David Laub has left his position as co-president of Oscilloscope Laboratories, a post he has jointly held with Dan Berger since 2012. Berger remains sole president of the company, reporting to Oscilloscope owner Dechen Yauch.
The parting was amicable, according to those close to the arrangement. His final day at the company was last Wednesday.
Laub joined Oscilloscope, which was founded by the late Beastie Boys member Adam Yauch, in 2010. The acquisitions executive started his career at THINKFilm working under David Fenkel, who went on to serve as Oscillocope’s first president. When Fenkel left the company in 2012, Yauch promoted Laub and Berger together shortly before Yauch’s death.
“I’ve been extremely proud and honored to help lead a company with such an incredible respect and love for films and filmmakers,” Laub told Indiewire this week. “Adam Yauch had a truly one-of-a-kind vision when he founded this company, and a respect for artists and artistry that was unparalleled.”
During his time at Oscilloscope, Laub played a central role in all of the company’s major releases, including “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” one of its better-known titles. “Being a part of its campaign was one of the biggest highlights of my career so far,” said Laub, who listed two newer releases, the microbudget sci-fi effort “Coherence” and the black comedy “Buzzard,” as some of his other favorite titles in the company’s library. He also mentioned a pair of documentaries, “These Birds Walk” and “12 O’Clock Boys,” both of which he executive produced.
Though he has no immediate plans, Laub said he hopes to continue to work in distribution while venturing further into the production space. To that end, he added, he’s currently involved as a producer of “Oldcorn,” which he described as an “eighties-set high school sports comedy about three misfit shot putters and the washed-up former Olympian who becomes their coach for the season.” The film marks the feature-length debut of sibling directors Conor and Tyler Byrne, whose short film “Foureyes” won the 2014 Cannes Lion Young Director Award.
Laub said that he hoped to continue supporting the kinds of films he championed at Oscilloscope. “In general, I am deeply committed to supporting the films I care most about — bold, original, innovative, auteur-driven movies,” he said. “I’m passionate about seeing them get made, but also about making sure they get seen. I’m also very committed to supporting young and emerging filmmaking talent, and one of the things I am proudest of during my tenure at Oscilloscope is how many exciting new filmmaking voices we were able to introduce to the world.”
Laub added that he did not rule out further collaborations with Oscilloscope. “It’s a wonderful company with a great brand and extremely valuable mission,” he said. “I’d be happy to see our paths cross again down the line.”
Meanwhile, Oscilloscope as no shortage of movies on its slate. The company opened the Rory Culkin drama “Gabriel” last week and releases the road trip comedy “Big Significant Things” in theaters and on VOD in July. The Sundance and Berlin-acclaimed Brazilian drama “The Second Mother” comes out August 28.
READ MORE: Oscilloscope Goes on a Shopping Spree, Buying Three Fest Faves From 2014
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