Black Bear taps Bianca Parkes and Heather Phillips for top release roles
The distributor hired Parkes as head of marketing and Phillips as head of publicity as it builds a slate of up to 12 films a year.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
3 min read
Black Bear Releasing is adding two seasoned campaign chiefs to its U.S. distribution operation, hiring Bianca Parkes as head of marketing and Heather Phillips as head of publicity, Deadline reported.
The pair will report to Benjamin Kramer, Black Bear’s president of U.S. distribution, and are expected to work across as many as 12 films annually, according to the report. Together, Parkes and Phillips have been involved in campaigns for movies that collected more than 50 Academy Award nominations.
Kramer said in a statement reported by Deadline that the appointments mark another step in Black Bear’s growth as a domestic distributor. He said Parkes and Phillips understand how audiences discover films across social, theatrical and other viewing spaces, and credited them with building campaigns that connect with moviegoers.
Parkes arrives from Neon
Parkes joins Black Bear after working at Neon, where she served as EVP, executive creative director, Deadline reported. Her credits there include creative campaigns for the best picture winners Parasite and Anora, along with titles such as Longlegs, Sentimental Value, The Monkey, Triangle of Sadness, Together, Anatomy of a Fall, Portrait of a Lady on Fire and No Other Choice.
Deadline also reported that Parkes was Neon’s head of design and helped oversee the launch and expansion of the company’s merchandise division.
Before Neon, Parkes was a partner at design studios 27b and Antinomy, where she led U.S. collaborations with clients including A24, Paramount and Warner Bros. Earlier in her career, she was a senior art director at Watson Design Group, working on art and strategy for campaigns tied to Last Night in Soho, Minari, I’m Your Woman and Zola.
Phillips brings studio and awards experience
Phillips spent nearly 10 years leading theatrical publicity and awards at 20th Century Fox, according to Deadline. Her campaigns there included Bohemian Rhapsody, The Revenant, The Martian, Hidden Figures, Gone Girl, Logan, The Post, The Greatest Showman, The Fault in Our Stars and entries in the Deadpool, X-Men and Planet of the Apes franchises.
She later served as chief communications officer at 101 Studios, overseeing communications, marketing and brand strategy for series including Yellowstone, 1883, 1923 and Tulsa King, Deadline reported.
Phillips has also consulted for Apple TV, Disney, New Regency, Lionsgate, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and Black Bear. She began at Miramax Films, where Deadline said she worked on awards campaigns for Chicago, Frida, Cold Mountain, The Aviator, The Station Agent and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
Black Bear’s coming slate
The hires land as Black Bear lines up releases including David Leitch’s Jason Statham Stole My Bike, starring Jason Statham and Hannah Waddingham, and Julia Cox’s A Woman in the Sun, with Renée Zellweger, Sissy Spacek and Mia Threapleton.
The company’s upcoming films also include Andrew Patterson’s The Rivals of Amziah King, starring Matthew McConaughey; Spa Weekend, from Bad Moms directors Jon Lucas and Scott Moore; Guy Ritchie’s Wife & Dog; and the Sundance title Wicker, starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård and Peter Dinklage.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.