Woodburne, Stokes & Wight Launch BEV Pictures, Pick "Pressure Cooker"

Distribution vets Emily Woodburne, Bridget Stokes and Vicky Wight are launching BEV Pictures, a new film releasing company. The trio are kicking off the entity with Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker's doc, "Pressure Cooker."

BEV is planning to unveil an annual slate of releases and the new company will open the "Pressure Cooker" at New York City's IFC Center on May 27th and then in Los Angeles on June 5th, followed by a release in other cities. They said in an announcement today that the new company will focus on grassroots and online outreach to maximize audience awarness of their releases.

Stokes (formerly of IFC Films) and Wight (from Artistic License) recently worked together at Elephant Eye Films, while Woodburne (a veteran of IFC and Zeitgeist) most recently worked in distribution at Liberation Entertainment.

Produced by Participant Media, "Pressure Cooker" was a special jury prize winner at last year's Los Angeles Film Festival and won the audience award at the Aspen Film Festival and the Portland International Film Festival. It follows two semesters in the classroom of Philadelphia high school culinary arts teacher Wilma Stephenson.

"The character of Wilma Stephenson grabbed all of us," said BEV co-founder Woodburne, in a statement. "We feel that her story and those of her determined students will resonate with audiences everywhere and 'Pressure Cooker' will be one of the standout films for this year."