label, Leawood Films
- Leawood Films will distribute fully financed small- to mid-sized movies
- Bleecker Street is now searching for a new distribution chief
Explained simply
Film distribution is the work of getting films into cinemas and arranging how they are shown. AMC Theatres is one of the world’s largest cinema chains, so its new label, Leawood Films, marks a move beyond showing films into helping bring them to audiences.
Leawood is expected to focus on smaller and mid-sized films that have already secured their financing. Kyle Davies has worked in distribution at Bleecker Street and major studios, while Variance has handled cinema bookings for several concert films.
The move matters because cinema chains can influence which films reach their screens and how widely they are released. A distributor working alongside AMC could connect films with its cinemas, while also operating in a market where independent distributors compete to get audiences into theatres.
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