Mark Lipsky

This film marketing, advertising and public relations executive made his mark in the new burst of independent filmmaking in the USA since the 1980s. Mark Lipsky has also produced for TV, helped to launch the Sarasota Film Festival and has handled marketing for the Independent Feature Film market in New York City. He first became a force in indie films in 1986 when he was named executive vice president of Miramax Films and supervised all sales, marketing, public relations and advertising for the company's releases during the period when Miramax became a household name in entertainment circles and the top indie distributor. Lipsky's first tenure with Miramax ended in 1988 when he left to form his own Silverlight Entertainment, an independent film consulting and marketing company. By 1990, he was back with Miramax, this time to establish and serve as executive vice president of the company's Prestige division, which oversaw films requiring special handling. Among the successes Lipsky scored was the distribution of Jenny Livingston's 1991 documentary "Paris Is Burning." Although the film focused on the highly competitive world of vogueing--drag shows, usually with African-Americans, Latino, or Afro-Latino performers--Prestige was able to entice a widespread audience to see the film. Lipsky left Prestige in 1990 to found Spotlight Public Relations & Marketing, based in New York. In 1993, Spotlight evolved into the East Coast office of the L.A.-based firm Baker/Winokur/Ryder Public Relations with Lipsky as named a senior vice president. His career took yet another turn when he moved into production in 1995, overseeing the short-lived syndicated talk show "Lauren Hutton And...." But Lipsky also has remained involved in indie filmmaking, including aiding in the distribution of "Losing Chase" (1996), the directorial debut of actor Kevin Bacon.