Straw Weisman - President, Marquee Productions
Consultant, Worldwide Productions, New Films International
Straw Weisman is a motion picture production, post production, marketing, distribution, and creative filmmaking veteran with over thirty years of hands-on experience.
Straw’s recent projects include producing the upcoming feature “The Big Valley”, starring Jessica Lange and Stephen Moyer, directing the psychological thriller “Trunk”, starring Jennifer Day, now on DVD, and co-executive producing “Without Men”, starring Eva Longoria and Christian Slater, released theatrically. He is also an associate producer of the faith based dramatic feature "Abel's Field", starring Kevin Sorbo, and a producer on New Films' "Trophy", starring Michael Madsen and Eric Roberts.
As Vice President, Worldwide Production for distributor/producer New Films International, Straw has overseen a slate of post production acquisitions and new titles, including “The Lightkeepers”, starring Richard Dreyfuss and Blythe Danner, “Camp Hell”, starring Jesse Isenberg, Bruce Davison and Dana Delany, “Chain Letter”, starring Nikki Reed, “Dark Moon Rising”, “Don’t Fade Away”, starring Mischa Barton and Ryan Kwanten, and the upcoming “Saving Grace B. Jones”, starring Tatum O’Neal and “Flying Lessons”, starring Maggie Grace and Christine Lahti.
3-D milestones include producing the teaser trailer for Cannon’s “Treasure of the Four Crowns”, production/creative consulting on “Little Hercules in 3D”, and the 3D documentary “God and Modern Physics”.
Through his own company, Marquee Productions, Straw has supervised post production and/or associate produced or produced over 75 films, including “Shine On”, starring Jenna Dewan-Tatum, “Order of Redemption” with Busta Rhymes, Armand Assante and Tom Berrenger, the multi-festival award winning biopix “Crazy” featuring “Heroes” Ali Larder, “Magic”, a family film starring Christopher Lloyd as a talking dog, Richard Gere’s “The Flock”, “Sex and Breakfast”, starring Macaulay Culkin, “Say It In Russian”, featuring Faye Dunaway, the spiritually based sleeper hit “What The Bleep Do We Know!?”, Tobe Hooper’s “The Toolbox Murders”, and the horror feature “Hatchet”. Marquee Productions has also played host to over 25 independent films, which have used its editing and audio facilities and Straw’s creative consultancy.
Weisman has supervised feature re-cuts for Graham King’s, Initial Entertainment, Republic Pictures, and was the creative force behind the final version of “Shadow Hours”, a 2000 Sundance drama finalist.
While running this successful business, Straw has also continued to write and direct features including “When Nature Calls” (co-writer), “Cyborg 3” (co-writer), “Red Scorpion 2” (co-writer), and “Hearsay” (writer/director). His innovative “Man of the Year”, a 20-camera, 25 actor improv feature shot in one night, was released in limited theatrical and on DVD in 2005. Most recently, in addition to the spiritually based documentaries “Dreaming Heaven” and “The Truth”, Straw produced and directed the comedumentary “Spiritually Incorrect Comedy Tour”, shot on location in Sedona, Arizona, now in post production. He also produced the documentary “Pregnant In America”, a one-time top ten download on Hulu, and co-produced the uplifting and inspirational “Living Luminaries", featuring Reverend Michael Beckwith and Maryanne Williamson, among others. Straw is now in production on the feature "The Goddess Project", featuring bestselling authors and visionaries Barbara Marx Hubbard, Mary Manin Morrissey, Marianne Williamson and Marie Diamond.
Marquee Productions is also, as a producer’s representative, handling independent features for licensing, acquisition, and distribution. Recent successful placements have included: “God’s Waiting List”, “Pumpkin Karver”, “Keep Your Distance” (limited theatrical), “Sex and Breakfast” (limited theatrical), “Tweek City”, and “Ripple Effect”, starring Forrest Whittaker, Minnie Driver and Virginia Madsen (theatrical). Other titles are currently in negotiation for representation and distribution. Recent sales include distributors First Look, Maverick, Code Black, New Films International, Monterey Media, among others.
Straw began his career at the legendary ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach in New York. Deciding he wanted more hands on experience in filmmaking, he went on to Mishkin Motion Pictures where he learned the independent film distribution business and got his first opportunity to write feature films, first the comedy musical “Pelvis”, then the hostage drama “Fight For Your Life” which went on to become a cult classic, a favorite of both Quentin Tarrantino and John Waters, which had its a 25th anniversary release on DVD in early 2004, and was singled out by Tarrantino for his Grindhouse Film Festival to promote his film, “Grindhouse”.
After stints at as a distributing/marketing executive at other distribution companies, including United Film Distribution, a subsidiary of United Artists Theater Circuit, Straw moved to Los Angeles, where he began The Weisman Company, a successful freelance copywriting business with such agency clients as Seiniger, Aspect Ratio, Cimarron, Intralink, and B.D. Fox and Friends. From there he went on to write, produce and direct the advertising and marketing at Cannon Films and New World Pictures. In 1988 he put his movie advertising business on hold to write and direct the cult horror classic “Dead Mates”, which was filmed in New York’s Hudson Valley, where he maintains a second home.
When he returned to Los Angeles, he founded Marquee Productions, providing creative services, editing and production, focusing on movie marketing. In its first fifteen years, Marquee’s clients included Universal Studios, Paramount, Fox, Warner Bros, Columbia, Viacom, New Line, Moonstone, Trimark, Saban, Fox Family, Buena Vista International, Trinity Broadcasting, Playboy, KNBC and countless independent distributors and producers looking for Straw’s unique and personal touch to their movie marketing campaigns.
Straw’s creativity, innovation and ability to meet near impossible deadlines has gained him recognition as a “secret weapon” for producers, distributors, and advertising executives for over two decades. His willingness to share his ideas and expertise has also made him one of the “independent filmmaker’s best friends”.
A complete filmography is available on imdb.com.
An in-depth interview with Straw can be heard on Rex Sikes' Movie Beat: www:rexsikes.com