Seymour Wishman, First Run Features President and ‘Sex & Justice’ Co-Director, Dies at 79
variety.comWyatte Grantham-Philips editorSeymour Wishman, a longtime producer, writer, legal expert and president of First Run Features, died on Jan.
29 at a family home in Bridgewater, Conn., his daughter Samantha confirmed to Variety. He was 79.Over the past 38 years, Wishman had served as president of First Run Features.
During his time at the N.Y.-based independent film distribution company, Wishman brought Michael Apted’s “28 Up” (and later the entire “Up” series) to the United States and helped Ross McElwee finish and release “Sherman’s March” — as well as McElwee’s other films, including “Bright Leaves” and “Six O’Clock News.” Wishman also released Spike Lee’s “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads” (the director’s first feature film and his graduate school thesis), Cheryl Dunye’s “The Watermelon Woman,” Jan Svankmajer’s “Alice” and many other independent pictures.
On the production side, Seymour co-directed and produced “Sex & Justice,” a documentary on Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
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