From the "People" Archives:

Buyer Profile: Jason Resnick, Focus Features

Jason Resnick of Focus Features

Jason Resnick
VP of Acquisitions for Focus and Universal Pictures (with Universal for 5 years, and with Focus since its inception in May 2002.)

BACKGROUND: While living in Paris after college, attempted to break into the French film business. Finding little success due to a lack of experience and citizenship, I returned home to New York, where I landed a job in the foreign sales division of Miramax. Before coming to Universal, I worked in acquisitions at the Samuel Goldwyn Company. Grew up in Long Island, NY, and went to the University of Pennsylvania.

MOST IMPORTANT FILM FESTIVALS: Sundance, Toronto, and Cannes. This is where you find the greatest number of high profile world premieres. Sundance is best for American indies, Cannes for European and Asian films, and Toronto for a mixture of both. Venice and Berlin are also strong festivals for foreign language films.

FAVORITE FILMS OF THE LAST THREE YEARS: "The Pianist," "Mulholland Drive," "Talk to Her," "Y Tu Mama Tambien," "City of God," "Chopper, Sexy Beast," "Traffic," "Together," "You Can Count on Me"

RECENT FILMS INVOLVED WITH ACQUIRING: "The Pianist," "Swimming Pool," "Lost in Translation"

TYPES OF FILMS COMPANY LOOKS FOR: Although Focus is best known for auteur-driven films, we look for all genres and are currently looking for a good horror film or thriller.

HOW TO GET THE ATTENTION OF BUYERS: Get the film into a top film festival and/or engage the services of a strong producer's rep. In today's crowded indie marketplace, it is difficult for unknown producers and filmmakers to get noticed without quality representation or being selected by a top film festival.

WRONG WAY TO GET ATTENTION: Accosting me after speaking on panels despite stating our policy of no unsolicited submissions. Also, a couple of filmmakers slipped by studio security and came by my office to drop off tapes of their films.

GENERAL THOUGHTS: It has become tougher than ever to go to film festivals and find completed films we want to acquire. We have become more and more aggressive about getting involved with films at script stage or during production or post-production.