Mubi, the indie film company behind “The Substance” and “Die, My Love,” has restructured its content leadership as it navigates industry headwinds.
Mubi, which had scaled aggressively in recent years, currently employs approximately 400 staff across 14 international and U.S. offices. The restructuring comes as Mubi offered voluntary exit packages. “About a dozen people across different areas decided to leave,” a Mubi spokesperson told Variety.
“Efe recently explained to the entire Mubi team that the company was going to be asking a lot of everyone going forward, and if anyone felt they were not up for it the company would help them with a generous exit. We will be rehiring many of these roles,” Mubi said.
As part of the overhaul, longtime chief content officer Jason Ropell is transitioning to a senior advisory role at Mubi focused on strategic and creative counsel. He will be working closely with Mubi founder and CEO Efe Cakarel. Mubi will not be hiring a new CCO, and the company has now divided its content operations into four pillars, the spokesperson said.
Arianna Bocco, the well-respected former IFC executive who joined Mubi at the start of the year, has been promoted to oversee all acquisitions and distribution globally.
Michael Weber, the longtime head of leading German sales company The Match Factory, will become Mubi’s head of global production. The Match Factory, which became part of Mubi in 2022, will now be fully integrated into its parent company; but it will continue handling international sales in territories where Mubi doesn’t have direct distribution operations. The Match Factory will still acquire third-party titles from leading filmmakers.
Chiara Maranon and Uriel Kuzniecki have been named co-heads of programming and licensing, while Danny Kasman continues to lead publishing.
Mubi has had a tumultuous year. After securing $100 million from Sequoia Capital Investment in the Spring, the company faced some backlash surrounding its new investor’s ties to the Israeli military. Mubi had also been challenged by the theatrical market’s decline for indie movies, in the back of a cycle of splashy acquisitions at festivals. The banner splurged $24 million at Cannes to acquire Lynne Ramsay’s “Die, My Love,” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, but the movie has underperformed in theaters.
Despite these setbacks, Mubi said it’s “bullish on the future. The company is well capitalized and the team is committed to its mission of bringing more independent cinema and important filmmaking voices to the world.” The banner’s spokesperson also argued that Mubi’s role is more vital than ever “as major consolidation in the entertainment industry continues to challenge independent filmmaking.”
Mubi releases scored seven Golden Globes nominations, including a best actress nom for Lawrence. The company is also the distributor of several Oscar-shortlisted films, including “Sentimental Value,” Oliver Laxe’s “Sirat,” Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” and Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just an Accident.” Mubi recently hired veteran publicity executive VJ Carbone as VP of communications in the U.S. as it gears up for a busy awards season.
Our sister publication Deadline was first to report on the leadership restructuring.
