Topic Studios is the award-winning entertainment studio from First Look Media that develops, finances and produces provocative and entertaining content for all platforms including theatrical, streaming, television and podcasts.
The Studio recently had three films in the 2023 Sundance Film Festival: Shortcomings, the feature directorial debut of Randall Park starring Justin H. Min, Sherry Cola and Ally Maki; the musical comedy Theater Camp, directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman (winner – Sundance U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Ensemble / Searchlight Pictures); and Brandon Cronenberg’s film Infinity Pool starring Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth (in partnership with NEON – now in theaters). The Studio is also behind such notable films as Nikyatu Jusu’s Nanny (Blumhouse/Amazon), winner of the 2022 Sundance U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize; Pablo Larraìn’s Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart (Academy Award® and Golden Globe® nominee for her performance) as Princess Diana (NEON); the Academy Award®-winning Spotlight; The Mauritanian, starring Jodie Foster (Golden Globe® winner for her performance), Tahar Rahim (Golden Globe® nominee for his performance), Benedict Cumberbatch, and Shailene Woodley (STXfilms); 2022 Tribeca premiere God’s Time from first-time writer/director Daniel Antebi (now in theaters – IFC Films); and Michael Angelo Covino’s Cannes-winning The Climb (Sony Pictures Classics). Acclaimed documentaries from the Studio have included Lizzie Gottlieb’s Turn Every Page, about literary legends Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, now in theaters (Sony Pictures Classics); Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry’s Attica on Showtime (2022 Academy Award®-nominee for Best Documentary); the Emmy® and PGA-winning HBO big wave surfing series from director Chris Smith, 100 Foot Wave, renewed for a second season; and the Peabody® and Film Independent Spirit Award-nominated, three-part series Nuclear Family, also from HBO.
The studio’s scripted television division is rapidly growing, with several major projects in development, including the Untitled Martin Lawrence Project, based on the acclaimed Israeli “HOT” series Nehama; the adult thriller Savannah with PKM Productions for Amazon Freevee, arising from the studio’s previous first-look deal with Tracy Oliver (Harlem); and a series based on Tom Lin’s Andrew Carnegie Medal-winning novel The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu, alongside Blue Marble Pictures (Pachinko).
Pioneering podcasts from the Studio include Not Lost, the acclaimed food and travel show from former Dinner Party Download host Brendan Francis Newnam; Operator (Wondery), about the dramatic rise and fall of the telecommunications company that pioneered live phone sex; and Somebody (iHeartRadio), with The Intercept and the Invisible Institute, a Pulitzer Prize finalist; the critically acclaimed, cinematic musical podcast Anthem from John Cameron Mitchell, featuring Glenn Close, Cynthia Erivo and Patti Lupone; and the cultural phenomenon Missing Richard Simmons, the Peabody®-nominated Headlong: Running from COPS, and Headlong: Surviving Y2K, created and hosted by Dan Taberski.
Listen to our podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Luminary, iHeartRadio, and Stitcher.