Stuart Ford (entertainment executive)

Stuart Ford is one of the most experienced and prolific independent film and television producers and financiers in the industry. In February 2018 Ford launched AGC Studios, an international film and television production and global licensing company that develops, produces, finances and globally licenses a diverse portfolio of feature films, scripted, unscripted and factual television, digital, and musical content from its dual headquarters in Los Angeles and London. The studio’s Hollywood output has a wide-ranging multicultural focus, designed for exploitation across an array of global platforms including major studio partnerships, streaming platforms, traditional broadcast and cable television networks, and independent distributors, both in the US and internationally.

In addition to having produced or executive produced over 60 feature films and TV shows Ford is one of the film industry’s leading experts on international film distribution and has launched and overseen content companies in the US, the UK, France, China, Hong Kong, India and Mexico.

Ford is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Early career

UK born and Oxford educated, Ford is a former entertainment attorney and studio executive who in 2007 founded IM Global, which over the next ten years he built into one of the industry’s leading independent film and television production, financing and sales platforms. As Founder and CEO of the company, Ford produced or distributed films alongside luminaries such as Martin Scorsese, Barbara Broccoli, Julia Roberts, Liam Neeson, Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson, Lima Neeson, Will Ferrell, Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks, Tom Ford and Madonna from his network of offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Mexico City, Munich, Mumbai and Beijing. Ford and IM Global also became prominent players in the Bollywood, Chinese and Latin American film sectors. The company produced and financed over 30 feature films of its own as well as handling international sales on more than one hundred first run feature films and handling a library of over 600 titles. The company also owned Mundial, a leading Latino sales and financing company; operated one of the premier international sales platforms for Chinese cinema; and operated Valor Entertainment, a multicultural talent management group. In addition, as a joint venture with Chinese internet giant Tencent, the company operated IM Global Television, a full service scripted and unscripted television production, financing and distribution studio. In 2015 IM Global and Ford were the recipient of Variety’s Achievement in International Film Award, and Ford has also been listed by the UK’s Guardian newspaper as one of the 50 Most Influential People in Global Cinema. Ford sold his remaining stake in IM Global in late 2017.

Before IM Global, Ford was a long serving executive at Miramax Films in New York where, in various executive capacities he was involved in the acquisition and/or production of numerous Academy Award recognized films including Shakespeare in Love, Chicago (2002 film), The Cider House Rules (film), Chocolat (2000 film), Gangs Of New York, and Amélie. During this period The Hollywood Reporter listed Ford as one of the top executives in Hollywood under the age of 35. He began his career in the early nineties as an entertainment industry lawyer at UK law firm Olswang.

Ford was educated at the Liverpool Blue Coat School, and later obtained both a BA and an MA in Law from St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University.

Personal

Ford lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two young sons.[1]

Awards
  • 50 most influential individuals in global cinema: Stuart Ford - The Guardian 2010 [2]
  • Variety Award for Achievement in International Film: Stuart Ford, IM Global - Variety 2015 [3]
  • Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Executive Member: Stuart Ford - 2017 [4]

Filmography

References
  1. The Hollywood Reporter - IM Global's Stuart Ford on His Cannes Plans, Soccer Obsession and Beating Cancer - by Pamela McClintock - May 9, 2012
  2. The Guardian - New Guardian Film Power 100 list - September 24, 2010
  3. Variety - Stuart Ford, IM Global Feted With Variety’s International Film Award - by Variety Staff - May 14, 2015
  4. LA Times- Motion picture academy opens its doors to 774 new members in latest step to diversify its ranks - by Josh Rottenberg - June 28, 2017
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